A Short Note About The Necessary Evil of Pop-Up Advertisements

    If you made it this far, you've no doubt had to suffer the distraction of a pop-up advertisement.  These usually spring forward every 3rd time you access a new page.  I don't particularly like it, but I don't have much choice in the matter.  Tripod, the free website provider on which my pages reside, gives me two options -- use pop-up ads that occur about every 3 "clicks", or display banner ads at the top and bottom of ALL my pages.  Because I believe ever-present banner ads are distracting, annoying and only slightly more visually appealing than a pile of garbage, I have opted for the pop-up option on behalf of the users.
    For those of you who have used this site from the beginning (in 1993), you'll recall that the pages used to reside on my University's server.  While I was a student, this served everyone very well.  There were no advertisements, no expenses incurred and I could easily update the material.  However, after graduating in 1995, it become increasingly difficult to update and maintain the material remotely, which was necessary as I now had only limited access to the University's servers.  So, I decided to move my site to one of the free web-service providers and, ultimately, decided to go with Tripod.
    While I'm now able to update and maintain my site with a regularity that I had not enjoyed for quite a while, I also must succumb to Tripod's need to make money.  Everybody loves free content, but very few wish to help pay for it all (including me).  I would much rather endure the occasional pop-up ad, though, than see the end of a "free" internet.