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It's frustrating how difficult it can be to escape the news, which is almost always some political outrage. Almost every remote server I log into has MSNBC set

It's frustrating how difficult it can be to escape the news, which is almost always some political outrage. Almost every remote server I log into has MSNBC set as the default homepage for the browser. Which means even while at work I'm treated to political outrage. It only takes a second to close but the exposure has already been done. And then there are all manner of public spaces that have some cable news channel babbling on. Same for restaurants. Can't even escape it at sports bars now that sports channels have become political operations. Hiking seems to be the best way to escape it.

rdiddly 7y ago
I remember that - spinning up a remote and there's MSNBC showing some outrage... seriously traumatic ones in some cases. And in keeping with one of the points made in this article, I don't remember what they were! But I do remember thinking "Jeez there are probably people out there just letting themselves be bombarded with this" and feeling pity and a little bit of contempt for them. But then there are plenty of outrages reported here on HN too - enough to make you start believing everything has been breached/exploited, your every move is under surveillance, etc.
dredmorbius 7y ago
OT: what's the context for remote servers having browsers configured to specific news sources? This strikes me as bizarre.
- shantly 7y ago
  May mean the MSN homepage. IE, maybe Edge (dunno) could have those set as the default.
  - Mountain_Skies 7y ago
    Yes, that's correct. For most Windows Server boxes, everything is designed to work in IE and it is guaranteed to exist on the box. MSN is Microsoft's choice as the default homepage for their browsers and MSN, or at least the page that is the default homepage, is typically stuffed with articles and photos chosen to solicit engagement, usually thorough provoking outrage. It has no place in a business environment. Boxes under my control, which aren't many, get duckduckgo set as the homepage.
    - malvosenior 7y ago
      I also didn’t know why a remote server would have news on it. The worlds of Linux and Windows server administration are so far apart as to be unrecognizable to each other.

rdiddly 7y ago

I remember that - spinning up a remote and there's MSNBC showing some outrage... seriously traumatic ones in some cases. And in keeping with one of the points made in this article, I don't remember what they were! But I do remember thinking "Jeez there are probably people out there just letting themselves be bombarded with this" and feeling pity and a little bit of contempt for them. But then there are plenty of outrages reported here on HN too - enough to make you start believing everything has been breached/exploited, your every move is under surveillance, etc.

dredmorbius 7y ago

OT: what's the context for remote servers having browsers configured to specific news sources? This strikes me as bizarre.

shantly 7y ago
May mean the MSN homepage. IE, maybe Edge (dunno) could have those set as the default.
- Mountain_Skies 7y ago
  Yes, that's correct. For most Windows Server boxes, everything is designed to work in IE and it is guaranteed to exist on the box. MSN is Microsoft's choice as the default homepage for their browsers and MSN, or at least the page that is the default homepage, is typically stuffed with articles and photos chosen to solicit engagement, usually thorough provoking outrage. It has no place in a business environment. Boxes under my control, which aren't many, get duckduckgo set as the homepage.
  - malvosenior 7y ago
    I also didn’t know why a remote server would have news on it. The worlds of Linux and Windows server administration are so far apart as to be unrecognizable to each other.