Not feeling terribly Web 2.0-aware? Consider checking out some of these sites. Maybe you'll get a better reaction next time! ;)
Part disturbing, part humour, this is a built-overnight, fun "Web 2.0 Awareness Test" based on a combination of CSS and Javascript which allows a site to programmatically determine if a link has been visited before.
I was inspired by an e-mail I got which mentioned the idea, and went to build an example that would be light and humorous.
General privacy disclaimer: Your link "history" is not being logged or saved here, but if you're concerned about privacy in general on the web, I'd be worried about a lot more than just Javascript. ;)
Also, this only checks the root of each site (ie. example.com or www.example.com) - so it won't be terribly accurate.
CSS' visited: pseudo-class can assign a particular style attribute which can be detected by Javascript.
A random number of prominent Web 2.0 sites and services (read: bookmarks, and ones off the top of my head) were picked and thrown in a list - your score will be determined based on which ones you appear to have visited.
Somewhat regrettably, technology can always be used for good or evil. It's a wild world wide web - walk carefully and carry a well-configured .. firewall .. or something.
To be clear, this is not a new technique; it was probably first done in 2000, perhaps earlier.
Scott Schiller (contact info) writes Javascript and makes browsers jump through hoops for a living. He is a self-professed "DHTML + Web Standards Evangelist", dislikes pop-ups, spam and disapproves of the general mis-use of technology for doing evil.
Scott would like to add that this is for demonstration and entertainment purposes only, and while he loves the web and building cool stuff, this page is intended primarily to be seen as some light-hearted mockery of the "web 2.0" meme. In his opinion the new web is fun and exciting, but "don't believe the hype."
The opinions expressed here are those of Scott Schiller and are not necessarily in agreement nor representative of the opinions of his employers, past, present or future.