Web

More outages at Pinboard. It was time to find an open-source self-hosted alternative. Espial, it turns out, works great.

It turns out that command line text web browers like lynx can bypass AdBlock detection.

On macOS, I installed lynx using Homebrew. Then from the Terminal, it’s just lynx your-url. It’s actually quite pleasant to read text without all of the images and fluff.

One of the most infuriating UX choices on the web is the developer’s choice to open every single link in a new tab. There are a few sites I interact with, including Aliexpress, where the designers have inflicted this on the users.

Fortunately, I found a solution. The Chrome extension target="_blank"-toggler works well. When you hover over a link which would open in a new tab, it superimposes a visual signal. Now you have a choice. If you click on the link, it will open in a new tab. If you Command + Shift click,^[The ⌘ + ⇧ combination works on macOS. It is probably CONTROL + Shift on Windows, but you’ll have to check the documentation.] the link will open in the same tab. Problem solved.

YouTube comments are some of the most offensive on the web. Even serious videos attract trolls bent on inscribing their offensiveness and cruelness on the web.

Here’s one method of dealing with YouTube comments. Treat the comments block as an advertisement and block it.^[There are other ways of avoiding YouTube comments. I’ve used ViewPure but it’s hard to find content that way even though they seem to be working on making it more seamless to get from YouTube to ViewPure.]

I’m reluctant about using Facebook. Recently I returned after a 5 year sabbatical. It seems about the same as it was when I left. But I had never really used Facebook groups before. So when a friend launched a group around a topic of interest to me, I joined enthusiastically. While watching the numbers grow quickly in the first few days, I realized what a difficult platform it is for having any kind of meaningful discussion.