[emacdona]

Yeah. I immediately went to the snowflake icon at the top of the page thinking it would turn the animation off. Instead, it changed the background color :-(

I can't stand animations while I'm trying to read something, and this one is particularly egregious.

[oneeyedpigeon]

It change the background color AND turns off the animation.

(TBF, it slowly fades the animation out, probably for aesthetic reasons, to avoid a jarring sudden stop. I do agree, though, that a sudden stop would probably be more appropriate in this context)

[scythmic_waves]

Ohhh thank you! I thought the same as the parent comment: I expected that button to turn off the animation immediately. I guess the author wanted the yellow background to "melt" the snowflakes?

[euroderf]

> I can't stand animations while I'm trying to read something, and this one is particularly egregious.

Let me introduce you to "neko"...

[joombaga]

Please do! You put an ellipsis where an interesting explanation could go.

[euroderf]

Japanese for "cat". Small programs to add a tiny cat that runs to your cursor and then naps - until another cursor move.

There's also JS to add a neko to a webpage.

Cute, but also not good when trying to focus on reading.

[nkrisc]

I’ve seen some blogs linked here on HN that do that. It’s so incredibly obnoxious if you have any difficulties with visual processing.

I’m trying to read but my eyes keep jumping to the movement and I lose my place.

I understand people think it’s “fun” but I think it’s just so disrespectful to the reader.

[abanana]

Hah, that's a blast from the past! You've reminded me of "Ameko", which added a little cat to the Amiga Workbench, walking around over the windows. I think I had it from a magazine coverdisk.