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I feel like the strategy of closing sites with newsletter sign-ups, dialog, etc. is just going to waste your time. If I'm searching for something, I just want t

by tbran 4y ago

I feel like the strategy of closing sites with newsletter sign-ups, dialog, etc. is just going to waste your time. If I'm searching for something, I just want the information. Not gonna close websites till I find one that has no popups/modals!! Popup Blocker [0] and uBlock Origin for Firefox will do a pretty good job of getting rid of the junk you don't want. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/popup-blocker/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/popup-blocker...

dwringer 4y ago
There are pros and cons to the approach. Information from such actively hostile sites tends to be of a lesser quality and of questionable reliability anyway IMHO.
forgotmypw17 4y ago
It may seem that way, but I have found it to be very effective. In my comment, I was thinking of the context of links I click to from HN. But it also works when searching for information. When I close the tab of an unfriendly site, which, remember, likely has lower-quality information than an accessible one, I am immediately freeing myself to click the next link in the search results and get my information from an accessible site with higher-quality content. Given the disparity of the quality of content, it is quite likely that I would have ended up at the latter site anyway.
checkyoursudo 4y ago
> I just want the information Certainly a reasonable choice on your part. We all want what we want. I have a friend who, when he goes grocery shopping, grabs the first item he sees from each of the items on his list. As far as I can determine, this is without regard to price, quality, or any other factor.
- c7b 4y ago
  Statistically speaking, your friend should be getting average products from each category in the long run. Practically speaking, however, the assumptions that go into that statement likely won't hold, as supermarkets go to some lengths to make sure that the first item that meets your eye from any category is one of the pricier options.
  - Spivak 4y ago
    > one of the pricier options. More profitable for the store. The actual expensive stuff is on the top shelf. Eye level will probably be the store and the national brand which skew average or a little below. It’s one of the instances where your interests and that of the grocery store are mostly aligned. Grocery store wants you to buy more and rotate inventory not necessarily pay a lot for it.
Seirdy 4y ago
I concur on using an adblocker to block modals, cookie notices, dickbars, related articles, author profile pictures, etc. In fact, I never dismiss modals because doing so may imply consent to tracking cookies (you never know these days…). I just block them with a quick cosmetic selector-based filter. Unless it's a personal site/blog I typically open a site to find information I came for, and close it as soon as that task is done. Anything that makes this take longer than it needs to gets blocked. Sites should strive to stay open for as few seconds/minutes as possible while still giving me the requested information. Regarding text/image-focused sites that require JS: I generally find sites made by people who haven't figured out how to send text over HTTPS to have low-quality content befitting of their low-quality stacks. I'm all the better for using my adblocker to block them from my search results page forever; it saves me time in the long run.

by tbran 4y ago

dwringer 4y ago

There are pros and cons to the approach. Information from such actively hostile sites tends to be of a lesser quality and of questionable reliability anyway IMHO.

forgotmypw17 4y ago

It may seem that way, but I have found it to be very effective. In my comment, I was thinking of the context of links I click to from HN. But it also works when searching for information. When I close the tab of an unfriendly site, which, remember, likely has lower-quality information than an accessible one, I am immediately freeing myself to click the next link in the search results and get my information from an accessible site with higher-quality content. Given the disparity of the quality of content, it is quite likely that I would have ended up at the latter site anyway.

checkyoursudo 4y ago

> I just want the information Certainly a reasonable choice on your part. We all want what we want. I have a friend who, when he goes grocery shopping, grabs the first item he sees from each of the items on his list. As far as I can determine, this is without regard to price, quality, or any other factor.

c7b 4y ago
Statistically speaking, your friend should be getting average products from each category in the long run. Practically speaking, however, the assumptions that go into that statement likely won't hold, as supermarkets go to some lengths to make sure that the first item that meets your eye from any category is one of the pricier options.
- Spivak 4y ago
  > one of the pricier options. More profitable for the store. The actual expensive stuff is on the top shelf. Eye level will probably be the store and the national brand which skew average or a little below. It’s one of the instances where your interests and that of the grocery store are mostly aligned. Grocery store wants you to buy more and rotate inventory not necessarily pay a lot for it.

Seirdy 4y ago

I concur on using an adblocker to block modals, cookie notices, dickbars, related articles, author profile pictures, etc. In fact, I never dismiss modals because doing so may imply consent to tracking cookies (you never know these days…). I just block them with a quick cosmetic selector-based filter. Unless it's a personal site/blog I typically open a site to find information I came for, and close it as soon as that task is done. Anything that makes this take longer than it needs to gets blocked. Sites should strive to stay open for as few seconds/minutes as possible while still giving me the requested information. Regarding text/image-focused sites that require JS: I generally find sites made by people who haven't figured out how to send text over HTTPS to have low-quality content befitting of their low-quality stacks. I'm all the better for using my adblocker to block them from my search results page forever; it saves me time in the long run.