Ever since Firefox 2.0 (if I remember correctly), the address bar keyword lookup feature has spoiled me rotten. Who needs to type .com anymore? And if I don't know the site address for, say, OfficeMax, Google does, and it's perfectly happy to oblige my laziness by taking me straight to http://www.officemax.com/ when all I typed into the Firefox address bar was `officemax'. This is just one of the features Firefox sports that I love, but it's the subject of todays rant. Why is it that companies think that I won't mind if the completely break this feature? For quite some time I used OpenDNS. I bragged about it, suggested it to friends, and even set clients up with it by default when I set up their shiny new networks. I loved the keywords feature, where you could just type in `g' and have OpenDNS point you to google.com, or the filtering, or the up-to-the-minute DNS resolution (which is essential for someone like me who builds websites. I can't afford 12 hours for my DNS servers to resolve my nameserver changes). All of the sudden OpenDNS decided to start intercepting my keyword searches. At first if I searched for a keyword that wasn't in OpenDNS, they would just return the error that there's no such url, and Firefox would handle it properly by either taking me to the Feeling Lucky result, or a Google search. Now they forward you to their own ad-ridden (ED: ads have been reported removed) Yahoo search page. It's ugly, cumbersome, and breaks my workflow. Yes, it throws off my groove. I hate it when things throw off my groove. People came up with workarounds, such as removing bits of the url Firefox uses for keyword searched, but since then OpenDNS has actively and aggressively intercepted keyword searches for their own gain. Did they think I would be okay with that? Did they think that most people would? I'm done with OpenDNS, and happy to say it, but it doesn't end there. My ISP down here is Sudden Link Communications, formerly Cox Communications, my friend in the digital age. Sudden Link is a fitting name, considering how often I find myself suddenly without any link to the net. What's worse is their slogan: "Easy as counting to one". I suppose this is also fitting considering their tech and customer support can barely do even that. So Suddenlink gets the bright idea that they should start implementing their own Awesomebar-breaking search page. Of course, they provide the ability to "opt out" of this `service', but every time they add something to the search page, or change the design, they force it on me again, despite having it completely disabled in the preferences page. So my question is this: why? Do companies not realize that we like things to work they way they were intended to? Do they think we'll like their crappy alternate search? Could they not at least provide a Google search page to try to make people feel like they at least care whether or not the results they're shoving down our throats are good or not? I suppose it all comes down to the little sliver of money they'll make from the people that just deal with it, but that's not good. Those of us who care need to let these companies know that we don't want them breaking our workflow for their gain. Dear OpenDNS and Sudden Link, don't break my Awesomebar!

Note: I have written Sudden Link about the issue. Their response is that they "don't support Firefox" but "some of their techs" have heard of the browser. I was then told to call tech support about the issue. I'll update with their response later.