So, I hit the Back button to wend my way back the way I came, but a single click on the back button took me clear back to the home page. I could have sworn I had to go through five rings of hell to get to where I was, but since it was obvious by this time that I was not on a "real" web site I probably shouldn't have expected it to act like a "real" web site and let me follow my breadcrumbs back.

I have a memory issue with my computer which seems to do with the fact that I tend to have about 80 applications open at any one time. It's not uncommon for me to be running Internet Explorer, Photoshop, BBEdit, Outlook Express, and maybe MS Word or Dreamweaver at the same time--not advisable, certainly, but not uncommon.

So what happens is that when I visit a website that has Flash, I get an error message that I don't have enough memory available to load the Flash player. If I absolutely have to see the Flash, I can usually quit IE and restart it, but it's generally not a problem as long as the site has a non-Flash component or is using some kind of sniffer to detect the fact that I can't load Flash. I don't have a problem with Flash, we use it, too. But I do have a problem with a commercial site using a technology that might not be universally usable. What is the point of the site? To impress us, or to sell stuff? Obviously, it's to impress us.

Macromedia apparently doesn't use any sniffer technology or give you any options if you can't use Flash. I was on the site the other day and while there are text links to some of their information, I was presented several times with absolutely blank pages that would have, I guess, have contained content if I had been able to load Flash. I guess if you can't run Flash, you're just out of luck. And here's a question--what if you're visiting Macromedia to download Flash, hm?