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I had an inkling that this might be the case. I often think about how much we were able to do with limitations in thechnology. We don't (usually) program write software in machine code anymore and I wonder how much faster apps would be if we did. Of course there are drawbacks. Hardware architecture changes very fast and coding in high level languages affords us portability with our code, much like what the language Java promised us in the 90's.

It turns out that if you let it, some sites will download over 512MB of content due to how the advertising platform works. The site in question seems to think that using RSS will resolve this issue (it will) instead of fixing the web page to be more efficient (which the author of the original article pointed out). I first saw this post on Shubham Bose's website via HackerNews that depicts the 49MB website. The comments on HackerNews are good insight and Shubham points out that Windows 95 consumed less space than the post from NYT. As with the post about PC Gamer, NYT's page bloat is mostly due to ads. I hate ads and will block ad networks on my personal network. Browsing the web on another network is a real treat. I have maintained to myself when I see a pop-up asking me to disable my ad blocker taht I would not use one, if I could trust as servers. In the not too recent past I came to distrust second party ad platforms because Doubleclick was hijacked and malware was installed via banner ads. Lovely. Since then I've been wary.

There is discussion about ad blocking equating piracy and there is real merit to that argument. For my part, I usually do what I do when I'm hit with a paywall, I bounce from the site. I have a hope that some data nerd somewhere sees that I left as soon as I was asked to disable my ad blocker and brings that to someone who can make a decision about how ads are being served. I recognize that not all publishers can afford to have a department that manages their ad content and the tech skills required to keep that functional. I understand that decentralization is easier to work with, letting a dedicated external team handle the ads. That's another post for another time though. I pine for an Internet that feels more personal and less driven by capitalism.

I have a few links that I'm going to share today.

First a post written by Ars Technica titled Bose open-sources its SoundTouch home theater smart speakers ahead of end-of-life and found via slashdot. This is great, really great. I dislike Bose. I love that Bose is doing this and I really want all manufacturers to open source their older hardware. I understand that sometimes this isn't possible. Open-sourcing a phone that has iterative upgrades doesn't make sense in the hardware-as-a-service / you-don't-own-anything-anymore model that we find ourselves in. It seems to me that corporations are more concerned with profits over a sustained environment.

I found via Hacker news about the EU banning destruction of unsold merchandise speaks of a different kind of nonsense. Why is this even a thing? I had known of tech companies destroying unsold product (see the ET Atari cartridge fiasco) and product that was nearly perfectly functional but returned or replaced under warranty as shipping it back becuase descrution was cheaper than shipping and repairing but I was completely caught unaware by unsold and new merchandise being destroyed. I can only assume that this is because sales targets were not reached and a tax write-off is preferrable to actualy selling products in a secondary market. It could also be that they decided after production that artifical scarcity is valuable in word of mouth virality for the next season of products. Finance is a funny thing.

Read this post from the NY Times. When I did it wasn't paywalled. It's epic. Though I can't comment much on it now, as it's now paywalled for me, though I suspect that is due to my already having read it. Hopefully you will fare better.

Here are some links I came across today that I found interesting in my RSS Feeds:

• Time to start de-Appling. Beth and I are going through how to best de-couple ourselves from the mega-corps. This article affects me more than it does her, though it matters more to people whom live in the E.U.
• The Joy and Pain of Learning New Things as an Older Human. Kotke posted this on his blog in June. It;s been sitting in my tabs waiting to be shared, here you go.
• Why Doctors Hate Their Computers. Another (even older) article that I came across recently. I like it becuase it aligns with my views about technology getting in the way of getting things done. This one is from the New Yorker and may be paywalled. I don't have a subscription.
• You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why. Kotke strikes again. I haven't watched this video yet though I aim to. As soon as I put down the phone.
• Just a Little Longer. Another summer discovery. This is a post about the Chapter. I found it interesting to read and wanted to share with anyone who's reading along with me.
• Greatest irony of the AI age: Humans being increasingly hired to clean AI slop I am amused by this story and I recall seeing Cory Doctorow a few weeks ago talkign about the AI bubble. I'd like it to come sooner rather than later.
• I Am An AI Hater. I agree with Moser here. I highly recommend that everyone read this story.

Most of these links come from Hacker News and other blogs that I follow (like Kotke).