How should I solve Chrome's XMLHttpRequest intrusive 'loading' behavior?

Here's a problem Google can't answer. I'm doing some HTTP "long polling" with XMLHttpRequest for a multiplayer game. In Chrome, this causes the tab to always be "loading" : (1) the icon in the tab is开发者_StackOverflow社区 constantly playing the loading animation (2) the cursor is constantly an hourglass (3) the status persists forever at the bottom of the view area saying "contacting localhost"

I was sure others have run into this, but I can't find them yet.

Try starting the first long poll slightly after the page loads, rather than directly in the page load event (use a short timeout triggered on page load). It seems like you need to give Chrome a few milliseconds to regain it's composure so it doesn't constantly look like it's loading.