IE8 Developer Tools is good for debugging also.

The problem is that you can't just disable some of the Javascript methods and access without breaking other, useful Javascripts. For example disabling the ability to cause rollovers within text may affect how menus work elsewhere.

The problem is also not limited to Javascript. For example, you can hide ads and other obnoxious content within hidden CSS layers that show up in a hover effect.

One solution is to just stop the ads and content before it even arrives at the webpage. Look up "hosts file" on google and you'll find links to hosts files that block the majority of ad vendors and malicious websites. Unless the ads are hosted on the site itself (and they rarely are), the ads will be blocked, including the javascript files that drive them. I know that the INQ, BBC, CNN, and other sites are far more pleasant to browse with their ads blocked.

Opera 9.64 and Opera 10 b2 have pretty powerful js debugger called Dragonfly. Author forgot to mention it.

Unfortunately, disabling Javascript is not a solution as many webpages depend on it for media content, unless of course you just want to read text. And disabling Javascript was the very first thing that I tried.

"Also, when your mouse looses [sp] its 'scroll' focus and stops, did you notice you can move the mouse to the left or right and continue without having to touch the scroll bar?"

Ummm...Andy my boy, that simply does not work when the whole window is locked down.

@Tzvetan Mikov - Are you suggesting that I manually debug every webpage that I visit to circumvent these idiotic locks and functions?

Both of you guys are missing the point entirely. Why should anyone have to dance around these insipid hidden bombs just to be able to read or view content on a webpage? Do you like it when suddenly your mouse seems to malfunction? How about when they also lock or disable standard windows functionality? Some of these have no rational reason for being implemented, especially when they're not ad related. What we're seeing is the beginning of an ominous trend by website designers that needs to be addressed now, before it gets much worse. And it will get worse.

I invite you to go to www.msnbc.com then click on the 'msnbc tv' and play around for a while. Watch a few video clips. Be warned that if you're using Internet Explorer you will more than likely have to suffer through a boring pre-video ad each time. This is an MSN based website and the Vole has incorporated all of the aforementioned despicable tricks. An interesting aside is that they give you the option to disable flyouts in the left hand menu bar, but it doesn't apply to the ads listed directly underneath.

A final thought. The only websites I've visited that limit or disable standard windows functions are Microsoft based. Think hard now. What is the original premise for the WINDOWS operating system? Did you get the hint? That's right sports fans, resizable and movable windows. Ironic that the Vole is circumventing the very feature that helped put Microsoft on the GUI map.

Again, a call to arms. If anyone knows how to counter this foolishness please advise. I'm not looking for programming tips, but a solution for everyone, casual user and Internet junkie alike.

You can also debug JavaScript with IntelliJ IDEA. Not free, but an excellent IDE.

How is it that you havn't learned how to turn off java script?

Also, when your mouse looses its 'scroll' focus and stops, did you notice you can move the mouse to the left or right and continue without having to touch the scroll bar?

Javascript makes me want to scream bloody freakin' murder. Why, you ask? Well, since you insist I'll tell you. Javascript, by its very reason for being, has way too much control over the poor hapless schmuck behind the mouse perusing the web. Let's talk about a few shining examples.

In my mind the number one most heinous Javascript development is the Mouseover/Flyout/Rollover abomination from Hell that has just recently become mainstream. Its sole purpose is to repeatedly assault the unwary web traveler who inadvertently allows his mouse pointer to stray over one of the many embedded booby traps in a growing number of web pages, The Inquirer included. It is especially nauseating while reading an interesting article and then while scrolling down to read more suddenly an ad page explodes into view concealing the original article and breaking the train of thought. What manner of sub-human vermin from Hades thought up this web based crime against humanity?

The second one is not as common but equally as frustrating. I don't know what it's officially called but it is another embedded devilish wonder. Here's how it works. You're scrolling down a webpage with your mouse scroll wheel and suddenly the mouse pointer freezes. If you're like me the first time or two it happens you're thinking WTF?!! Is my mouse dying? No, it seems fine now. Then later it happens again and again and again. Of course, the pointer only stops over an embedded ad to get your attention. Well, I don't think the response from me was quite what they had in mind as I almost sailed the misbehaving rodent across the room while cursing loudly enough to wake the dead.

The third one is the idiotic webpage lock or locks that some websites are incorporating. Let's say you want to view a video or a series of videos linked to a certain website. You click on the link and the page opens as expected. The only problem is the video is small in size with much wasted space and you want to shrink the window size because maybe you want to monitor live stock quotes in another small window at the same time but you can't. Why? It's because that functionality has been removed from the webpage with the embedded video.

This last example is sort of linked to the previous one. You're watching the aforementioned video in the locked window and you notice there are thumbnail previews below so you decide to scroll down and preview them. Nope, not gonna happen as they've again locked the scroll wheel function. You have to manually use the scroll bar to advance to the bottom of the webpage. Once there the scroll wheel magically regains its composure and works fine. This last asinine assault is fairly benign but you ask yourself who is the miscreant from the nether regions that came up with this gleaming example of web based excrement?!

Do you see a pattern here? We are slowly losing our surfing rights as some psychopathic Javascript programmers become more well versed at making the perusing experience an ad based web surfing nightmare. And I haven't found any workarounds for any of these blights, except to switch to Firefox from I.E. 7 and/or 8 and install the Adblock Plus add-on. That one blocks the ads, effectively disabling ad flyouts, but some websites use flyouts for non-ad-based functionality so they're not affected.

I’m not a Javascript programmer and have no idea what it will take to disable these embedded functions or restore webpage functionality; however, Javascript seems to be tailored to individual website design, not a global defense against such shenanigans. One thing I can promise you is that the situation will only get worse as website owners try to extract more revenue at any cost. I invite anyone and everyone to step up and help nip this insipid and disgusting trend in the bud.

I could've done with this article three years ago, it would've saved me an afternoon of googling.

oh well

Netbeans will allow you do to do client side AND server side debugging in most languages too. For free and, surprisingly, no agenda, on most platforms.