ohryan.ca

A Web Developer in Winnipeg

  • Ads Don’t Work

    Ads Don’t Work

    in

    There has been a lot of hubbub on the internets today about web ad/tracker/content blocking. It seems that 36hrs of full on iOS9 content blocking was enough to cause every single ad-supported publication to collectively loss their shit. Imagine how abysmal ad numbers must have been for Marco Arment to pull his highly successful iOS9 content blocker.

    I started blocking ads over a month ago (based largely on Marco’s advice) and I’m not going back!

    I don’t feel bad about it.

    Banner ads do not work.
    Showing me ads for a product I just bought on amazon… on every website… for the next month… is a dumb waste of everyone’s bandwidth, resources and money; Nobody has clicked on a banner ad in at least 10 years, at least not by choice; And haven’t publishers been complaining about not making any money off of banner ads since the beginning of internet time?

    Make up your mind publishers. Are you making any money off shitty low-quality, data stealing, phone crashing ads? Or are ad blockers THE END OF THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT?! OMG!1!1!11

    Do you know what works?

    1. Native advertising. (except native advertising is generally bad)
    2. Getting content consumers to pay for stuff.

    That’s right, I am suggesting that people would pay for ad free web experiences. Why not have an ad-free version for a small monthly payment? It’s worked for services like Livejournal, Flickr, Reddit, for years.

    I am surprised that in 2015 we still haven’t cracked the micropayment promise of 2005. The promise of a world where sites load unencumbered by 33 javascript includes, where publishers make decent money without selling out their readers. Hell, in a world where I pay $8 to Netflix, instead of $70+ to a cable provider for video entertainment. I have a few extra dollars to spend on the sites I value the most.

    *shrug*

  • astsu: why Mr Robot is the most tech-savvy show ever

    astsu: why Mr Robot is the most tech-savvy show ever

    in ,

    I finally watched the pilot episode of Mr Robot and I was totally blown away by the way the handle the hacking aspects of the show. If you haven’t seen the show, the main character is a professional security engineer by day and a “cyber vigilante” at night. It’s great!

    Every aspect of the way Elliot – protagonist – goes about his job is completely believable and authentic, from: social engineering techniques, password cracking, right down to the command line.

    As an example of the authenticity + poetic license = tech-savviness, throughout the pilot the Elliot uses a command: astsu.

    astsu is not a real linux command and it’s not totally clear what it does. However, the way that he uses it feels totally legit. He doesn’t use it when other commands would do the job (like a sloppy writer might have him do) and the arguments he passes to it look about right for something vaguely network/security related. We can assume that this command is code that he’s written himself. The command is basically a plot device for the nerds that will notice this sort of thing.

    The fact that writers/producers/whoever demonstrate an incredible attention to detail and authenticity. I’m definitely going to continue watching

    Oh, the soundtrack is perfect too.

  • Today I Block Ads

    in

    Marco Arment just published a post on The ethics of modern web ad-blocking.

    His opening position is pretty similar to my own, I’ve been a long time advocate of not blocking ads. In the past, I have also put food on the table via ad revenue. Until today, I have been morally opposed to blocking ads has until today.

    However…

    Nobody could blame the users of yesteryear for killing pop-up ad rates, and nobody should blame the users of 2015 for blocking abusive, intrusive, misleading, and privacy-stealing ads and trackers, even if it’s inconvenient for publishers and web developers.

    PS. Ghostery is great!