6 ms·

This was posted an hour ago and still no one has released a bookmarklet to circumvent? Come on HN!

logn 14y ago
I recommend Noscript browser plugin. I've added Quora and a whole slew of news sites to my block list. The trick is to globally trust all sites in your prefs and then access the blacklist through about:config or manually add each one through the context menu.
walkon 14y ago
That's not a bad idea. Here is some bookmarklet code that retrieves and displays the actual answers when hovering over the blurred out answers. The downside is, it cannot do anything about the answers that do not have a permalink (clickable datestamp). javascript:(function($) { var $answerTextDivs = $("div.answer_text:has(.blurred_answer)"); function heal() { $answerTextDiv = $(this); $answerLink = $answerTextDiv.find("a.answer_permalink"); if ($answerLink.length === 0) { showError($answerTextDiv, "could not find answer - no permalink."); return; } $.get($answerLink.attr("href"), function(d) { var $permaAnswerDiv = $(d).find(".answer_text"); $answerTextDiv.empty(); $answerTextDiv.append($permaAnswerDiv.first()); }).fail(function(e) { showError($answerTextDiv, "ajax call failed - " + e); }); } function showError($container, message) { var $errorDiv = $("<div>"); $errorDiv.text(message); $errorDiv.css({ 'background-color': 'red', 'color': 'white', 'padding': '2px 6px', 'position': 'absolute', 'margin-top': '38px', 'z-index': 2000 }); $container.prepend($errorDiv); } $answerTextDivs.one('mouseenter', heal); $.ajaxPrefilter(function(options, originalOptions, jqXHR) { /* this is to prevent annoying UIX usage tracking POSTs to Quora */ if (options.type === 'POST') { jqXHR.abort(); } }); }(jQuery));
- NamTaf 14y ago
  I have a bookmark on my iPhone that scrolls to the bottom of the page using Java. Is it not possible to hack something together that takes the hidden data (since the OP says it loads the actual info behind the white blocking screen) and reveal it instead of the white? It's another couple of button presses but if it fucks them over for this scummy tactic I'm all for it.
  - walkon 14y ago
    The iOS version should be easy since they actually send all the answers to the client and hide them. This works with my pretend iOS 5 iPhone (via Chrome): javascript:(function($) { $(".app_promo, .app_install_dialog").hide(); $(".answer_text").css({'margin-left': '110px', 'width': '88%'}); }(jQuery));
    - NamTaf 14y ago
      I tested it - it reveals the text just fine but the text sits off to the right of the page and you can't scroll or zoom to reflow the text in to the screen size. Thanks for the first-pass at it though!
silencio 14y ago
I wrote a script that would unblur Quora answers (that one of my friends turned into an extension) a while back. Turned out that Quora started to just substitute blurred images instead of just blurring text via CSS soon afterwards. I'm pretty sick of this constant cat and mouse game, and I just used the Google Personal Blocklist extension for Chrome to remove Quora from my Google search results.
nollidge 14y ago
I'd rather just not visit their site at all. It's a big Internet.

logn 14y ago

I recommend Noscript browser plugin. I've added Quora and a whole slew of news sites to my block list. The trick is to globally trust all sites in your prefs and then access the blacklist through about:config or manually add each one through the context menu.

walkon 14y ago

That's not a bad idea. Here is some bookmarklet code that retrieves and displays the actual answers when hovering over the blurred out answers. The downside is, it cannot do anything about the answers that do not have a permalink (clickable datestamp). javascript:(function($) { var $answerTextDivs = $("div.answer_text:has(.blurred_answer)"); function heal() { $answerTextDiv = $(this); $answerLink = $answerTextDiv.find("a.answer_permalink"); if ($answerLink.length === 0) { showError($answerTextDiv, "could not find answer - no permalink."); return; } $.get($answerLink.attr("href"), function(d) { var $permaAnswerDiv = $(d).find(".answer_text"); $answerTextDiv.empty(); $answerTextDiv.append($permaAnswerDiv.first()); }).fail(function(e) { showError($answerTextDiv, "ajax call failed - " + e); }); } function showError($container, message) { var $errorDiv = $("<div>"); $errorDiv.text(message); $errorDiv.css({ 'background-color': 'red', 'color': 'white', 'padding': '2px 6px', 'position': 'absolute', 'margin-top': '38px', 'z-index': 2000 }); $container.prepend($errorDiv); } $answerTextDivs.one('mouseenter', heal); $.ajaxPrefilter(function(options, originalOptions, jqXHR) { /* this is to prevent annoying UIX usage tracking POSTs to Quora */ if (options.type === 'POST') { jqXHR.abort(); } }); }(jQuery));

NamTaf 14y ago
I have a bookmark on my iPhone that scrolls to the bottom of the page using Java. Is it not possible to hack something together that takes the hidden data (since the OP says it loads the actual info behind the white blocking screen) and reveal it instead of the white? It's another couple of button presses but if it fucks them over for this scummy tactic I'm all for it.
- walkon 14y ago
  The iOS version should be easy since they actually send all the answers to the client and hide them. This works with my pretend iOS 5 iPhone (via Chrome): javascript:(function($) { $(".app_promo, .app_install_dialog").hide(); $(".answer_text").css({'margin-left': '110px', 'width': '88%'}); }(jQuery));
  - NamTaf 14y ago
    I tested it - it reveals the text just fine but the text sits off to the right of the page and you can't scroll or zoom to reflow the text in to the screen size. Thanks for the first-pass at it though!

silencio 14y ago

I wrote a script that would unblur Quora answers (that one of my friends turned into an extension) a while back. Turned out that Quora started to just substitute blurred images instead of just blurring text via CSS soon afterwards. I'm pretty sick of this constant cat and mouse game, and I just used the Google Personal Blocklist extension for Chrome to remove Quora from my Google search results.

nollidge 14y ago

I'd rather just not visit their site at all. It's a big Internet.