[tor-talk] memory cached pages should reload instantly-but DON'T

Joe Btfsplk joebtfsplk at gmx.com
Wed May 8 20:21:55 UTC 2013


On 5/7/2013 10:56 PM, David Vorick wrote:
> Are we sure this is a bug? Even when a page is in the cache doesn't it have
> to communicate with the server to verify that the cache hasn't expired?
> Perhaps this is what you are experiencing.
>

Good question.  What do YOU see, when hitting the back button, after 
having left the original page only 5, 15 or 30 sec ago?  Does it take 30 
- 60 sec to reload the original page?

What if a page has ads (whether hidden, blocked or not), that changed 
every few sec?  Would that force (dupe) TBB into completely reloading 
the page?  Many pages have ads that change constantly.  I use AdBlock 
Plus (yeah, I know) - but I'm not in a critical, "my life depends on it" 
anonymity situation.   *Ads + Tor = VERY slow.* I brought this up a 
while ago & we discussed it on this list, ad nauseam.  Even EFF has ads, 
trackers, etc.

Even though the ads are blocked, the scripts on page source have 
changed.  But that means others NOT blocking ads, would STILL be forced 
to reload pages in TBB when hitting back button, because the page's *ads 
changed.*  And it'd seem reloading the page WITH ads displayed would be 
*as slow or slower* than reloading it w/ ads blocked?

But, reloading a TBB page from < 30 sec ago is also mind numbingly 
slow.  Those SAME pages with SAME ads (possibly blocked, that may be 
changing every few sec), still reload almost instantly in Fx.  But... 
that's not going over Tor network.

Back to square one. Do other Windows users w/ fast machines & plenty of 
free bandwidth, if reloading TBB pages from < 1 min ago, with or without 
ads displayed, see it taking 10, 20, 30 sec to reload?  On a VERY 
consistent basis?

Maybe there's an about:config entry - even if must manually add it -  
telling TBB not to reload pages when going back in history, unless... 
(it's > certain age; or some other requirements)?


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