Post 9qb6ddPcL9DVCQTHgO by alexjgriffith@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by alexjgriffith@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #9qb6NwGQTwj129ghlo by aadil@merveilles.town
2019-12-30T17:21:14Z
1 likes, 2 repeats
Essential extensions for online reading:Bypass Paywalls (removes paywalls from news sites)https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefoxMedium Unlimited (removes paywalls from Medium)https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/medium-unlimited-read-for-free/Make Medium Readable Again (removes nagware from Medium)https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/make-medium-readable-again/View on Sci-Hub (redirects paywalled journal articles to the same paper on Sci-Hub)https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-on-sci-hub/
(DIR) Post #9qb6dd0Rqj5FwMhBS4 by z428@social.tchncs.de
2019-12-30T22:14:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aadil Though I agree with the intention: Why not instead visit (and pay for) just a few of these sites and, by providing them with actual money, make sure they can survive with a funding model more sustainable and ethical than, say, ads and tracking? 😉
(DIR) Post #9qb6ddPcL9DVCQTHgO by alexjgriffith@mastodon.social
2019-12-30T22:18:43Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428I definitely pay for subscriptions to sites I use regularly. Paying for a subscription to every site however, would be prohibitively expensive.@aadil
(DIR) Post #9qb6ddn0w9vqMzPy9Q by z428@social.tchncs.de
2019-12-31T11:41:04Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@alexjgriffith Yes, definitely so. 😉 That's why we possibly need different funding approaches (micropayments? cheaper subscriptions? BAT/#brave? ...). I'd gladly pay a lot more for online content if payment was reasonably safe (in terms of privacy) and easy (in terms of handling).@aadil
(DIR) Post #9qb6deH9882DsRW27M by neb@fosstodon.org
2020-01-02T17:20:15Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428 @alexjgriffith @aadilPlease do some research on Brave and why it's model ads nothing to the world.
(DIR) Post #9qb7LQoIYTAGrBtpaa by z428@social.tchncs.de
2020-01-02T17:28:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@neb I actually did. Yet pretty much all of the articles on that subject were rather biased rants by people who obviously dislike Brave per se.@alexjgriffith @aadil
(DIR) Post #9qb97iYnxnn7lJF0nA by neb@fosstodon.org
2020-01-02T17:48:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@aadilThey have reasons, probably.
(DIR) Post #9rFmwNCgUEwaLule40 by freakazoid@retro.social
2020-01-22T05:06:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@alexjgriffith @z428 @aadil My problem isn't so much that I don't want to pay but that they essentially steal my time by tricking me into visiting them without knowing in advance that I'm not going to be allowed to see the content. I see forcing them to give me free access to the content as compensation for having wasted my time.What I would like to see is an automated warning that a link goes to paywalled content *before I click on it*. And a way to filter paywalled search results.
(DIR) Post #9rFmwOE8gJhZWiSJyC by z428@social.tchncs.de
2020-01-22T06:50:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@freakazoid ... actively work on solving that problem at least *somehow*. It seems the whole of our current web has been built around the idea of getting access to content "gratis" (not libre). 😐 @alexjgriffith @aadil
(DIR) Post #9rFmwOej5Sy8rAtYPY by freakazoid@retro.social
2020-01-22T06:54:51Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428 @alexjgriffith @aadil The thing that bugs me about Brave is the fact that they are replacing blocked ads with their own. The thing that justifies ad blocking in my eyes is that ads can be distracting and annoying, and ad networks track you around and don't do a great job of blocking malware and fraudulent ads. *Replacing* ads feels more like theft to me.There seems to be a mismatch between the current way the Web works and funding of content, especially with smaller creators.
(DIR) Post #9rFmwOwo0FQllFLzai by freakazoid@retro.social
2020-01-22T06:57:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428 @alexjgriffith @aadil To paraphrase the bargain Brave is offering creators, it's something along the lines of "Hi, we're blocking your ads and showing our own ads next to your content. As a consolation, you can either accept the cut of revenue we're offering you, or we can just keep all the money. You're welcome."...
(DIR) Post #9rFmwPAz9Wm0TDzJh2 by z428@social.tchncs.de
2020-01-22T07:02:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@freakazoid ... lower-bareer than anything else these days - not thinking about privacy and practicability issues for micropayments and such.@alexjgriffith @aadil
(DIR) Post #9rFmwPS08GNtJzwuDQ by freakazoid@retro.social
2020-01-22T07:05:59Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428 @alexjgriffith @aadil Ah, ok, I didn't realize they weren't inserting the ads in the same spot. Still, the content is what gives the browser its utility, so it's not that different. Of course, it's ALSO not nearly as bad as Google being a huge fraction of the revenue of the other browser makers; they're the majority of revenue for Mozilla and Opera and 25% of Apple's services revenue....
(DIR) Post #9rFmwPuMQp4MjxDYQ4 by z428@social.tchncs.de
2020-01-22T07:14:17Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@freakazoid Yes. The importance of Google ad revenue for companies like Mozilla also still gives me the creeps in many possible ways.@alexjgriffith @aadil
(DIR) Post #9rSilJJKkIksKepHJw by neb@fosstodon.org
2020-01-28T14:07:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@z428 @alexjgriffith @aadil Mr Smith's take on Bravehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7lYxXrzbjk