Maybe the UK version is different. I really hate the sidebar thing, though. I find it incredibly distracting, and you can't get rid of it. It also locks up my browser half the time. Honestly, when I see a site is hosted at Tripod, I usually avoid it. When I do go there, I use Netscape 3. It has no java, so none of the Tripod's evil banners and popups work.

I haven't seen a FC ad for years. Even lame popup blockers like Webwasher get rid of their popups - and the banners, too. Like all free sites, they have bandwidth limits, but they aren't too obnoxious. I believe you get 3 Gb per month. While Geocities/Tripod has some kind of hourly limit. I hate that. You can go all month with no traffic, but if three people decide to download your video in one hour, bam - you're cut off. :-P

I guess there's no such thing as a free lunch any more...