#I was there gandalf three thousand years ago lmao

[antheraea]

Flash Was Killed Because It Was Objectively Dangerous

I get it, I get the Flash nostalgia and the fondness for old Flash games. I was big on Neopets before they decided to ruin the art and make all the pets samey paper dolls to play dressup with (completely ruining the point of the far more expensive "redraw" colors like Mutant and Faerie and Desert). I have fond memories of Newgrounds games and I even managed to take a class for a semester in high school where I could learn flash.

But I also remember how terrible it was. And you should too.

Leaving aside all of the issues involving performance and inaccessibility (such as being easily broken by bog-standard browser actions like the back button, and its ability to modify web code AND OS code in real time likely broke a lot of accessibility tech too), Flash was legitimately one of the most dangerous web technologies for the end user. An end-user is you, or more specifically back then, child-you.

According to Wikipedia and its sources, Flash Player has over a thousand vulnerabilities known and listed and over 800 of these lead to arbitrary code execution.

What is arbitrary code execution? That's when someone can just run any commands they want on a machine or program that didn't intend it. A fun way to see this is in this infamous Pokemon tool-assisted speedrun where they manage to get an SNES to show the host's twitch chat in real time. It's not so fun though when it's someone stealing all the files on your computer, grabbing your credentials so they could clean out your Neopets account (yes, really, it was a pretty common concern at the time), and other nefarious works. Also, there was a time where it allowed people to spy on you with your webcam and microphone.

Oh and on top of all of this, Flash had its own "flash cookies", which could not be cleared by ordinary means and thus could be used to track users indefinitely, at least until Adobe slapped a bandaid over it by introducing yet another screen an ordinary person wouldn't know to use. (I assume this is how the infamous neopets "cookie grabbers" worked, so they could get into your account. This is mainly what I remember about using Flash back in the early 2000s lol) So it not only was a "stranger taking over your machine" concern, but a bog-standard privacy concern too, arguably a precursor to our current panopticon internet landscape, where greedy websites would track you because they could and maybe get some money out of it, facilitated by this technology.

When Apple decided to block it, it wasn't out of greed; Steve Jobs cited its abysmal performance and security record, among other issues such as an inherent lack of touchscreen support, and Apple cited specific vulnerability use-cases when blocking specific versions before they nuked it entirely. When Mozilla, who makes Firefox, decided to block it, it's not like they would've gotten money out of doing so, or by offering an alternative; they did so because it is fucking dangerous.

Your ire and nostalgia is misplaced. Flash was not killed by our current shitty web practices that ruin unique spaces and fun games. Flash was killed because both Macromedia (its original developers) and Adobe were incapable of making it safe, if that was even possible, and it was killed after third-parties, in an unprecedented gesture, collectively threw their hands up and said enough.

Well, that and HTML5 being developed and becoming more widespread, being able to do everything Flash can do without being a pox on technology. One could argue that you should bemoan the lack of Flash-to-HTML5 conversion efforts, but that requires asking a lot of effort of people who would have to do that shit for free...and if they have to run Flash to do so, opening themselves up to some of the nastiest exploits on the internet.

Nostalgia is a fucking liar. The games themselves I think are worth having nostalgia over (look, I still find myself pining for that one bullet hell Neopets made and Hannah and the Pirate Caves), but Flash itself deserves none of that, and absolutely deserved to be put in the fucking ground. You're blaming the wrong causes. It was terrible.

(specifics and sources found via its wikipedia page, which has a lot more than is mentioned here. and also my own opinions and experiences back then. lol)

[lildemongf]

Thanks @rawrew for tagging me!!! I love these ask games!!!

Answer 30 questions and tag 10 people

1. Nickname: Lu, Lulu, Loci (but not like, the greek word kajskajakajaka)

2. Gender: im a little heart shaped candy but you can say im a woman too

3. Star sign: Scorpio 💕

4. Height: 159 cm (Im smol but not that smol)

5. Time: 2:28 pm

6. Brithday: November 11h

7. Fave bands and solo artists: p!atd, air supply, lana del rey, marina, kings of leon, death cab for cutie, bryan adams. Theres more but I cant remember now akhskahskahs

9. Song stuck in your head: dont matter by Akon hahahahha

10. Last movie I've watched: Gone Girl (for the 98273 time)

11. Last show I've watched: Young Justice

12. When did u create this blog: I was there Gandalf, I was there three thousand years ago. I was there the day the strength of Men failed and the Mishapocalypse happened.

lmao I have this blog since 2011 loooool

13. What do u post: I shitpost a lot??? Sometimes naughty stuff 👀 but basically anything I like. This blog is a MESS

14. Last thing u googled: baby wallaby average weight (i cant remember why i was looking for that information aksjakshka)

15. Do u have other blogs: no sideblogs. we die like men.

16. Do u get any asks: sometimes kahskahskajakajaja i love my followers they send some weird stuff hahaha

17. Why did u choose your url: i picked a nickname and merged with the word palooza because for some reason I love that word?? but I thought it would be funnier if I did the loser thingy because I'm dumb lmao

18. Following blogs: 1233 lmaoo

19. Followers: 5168 💕💕💕💕💕💕 WHERE DID YOU PEOPLE COME FROM I LOVE ALL OF YOU

20. Fave colours: PINK, red, blue, black, white and olive green

21. Average amount of sleep: what a weird question...

22. Piercing: YES!! Nose piercing, two on my mouth and nipples babey

23. Instruments: I know how to play a thing or two on the guitar

24. What are u wearing: My Slytherin pjs 🐍

25. How many blankets do u sleep with: now just one because is summer here

26. Dream job: Not sure yet but I want to work on a crime related field (but definitely not the police)

27. Dream trip: GREECE, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, all South and Central America

28. Fav food: palm heart stroganoff (brazilian style), cheese lmao, cold tea

29. Nationality: Brazilian!!

30. Current fave song: no money by kings of leon

~~~

For this little thing I tag @baeson-todd @nutellakittyy @vanillahoneybush @solmelancolico @gusty-ninja @therealfullmetalalchemist @someoneworthfinding @pineappleslapper @misslolitadelrey @wildbuttsex @ageofshield 💕💕