I’d suggest the Firefox extension libredirect. Automatically redirects Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and more to alternative front-ends.
I’ve just blocked YT in my browser, and use https://freetubeapp.io/ instead. It’s a desktop app, so I don’t have to deal with cookies and storage being deleted after every session, just as i can do subscriptions to channels without requiring an account.
So far, it has been an amazing experience, I totally recommend it. And I second the point about Nano AdBlcoker, since I’ve also been one of the victims, since at the time Nano Defender was one of the alternatives pretty well recommended on Reddit, that was better at avoiding anti-adblock scripts. Plus, any extension you have only makes you easier to fingerprint, thus defeating the point of VPN or privacy focused browser. Especially with Mullvad browser + VPN, which is especially build on the idea of sharing the exact same fingerprint with every other Mullvad VPN user.
It’s not a solution, but as a mitigation, I’m trying to push the idea of an internet right of way into the public consciousness. Here’s the thesis statement from my write-up:
I propose that if a company wants to grow by allowing open access to its services to the public, then that access should create a legal right of way. Any features that were open to users cannot then be closed off so long as the company remains operational. We need an Internet Rights of Way Act, which enforces digital footpaths. Companies shouldn’t be allowed to create little paths into their sites, only to delete them, forcing guests to pay if they wish to maintain access to the networks that they built, the posts that they wrote, or whatever else it is that they were doing there.
As I explain in the link, rights of way already exist for the physical world, so it’s easily explained to even the less technically inclined, and give us a useful lef framework for how they should work.
I agree but I think it needs to be slightly more practical. Sometimes a line of business just dries up and it would damage the company to try and keep that service going. It wouldn’t make sense to force a company into bankruptcy to keep one line going that few people use anymore.
Earlier today, though, I was thinking about sunsetting guarantees. Companies can and should decommission things when it makes business sense, but the user generated content it has gathered shouldn’t just disappear, and they shouldn’t be allowed to destroy the user experience of things people have bought.
So I would propose rules like:
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If a service is being decomissioned or an entry point to that service being shut down, the content available on that service must be made available as a bulk export. Personal data, such as account data, messages, etc should be made available to users individually, while publicly accessible content should be made available publicly.
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If a public service is being taken down completely, source code should be made available publicly.
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If the service for a device which was physically purchased by consumers is being taken down, an update must be provided to allow users to use a local or alternative backend service. The source code for the service must be released publicly.
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If features are being removed from a service which backed a physically purchased device, an update must be offered which allows users to point to a local or alternative service for either all functionality or, at minimum, the removed functionality. Looking at you, Google, keep removing features…
Yeah, as always, the devil is in the details. For now I think that we need a simple and clear articulation of the main idea. In the exceedingly unlikely event that it ever gets traction, I look forward to hammering out the many nuances.
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Peak internet was like 10-15 years ago
I don’t really miss when even getting stable 100KBps is considered lucky
10-15 years is 2009/10 - 2013/14, not 2003.
You’d have to ve in a crazy rural region for 100kbps…In 2009 there was such a provider (talking about Moscow region in Russia) as Skylink, which gave good connectivity in rural areas and Skype traffic was unlimited (I’m not making it up). It was good enough for Skype voice calls.
Third world country is might as well a crazy rural region, yes.
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oh, i’m totally over it. it’s so liberating to not care about their shitty little digital hell they’ve created. this and discord are literally the only places I interact with people on the internet.
Lets be real - This isn’t going to change on it’s own. The only way for it to change is if everyone collectively took a stand against it. Which simply just won’t happen. The most reasonable thing to do is to focus your energy on collectives that actively reject such practices. Oh hey, you’re already in one: Lemmy, good job. As long as we work together to create a small corner of the internet that remains true to what the internet should be, we can grow it and create a better internet in the long term.
Not to mention sites blacklisting VPN IPs
my own site for my very small business gets about 10 legit visitors a week, none of which have ever connected via a known vpn address (dating back some 15 years). another 100 page views a week on average from legit bots (msn, google, etc).
the rest (and well over 95% of overall traffic) is bots, scrapers, and hackers, many of which use addresses linked to vpn services and pound the sites on the server looking for exploitable scripts (wordpress related, usually; which we’ve never run here), login and contact forms. if i could simply ‘flip a switch’ and redirect all vpn traffic to a separate landing page, i would seriously consider doing so. it wouldn’t affect site availability to our legit users and our target audience. but for now, mod_security is doing a stellar job and is the mvp.
True and very annoying in the same time! The web is ruined :(
Capitalism does this to itself due to the profit motive. Where once is innovation and brand new disruption becomes petty iteration as this new frontier slowly but surely becomes a well-oiled profit machine. The upside is that FOSS makes replacing this profit-generating soul-sucking bloatware with better alternatives very easy.
Replacing the existing infrastructure of Capitalism by building up parallel structures is a valid means of weakening Capital itself.
Really waiting for an youtube alternative tbh.
PeerTube! If you just want a better YouTube, check out NewPipe.
Already use Newpipe, might give Peertube a chance tho.
You definitely should if you want a viable alternative!
If you’re using Safari on macOS or iOS, download Vinegar for YouTube (and Baking Soda for other websites). It switches videos to the native player and skips ads (and autoplay). It also sets the quality to whatever you prefer (Best, in my case). Makes mobile YouTube so much better.
I’m actually glad for it. It made me switch to Linux, discover Mullvad Browser and their VPN combo, get a GrapheneOS phone, find an amazing Freetube YT desktop client, and dabble with Home Assistant and PIHole. Plus I migrated to Protonmail and Kagi as my search, and Lemmy instead of reddit is also an amazing change, the discussions I’ve seen so far feel better and more in depth, and I’m enjoying my time here so far. The lack of endless content is also great, to help with implementing Digital Minimalism.
So, while I hate any large corporation and their greed with more and more passion, it has lead me to a nice privacy journey, for which I’m glad.
Can you use tap to pay?
Same for me. I switched to Linux, left reddit currently migrating to proton mail and my next phone will be one where I can install Graphene OS onto. More changes will come soon.
Looked into Kagi. Seems interesting. Personally, I use either Brave search or Searx. There’s was post over at Linux@lemmy.ml about open source alternatives to ChatGPT and I might look into those. But I definitely keep Kagi in mind. By the way, How good is Kagi for,um… “sailing the high seas”?
I’m 100% feeling YouTube’s throttling. It has already led me to watch fewer videos.
the last one can be solved by sending lemmy links instead
Browsers are leading slower and slower
That’s because of heavy use of JavaScript and frameworks like React. Websites like Facebook are a nightmare to deal with.
++ social media has killed personal blogs. Which is one of the biggest losses to me.
Agreed. It is urgent that we teach Neil Postman’s “media ecology”. The junk noise garbage shit Internet sucks, and enough is enough!
