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To continue reading for FREE, please sign up. A free account provides you access to two articles each month ... By creating a free account, you are agre

To continue reading for FREE, please sign up. A free account provides you access to two articles each month ... By creating a free account, you are agreeing to receive updates and special offers from The Chronicle and our selected partners. I'm sure it's an interesting article and a fine publication, but I'm not signing up. I have more than enough to read, things that I know are of direct value to me ... I'm not going to sign up so I can read something "on spec". This is a dilemma I grapple with regularly. People need to be paid for the things of value they produce, but it's hard to me to find things that are valuable, and then pay for them. I do subscribe to things, and I make regular contributions to a few people and organisations, but it creates an echo chamber. This is a hard problem to solve ... I wish I could see a way to make things better.

exar0815 5y ago
Well, in 90% of the cases, outline.com helps. I am actually astonished that it isn't more well known. https://outline.com/7rk42F https://outline.com/7rk42F
- ColinWright 5y ago
  Yes, there are ways of getting around the blocks (and thank you for this one) but it still leaves the larger problem unsolved. I'd be happy to pay for things I find valuable, but there's no way to find them easily, and having found them, no way to pay confidently, certain that (a) the money goes to the people dong the work, and (b) you don't then get harassed endlessly.
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  Archive.is; if I ran a site like HN I would put every paywalled article through it.
- Phithagoras 5y ago
  Sometimes hitting ctrl A, then ctrl x then pasting to a word doc will do the trick too
jokethrowaway 5y ago
Ublock Origin + pausing JS (they reset scrolling) does the trick I agree, it would be nice to have micropayments. At the same time, if they want to be indexed (which increases their reach) they need to publish the entire article and then try to trick people in the browser with JS.
- ColinWright 5y ago
  Thanks for the reply, but you're assuming I know something about using the web console. I effectively know nothing about web technologies. And to be honest, while it would be nice to know about such things, I really don't have the time to start learning about them. I have no intrinsic interest in them, and the benefits would be minimal. I have other things to stretch me, other things that I want to learn, and other things that I need to learn.
  - basch 5y ago
    Any browser or extension that has a block javascript button does the trick. It's a nice one click button to have at hand. Despite some uproar, Brave is still probably the best "it just works" script+cookie+ad blocking browser. Click the shield, click off scripts. There are many less dials to tweak, less things to go wrong or interact poorly than with uBlock/NoScript.
paulcole 5y ago
> I have more than enough to read, things that I know are of direct value to me ... I'm not going to sign up so I can read something "on spec". This isn’t the solution you want but it is the obvious solution. Don’t sign up and don’t read it! Don’t use “hacks” and “cheats” to get around paywalls.
- ColinWright 5y ago
  Indeed, that is exactly the "solution" I have deployed in this case. But you seem to have missed my point. Mostly it's not hard to circumvent the existing paywalls, and mostly it's not hard to sign up blind for things, and certainly you can just close the window and move on. But I'm not complaining about paywalls, I'm identifying the compound problem of producers wanting payment, readers wanting to be able to pay when they know it's worth it, readers being unwilling to sign up to things without first evaluating them, and all the while enabling readers to find and evaluate that content.
ltae 5y ago
Disable Javascript for that site (or entirely, if you don't feel like you'll miss out on much).

exar0815 5y ago

Well, in 90% of the cases, outline.com helps. I am actually astonished that it isn't more well known. https://outline.com/7rk42F https://outline.com/7rk42F

ColinWright 5y ago
Yes, there are ways of getting around the blocks (and thank you for this one) but it still leaves the larger problem unsolved. I'd be happy to pay for things I find valuable, but there's no way to find them easily, and having found them, no way to pay confidently, certain that (a) the money goes to the people dong the work, and (b) you don't then get harassed endlessly.
PaulHoule 5y ago
Archive.is; if I ran a site like HN I would put every paywalled article through it.
Phithagoras 5y ago
Sometimes hitting ctrl A, then ctrl x then pasting to a word doc will do the trick too

jokethrowaway 5y ago

Ublock Origin + pausing JS (they reset scrolling) does the trick I agree, it would be nice to have micropayments. At the same time, if they want to be indexed (which increases their reach) they need to publish the entire article and then try to trick people in the browser with JS.

ColinWright 5y ago
Thanks for the reply, but you're assuming I know something about using the web console. I effectively know nothing about web technologies. And to be honest, while it would be nice to know about such things, I really don't have the time to start learning about them. I have no intrinsic interest in them, and the benefits would be minimal. I have other things to stretch me, other things that I want to learn, and other things that I need to learn.
- basch 5y ago
  Any browser or extension that has a block javascript button does the trick. It's a nice one click button to have at hand. Despite some uproar, Brave is still probably the best "it just works" script+cookie+ad blocking browser. Click the shield, click off scripts. There are many less dials to tweak, less things to go wrong or interact poorly than with uBlock/NoScript.

paulcole 5y ago

> I have more than enough to read, things that I know are of direct value to me ... I'm not going to sign up so I can read something "on spec". This isn’t the solution you want but it is the obvious solution. Don’t sign up and don’t read it! Don’t use “hacks” and “cheats” to get around paywalls.

ColinWright 5y ago
Indeed, that is exactly the "solution" I have deployed in this case. But you seem to have missed my point. Mostly it's not hard to circumvent the existing paywalls, and mostly it's not hard to sign up blind for things, and certainly you can just close the window and move on. But I'm not complaining about paywalls, I'm identifying the compound problem of producers wanting payment, readers wanting to be able to pay when they know it's worth it, readers being unwilling to sign up to things without first evaluating them, and all the while enabling readers to find and evaluate that content.

ltae 5y ago

Disable Javascript for that site (or entirely, if you don't feel like you'll miss out on much).