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I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

theguardian.com

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Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#71

Post by Qantourisc »

amelius wrote: post #50
navs wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can experience a better web. It's not easy though. You'll need to give up a lot. I turn off javascript in Firefox (must it really be done through about:config?). A lot of websites work and I appreciate those sites even more. Gmail still offering a HTML version for example. Then there are those that don't like Youtube. I've had to effectively give it up or find a workaround like youtube-dl and mpv. What does suck…

Can't your browser turn off JS on a per-domain basis? Just wondering.

uMatrix does this well (if you are on Firefox)

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#73

Post by garrettspringer »

Andrenid wrote: post #2

I would truly love a new "web" which is effectively style-free. I think the existing one is fine to continue for the general public, online shopping, social networks, etc.. but a parallel information-dense system that uses ultra light weight browsers that work on every device and platform, accessing machine-readable data with some standard stylesheet that concentrates in readability, and the "good" bits of the modern…

I agree completely with the need of a new web. The bad information all across the web is gimmicky and flashy click bait is everywhere. Many people are becoming weary and desensitized to everything out there. We need to create a clean and simple, no bs web where information is clear and reliable.

Wikipedia I think is a small picture of what it could look like. Especially if better monitors are enforced.

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#75

Post by Qantourisc »

icebraining wrote: post #54
mborch wrote: post #44

The new web needs to be distributed in a privacy-preserving sense. Today, you can't realistically browse the web without getting identified and – generally speaking – geolocated. What we need is a model where you pull information you request from distributed and diverse pools of public domain content.

There's Freenet. It's just that nobody uses it.

Took a quick read, there is no way to publicly publish something without using other means to communicate the key and content ?

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#76

Post by keypress »

fiatjaf wrote: post #70

Does anyone else see as problem that web browsers are getting so feature-rich? That means that if anyone wants to write a new web browser he won't be able to.

I don't think that's a browser issue. More an authoring issue. You could serve up pages as text files, with as little html as a link.

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#77

Post by notahacker »

gkya wrote: post #61
matt4077 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really want a world without professional journalism? I know it's en vogue to hate the "mainstream" press, but a world without institutions that can be somewhat trusted will be open season for demagogues.

I don't really hate professional journalism, I hate news. I only read them because I have to. This aside, the actual, relevant problem is not what is en vogue to hate or not, but that the trustible institutions take the easy route and instead of producing nice subscription models and actual, valuable content with good, concise, precise wording and without clickbait posts; they just push sub-par stuff and ads to feed…

I think a world in which all the trustworthy institutions hide all their content behind paywalls and so most people rely entirely on clickbait stuff from sources that don't have reputations to live up to is even worse...

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#78

Post by bostik »

unicornporn wrote: post #58
crystalPalace wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend NoScript(Firefox plugin) for blanket or selective JS removal from web pages.

Browsing with NoScript is fine if you just visit the same websites over and over. If you actually like to _surf_ the web, the experience is reduced to a never ending configuration nightmare. At least that's my experience. Nice in theory, but a terrible UX.

I don't see that as a problem, really.

Well behaving sites end up on your whitelist. Everything else gets tossed into the "yet another bloated crap page" bucket.

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#79

Post by keypress »

tomohawk wrote: post #74

It's interesting that one of the great things about the web is the promise of it distributed nature, and yet his prescribed 'fix' for misinformation sounds like the establishment of some sort of central authority to regulate content.

I'd have thought the best fix for misinfo, is having a good audit trail of links. References. And these must end at a source/s.

Re: I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it

#80

Post by ThePhysicist »

Surprised that no one mentioned the new EU data protection directive, which goes a long way to fix the first issue mentioned in the article, the loss of control over our personal data (only for users in Europe though). I studied it in detail as I work in data analysis and consult companies on this, and I honestly think it is one of the best laws produced by the EU so far:

It gives users a multitude of rights such as being informed about exactly which kind of data a company has about them (and even get a digital copy of that data), how the company uses that data and for which purposes it is used. And if you're subjected to algorithmic decision making (e.g. an algorithm decides if the bank should award you a credit) you have the right to know which kind of algorithms were used in the process and to contest the decision. You also have the right to demand the deletion of your personal data and to revoke the right of a company to process it, as well as to demand correction of inaccurate data. The legislation also allows for severe fines and punishments for companies not respecting the regulation (up to 4 % of yearly turnover of the whole company group), so even companies the size of Google or Facebook should have strong incentives to follow the regulation.

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