Comment Re:"Two Microsoft Outlooks" (Score 2) 136
Doesn't matter, we don't need to understand what really happened to have a laugh and point fingers at Microsoft
Submission + - Has Slashdot Become More Ads Than "News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters"? 2
FictionPimp writes: Load Slashdot's front page today without an ad blocker and count what you see before scrolling.
Above the fold, there are 6 distinct ad placements: a full-width Retool banner just below the navigation, a MongoDB Atlas inline banner styled to look like a site notice sitting directly above the first story, two sidebar ad units (one for a game dev course bundle, one for business software comparison), a "Sponsored Content" slot beginning to appear at the bottom edge, and a sticky MongoDB footer bar fixed to the bottom of the screen. MongoDB alone holds two simultaneous placements on the same page load. The ratio is 6 ads to 2 stories before you even scroll.
Slashdot has carried the tagline "News for nerds, stuff that matters" since Rob Malda was running the site out of a college dorm in 1997. It is now owned by Slashdot Media, the same parent as SourceForge, and the nav bar includes a "Thought Leadership" section, which is industry parlance for paid editorial content.
None of this is unique to Slashdot. Display advertising is how independent tech publications survive. But there is a meaningful difference between ads that share a page with content and ads that outnumber and surround the content, with some of them actively designed to look like part of the editorial feed.
The question for the Slashdot community: at what point does the original promise of the site, a curated community-moderated signal in a noisy web, get buried under the noise it was supposed to filter? Should the site be rebranded: "Ads for Nerds, News if we can fit it in"?
Above the fold, there are 6 distinct ad placements: a full-width Retool banner just below the navigation, a MongoDB Atlas inline banner styled to look like a site notice sitting directly above the first story, two sidebar ad units (one for a game dev course bundle, one for business software comparison), a "Sponsored Content" slot beginning to appear at the bottom edge, and a sticky MongoDB footer bar fixed to the bottom of the screen. MongoDB alone holds two simultaneous placements on the same page load. The ratio is 6 ads to 2 stories before you even scroll.
Slashdot has carried the tagline "News for nerds, stuff that matters" since Rob Malda was running the site out of a college dorm in 1997. It is now owned by Slashdot Media, the same parent as SourceForge, and the nav bar includes a "Thought Leadership" section, which is industry parlance for paid editorial content.
None of this is unique to Slashdot. Display advertising is how independent tech publications survive. But there is a meaningful difference between ads that share a page with content and ads that outnumber and surround the content, with some of them actively designed to look like part of the editorial feed.
The question for the Slashdot community: at what point does the original promise of the site, a curated community-moderated signal in a noisy web, get buried under the noise it was supposed to filter? Should the site be rebranded: "Ads for Nerds, News if we can fit it in"?
Comment Re:Ribbon is less cluttered (Score 1) 235
Fuck you and that Ribbon.
I'm sorry. This is a topic that makes me nerd-rage.
LK
Comment Re:Fuck the ribbon (Score 1) 235
How in the fuck does using 15% of the screen for a ribbon provide a compact interface when the menu bar is the competition?
LK
Comment Re:Fuck the ribbon (Score 1) 235
I'm so happy to hear of how many people are expressing this same sentiment.
I absolutely abhor the Ribbon interface. I don't care what their market research shows. I don't care what their shills and evangelists say. I do not like it. It's not intuitive at all.
LK
Comment I agree (Score 1) 235
I have hated the Ribbon interface since it became the default. I use LibreOffice specifically to avoid having to use it.
LK
Comment It was always going to happen (Score 2) 47
That's why Amazon wanted to acquire Ring.
I have a ring camera and I'm hesitant to install it for this reason.
LK
Comment Re:New name (Score 2) 23
Ubisucks: Get used to not owning games!
Gamers: Get used to not having customers!
Comment Re:No (Score 1) 113
you can't win an emotional argument with logical discussion
Comment Re:Doctorow says legalize theft (Score 1) 90
Reverse-engineering is ALSO a technique for PRESERVING software for long-dead platforms.
Reverse-engineering is ALSO a technique for interoperability.
It has many uses, both legal and illegal.
Comment Re:Now Microsoft et al should fix their #$% button (Score 1) 57
100%.
Flat Design SUCKS because it turns every signal into noise where you can no longer easily tell what is:
a) interactable vs
b) static.
---
Path of Exile 2 IMHO is a boring, tedious Ruthless Souls-lite grindfest.
Comment Re:Steam Awards (Score 1) 25
Pretty much. Steam is based on the customer's opinion -- the one that gamers actually care about.
From the website
Nominations for The Game Awards are selected by a voting jury of OVER 100 leading media and influencer outlets across the globe.
Not one gives a shit about a bunch of shills giving awards over games.
The main thing gamers care about is:
Is it worth playing?
Comment Re:I'm still missing why Apple needs to bend the k (Score 3, Informative) 100
you're misunderstanding
Here's a real world example: Apple forced Patreon to give Apple 30% of the money that supporters wanted to give to artists, under threat of having their app removed entirely from Apple devices. https://news.patreon.com/artic...
Why is Apple entitled to anything here? Patreon doesn't want to use Apple's services but they have no choice.
Comment Re:I'm still missing why Apple needs to bend the k (Score 2) 100
If I sell any kind of product that is used on or supported by a mobile device, I really have no choice but to support Apple users. I can't be a bank or a retailer or a streaming provider or all kinds of things unless I support Apple users. Look at how many people swear they will never buy a GM automobile because they don't support Apple Carplay. So this isn't limited to developers, its Apple wedging themselves in between my customers and my business, whatever that business might be.
It's a new kind of problem that doesn't easily work in analogies or parallels to older scenarios. I'm glad that the EU and now the US to some degree are coming up with new solutions for it.
Comment At some point, there have to be limits. (Score 2) 204
No country can afford to take in unlimited refugees. At some point, the answer becomes another question. "How to we raise the standard of living for people in that country because we can not afford to take any more of them here?"
LK
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