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Comment by kavalg | Hacker News Reader

Don't you guys use an ad blocker? I barely see any ads since I started using uBlock. Occasionally I browse without an ad blocker and the experience is horrible and intimidating. Actually ads and propaganda were the reasons I quit TV around 10 years ago and I have never regretted it. So much time and mental energy is freed up to do constructive and fulfilling things (e.g. reading books, sports, socializing, musing etc).

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Been avoiding internet ads and tracking for 15 years now. I feel like the unibomber. Facebook and google probably still have a good fingerprint on me, though, due to iOS not letting you use good ad blockers.

Something uncanny happened recently in terms of the ads I do see that gave me quite a bit of paranoia. My SO recently bought a distinct pair of leggings. How am I seeing ads for that same exact pair of leggings, on my phone? I don't think I've ever typed out the word leggings on the internet before this very comment.

But you live in the same household, and probably use the same internet connection, as someone who did likely search for and buy leggings. They use this information when correlating.

If you were both using home WiFi, you shared an IP address. That's enough to co-localize the two of you.

I switched from android to iOS and that’s the biggest thing u miss, ad blockers and addons in Firefox.

Just this week I installed NextDNS and it brought back my ad blocking glee. It’s fantastic.

I use 1Blocker for iOS and macOS - I see far less “chatter” in the DNS logs than with uBlock Origin.

Of course I had to pay for it - which I am more than happy to do.

> iOS not letting you use good ad blockers

I use 'Adblock Fast'. Seems fine, but I admit I have nothing to compare it to.

Unabomber not Unibomber, not that it matters. Ted Kaczynski, the man you are referring to is a fascinating man, try to ignore all of the recent hype and delusion following that Netflix series. I encourage everyone to read his book "Industrial Society and Its Future", he is without a doubt a luddite but presents some very compelling reasons in the book, if nothing else it will give you some insight into a rather notorious but perhaps unfairly represented character.

Terrorism is always wrong and always hurts the causes it attempts to advance. Thus, even when committed for a good cause it's counterproductive.

If Kaczynski had good ideas, he did them a terrible disservice by resorting to terrorism.

The dude killed three people and injured dozens others and nearly brought down an entire plane. Hes not unfairly represented, he's a terrorist.

Threw away TV 15 years ago, zero regret.

I got rid of cable tv. Was spending $80 a month ($960/year) for something that’s mostly previously taped.

Best decision ever!

The problem, is that during a pandemic or crisis, you sorta miss the cable news. Local TV broadcasts are not as sufficient, but at least I can get some good digital signal coverage for a few channels.

Yep! 15 years too. Had DirecTV with multiple DirecTivo's, then moved to Sausalito and lost LOS to sats. Never considered Comcast, and that was that.

The search results are quite often ads, in my opinion. They're heavily geared towards ecommerce and other "side" areas separate to actual information.

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