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mastodon.technology

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Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#271

Post by mhb »

hellbannedguy wrote: post #186
ndynan wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This pattern is purely a representation of how financially hurt news institutions are. They are desperate to make revenue and the end user experience is sacrificed in the name of keeping the ship afloat (and sometimes profit).

I'm to the point I'd like to see them go 501c3 nonprofit. Admit defeat. Get used to just making a barely livable income, like the rest of us. Stop begging. Stop the obnoxious ads. Stop the shady subscription schemes. Enough with the .99 cent for six week promos. We obviously don't value you enough to give your access to our debit cards. Newspapers you lost the war. The sooner you realize it the better. Follow the PBS…

There's nothing magical about non-profits that would fix any of these problems.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#272

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

proactivesvcs wrote: post #166
cercatrova wrote: post #40

Off topic, but I've never seen mastodon linked like this before on HN. Interesting this this might've normally been a link to a tweet.

I'm seeing the Fediverse linked to more and more often, in the wild. Not the first time I've seen it linked here, either. It's heartening to see that there's a little light at the end of the tunnel.

For better or worse, Trump saga helped as a search for alternatives began. In a sense, I am not complaining, but it is odd to see people, who were arguing for Patriot Act surprised it is being used against them.

Still, I agree. Despite worry, it may be a good thing its entering mainstream slowly.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#273

Post by cblconfederate »

rapnie wrote: post #254
cblconfederate wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a bad feeling about these "invite only" servers though. They are remaking the blue checkmarks of twitter in an even less-transparent way.

There is no such concept on Mastodon. People add it for fun, just like they do any kind of emoji, but it carries zero extra 'gravitas' as it does on Twitter.

I don't mean the checkmarks, i mean the user's domain. Twitter's Blue Checkmarks were added for a reason, and similarly a mastodon user's home server is an implicit vote of confidence by . Or else i don't understand why this apparently busy mastodon server would have to approve all signups.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#274

Post by severine »

yellowapple wrote: post #22

Not just news sites, either. A lot of fandom wikis run on the same platform, fandom.com. That site is a pain in the absolute fucking ass to use on any mobile device, specifically because of the autoplaying video that takes up half the screen on every page load . Weirdly, desktop is fine; no autoplaying videos or any such nonsense. It's only on mobile that Fandom has seemingly made a deliberate effort to make the user…

uBlock Origin's element picker works fine for me in Firefox for Android, and always has, try again! Thank you, gorhill and co.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#275

Post by dredmorbius »

melech_ric wrote: post #262
OJFord wrote: post #258

(Seriously) I wonder to what extent a cause is that the internet is US-dominated - because US (& Canadian) television is just like this too. Opaque and colourful channel logo that spins and barely fades, and advertising that pops up over the programme while it's playing! If that's your norm on TV, sure, why wouldn't a web page work like that? It baffles me just like OP, but no more than it does on television programm…

I'm old enough to remember a time before every TV station had a logo/watermark at the bottom right. In my mind, the logos coincided with the early 80s when VCRs became more commonplace. I suppose stations that licensed shows/movies, didn't enjoy the fact that people could record that content and reuse it. So... logos.

Not that I watch much TV, but persistent logos ... and animated promos for upcoming features during the current programme, which still seems mind-blowingly bad ... were something I didn't notice until the mid-2000s.

I may well have missed thier introduction.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#276

Post by dredmorbius »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #272
proactivesvcs wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm seeing the Fediverse linked to more and more often, in the wild. Not the first time I've seen it linked here, either. It's heartening to see that there's a little light at the end of the tunnel.

For better or worse, Trump saga helped as a search for alternatives began. In a sense, I am not complaining, but it is odd to see people, who were arguing for Patriot Act surprised it is being used against them. Still, I agree. Despite worry, it may be a good thing its entering mainstream slowly.

The hope and search for decentralised and independent media alternatives long predates any recent political figures.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#277

Post by theturtletalks »

nefitty wrote: post #209
[deleted] wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Who in tech do you hold up as an ideal persona? I'm not defending what happened to you. It's surprising to me that even someone like Jimmy Wales, who pioneered the most impactful knowledge-sharing project in the world, is vilified by some people.

Tim Berners-Lee

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#278

Post by dredmorbius »

cblconfederate wrote: post #236
cercatrova wrote: post #40

Off topic, but I've never seen mastodon linked like this before on HN. Interesting this this might've normally been a link to a tweet.

I have a bad feeling about these "invite only" servers though. They are remaking the blue checkmarks of twitter in an even less-transparent way.

Individual Fediverse servers are typically run by individuals or groups for their own interests, on their own dime. Some of those are generally open (e.g., mastodon.social and mastodon.cloud), some are invite-only or serve specific communities. Many are individual's own instances and serve a single user or a very small set.

Anyone can stand up a Mastodon instance. There are companies which specialise in fully-hosted turnkey services. And as noted, there are many instances which are free to join for the asking.

The system overall is in no way closed on this regard.

That said, individuals (or instances) which engage in antisocial behaviours or prove nuisances may find that they are blocked by numeous others.

In general, what exists is widely available but also subject to local rules. There are instances which run strongly counter to the mainstream culture on the Fediverse. They exist and can talk amongst themselves, but have limited (and often no) interaction with the mainstream of the rest of the network.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#279

Post by lewiscollard »

jeroenhd wrote: post #129
marcosdumay wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, Firefox has that option right at the settings window. And if there's audio, it blocks by default.

Websites still find their way around this setting. I think they put an overlay on the page and intercept the first mouse event they can, and use that to start playing the video. I usually just blacklist these websites in my Pihole.

> I think they put an overlay on the page and intercept the first mouse event they can,

...such as one of those "totally-GDPR-compliant" accept-cookies-please modals maybe? :) I am 100% certain this is how a large number of sites bypass autoplay restrictions.

Re: You click a link to a news site, to read an article that seems interesting

#280

Post by LegitShady »

cblconfederate wrote: post #242
LegitShady wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my mom still has msn has her home page because she's always had msn as he home page. many computers later she still sets it as her homepage. She went from there to their games pages, their chatroom pages, who knows that else. So they exist. They're just not very tech savvy, and they like the way its been since thats the way its always been, even if they have to change it to make it so.

What homepage would you prefer her to have?

I recommended a blank page, or her most used site (email).

But the reason news sites have autoplaying videos isn't for the power users on hackernews, its for people like my mom, who will click those links AND watch the videos.

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