I stumbled upon something by accident that I can't reproduce on purpose by any other means. I guess I could reproduce it, but I'd need to disable javascript in my browser.
But the point is, it doesn't reveal itself in the natural course of viewing the website, at least, not to me. I used both Firefox 3 and IE 7.
And I have an older Netscape browser that I use when I don't want any surprises to execute. And that is how I saw what I saw: Naked Twitter.
FYI, I even have an old Stereopt-O-scope®, or in generic terms, a form of Stereoscope for viewing the Web. The Stereopt-O-scope was developed in 1902 for "viewing electromagnetic pulse-waves emitted from the transfer of high-frequency data packages over the air" (U.S. Pat. Reg. 652281093).
These goggles are made of an unknown alloyed metal with one each 20-sided and one 7-sided (not round), convex glass lens and can be secured around the viewer's head with leather straps. The images from the goggles are never as clear as today's Internet browsers, being like refracted light through a prism, but they are completely wireless and can view a variety of wave spectrums utilizing the human body's natural electrical impulses for power. I got them from my grandfather who won them in a game of marbles. They're antiques, so I only use them view cell phone conversations in the library.
Now, again, this might be completely common to your experience, but it isn't to mine.
When I view the Twitter home page (before log in), I see the trending topics displayed like this, as a set of links with no mouseover information or pop-ups or anything:
But when I view Twitter with javascript disabled, I see the same page displayed like this:
POPULAR TOPICS BY THE MINUTE, DAY, AND WEEK
Happy Friendship Day
#sexcup
#iranelection A large percentage of the Iranian population disputes the election of President Ahmadinejad, believing the election rigged. A "Sea of Green" took to the streets (and internet) to protest.
#ashes The Ashes is a cricket Test series (the longest and most prestigious form of the sport of cricket) played between England and Australia.
Harry Potter The sixth movie in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) is in theaters. Also, July 31 is his birthday.
Kris Aquino
Michael Jackson
Iraq
Kyle & Jackie O
Gulf War
AT&T People are complaining about and reporting AT&T network issues, especially since it is the only carrier for the iPhone.
Harry Potter The sixth movie in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) is in theaters. Also, July 31 is his birthday.
#iranelection A large percentage of the Iranian population disputes the election of President Ahmadinejad, believing the election rigged. A "Sea of Green" took to the streets (and internet)
to protest.
Drake
Google Voice July 27th: Apple blocks Google Voice applications from the iPhone app store.
Corazon Aquino
Follow Friday A meme wherein users recommend other users to follow on Fridays.
GoodNight
Cory Aquino
Apple The official Apple iDisk app was released July 29, 2009.
iPhone
#australiawantsjonas
Harry Potter The sixth movie in the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) is in theaters. Also, July 31 is his birthday.
#iranelection A large percentage of the Iranian population disputes the election of President Ahmadinejad, believing the election rigged. A "Sea of Green" took to the streets (and internet)
to protest.
AT&T People are complaining about and reporting AT&T network issues, especially since it is the only carrier for the iPhone.
Comic-Con Comic-Con is a huge annual convention in San Diego that happened July 23 - 26, 2009.
#musicmonday On Mondays people often post a song they are listening to and tag it #musicmonday.
#mussumday Mussum (Antônio Carlos Bernardes Gomes), a Brazilian actor and musician, is being remembered by fans on the 15th anniversary of his death (July 29).
Follow Friday A meme wherein users recommend other users to follow on Fridays.
Beer Summit
RIP Sir Bobby Robson Bobby Robson was a successful football (soccer) manager who took England to the world cup semi finals; he died today at 76.
Adam Lambert Runner-up on the 2009 season of American Idol. On July 28, it was rumored that he had an armed stalker in Tampa, Florida show up at the American Idol tour.
Mercury
Blue M&Ms Recent research has indicated that BBG (the dye used to color blue M&Ms) may help those with spine injuries recover more fully.
Look at all those descriptions! There's no way I would know what "mussumday" is without that useful explanation. So why would I click if I don't know what to expect?
Do you see all this trending topic context information when you visit Twitter? The only way I see it is to disable scripts. If you do see it with the basic settings in your browser, what settings do you use?
And if you don't, if none of us do, then why not? Why would Twitter hide this?
To me, it was like viewing another world. A world that wears polka-dot panties.
