How Should I Frame My Question?

[Bad Brad]

Hi, Rick!

I've been studying the element hiding resources you referred me to. I thought I found a really simple site to practice on, but...

Already I'm stumped (which shouldn't really be a surprise...)!

BTW, for reference I *am* highly skilled at programming directly in machine code and assembly language for the ancient CPUs from the 6800 through the 68040 series, as well as industrial ladder logic for process controllers (a.k.a. PLCs). (Remember, I've been retired for quite a while now!) I know just enough about HTML to be dangerous! I intend to learn enough to become good at it.

Please look at ACME Mapper 2.0 (http://mapper.acme.com) with no filters.

You'll see a fixed size box containing text based Google Ads in the upper right hand corner. (It *is* a "powered by Google" site after all.)

When I examine it from Safari, control-clicking anywhere in the box instantly reveals that it is a Frame, and offers to reveal the source code. Selecting that, one learns that the contents are coming from http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/ads? followed by randomly selected strings that link to a particular advertisement.

Going back to Firefox 2, the box is still there but empty. Upon reviewing the "Blockable items (detached)" page there are no red lines lit up. What the H***? To make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot, I review which sites I've blocked previously using the Exceptions... feature in Preferences>Content>images:
farsight.decisionmark.com
load2load.net
doubleclick.net
advertising.com
BTW, all of these were set before I discovered AdBlock Plus. Any way, the point is, none of these relate to the problem I'm having now.

On a hunch that maybe the ads are driven by a Java Script, I disable NoScript, relaunch Fx2, and reopen ACME Mapper 2.0.

Sure enough, now the Blockable Items page has http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js red-lined thanks to the "http://pagead2" trap. And the text ads *are* still gone, leaving only a 100% transparent box where the ads were.

So far so good, right?

Well in the normal course of browsing, one just looks at stuff and a 100% transparent box would be Okay fine. If it didn't have the hairline border you might never know it was there. But ACME Mapper is unusual in that the user could double-click any pixel in the map to re-center it and/or learn the latitude (Lat) and longitude (Lon) represented by that pixel. (Try it and notice how the green control box at the bottom of the screen changes. Click the spinning earth to hide/show the control box.) Sadly, the nearly invisible box prevents clicking any pixels behind it.

So, what is my problem? I don't know enough about element hiding to fix it (yet...), but now that I understand the overall problem, I don't think other users should have to wait for me to get my act together. Therefore, would you mind fixing it now? I'll try to find something unimportant to practice on.

Thanks in advance,
Brad

P.S.: For the benefit of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) Receiver users who may have landed here after a Google Search:

ACME Mapper 1 (http://mapper1.acme.com) and ACME Mapper 2.0 (http://mapper.acme.com) are, AFAIK, unique among the dozens of web based maps, in that they were designed specifically to cater to the needs of GPSR users. My GPSR is a Magellan SporTrak Pro, a WAAS-corrected model, which is capable of consistently placing me within 10 feet of the true location if there is an airport nearby. Even without the benefit of a nearby airport, it almost always places me with 30 feet of the truth.

Normally when you look up a street address on a web-based mapper (e.g. http://www.mapquest.com), software called a geocoder (e.g. http://www.geocode.com) uses USPS Zip code data to generate estimated Lat & Lon, which the mapper then uses to show you the proper zone. (Hint: Entering just the Zip+4 is much easier and will get you the same answer as typing the whole address.) Geocoders are usually close (within a couple hundred feet) but practically never exact, frequently putting you on the wrong side of the street or the wrong end of the block. In many thousands of tests I personally conducted while traveling across the southern half of USA, I have only seen an exact hit once! On several occasions the error has been several hundred *yards*, and once was way more than a mile off, having sent me to the wrong end of town! (In fairness, I suspect the USPS data is at fault, not the geocoder software.)

ACME Mapper was created to, among other things, circumnavigate this problem. It too uses a geocoder to find the correct map. Upon arriving at the correct map, zoom in as much as you can. Then locate the exact spot you want visually from the map and double-click it. Voila! If you are using a 1 meter per pixel or higher resolution map, the *true* coordinates are displayed to 5 decimal points, accurate to +/- 3.7 feet or better in most cases. In limited testing (I only just found this site a week ago) I have not found a single mistake yet, which is already a radically better performance than the geocoder alone. (You must understand: the geocoder is as inaccurate as ever. It is the double-clicked points which are dead on.)

[rick752]

That's weird .... enabling Firebug causes the text box to vanish here. As I thought, the ad box uses a floating layer. So I found it the old fashioned way ... looked in the source code.

It was pretty easy to find a hide for it. It's the second tag under the <body> tag ... and it was pretty self explanatory too:

Code: Select all

mapper.acme.com#div(id=ad)

Needless to say, though, that one probably wasn't a first, best choice to start on ... trying to block something on a dynamic page.

[Bad Brad]

... probably wasn't a first, best choice to start on ... trying to block something on a dynamic page.

But it *LOOKED* sooo... easy... Duh!

Thanks for fixing it!

Brad

P.S.: to any GPSR user(s) who might be looking here for help:

It appears I overlooked an *important* detail when I said:

(Hint: Entering just the Zip+4 is much easier and will get you the same answer as typing the whole address.)

I've used that shortcut many hundreds of times with other mappers and never noticed a problem. Apparently Google Maps, which "powers" ACME Mapper 2.0 (but *not* ACME Mapper 1), is using a different geocoder. Out of several dozen tests, 4 of them were way off! So BEWARE of the Zip+4 shortcut when using ACME Mapper 2.0. It is (sadly) NOT reliable.

I *am* bummed out about this coz I love that shortcut!