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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"?

Comment Re:Good Riddance (Score 1) 35

Who says I didn't have the money to do so? I didn't go into that at all. But since you're curious I'll explain: Yes I had the money to buy one outright, but an interest-free loan was available and I took advantage of it. Had I purchased it outright, then had an expense outside of that like a car-repair, THAT would have had to come out of my interest-charging credit card and ... while I didn't actually check on it, I'm pretty sure Apple/Goldman would not have given me a similar payment plan for the car repair.

Comment Good Riddance (Score 3, Interesting) 35

I went to an Apple Store purchase an iPad with an Apple Card last year, I wanted to take advantage of paying it off within a year no interest. At the moment of checkout Goldman declined me and wouldn't tell me why. After two days and several scattered phone calls they claimed that it was unusual activity on my account. I pointed out to them that I had successfully purchased and paid off 3 other items on the same payment plan, and that their assertion that my activity was unusual was absurd.

I'll spare you the blow by blow because I know it's boring, but ultimately Goldman Sachs held to their position that they did the right thing, and Apple had to come to the rescue. They talked to each other a bit and I finally got my device on the payment plan I wanted.

I'm greatly looking forward to Goldman getting out of the picture. They really did try to spin it to me like the inconvenience they caused me was somehow something I should be happy about. "This happens because we're diligent about catching fraud!" "But, you didn't."

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:Yes, but... (Score 1) 68

Q. What do you get when you play country music backwards?

A. You get your wife back, your truck back, your dog back, your house back, and your job back. /s

And to really ruin Country Music: Johnny Cash - Barbie Girl (Cover by There I Ruined it) Restoration

--
Path of Exile 2 is a boring, tedious Ruthless Souls-Lite grindfest.

Comment Re: Bad ideas that just won't go away (Score 2) 148

> "Tea; earl grey; hot." and you wind up with a 3d print of the letter "T" painted earl grey and warmed to 100

LUL! That is a perfect example of voice UI being ambiguous. I've had these discussions for decades but never had a good example. I'm cribbing that.

> "Computer, fire torpedo bays 1 through 5!" takes a lot longer than me pressing the button

Yup, as much as I love ST:TNG I've had that criticism for decades. Voice UI is HORRIBLY SLOW, not to mention ambiguous.

Why the hell wouldn't the captain just press a button to raise shield instead of wasting time to say "Raise Shields", waiting for Worf to listen, and wait for them to actually execute it. That's at last 1 - 2 seconds of wasted time.

Also, wouldn't the computer monitor this and automatically raise shields? I'm sure its reaction time is helluva lot faster then humans!

Comment Re:right to repair should give the right to post t (Score 1) 105

I know, I know, don't feed the trolls ...

While not explicitly listed it could be argued that it is implicitly listed via:

1. The Constitutions' Ninth Amendment:

Ninth Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

2. The Bill of Rights' Tenth Amendment

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

That is, does the Bill of Rights or Constitution say that we CAN'T repair?

Comment Re:Be thankful (Score 1) 105

But the general positive trend over time is substantial and impossible to ignore.

I'm not. I'm saying it's being sabotaged. You've acknowledged that, too, so it's not like we're in disagreement. Am I supposed to appreciate what hasn't been damaged/destroyed, or should I be advocating against doing that damage?

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