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I Block Ads

coryd.dev

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Re: I Block Ads

#121

Post by bee_rider »

dheera wrote: post #100
bee_rider wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That could be really interesting. Layer some art over it? I wonder how hard it would be to distinguish between various things while driving. Billboards are mostly useless. Traffic signs of course can’t be covered up. Then in between we have cases like signs for gas stations and fast food (which are technically ads I guess but they are actually useful). Of course this is for version 2.

Traffic signs and signs for gas stations and fast food are largely standard (color/fonts/symbols/etc.), they can be easily recognized as such by a neural net and whitelisted. That said, when I'm a pedestrian, I wouldn't mind traffic signs being covered up as well. They completely destroy the look of the surrounding architecture and flora, but I understand they are a necessity for the cars. As a pedestrian I don't rea…

Yeah, on foot seems like a much more forgiving and useful environment in the first place.

Re: I Block Ads

#122

Post by JohnFen »

ollien wrote: post #63
submeta wrote: post #43

Whenever I'm sitting in front of a computer that isn't using ad blockers, I'm shocked to see how polluted websites are, practically yelling at me, vying for my attention. How can folks concentrate on an article without ad blockers? Then there are those ads in YouTube videos and blog articles purporting to offer the reader something valuable when, in fact, they're packed with falsehoods ("xyz changed my life, and if y…

I haven't used an ad blocker in years. The short answer: you get used to it. Banner blindness is a real thing

Not everyone gets used to it.

Re: I Block Ads

#123

Post by javajosh »

anonporridge wrote: post #49
javajosh wrote: post #23

"No communication with me without my consent," is something I want in society, and that is violated by virtually all advertising, everywhere. I wish this was the social norm. The compromise is what the OP did, reactive, only-really-available-to-tech-folk measures. This is unfortunate. Personally, I would not consent to any communication that was paid for . In that case it's money talking, not the person, and this is…

> No communication with me without my consent That's not practically possible unless you choose to live alone in a controlled box. Even the infrastructure you're forced to interact with is a form of communication that manipulates you into certain behaviors. But then, maybe that's where we're headed as a society with the explosion of one person households, remote work, and delivery services. It's increasingly possible…

>That's not practically possible unless you choose to live alone in a controlled box.

You omit a wide variety of possibilities, and claim there is only one possible approach, and so construct a straw-man. Options range from introducing a protocol, to adding paid-speech disclosure.

People looking for signatures show the way: "Can I talk to you about X?" is perfectly workable offline. You can say "No" and be on your way. "Would you like to hear a presentation on a fantastic time-share investment?" again, you say no and be on your way.

One simple thing we can do is require disclosure for paid-for speech. Maybe wear a lapel pin or something on TV, and a hashtag on twitter. The details can be worked out, but "living alone in a box" is not a real or desirable possibility.

Re: I Block Ads

#124

Post by horsawlarway »

omginternets wrote: post #69
jurassicfoxy wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find highway billboards and store signage to be a particularly awful display, and I'd be overjoyed for them to be banned entirely. I have often thought about cutting down highway billboards, although I'm not quite intense enough for that.

Quite. Also, here in the US, gas stations have begun to play particularly loud/obnoxious video advertisements at the pump. I cannot stress how angry I am about this. One of the last places where I could just day-dream has now been deemed "up for grabs" by the lowest form of shit-peddler in the modern world. Pause for a second to consider the absurdity of being blasted with advertisements while paying for a product. T…

> Suggestions welcome.

So when I was a child, laser tag became a thing you could buy. Little kits that came with 2 or 4 sets of vests and guns that tried to simulate experiences like Q-Zar laser tag, but at home for kids.

We had a couple of sets, and one of the frustrating aspects was that firing the guns made a lot of noise - they had little speakers built in that played really, genuinely awful laser noises for about 5 seconds every time you pulled the trigger.

But... as curious kids, we found out that slipping a butter knife between the plastic grill over the speaker on the gun and giving the speaker membrane a good slashing solves the problem real quick. The speaker might vibrate, but without a membrane, no real noise is going to be made.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it would be a real shame if folks just slipped a pocket knife through the grill on those gas station pump speakers every now and then.

Re: I Block Ads

#125

Post by stragies »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #102
alyandon wrote: post #46

I block the page visibility API. I'd love to find out more information on how to prevent web pages from knowing if they are visible or not.

Found these extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Haven't tried either of them though. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/disable-page-visib... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/disable-page-...

"Pausing playback of a video or other processing in a background tab is useful to save energy. So only enable this add-on if you can afford it.

There are other ways to detect if a webpage is visible, e.g. onblur/onfocus. This add-on does not disable any of those other ways. So do not assume that this add-on will enhance your privacy."

From the Readme of the FF addon.

Re: I Block Ads

#126

Post by moolcool »

Atlas22 wrote: post #81
moolcool wrote: post #7

“Advertisement is the rich asking for more money. They disfigure their towns in order to decorate their houses.” — G.K. Chesterton

While I would agree the vast majority of the time, ads are also used heavily by small businesses and independent developers to gauge interest and even just to keep the lights on sometimes. Mostly referring to online ads, billboards and TV ads are much more expensive and are far more risky for small businesses.

I don't like this argument. As if an indie shoemaker should be grateful to have the privilege to get in a bidding war against Nike for who can give Facebook more money to get noticed.

Re: I Block Ads

#127

Post by bombcar »

numbsafari wrote: post #66

I was stuck at an airport. I downloaded a free backgammon app on my iPhone, to kill some time. It showed me ads between every game. The ads were mostly for other apps. Most of those apps were games. Games that involved implied incestuous rape, non-consensual voyeurism, and other highly repulsive things. I just wanted to play backgammon. I uninstalled the app (thankfully, that's an easy thing to do on iOS, for now...)…

I just want simple games you pay your $2-5 for and you never see any ads.

Apple should offer "App Store Plus" where you pay $10/20/30 whatever a month and all the ad-infested apps just show nothing.

Re: I Block Ads

#128

Post by JohnFen »

dheera wrote: post #73
omginternets wrote: post #53

I occasionally tear down ads in public spaces. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I do think we should be able to move through public spaces without the incessant assault on one's attention and head space. I haven't been caught yet, though I'm sure I someday will, at which point I'll pay the fine and keep doing it anyway.

I agree with you aesthetically, though if it was a privately-owned, publicly-accessible space, I wouldn't go as far as to commit vandalism, as bad as it may look. (If it was placed by a member of the public without consent of the owner I'd agree with taking it down.) That said, I've been waiting for a good set of widely popular AR glasses to come out so I can write a real-life ad blocker for them.

> I've been waiting for a good set of widely popular AR glasses to come out so I can write a real-life ad blocker for them.

So, even They Live is prophecy now?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live

Re: I Block Ads

#129

Post by [deleted] »

bombcar wrote: post #89
omginternets wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite. Also, here in the US, gas stations have begun to play particularly loud/obnoxious video advertisements at the pump. I cannot stress how angry I am about this. One of the last places where I could just day-dream has now been deemed "up for grabs" by the lowest form of shit-peddler in the modern world. Pause for a second to consider the absurdity of being blasted with advertisements while paying for a product. T…

There is a mute button, sometimes labelled, sometimes hidden, but try pressing them all. Doesn't help much, but helps a little. And then stick some unapproved sticker on the pump of your choosing.

[deleted]

Re: I Block Ads

#130

Post by ltbarcly3 »

mawise wrote: post #47
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see what you are saying, but you are not correct on any of these points. 'depends on cost': It can't actually depend, on average. Advertisers keep spending money because they make more back overall than they spend on advertising. Only a small fraction of that increase in income is paid in fees to the platform that is funded by the advertising. To make the same amount of money, the platform would only have to charge…

Ehh, the ad networks want advertiser to believe that but they also do sketchy things like intercepting (and taking credit for) customers who already had an intent to purchase. There was a big story about Uber cutting lots of ad spending with little impact a while ago: https://thehustle.co/01072021-uber-ad-spend/

I mean you can find specific examples where ads are done poorly or there isn't ROI, but Coke isn't like the #1 drink in every restaurant based on taste.
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