Browser Settings

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O Really
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Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

Is there a setting for Chrome to control videos on web pages, i.e., whether to start the vid immediately upon opening the page or to require a click on the arrow? Seems I remember seeing such a setting on something in the past, but it might not have been Chrome. Couldn't find it, anyway.

It's a pain in the ass to click on a page expecting to read and some maybe even unrelated video starts up. Mostly I just keep my sound turned off anyway, but still. It's annoying, particularly the ones that just play music in the background.

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homerfobe
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by homerfobe »

I get that too, mostly when logging onto newspaper websites. I will be reading a page and a freaking video pops up right over the page's text. Adblocker has no effect. I'm curious myself for a fix.
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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

Since nobody seems to want to help... here, I'll do it myself
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/stop-auto- ... os-chrome/

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Vrede too
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by Vrede too »

That's probably the safest thing around here, anyhow.

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

So I read some sites that give a limited number of views before wanting a subscription. For a long time, when I reached my limit, I went to Settings, Cookies, and selected the cookies left by the site, and voila - I'm back to reading. It's easy because you can search for cookies. Type in "washington" for example and it gives you a list of the WaPo cookies. Click "delete all" and they're gone, without disturbing any others you might want to keep.

Recently, for some reason, when I enter the first or maybe second letter into the search box, the browser closes down completely. I restore it, enter a letter, and it closes down again. I've found I can go down the list to the cookies I want to get rid of and click "delete" to get rid of them. And sometimes after doing that, the search box works again.

Any ideas why this has started happening? Are websites getting sneaky enough to include something in their cookie that closes the browser upon mention of their name?

It never did it before Trump was President*, but I don't really think even I can blame him for this.

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bannination
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by bannination »

O Really wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:22 pm
So I read some sites that give a limited number of views before wanting a subscription. For a long time, when I reached my limit, I went to Settings, Cookies, and selected the cookies left by the site, and voila - I'm back to reading. It's easy because you can search for cookies. Type in "washington" for example and it gives you a list of the WaPo cookies. Click "delete all" and they're gone, without disturbing any others you might want to keep.

Recently, for some reason, when I enter the first or maybe second letter into the search box, the browser closes down completely. I restore it, enter a letter, and it closes down again. I've found I can go down the list to the cookies I want to get rid of and click "delete" to get rid of them. And sometimes after doing that, the search box works again.

Any ideas why this has started happening? Are websites getting sneaky enough to include something in their cookie that closes the browser upon mention of their name?

It never did it before Trump was President*, but I don't really think even I can blame him for this.
Sounds like a bug in Chrome if that's what you're using. A website wouldn't have the power to do something like that. An easier way to get around page view limits is using "private browsing" mode aka "porn mode" whenever visiting a site like that. IE/Chome/Firefox all have that option, not sure about browsers in apple country like Safari.

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

Yes, it's Chrome I use. Funny, I just tried it and it worked fine now. Must have been a passing glitch or sneaky gremlin. Thanks.

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

So out of habit, more than anything else, I have been using MSN (Canada Version) as a home page, along with Yahoo and Google News. I also run AdBlock. Recently, MSN has started to not load pages properly with AdBlock running. It doesn't actually reject, like some publication sites do, it just opens a badly formed and generally unreadable page. Click AdBlock "Do not run on this page" and it comes up fine. It has been somewhat of a creeping problem, starting with occasional issues on a page linked from the main page, which I assumed just to be more ad than article, so I ignored it. Now it's the main page. US and Canada version.

Anybody else have this issue? I'm not going to permanently turn off my ad blocker for MSN.

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Vrede too
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by Vrede too »

O Really wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 12:58 pm
So out of habit, more than anything else, I have been using MSN (Canada Version) as a home page, along with Yahoo and Google News. I also run AdBlock. Recently, MSN has started to not load pages properly with AdBlock running. It doesn't actually reject, like some publication sites do, it just opens a badly formed and generally unreadable page. Click AdBlock "Do not run on this page" and it comes up fine. It has been somewhat of a creeping problem, starting with occasional issues on a page linked from the main page, which I assumed just to be more ad than article, so I ignored it. Now it's the main page. US and Canada version.

Anybody else have this issue? I'm not going to permanently turn off my ad blocker for MSN.
I'm running AdBlockPlus. https://www.msn.com/ runs fine with 16 items blocked on the homepage. Then, the link to this, 19 items blocked, also works great:

64 White Supremacists Prosecuted by DOJ Receive 820 Years in Federal Prison

:happy-cheerleaderkid:

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/ also looks and works fine, 13 items blocked.

Oh wait, maybe there is a problem.

Amanda Bynes Shares Sweet Selfie with Her Fiancé One Day After Announcing Their Engagement

141 items blocked and maybe still climbing. The text is fine, but Amanda Bynes just doesn't look right:

Image

Image

;) :wave:

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

It's apparently not just me:

"The amount of advertisement is absolutely disgusting. You can't open ANY news story without sitting through a shameless advertisement first and there isn't even an option to "skip". Absolutely disgusting and I won't use this this site again.

Their "New Look" is the last straw. I put up with the ads which were longer than the news item. I learned to ignore the "News items which only initiated a "Bing Search". Now this new layout is just too much for me.

I couldn't agree more. The new layout is awful and I also can't get it in English anymore - I live in Germany. There is supposed to be a way to change that but haven't found it yet.

If it's not broke don't fix it. Your new format stinks, it's a mess. I have my own bookmark bar. I don't need yours. Searching for a new home page. I've permanently signed out of your services; no longer needed... !

Sucks - auto refreshes every 10 to 20 seconds whiles scrolling through and jumps you back to the top of the page. Overloaded with ads. Lately full of opinion pieces being passed off as "News"

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

Vrede too wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 3:11 pm

I'm running AdBlockPlus. https://www.msn.com/ runs fine with 16 items blocked on the homepage. Then, the link to this, 19 items blocked, also works great:

Well, that didn't help. I uninstalled AdBlock, installed Plus and it still screws with the US and Canadian MSN, except now it looks like the Plus doesn't give me the option to temporarily exclude one specific page, so I can't read MSN without disabling the Plus. Gotta be MSN's fault here, but it would be good to get a workaround.

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Vrede too
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by Vrede too »

O Really wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 4:17 pm
... now it looks like the Plus doesn't give me the option to temporarily exclude one specific page ...
That's weird, I can. I use Firefox, maybe the issue is the ABP interaction with a different browser? If you have an alternate browser, give it a try?

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bannination
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by bannination »

If using Firefox, try switching to UBlock origin. Adblock plus went rogue a year or two back and allow advertisements if you pay them enough.

There should be no learning curve, they behave practically the same.

I don't know if they have it for Chrome, but that might be worth looking for.

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bannination
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by bannination »

Ulysses wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:40 pm
I've been using Adblock Plus and Cookie Editor. Also Privacy Badger.

I have to turn off Adblock Plus for some sites. Also lately some sites complain still and I have to turn off Cookie Editor and/or Privacy Badger.
Privacy Badger is a good one!
Can't live without Imagus.

Cookie Autodelete is another one I like. It just automatically deletes cookies after a period of time, but you can whitelist sites you care about. It requires a more active user that cares about privacy though, not for newbs.

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O Really
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by O Really »

If you're tired of sites demanding you turn off your adblock to access, here's a good solution.

https://www.guidingtech.com/60376/bypas ... ion-sites/

I installed the extension, uploaded the script, and it works very well.

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Ulysses
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Re: Browser Settings

Unread post by Ulysses »

O Really wrote:
Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:22 pm
So I read some sites that give a limited number of views before wanting a subscription. For a long time, when I reached my limit, I went to Settings, Cookies, and selected the cookies left by the site, and voila - I'm back to reading. It's easy because you can search for cookies. Type in "washington" for example and it gives you a list of the WaPo cookies. Click "delete all" and they're gone, without disturbing any others you might want to keep.

Recently, for some reason, when I enter the first or maybe second letter into the search box, the browser closes down completely. I restore it, enter a letter, and it closes down again. I've found I can go down the list to the cookies I want to get rid of and click "delete" to get rid of them. And sometimes after doing that, the search box works again.

Any ideas why this has started happening? Are websites getting sneaky enough to include something in their cookie that closes the browser upon mention of their name?

It never did it before Trump was President*, but I don't really think even I can blame him for this.
For some of those sites, like the New York Times, I just open the link in a "private window" (Firefox) and that usually gets me through to read an article past the "five reads limit" barrier. Some sites though won't allow private windows... they got smarter I guess. But it still seems to work for NY Times.com.

YMMV

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