I think you're being a bit harsh on Java (and ActiveX). These allow sites to
> implement dynamic functionality that could otherwise not be implemented or
> could only be implemented much less efficently.
I agree that they can sometimes be useful, and the wimbledon scorecard is quite neat. Likewise cookies can be useful too. However, I would still say that about 98% of the time they are junk! (and for Flash that's conservative, I don't think I've ever seen a use which was worth having.) Try putting the cookie setting to "prompt" some time and see just how many you get ... Even with javascript, look at how slowly a site like
I have the "internet zone" settings with most of these things turned off, the "trusted zone" set to the default for the internet zone, and on the rare occasions when I find a site which needs such things I put them in the trusted zone; I think I've got maybe 20-30 sites there. I also have the google toolbar installed, mainly because it has a popup blocker.