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GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

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Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#131
post #10

For all that cannot access both versions, keep in mind that the EU one is a vastly simpler UI, it almost looks like just a blog archive, while the US one is a more feature full typical newspaper homepage. Not saying that either one is better, just that it's not an apple to apple comparison.

> not an apple to apple comparison. Hm, what if you’re a reader looking for journalistic text articles, is the same content available on both?

Whilst all the articles seem to be accessible if you know the exact URL, the homepage only shows the latest stories and there are no links to different news categories.

Also, the articles seem to be missing links and the videos are not available.

If all you want is the text of the articles and you only want the latest stories, the EU experience is probably great. But if you want more, you're probably going to be disappointed.

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#132
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new Reddit React site hijacks right-click so you can't even open your responses/user page in a separate tab. Fail. This is how Slashdot.org lost their user base. Who in their right mind would use React for a content-based site? But reddit seems to know they suck at websites: you can still access " rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/ and even /.compact" rel="nofollow">https://old.reddit.com/r/ /.compact for t…

> Who in their right mind would use React for a content-based site? People who are also writing content-based apps and want to write once but still obtain native speeds on mobile? The lack of right-click functionality is just bad design, not React's fault.

I frequently use the old reddit design (as in old old) because the new and new new design both suck a lot on mobile in terms of speed.

There is nothing native about a website which has actual lagging while I scroll when the previous version could do it just fine in desktop mode.

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a regular USA today reader, but from a brief look it seems like in the EU version only the most recent ~30 articles are "reachable" by clicks from the home page. p.s. the EU version is on it's own subdomain, maybe you can reach it from the US too: https://eu.usatoday.com/

Nope, it redirects back to the regular one for US users.

I’ve rarely seen a website load so fast on mobile...

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#134
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Ghostery You surely aren't using it anymore, are you? They are now owned by an ad company.

I haven't signed up for an account or given them any data (and specifically made sure that I don't share usage or diagnostic data with them). They are a German company very much covered by GDPR, so I think it's relatively safe to use the tool this way. I'd be happy to hear otherwise though.

It's a German company with a very 'interesting' history: https://twitter.com/notrevenant/status/1000085227421782017?s...

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#136
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like you need to explain how China's great firewall (I assume this is what you referenced) is the same as the GDPR? One prevents people in China from accessing stuff the government doesn't like, the other prevents companies from treating your data like shit. > Your world on the internet looks different based on citizenship Yes, my world on the Internet looks a hell of a lot better than the Internet as seen fro…

> Yes, my world on the Internet looks a hell of a lot better than the Internet as seen from the US. Internet in rest of world is fine. Atleast our govt doesn't record our porn watching activities via unknown third parties.

Only via the NSA :)

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#137
post #106
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is uMatrix something you use instead of uBlock, or in addition to? Also is there a guide on how to use it somewhere

To answer my own question, it's a bit redundant but I need both. uMatrix handles network stuff (blocking css, js, media, etc). uBlock also handles network stuff, but the difference is that uBlock can also block specific elements on the page, eg, divs by id or class.

The Stylus extension is great for that. Firefox's style editor lets you test CSS edits in real time. Then copy those CSS rules into Stylus and the browser will remember them. I use it to turn off all CSS animation too.

If you block all JS and CSS with umatrix, you can still read articles by pressing the "reader view" button in Firefox.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/styl-us/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylus/clngdbkpkpe...

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#138
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Th EU should make a law requiring HTML versions of pages with no JS. Having politicians and lawyers micromanage technology decisions for the entire Internet? What could possibly go wrong.

Couldn’t get any worse? The Internet is basically unusable today.

How long have you used the Internet with that opinion?

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#139
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't signed up for an account or given them any data (and specifically made sure that I don't share usage or diagnostic data with them). They are a German company very much covered by GDPR, so I think it's relatively safe to use the tool this way. I'd be happy to hear otherwise though.

With Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials and Firefox' Tracking Protection available, there's little reason to keep using Ghostery (and Adblock Plus as well, FWIW). I also recommend Decentraleyes, Smart Referer, First Party Isolation and Facebook Container. Plus of course HTTPS Everywhere. It's hard for me to imagine productive browsing without most of those addons now.

Good lord, what's that, 10 plugins?! Sure, we nerds could do that, but god help normal people! :(

Re: GDPR Version of USA Today Is 500KB Instead of 5.2MB

#140
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market has spoken. No seriously, if it sucks so much, why haven't users responded by going somewhere else, thus incentivizing sites to behave well?

Or: the market does not (always) work. This too is an option.

Agreed, and my comment was partially as a response to the anti-regulation demo here on HN.

But, it's still something worth probing into: if it really does make the user experience worse -- and I agree it does -- why haven't people punished those sites by going elsewhere?

My best guess is that it's like bad customer service: it bugs people, but it's not really the differentiating factor when choosing a product/service provider.

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