4 ms·

This article is paywalled. I'm not sure what the appropriate response is to that on HN. I'd probably downvote if I could downvote submissions, but flagging see

by Zak 9y ago

This article is paywalled. I'm not sure what the appropriate response is to that on HN. I'd probably downvote if I could downvote submissions, but flagging seems unduly harsh. I found a Chrome extension to bypass the paywall: https://github.com/njuljsong/wsjUnblock https://github.com/njuljsong/wsjUnblock

aluhut 9y ago
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bypasspaywalls/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bypasspaywall... Bypassed the paywall for me on Firefox.
Lariscus 9y ago
The full article is available on archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20171203140509/https://www.wsj.com/articles/german-kindergarten-campouts-test-helicopter-parents-1451338940 https://web.archive.org/web/20171203140509/https://www.wsj.c...
mtmail 9y ago
The https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html says pay-walled articles are fine.
- ricardobeat 9y ago
  I wish HN took a stronger stance on this. It is extremely annoying to get around paywalls on mobile / tablet, where I do 90% of my reading, and you never know before you click.
  - grzm 9y ago
    HN does make the submission source visible, so you can check that before you click. If it's a source you're not familiar with, you might still hit a paywall unexpectedly, but wsj.com (and others, like the Washington Post) come up frequently enough that you generally know before you click through.
    - petre 9y ago
      Just flag it as paywalled. So I don't hit a paywall "unexpectedly". I'd rather not bother clicking at all.
      - dang 9y ago
        (Edit: I think I misread what you meant by 'flagging', since on HN that word means a user clicking a "flag" link to report that a submission is bad for HN.) If you flag stories for that reason you'll eventually lose your flagging rights. HN's policy is: paywalls with workarounds are ok, users can supply workarounds in the threads, but complaints about paywalls and paywall policies are off topic. The paywalls suck, of course, but banning NYT, WSJ, Economist, New Yorker, and all other such publications would suck worse. I realize not everyone agrees with this, but it seems the right call to me, which doesn't mean I like it any more than you do. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html Lots more at https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20paywalls https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&date... if anyone wants to read it.
        grzm 9y ago
        Your parent may be recommending tagging such articles with [paywall] or some such as opposed to clicking “flag”. It certainly could be worded better. I’d rather not see titles further cluttered, personally. The source already effectively provides that, and additional context.
        dang 9y ago
        On a closer reading I think you're right. Edited above. Thanks!
        petre 9y ago
        Precisely. Label them with a paywall tag.
tmalsburg2 9y ago
The correct way to get past a paywall is to pay. If you don't care enough, just move on. There is enough free stuff on the web.
howsilly 9y ago
http://archive.is/2fVwQ http://archive.is/2fVwQ
wolfgke 9y ago
> This article is paywalled. To quote https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14989998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14989998 > If you prepend "facebook.com/l.php?u=" to a wsj link, it will let you read the full article. Like so: > http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-do-you-fix-a-school-bus-problem-call-mit-1502456400 http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how...
dolguldur 9y ago
just prefix the URL with http://facebook.com/l.php?u= http://facebook.com/l.php?u=
- qwertox 9y ago
  Why does this work?
  - Zak 9y ago
    This simulates an outgoing link from an article shared on Facebook. Apparently, the WSJ has chosen not to paywall articles users get to from Facebook shares. Spoofing the referer header to a google search also has this effect, and I think that's what the bypass extension I linked does.
    - c22 9y ago
      It's also what the "web" link on hn lets you do. No crazy add-ons required.
      - Zak 9y ago
        The "web" link does a google search for the headline, which eventually leads to the same result in most cases.
eru 9y ago
Submitter here: sorry for the paywall. (I didn't notice, because I have some extensions to bypass them.)

by Zak 9y ago

aluhut 9y ago

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bypasspaywalls/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bypasspaywall... Bypassed the paywall for me on Firefox.

Lariscus 9y ago

The full article is available on archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20171203140509/https://www.wsj.com/articles/german-kindergarten-campouts-test-helicopter-parents-1451338940 https://web.archive.org/web/20171203140509/https://www.wsj.c...

mtmail 9y ago

The https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html says pay-walled articles are fine.

ricardobeat 9y ago
I wish HN took a stronger stance on this. It is extremely annoying to get around paywalls on mobile / tablet, where I do 90% of my reading, and you never know before you click.
- grzm 9y ago
  HN does make the submission source visible, so you can check that before you click. If it's a source you're not familiar with, you might still hit a paywall unexpectedly, but wsj.com (and others, like the Washington Post) come up frequently enough that you generally know before you click through.
  - petre 9y ago
    Just flag it as paywalled. So I don't hit a paywall "unexpectedly". I'd rather not bother clicking at all.
    - dang 9y ago
      (Edit: I think I misread what you meant by 'flagging', since on HN that word means a user clicking a "flag" link to report that a submission is bad for HN.) If you flag stories for that reason you'll eventually lose your flagging rights. HN's policy is: paywalls with workarounds are ok, users can supply workarounds in the threads, but complaints about paywalls and paywall policies are off topic. The paywalls suck, of course, but banning NYT, WSJ, Economist, New Yorker, and all other such publications would suck worse. I realize not everyone agrees with this, but it seems the right call to me, which doesn't mean I like it any more than you do. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html Lots more at https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment&query=by:dang%20paywalls https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&prefix=false&page=0&date... if anyone wants to read it.
      - grzm 9y ago
        Your parent may be recommending tagging such articles with [paywall] or some such as opposed to clicking “flag”. It certainly could be worded better. I’d rather not see titles further cluttered, personally. The source already effectively provides that, and additional context.
        dang 9y ago
        On a closer reading I think you're right. Edited above. Thanks!
        petre 9y ago
        Precisely. Label them with a paywall tag.

tmalsburg2 9y ago

The correct way to get past a paywall is to pay. If you don't care enough, just move on. There is enough free stuff on the web.

howsilly 9y ago

http://archive.is/2fVwQ http://archive.is/2fVwQ

wolfgke 9y ago

> This article is paywalled. To quote https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14989998 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14989998 > If you prepend "facebook.com/l.php?u=" to a wsj link, it will let you read the full article. Like so: > http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-do-you-fix-a-school-bus-problem-call-mit-1502456400 http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/how...

dolguldur 9y ago

just prefix the URL with http://facebook.com/l.php?u= http://facebook.com/l.php?u=

qwertox 9y ago
Why does this work?
- Zak 9y ago
  This simulates an outgoing link from an article shared on Facebook. Apparently, the WSJ has chosen not to paywall articles users get to from Facebook shares. Spoofing the referer header to a google search also has this effect, and I think that's what the bypass extension I linked does.
  - c22 9y ago
    It's also what the "web" link on hn lets you do. No crazy add-ons required.
    - Zak 9y ago
      The "web" link does a google search for the headline, which eventually leads to the same result in most cases.

eru 9y ago

Submitter here: sorry for the paywall. (I didn't notice, because I have some extensions to bypass them.)