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Topic ClosedForum page downloads .swf file to computer
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yam yam View Drop Down
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Points: 6347 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Forum page downloads .swf file to computer
    Posted: March 13 2017 at 22:30
Minor issue I guess - it's only a shockwave object that appears to have gotten loose from a failed attempt to embed a YouTube video...but these days any webpage that downloads something to your computer without your input/permission has to be treated with suspicion.

I mentioned the problem yesterday in my reply to Darious's suggestion for Zjednoczone Sily Natury "Mech" in the New Bands and Artists part of the forum, hoping that someone from admins would spot it and deal with it. That hasn't happened though, so I'll mention it again here. Embarrassed

The page concerned is this one: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=107361&PID=5351660#5351660 ("Mech - the other Polish symph prog band" - from July 2016 in the 'Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation' section of the forum). Whenever I open it in Chrome, it immediately downloads the file NVoWViGZwkU.swf to my computer (NVoWViGZwkU being the YouTube identifier for the track 'Atlantis Suite' by the band concerned, which I guess was supposed to have been embedded there). The Chrome browser warns me that the file might be harmful, and asks me if I want to keep it or discard it, so nothing bad actually happens...but I've never encountered anything like this before on PA, so I reckon the coding associated with that particular page needs looking at by somebody there who has the appropriate authority.

Thanks.

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Points: 6777 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 13 2017 at 22:33
Same thing has been happening to me in all sorts of threads. I think that it's been exclusively on pages with embedded youtube videos, and for whatever reason pages that Michael (Aussie-Byrd-Brother) has been posting on seem to be more prone to it. Not to point any fingers! TongueEmbarrassed

The first time I think I got startled and skipped a few heartbeats but now it's more of a nuisance than anything. 


Edited by Magnum Vaeltaja - March 13 2017 at 22:35
when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents
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Points: 6347 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 13 2017 at 22:37
Yeah - it needs fixing, Kevin. Hopefully it won't be long now before someone steps in and does so. Thumbs Up
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 13:21
It's ok on my end.
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

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Points: 6347 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 14:14
Originally posted by Tuzvihar Tuzvihar wrote:

It's ok on my end.

The page still downloads the file for me...What browser are you using, Bartek? Maybe it's just a Google Chrome peculiarity? Ermm
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 14:36
Firefox. That file is a Flash file (http://filext.com/file-extension/SWF). Maybe Google Chrome has some issues with websites using Flash (our main site has a Flash player for playing music e.g.).

BTW, I also use Adblock and Noscript add-ons, so they may suppress it too.


Edited by Tuzvihar - March 14 2017 at 14:41
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

Charles Bukowski
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Points: 6347 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 14:55
Apparently Google Chrome is steering itself away from Flash content in a big way: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/chrome-56-browser-html5-default-flash-block/.

The latest version of Google’s Chrome browser has arrived with the company’s move to disable Adobe Flash Player by default when visiting web pages. Google warned about this feature last August, stating that using HTML5 by default not only creates a safer web browsing experience but is more power efficient too. The Flash-blocking feature recently appeared in the beta version of Chrome 56 and is now available to the masses in this new stable version.

“Today, more than 90 percent of Flash on the web loads behind the scenes to support things like page analytics. This kind of Flash slows you down,” Google said last August. “HTML5 is much lighter and faster, and publishers are switching over to speed up page loading and save you more battery life.”

Google began addressing Flash-based content in September with the release of Chrome 42. The update locked down some Flash content, requiring Chrome users to click on the Flash object to activate. The move to disable Flash content altogether actually arrived in the final version of Chrome 55 released in December 2016, but the feature was only available to one percent of its users.

According to Google, the new HTML5 by default feature will disable all Flash content on a website unless the visitor specifies otherwise, meaning Chrome users can allow the browser to play Flash on sites they trust and visit frequently. Otherwise, Flash content will require the user’s permission to play on sites they are visiting for the first time.

“Flash prompting will only be enabled for sites whose Site Engagement Index (SEI) is below a certain threshold,” Google states. “For Chrome 55, starting in January 2017 prompts will only appear for sites where the user’s SEI is less than one.  That threshold will increase to 100 through October 2017, when all Flash sites will require an initial prompt.”

In other words, by October, all websites will require Chrome users to initially give permission to run Flash-based content on their pages. Google previously said that just by pushing Flash-based content into click-to-play mode, Chrome users saw “an immediate positive impact” due to faster page loads and reduced power consumption.

This probably explains why there are now issues like this appearing with forum pages containing embedded YouTube videos (See Kevin's earlier post here).




Edited by yam yam - March 14 2017 at 14:57
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 15:02
^ Yes, I recall now that I read about it somewhere.
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

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Points: 13627 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 15:51
Originally posted by yam yam yam yam wrote:

Apparently Google Chrome is steering itself away from Flash content in a big way: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/chrome-56-browser-html5-default-flash-block/.

The latest version of Google’s Chrome browser has arrived with the company’s move to disable Adobe Flash Player by default when visiting web pages. Google warned about this feature last August, stating that using HTML5 by default not only creates a safer web browsing experience but is more power efficient too. The Flash-blocking feature recently appeared in the beta version of Chrome 56 and is now available to the masses in this new stable version.

“Today, more than 90 percent of Flash on the web loads behind the scenes to support things like page analytics. This kind of Flash slows you down,” Google said last August. “HTML5 is much lighter and faster, and publishers are switching over to speed up page loading and save you more battery life.”

Google began addressing Flash-based content in September with the release of Chrome 42. The update locked down some Flash content, requiring Chrome users to click on the Flash object to activate. The move to disable Flash content altogether actually arrived in the final version of Chrome 55 released in December 2016, but the feature was only available to one percent of its users.

According to Google, the new HTML5 by default feature will disable all Flash content on a website unless the visitor specifies otherwise, meaning Chrome users can allow the browser to play Flash on sites they trust and visit frequently. Otherwise, Flash content will require the user’s permission to play on sites they are visiting for the first time.

“Flash prompting will only be enabled for sites whose Site Engagement Index (SEI) is below a certain threshold,” Google states. “For Chrome 55, starting in January 2017 prompts will only appear for sites where the user’s SEI is less than one.  That threshold will increase to 100 through October 2017, when all Flash sites will require an initial prompt.”

In other words, by October, all websites will require Chrome users to initially give permission to run Flash-based content on their pages. Google previously said that just by pushing Flash-based content into click-to-play mode, Chrome users saw “an immediate positive impact” due to faster page loads and reduced power consumption.

This probably explains why there are now issues like this appearing with forum pages containing embedded YouTube videos (See Kevin's earlier post here).





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yam yam View Drop Down
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Points: 6347 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 14 2017 at 18:55
^ LOL! I must confess I don't understand the nuts and bolts that lie behind up the Flash and HTML5 players myself either Steve, but I was trying to look for a reason as to why my Google Chrome browser had suddenly started downloading a flash object to my computer from a page on here with a seemingly failed attempt at embedding a YouTube video.

I've just checked the text of his post, and embedded the video there properly...also describing the differences between his and my efforts:

Originally posted by yam yam yam yam wrote:

Originally posted by Hrychu Hrychu wrote:

Hey, guys. So, back in the late 70s Poland there was a band called Zjednoczone Siły Natury Mech, which actually did some neat symphonic prog before they switched to heavy metal and ruined their sound. ;p Check out this wonderful piece - Atlantis Suite.

Unfortunately, they can't be added to the archives due to the fact that they did not release an album in this style.

The video doesn't embed properly using small letters tube and /tube in the square brackets, with the full https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVoWViGZwkU YouTube URL in between them as you have done here, but if you use capital letters - TUBE and /TUBE - and only the 11 digit identifier in between the two sets of square brackets, then it works.


Confused



Strangely the flash object no longer downloads from that page now...so I really DON'T know what the Hell is going on!!! LOL
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