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Random question: How do I stop videos from auto starting on Bloomberg? I'm running Safari with no Flash, and have Ad-block on. Video doesn't start, but audio do

Random question: How do I stop videos from auto starting on Bloomberg? I'm running Safari with no Flash, and have Ad-block on. Video doesn't start, but audio does. Super Annoying.

dikaiosune 12y ago
Related, it would be great for HN to be able to tag stories as having auto-playing audio, a paywall, modal ads, and other undesirable elements of a posted story's site.
- briandear 12y ago
  It would be great if paywall stories weren't allowed.
  - dikaiosune 12y ago
    Even better!
  - blumkvist 12y ago
    But, but, but... ads and adblockers and how eveil ads are and let's block them! Let's pay for content and all that jazz.
    - dredmorbius 12y ago
      Let's motivate for a content syndication alternative. https://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/a-broadband-tax-for-the-uk/ https://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/a-broadband-tax-f... Advertising is a net negative on far too many fronts.
      - blumkvist 12y ago
        People don't want ads. People don't want to pay for content. I think people shouldn't feel entitiled to content
        dredmorbius 12y ago
        Information goods don't play well with markets for multiple reasons. "Paul Romer on Information Goods" https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/311aco/paul_romer_on_information_goods/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/311aco/paul_ro... "Why Information Goods and Markets are a Poor Match" https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/2vm2da/why_information_goods_and_markets_are_a_poor_match/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/2vm2da/why_inf...
        blumkvist 12y ago
        Those are great! Thanks.
  - evv 12y ago
    I think most people here know how to get around a paywall. It is pretty easy
delecti 12y ago
What works for me in Chrome is to disable plugins by default. It seems to work universally, including for Bloomberg. I don't even bother running an ad-block, because disabling plugins is so effective at suppressing annoyances.
- orbitur 12y ago
  Chrome has made this worse recently, though. I disabled Flash more than a year ago on an older computer, and all that's required is clicking to enable. When I recently installed Chrome on a newer computer, the new method is Ctrl+Click to get a context menu, and then selecting "Run this plugin". Not sure why they made it more complicated, and I wish I knew how to get the older behavior my older computer has somehow retained while Chrome has been auto-updating.
  - thezilch 12y ago
    I really appreciate what Chrome did. People got clever and would move their player (or triggers) in front of your regular clicks to get their annoyance to play. They can't do that with right-click and a left-click in a context menu. At least, that is my assumption, and if not, they should consider that as a positive outcome for me.
  - delecti 12y ago
    Go to a page with an unloaded flash element. On the far right side of the address bar there will be a puzzle piece with a red 'X' over it, click that and you can enable plugins on that page for that session only. It's actually a slight improvement, because previously you'd have to reload a page to do that.
13 12y ago
It's another web trend I don't understand. All news websites seem to do it, it's super obnoxious, and I don't know anybody who doesn't just rush to click stop as soon as they click the page.
- ojbyrne 12y ago
  Pre-roll ads (there was one there, though it was for Bloomberg itself).
noondip 12y ago
Disable Javascript or install uMatrix to block frames/XHR entirely.
dredmorbius 12y ago
I've taken to identifying the VPO (video platform organization) and their hosts, and adding them to my /etc/hosts blocklist. https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/QZ1vdpwBpZc https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/QZ1vdpwB... These will catch most of them: 0.0.0.0 www.autofixinfo.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 c.brightcove.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 player.theplatform.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 link.theplatform.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 ci-2862d2c8d6-68f418d2.http.atlas.cdn.yimg.com # Autoplay video If you must watch the vids, downloading via yt-download (from another host or vm not using that hosts file) frequently works.
- alphapapa 12y ago
  Why not use NoScript and/or RequestPolicy instead? That way, all such sites are blocked by default, and you can temporarily or permanently enable individual ones with a couple of clicks.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    I do, but they don't work on all sites in all situations. I find communicating to VPO's that I'll block them for this shit, and advertising this fact and methods, might have some positive effect. There are a small number of video providers for all the usual 80/20 rules. A half dozen or so nails virtually everything frequently used. And very little video is even worth viewing.

Random question: How do I stop videos from auto starting on Bloomberg? I'm running Safari with no Flash, and have Ad-block on. Video doesn't start, but audio does. Super Annoying.

dikaiosune 12y ago

Related, it would be great for HN to be able to tag stories as having auto-playing audio, a paywall, modal ads, and other undesirable elements of a posted story's site.

briandear 12y ago
It would be great if paywall stories weren't allowed.
- dikaiosune 12y ago
  Even better!
- blumkvist 12y ago
  But, but, but... ads and adblockers and how eveil ads are and let's block them! Let's pay for content and all that jazz.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    Let's motivate for a content syndication alternative. https://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/a-broadband-tax-for-the-uk/ https://cabalamat.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/a-broadband-tax-f... Advertising is a net negative on far too many fronts.
    - blumkvist 12y ago
      People don't want ads. People don't want to pay for content. I think people shouldn't feel entitiled to content
      - dredmorbius 12y ago
        Information goods don't play well with markets for multiple reasons. "Paul Romer on Information Goods" https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/311aco/paul_romer_on_information_goods/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/311aco/paul_ro... "Why Information Goods and Markets are a Poor Match" https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/2vm2da/why_information_goods_and_markets_are_a_poor_match/ https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/2vm2da/why_inf...
        blumkvist 12y ago
        Those are great! Thanks.
- evv 12y ago
  I think most people here know how to get around a paywall. It is pretty easy

delecti 12y ago

What works for me in Chrome is to disable plugins by default. It seems to work universally, including for Bloomberg. I don't even bother running an ad-block, because disabling plugins is so effective at suppressing annoyances.

orbitur 12y ago
Chrome has made this worse recently, though. I disabled Flash more than a year ago on an older computer, and all that's required is clicking to enable. When I recently installed Chrome on a newer computer, the new method is Ctrl+Click to get a context menu, and then selecting "Run this plugin". Not sure why they made it more complicated, and I wish I knew how to get the older behavior my older computer has somehow retained while Chrome has been auto-updating.
- thezilch 12y ago
  I really appreciate what Chrome did. People got clever and would move their player (or triggers) in front of your regular clicks to get their annoyance to play. They can't do that with right-click and a left-click in a context menu. At least, that is my assumption, and if not, they should consider that as a positive outcome for me.
- delecti 12y ago
  Go to a page with an unloaded flash element. On the far right side of the address bar there will be a puzzle piece with a red 'X' over it, click that and you can enable plugins on that page for that session only. It's actually a slight improvement, because previously you'd have to reload a page to do that.

13 12y ago

It's another web trend I don't understand. All news websites seem to do it, it's super obnoxious, and I don't know anybody who doesn't just rush to click stop as soon as they click the page.

ojbyrne 12y ago
Pre-roll ads (there was one there, though it was for Bloomberg itself).

noondip 12y ago

Disable Javascript or install uMatrix to block frames/XHR entirely.

dredmorbius 12y ago

I've taken to identifying the VPO (video platform organization) and their hosts, and adding them to my /etc/hosts blocklist. https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/QZ1vdpwBpZc https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/QZ1vdpwB... These will catch most of them: 0.0.0.0 www.autofixinfo.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 c.brightcove.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 player.theplatform.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 link.theplatform.com # Autoplay video 0.0.0.0 ci-2862d2c8d6-68f418d2.http.atlas.cdn.yimg.com # Autoplay video If you must watch the vids, downloading via yt-download (from another host or vm not using that hosts file) frequently works.

alphapapa 12y ago
Why not use NoScript and/or RequestPolicy instead? That way, all such sites are blocked by default, and you can temporarily or permanently enable individual ones with a couple of clicks.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  I do, but they don't work on all sites in all situations. I find communicating to VPO's that I'll block them for this shit, and advertising this fact and methods, might have some positive effect. There are a small number of video providers for all the usual 80/20 rules. A half dozen or so nails virtually everything frequently used. And very little video is even worth viewing.