Live data from Hacker News

uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

addons.mozilla.org

161–170 of 416 posts

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#161

What kills me is even paid subscription sites like WSJ, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, show you ads even when you're a paying member. Why is it a war on our attention?

I find this ironic too. I get NYT via my institution, and on the actual app there are ads, but when I browse on the website, logged in with uBO, there is nothing.

Funnily enough, the only way to not get ads on those news apps is by using moded apks (unless you use root or dns adblock, but that usually messes with the layout) . There's no amount of money you could pay to remove them even if you wanted to, so the only way is to download apks that not only remove ads but also make all the articles free without paying anything.

It's crazy because Bloomberg already charges quite a lot (40$/month?) if you don't get a discounted price, how much are they getting with those very generic banner ads? It can't possibly be more than a few cents, maybe a dollar or two per month for casual readers. It's so counterproductive if it makes them lose even just a few % of their subscribers.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree on supporting the things you use. I don't think "the lists are everything". Quite the opposite, Its the blocking features. For me I like uBlocks disabling Javascript with an easy click and the other granularity (popups, multimedia) it allows on a site by site basis.

I'm thinking of it this way. A guy builds a flamethrower to burn away the creeping slime that threatens to overtake your house. Someone else then supplies the fuel. You want to donate, but the builder says no. "The fuel is everything." That's pretty much correct from one perspective. The flamethrower is built, just needs a bit of maintenance now and then. But its everyday slime-burning power comes from the fuel.

The lists are more like an automatic targeting system for your world-saving flame thrower. Both are vital since the slime killed everyone who knew how to use it, so now you have to enlist average people who only use them to clear weeds and snow.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#164

I instantly install this extension whenever I work on a new machine as I could not imagine browsing the web without it. For that reason I just went looking for a donate button to help fund the project and it turns out they don't even accept donations https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...

It's hard to forget to install it. The first time you open a browser on a new machine and for a moment, for probably the first time in a while, see how the internet really looks, that's the best ad for uBlock Origin.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Have a thought for the maintainers of the various lists. These lists are everything. This can't be emphasized enough." So you can fund the project -- by donating to the lists it relies on.

While I agree on supporting the things you use. I don't think "the lists are everything". Quite the opposite, Its the blocking features. For me I like uBlocks disabling Javascript with an easy click and the other granularity (popups, multimedia) it allows on a site by site basis.

As a general life rule, not just for uBlock: help in the way you are asked to help.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#166

I instantly install this extension whenever I work on a new machine as I could not imagine browsing the web without it. For that reason I just went looking for a donate button to help fund the project and it turns out they don't even accept donations https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...

I prefer DNS filtering over extensions as they generally want all permissions to essentially impersonate you at the browser level. Am I wrong?

> I prefer DNS filtering over extensions

DNS filtering is weak and there are numerous bypasses [0], including ones you can never fix at the DNS layer [1]

[0] Ex: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30412070

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30411049

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#167

I instantly install this extension whenever I work on a new machine as I could not imagine browsing the web without it. For that reason I just went looking for a donate button to help fund the project and it turns out they don't even accept donations https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...

I prefer DNS filtering over extensions as they generally want all permissions to essentially impersonate you at the browser level. Am I wrong?

I have extensions turned off in private browsing and then use this mode for banking etc.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#168
I really, truly, sincerely wish more developers put compatibility with adblockers at the top of their priority list. I have so many customer support issues to deal with because some of the SaaS platforms we use are not compatible with ad blocking software.

Usually, the first thing I tell people is to turn off their adblocker. This almost always fixed the issue. Yes, I absolutely hate asking our customers to do this.

If you want adblocking software to thrive -- then please make sure you test your software with adblocking software enabled. (Please!)

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#169

The internet without an adblock is just a scary, misleading place that's trying to trick you into scams, echochambers, bad deals, bad advice, botnets and cryptolockers.

In 16 years on the internet with as blocking limited to manually blocked annoyances only I have never had any of those issues.

I’m almost certain it’s just an argument to justify adblocking. I wish people had the ability to avoid all the motivated reasoning and just honestly admit the selfishness of their behavior.

Re: uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox

#170
post #157

Really great on firefox for android too, along with YouTube background player.

I use Firefox on Android as a background YouTube player. Just open Youtube on Firefox, select the video you want to watch, lock the screen. The video will stop, but if you press 'play' in the dialog you get in the lock screen, it'll start playing again.

The issue is that the YouTube webpage video player itself tries to detect when it is backgrounded - seemingly via both APIs and usage patterns - and will stop playback when it detects that. This is true on desktops as well.

There were extensions to disable this behaviour that thankfully work with Firefox for Android.

Post reply on HN