I'm so tired of my information being sold off to third parties in order to deliver ads.
I'm so tired of good, useful tools and services requiring a forfeit of my privacy in order to use them.
Does anyone else wish that they could just exist without being told to buy something every 15 waking minutes?
Advertisements are slowing everything down. Tracking us. Serving us malware in some cases. We don't need them. Pi-hole/adguard could be standard. I'd rather pay $200 more for a TV set than have one with "analytics." I'm sick of the ads and block as many as I can - Google's "unobtrusive ads" included.
It feels a bit like a bonfire with other people's money ;)
IMO, it's not a mentality, it is just propaganda. When "tech" companies are advertising-supported intermediaries conducting internet surveillance, then they are in a position to control the flow of ideas across the wire. There is no limit on the number of self-interested, bad arguments that Silicon Valley can inject onto the internet as attempts to influence the www using public and protect its "business".
Remember that old meme (I was not even called a meme at the time!) about the steps required to watch a genuine DVD compared with the ones required for a pirate file? We need an updated version.
found here in case they hate the hotlink: https://www.techdirt.com/2010/02/19/reminder-you-dont-compet...
Airline (TK and Delta do this) wants to roll out face recognition.. TAKE YOUR MASK OFF AND GIVE US YOUR FACE DATA. No explanation of opting out. (Turns out it's being used to implement exit controls at the US border)
1. my own SmartWatch
2. a tool to remove iTunes DRM so that my TV can stay offline
3. fully offline speech recognition
4. a beefy Linux workstation
5. set up a pi-hole
6. patched LineageOS to work on my phone
And now my life is pretty much ad-free :)
In the last few years I've also made the switch to a Linux workstation, alternative Android OS (Calyx), pi-hole, etc in an attempt to take back some of my privacy. I also spent some time trying to build my own voice assistant using Mycroft AI but I found it lacking at the time. I just ordered a smartwatch a few days ago (after avoiding them for years) and I went with a simple model with an e-ink screen to hopefully give me some new functionality without demanding my attention. If you've shared any details about your projects I'd love to learn more about them.
We should have regulations so that everyone can enjoy this level of privacy easily.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/my-flamboyant-...
Ads are also a great progressive tool. Indirectly the rich pay more than the poor for the same service.
> I'm so tired of good, useful tools and services requiring a forfeit of my privacy in order to use them
You forgot free [w/ good & useful]. If the market could support paying for the services and tools instead of ads, businesses would move that way.
Here's my theory for the bubble factor:
You can sort of divide the ad market into four quadrants.
1) Premium advertiser, premium content. Coke and Toyota paying to be on the front page of the New York Times etc. 2) Premium advertiser, low-grade content. A lot of this is remarketing, where that damned fridge you looked at once six months ago follows you across the web.
3) Low-grade advertiser, premium content. This is likely the rarest quadrant, as it's too expensive for amateurs to play in. 4) Low-grade advertiser and content. Think of the chumboxes at the bottom of news sites.
I feel like Quadrant 1 and 2 are surprisingly at risk.
Premium advertisers have experts running their campaigns and analytics up the wazoo. Eventually they're going to ask "Is it worth paying Google/Meta/etc. NN% of the total spend when we could probably call top-50 publishers directly and arrange a deal? They may also be more brand-sensitive, worried about blowback from inappropriate ad placement in Quadrant 2.
There is a real risk that the "better" sections of the ad market eventually graduate away from brokered networks, and eventually Google and Meta are left as a glorified Taboola. Is there a lot of money in there? Possibly, but I wonder how sustainable the money is. I suspect a lot of revenue from small advertisers is due to very poor inefficiency (bad campaign design, poorly managed spend, dark pattern tooling), and it runs a risk of death-spiraling as the quality of the network tanks.
Facebook is an interesting monetization problem because the product is so intensely based on network effects. A strategy to maximize ad revenue may end up coming at the cost of some user abandonment, which is the ultimate risk for their platform. They need to thread the needle of "how creepy can we be without making people leave."
I don’t see this changing anytime soon because it is so profitable in our current system.
"Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule ("COPPA")"
If the kids is below 13, targeting would probably not be allowed.
"The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction about children under 13 years of age, including children outside the U.S. if the website or service is U.S.-based.[1] It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect children's privacy and safety online, including restrictions on the marketing of those under 13.[2]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_...
a) there are laws involved
b) you have a variety of content/products specifically aimed at different ages
I won't speak to gender, that's certainly a different concept, but age doesn't exact ring alarm bells for me here.
Anything more granular is marketing and advertising BS which they have no need for.
Things you are not entitled to know about your customers: anything else whatsoever.
Asking for people's age, gender, or whatever, is creepy and rude. Especially if you inconvenience the customer in the process.
And...
(a) You can comply with COPPA and similar laws by not collecting data on ANYBODY, which is what you should be doing anyhow. No sympathy.
(b) Let the customer decide what the customer wants, thank you very much.
Also Disney: “Tell us your gender so we can target ads based on that!”
I would take DIE advocates more seriously if they reformed themselves — rather than lecturing the rest of us while engaging in such blatant hypocrisy.
“Comply with age-related legal obligations
“Personalize your content and experiences
“Deliver targeted advertising to you”
Not everyone is ok with being profiled from every possible angle.
What is happening with streaming services adding ads was entirely predictable because the financial incentives of a company that adopts a subscription model are to add ads to the subscription once they think they can get away with it. If they already have ads, the incentive is to add more and more of them until there's pushback (i.e. the NFL has been cutting down on commercial breaks because they got long enough and frequent enough to become a common source of fan complaints when ironically the 2 minute warning was originally added to the rulebook in the early 70s to guarantee TV broadcasters at least one commercial break each half that wasn't because the clock ran out on a quarter).
This is why all of the people who want a subscription based model for online services that are currently free are hopelessly naive. If they get their way, things will get better for a few years and then will eventually end up right back where they are but worse because you'll have to pay for the privilege of watching ads.
It was a huge deal internally when "Custom" was added as a gender option in the sign-up flow, and even then, there's a nudge towards the binary to retain better ad targeting.
In addition to that, companies wants you to acknowledge that you're over 13 so they can be more loosey-goosey with data collection (thanks California!).
It's odd that advertisers would dislike that change for targeting -- surely the people who pick "custom" are sending a major signal that correlates with other preferences. It's a third grouping they can specifically target! If they split "male" into "HYPER-MASCULINE ALPHA MALE: CARS, GUNS, AND FOOTBALL FUCK YEAH!" and "I have a penis but I try not to let it make decisions for me", advertisers should presumably love that distinction too. Of course the reality is that their decades of research deciding what constitutes "male" and "female" has gotten them stuck in a shitty local minimum and they can no longer abandon this binary concept that they cling desperately to without admitting that they've never actually known what the fuck they're doing.
Did a significant amount of users pick this though?
Those are terrible signals and really should be replaced with something better.
In a society where someone of the male sex is pressureed to be male gendered there will be a larger correlation between gender and sex. Which would mean miracle balding cures would do better targeting the male gender if they don't have the inofrmation to target the male sex.
If so, why?
Anybody who asks deserves to be chaffed into oblivion with garbage data.
Especially, who would be dumb enough to admit to being under 18, or, worse, under 13? An 8 year old should see the obvious reasons not to do that. A bright 6 year old.
I used to lie and say I was really old, but now I'm really old so I just lie at random.
I don't expect there's any reason for them to divide by a datetime...but one can hope that some ad server somewhere has crashed as a result.
My go-to birthday has always been January 1st of the year I was actually born. That way it doesn't raise any eyebrows if I want to convert something to a real account or interact with real people, but it fails verification if they mishandle my credentials.
That's worked great, except that one time when I inadvertently booked a flight on united.com (who should have my actual birthday, with whom I'd flown internationally several times before) with a session token or something set by a random travel search engine to whom I had given my fake January 1st birthday and then (I thought) abandoned before picking a different flight. Customs had pointed questions about the authenticity of my passport and driver's license, because their system showed that my documents should be different and they couldn't tell me why... They eventually let me back into the country, but that was not fun.
Its not like you can identify 87% of the US based on Date of birth, 5 digit Zip Code and gender. Oh wait. https://dataprivacylab.org/projects/identifiability/index.ht...
"Verification" questions should get random answers that get saved in your password manager.
I know I've run into it at least once, I think maybe Microsoft, where having an unknown birth date on the account became a huge headache.
Lesson learned. Write stuff like this down in a vault too.
Presumably some places appear to just be doing todays date-120/130 years. So its possible to create an account that likely won't be able to revalidate ones birthday using their age validators in a few years unless they adjust the age because you will be over what they think is the max age.
For websites that respect COPPA, under-13 might be your best bet for less targeting
ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Pr...
I guess in theory it could also trigger them to ask for a note from your parents...
If some profile is routinely watching a show about makeup or horses or ballet dances, you have a pretty good guess about the age/gender. Likewise if some profile is watching a lot of shows about monster trucks, little league baseball, and RPG games, you likewise can make a pretty reasonable guess about who they are.
Playing video games, of any kind as an adult is such a norm today that it’s not entirely accurate to say “well this person plays Mario, let’s advertise crayola”,
Sometimes it does.
https://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Sandwich-Featuring-Different-D...
This account was active for 2+ years and they out of the blue REQUIRED a birthday like wth.
Pahe in India, Philipines, PSA on PM, MKVking and plenty of other options to download legally content even without torrenting.
I used to recommend Netflix back in the day, cause it just worked. Now, there's 30+ different streaming services, and many have switched to the "leak an episode once a week/month".
Just pirate. It's better, cheaper, AND not hostile to the end user!
What do you recommend in the high seas, and how do you manage the threat of malware?
Then, I stick primarily with video and audio. I stay away from software piracy because I prefer my data to be in FLOSS formats.
MAKE SURE to use Firefox, with "uBlock Origin" and "Privacy Badger" plugins before going to any of these links. Also if you're on Windows, go enable in Windows Explorer to show "file extensions" - some torrents will be malware with movie.mp4.exe and try to trick you to run malware.
--------------
Movies:
RARBG.to - One of the most organized public trackers, gets new content very quickly. Can search by IMDB tags (eg. tt0258038, appearing in IDMB URLs)
rutracker.org [.org, .net, .nl] - The best general tracker from Russia and arguably the best one overall. It's great for niche movies, especially from Russia and other east European countries.
TorrentGalaxy.to - Another highly recommended site for movies & TV. Proxy list.
ettvdl.com
Zooqle.com - Easy to use torrent site
1337x.to - Many public p2p releases/encodes are released here, including Tigole/UTR/YIFY. Cams are typically uploaded here as well.
psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes
[Documentaries] forums.mvgroup.org - Very good documentaries tracker. Registration required.
[Anime] Nyaa.si
[Anime] hi10anime.com
[Anime] shanaproject.com
forum.dirtywarez.com - Popular DDL forum. Has a request section.
scnlog.me - Scene releases
rlsbb.ru - Scene releases
ddlvalley.me
movieparadise.org
adit-hd.com
megaddl.co
rmz.cr
2ddl.ms
rarefilmm.com - Rare movies
psarips.com - Small-sized x265 (re-)encodes
Nebulance (NBL) - Very good alternative to BTN and easy to join. Great for finding/requesting old, unpopular, obscure shows. NBL can be joined through MAM. You are eligible the moment you become PU, which is 1 month.
Filelist - One of the largest general private trackers. Romanian tracker, but media content will typically include dual language audio (English and Romanian). The tracker might be smaller compared to IPT but the quality control is better, especially for movies and TV shows. You will be able to find high quality encodes from PTP and BTN which you might not find on IPT. Can be joined through MAM with a 5 months old account
IPTorrents - The largest general private tracker, period. Definitely worth to have as a back up. Invites are easy to come by if you make acquaintances otherwise you can join it through EMP (unofficial invites; need access to invite forum so you have to be Good Perv user class which requires 8 weeks on the tracker). Also, don't forget to log in every 3 months or you lose your account (called Inactivity rule)
Secret Cinema - If any of the following keywords interest you then this is the tracker for you - old (as early as the 1st movie ever), non-mainstream, non-English, arthouse, experimental, rare - movies and Tv shows. This tracker can be joined through MAM (6 months old account required) and RED.
PassThePopcorn (PTP) - Movies tracker. Best source for movies, period. Couple of unique features - !!!!* The amount of active fleshed out collections available to discover content to watch. It's often better than some legit sites dedicated to this stuff. !!!!* High quality encodes. Many torrents are marked Golden Popcorn (GP). They are best of the best encodes. It is like Oscars but for encodes. Currently it is not possible to join PTP unless you know someone who has an account there and can invite you. The best strategy suggested is to reach as high of a user class you can reach on RED as feasibly possible. This will increase chances when PTP starts recruiting again. In the meantime you can join SC, BHD, BLU etc and make requests there
beyond-hd.me (BHD) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD and some SD content. Originally home to the famous FRaMeSToR remux group but then many more after AHD died. Currently the best alternative to PTP and BTN. After AHD's demise, this is now the 2nd best tracker for high quality encodes too. Can be joined through RED (either be Elite user class OR power user with 6 months old account)
pixelhd.me - Movies tracker. Known for producing small sized encodes. PxHD Mobies - 720p/AAC/mp4 at 1.5-2GB (esp. for Mobile Devices); PxHD/PxEHD - 1080p/AC3/mp4 at 4GB and 8GB; and PxHDA - 1080p/DTS/ at "whatever size is necessary" for high transparency (usually 6-12gb). Can be joined through RED (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old) and MAM (Elite or "high-level" PU; + 2 more proofs; all 3 accounts at least 6 months old)
HD-Torrents (HDT) - Movies/TV tracker. Focuses on HD content only. This tracker is great for HD movies though not as good as PTP. Specialty lies in allowing of multiple untouched material of the same movie, which helps in getting those foreign languages, different audio/video quality, or even different content in audio/videos. Slightly superior to PTP in this regard. You can pay for an account through their website. (Note - Only buy the account from their own website, not a 3rd party)
uhdbits.org (UHDB) - Small movies tracker. Should not aim for it as your primary tracker but it is good to have as backup, aim for BHD instead. Can be joined through RED.
TV Chaos UK - TV tracker. Great site for UK TV content. Best joined through requesting on /r/invites (proof of ratio from other sites required). Quality lacks a bit so use it with a TV tracker like BTN to get the most of UK content
Broadcast the Net (BTN) - TV tracker. Best source for TV related content, period. Currently this tracker is not recruiting anywhere but it is recommended to join PTP where BTN will recruit again in the future
TV Vault (TVV) - TV tracker. Best private tracker for old TV shows. Best way to join it is through MAM.
More Than TV (MTV) - Movies/TV tracker. 2nd best private tracker for TV after BTN. Retention is not good but with a strong request section, this is not an issue. Can be joined through RED
asiancinema.me - Movies/TV tracker. A neat little tracker for Asian content.
animebytes.tv - Best place for anime on the internet. Can be joined through RED (account has to be 1 year old)
AvistaZ - Movies/TV tracker. One of the best places for Asian (mainly Japan, South Korea, China etc) movies and TV shows. Best place for Korean dramas. Easiest way to join is through application on their site. Also one of the few top trackers that have open signups from time to time.
Blutopia - Movies/TV tracker. Very nice tracker for Movies and TV. Like other private trackers, you can make the most of it through the use of its request section. As SD encodes are not allowed on this tracker, it is a great source for untouched DVDs, especially if you aren't in top trackers yet
TorrentLeech - General scene tracker. One of the largest general private trackers
alpharatio.cc - A general private tracker focused on scene releases. Inferior in content compared to other general trackers like IPT, TL, FL etc but has a very strong request section. Great for requests for which personalised trackers don't exist or aren't good enough. Can be joined through MAM and RED during AR's global invites period, keep an eye out
pluto.tv - Official legal service
github.com/iptv-org/iptv - Mass IPTV aggregation
sportsbay.sx - Sports & non-sports channels
123tvnow.com
cxtvlive.com
stream2watch.ws
time4tv.stream
/r/rugbystreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
/r/MLBStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
/r/ncaaBBallStreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
/r/WWEstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
/r/mmafights - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
/r/motorsportsstreams - Live streams. Links posted within the hour of the match
rutracker.org > Sports - Torrents. Sports subforum at rutracker
sport-video.org.ua - Torrent soccer, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, rugby, other
footybite.com - Highlights and live streams. Soccer
nbafullhd.com - Replays. Basketball, football, F1
liveonscore.tv - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, motorsports, baseball, basketball, football, hockey
sportsurge.net - Live streams. MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football, hockey
sporthd.live - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, handball, basketball, rugby, football, tennis and others
sportsbay.sx - Live streams. Football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, NCAA, tennis, cricket, motorsports
worldcupfootball.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM
6stream.xyz - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF
bilasport.net - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey
720pstream.me - Live streams. MMA, baseball, basketball, football, hockey, NCAAF, NCAAM
ripple.is - Live streams. Soccer, MMA, boxing, motorsports, basketball, football
nflbite.com - Live streams. Football
nbabite.com - Live streams. Basketball
And there's also https://thepiratebay.org .
- Doesn't show ads, or steal your personal information.
- Has all the content from every major streaming service.
- Is scalable and efficient without a centralized single point of failure.
- Can be used with 100% free and open source software.
- Lets you keep your favorite shows forever without being subject to the whims of corporate licensing.
https://www.cbr.com/disney-no-current-plans-release-marvel-s...
Where X is some thing that may or may not be what the the poster actually wants, but the temptation to own them by saying it already exists is too great.
By the tone of every thread discussing advertising you would think the answer would be zero. But it is certainly not zero.
Is the only answer to making money in tech to get massive traffic so you can get 1% of people that actually click on an ad and buy something? What I can't fathom is the amount of money being spent on ads, surely it must be paying off.
The answer to your second question is yes. How many newspapers do you think we would still have without digital advertising? Close to zero.
What people are willing to pay for and what is actually good for themselves and society are two different things. Advertising is a capitalist way to democratize attention.
I also sincerely hope everyone complaining about advertising is a hardcore socialist or communist. If not they are awfully hypocritical.
Heck, it could be even better, since your "mental" age based on your interests in movies could be more suitable for delivering ads then your actual age.
That's too bad, guess the high seas are calling.
During that month I watched the Pixar movies Soul, Luca, and Turning Red (and rewatched Onward). I also watched the Disney movies Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto. And Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs. Oh, and also the latest Dr. Strange and Thor Marvel movies, plus the Loki series.
Are you seriously claiming that all that was garbage?
(At least with Star Wars, nostalgia for something they got into during childhood is a plausible explanation for anybody under 60 or so. But even so, I'm surprised more people don't grow out of it.)
We don't need curated ads.
We will seek them out so just put it ALL out there for us to choose at our time and privacy.