Heeeellllloooooo.
I have read most of the thread.
Re the auto play debate,I got an off button to me speakers if I don't wanna listen I turns em orf!
I know some of you are having issues cos you are on dial up.
That's a bummer if you cant get broadband,so maybe you could click on the pause button as soon as you see the player is gonna be annoying?
I have had loadsa problems with IE8!
Bloomin' thing and it seems that once on yer system it refuses to leave.
However both Flock and Chrome seem to be very reliable and are free so maybe you could try with those when internet explorer is a pain.