paul wheaton wrote:It sounds like you solved the problem, yes?
I get the impression that you have modified your browser stuff to make the video not appear. Maybe that modification can say "this big gray box is where you turned off the video stuff!"?
I use NoScript to only turn on scripting when specifically permitted for a site. Unfortunately it does not offer customization like you mention.
I was thinking of something along the lines of the alt tags that are used for graphics.