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>I really want a plug that will let me mark sites like Forbes and then decorate any links to it indicating I've already decided I don't want to go there. This w

by Nadya 11y ago

>I really want a plug that will let me mark sites like Forbes and then decorate any links to it indicating I've already decided I don't want to go there. This way Forbes doesn't even get a +1 visit from me. Host file. forbes.com 127.0.0.1 At home I have a giant list of sites I've blocked for this. #Requests I turn off uBlock. Doing them the courtesy of not giving them any traffic instead.

jasonkostempski 11y ago
I've tried some stuff like that but I still accidentally click the links and then get angry for a few minutes afterwards. Maybe I should work on my anger issues instead but that'll take years, if I get the extension working the way I want I expect scanning the front pages of HN and Reddit will take significantly less time and each decorated link will give me a little sense of triumph.
- ktRolster 11y ago
  Yeah, work on your anger issues.
chipperyman573 11y ago
The thing is that actually is a curtesy. If you have your adblocker off, they gain nothing from having you read their article and have to pay for the bandwidth. They don't want your traffic.
- zem 11y ago
  which is great. the idea is not to do them a bad turn, it's just to partition them off into a "doesn't belong on my internet" bin and then let them go their own way.
- Nadya 11y ago
  Yes - and that's the point. I wasn't being sarcastic in my comment of being courteous. I have three options. Ignore their plea, disable my adblock for them, or don't visit at all. They expect me to choose option 2. Out of the other two options, I choose the more courteous one. All it is doing is slowing their death. News which doesn't get consumed will die out. I'm of the opinion that ad-based business models on the internet will not work much longer. I'm of the opinion that only three business models will survive the next decade: 1) Collecting and selling user data in bulk (Massive sites that have access to said data) 2) Paywalls (Most sites) 3) Donations (minority, tight knit communities) Will the web be worse off for it? Potentially. But I see ads as extremely harmful to people and not something to be tolerated regardless of the reason. From the subtle control over peoples' psyche, serving malware, or even being straight up scams... I don't see advertisements as moral and think the world would be better off without them.
fosco 11y ago
speaking of hosts file, here is a pretty good one [0]. albeit it may block more than just ads however I find its nothing I want to see anyway. [0] http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
- miles 11y ago
  You might like Steven Black's hosts file [1] which "consolidates several reputable hosts files, and merges them into a single amalgamated hosts file with duplicates removed." Sources (which can be extended easily) include: The Adaway hosts file, MVPs.org Hosts, Dan Pollock (someonewhocares.org), Malware Domain List, Peter Lowe, and Steven Black's own small list. WestCoastJustin shared a great one-liner [2] for checking the list to make sure there were no nefarious entries; here it is without the unnecessary cat command: grep -v '#' steves_hosts | awk '{print $1}'| sort | uniq -c [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5264955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5264955
  - fosco 11y ago
    Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

by Nadya 11y ago

jasonkostempski 11y ago

I've tried some stuff like that but I still accidentally click the links and then get angry for a few minutes afterwards. Maybe I should work on my anger issues instead but that'll take years, if I get the extension working the way I want I expect scanning the front pages of HN and Reddit will take significantly less time and each decorated link will give me a little sense of triumph.

ktRolster 11y ago
Yeah, work on your anger issues.

chipperyman573 11y ago

The thing is that actually is a curtesy. If you have your adblocker off, they gain nothing from having you read their article and have to pay for the bandwidth. They don't want your traffic.

zem 11y ago
which is great. the idea is not to do them a bad turn, it's just to partition them off into a "doesn't belong on my internet" bin and then let them go their own way.
Nadya 11y ago
Yes - and that's the point. I wasn't being sarcastic in my comment of being courteous. I have three options. Ignore their plea, disable my adblock for them, or don't visit at all. They expect me to choose option 2. Out of the other two options, I choose the more courteous one. All it is doing is slowing their death. News which doesn't get consumed will die out. I'm of the opinion that ad-based business models on the internet will not work much longer. I'm of the opinion that only three business models will survive the next decade: 1) Collecting and selling user data in bulk (Massive sites that have access to said data) 2) Paywalls (Most sites) 3) Donations (minority, tight knit communities) Will the web be worse off for it? Potentially. But I see ads as extremely harmful to people and not something to be tolerated regardless of the reason. From the subtle control over peoples' psyche, serving malware, or even being straight up scams... I don't see advertisements as moral and think the world would be better off without them.

fosco 11y ago

speaking of hosts file, here is a pretty good one [0]. albeit it may block more than just ads however I find its nothing I want to see anyway. [0] http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

miles 11y ago
You might like Steven Black's hosts file [1] which "consolidates several reputable hosts files, and merges them into a single amalgamated hosts file with duplicates removed." Sources (which can be extended easily) include: The Adaway hosts file, MVPs.org Hosts, Dan Pollock (someonewhocares.org), Malware Domain List, Peter Lowe, and Steven Black's own small list. WestCoastJustin shared a great one-liner [2] for checking the list to make sure there were no nefarious entries; here it is without the unnecessary cat command: grep -v '#' steves_hosts | awk '{print $1}'| sort | uniq -c [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5264955 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5264955
- fosco 11y ago
  Awesome! Thanks for sharing!