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snackbroken commented on Bookmarks.txt is a concept of keeping URLs in plain text files   github.com/soulim/bookmar... · Posted by u/secwang
II2II · 5 days ago
For some people, they have no need for bookmarks. For other people, bookmarks may be useful but the implementation is not.

Reading the author's description made me realize how unbookmark-like bookmarks actually are. The current implementations are somewhat akin to creating a list of books that you like at the library. It's not so much a pointer to the information you found useful, as it is a list of books you found useful. You still have to do some digging when you go back for the book. If the book is lost, you end up having a reference to something that you cannot obtain. And if you just add books to the end of your list, you still end up having to search through the list. The only way around that is to spend time organizing your list. It's no wonder why bookmarks are useless to so many people.

The author doesn't really solve the problem with bookmarks, except for one. The last one. By sticking a bookmarks file in a project directory, at least you're only searching through a list of bookmarks relevant to the project. If you are no longer interested in the project and delete it, you're also getting rid of bookmarks that you (hopefully) no longer need. It also addresses the portability of bookmarks. As far as I can tell, the only way to move bookmarks between any of the major browsers involves the use of special software or network services. Look at moving bookmarks from one Firefox installation to another: you either use online sync, export to HTML to import from HTML, or import the database (which replaces your current bookmarks with the ones being imported).

snackbroken · 5 days ago
> You still have to do some digging when you go back for the book.

There is widespread browser support for linking directly to text fragments[1] which makes it possible to link to arbitrary parts of documents even when the author hasn't marked up some nearby element with an id to target, like so: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45047572#:~:text=You%20...

Unfortunately, Firefox provides no convenient way of creating such links, but Chromium has a "Copy link to highlight" context menu entry when you have text highlighted. Neither Firefox nor Chromium provide a convenient way to create a bookmark to a text fragment.

> As far as I can tell, the only way to move bookmarks between any of the major browsers involves the use of special software or network services.

Both Firefox and Chromium support importing/exporting bookmarks from/to "HTML" (really, Netscape bookmark file format[2]).

Both browsers also provide the means to organize bookmarks into folders, and Firefox lets you add arbitrary tags to them as well. Alas as you say, the only way is to spend time manually organizing them. Automatically suggesting folders/tags (preferring ones you already have created) seems like an ideal use case for LLMs or other NLP tools. Ideally browsers would offer an option to save a snapshot of the page together with the bookmark, that would guard against link rot and enable full text search. We have the technology, it's really only a matter of improving the UI and linking the two features together. Too bad hamstringing adblockers, gimping sites that rely on XSLT, and implementing WebBluetooth or whatever has higher priority.

[1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/URI/Reference/F... [2] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/...

snackbroken commented on Microsoft says U.S. law takes precedence over Canadian data sovereignty   digitaljournal.com/tech-s... · Posted by u/speckx
impossiblefork · 12 days ago
Here in Sweden I can assure you that the government won't be able to do anything about prosecutions of this sort. They don't have the legal powers to intervene.

We are also rather near Russia, and we have our laws for a reason. We're not going to apply anything less just because our government wants us to.

snackbroken · 12 days ago
> Here in Sweden I can assure you that the government won't be able to do anything about prosecutions of this sort.

Tell this to Julian Assange, or to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, and Carl Lundström. Though these are examples of government pressure in the opposite direction, they are still examples of how despite having no legal powers to intervene there is plenty of de-facto power being wielded by the U.S. over the Swedish justice system.

snackbroken commented on "Remove mentions of XSLT from the html spec"   github.com/whatwg/html/pu... · Posted by u/troupo
pdw · 14 days ago
As a user you can only use the polyfill to replace the XSLTProcessor() JavaScript API. You can't use the polyfill if you're using XSLT for XML Stylesheets (<?xml-stylesheet … ?> tags).

(But of course, XML Stylesheets are most widely used with RSS feeds, and Google probably considers further harm to the RSS ecosystem as a bonus. sigh)

snackbroken · 14 days ago
Moz also has no love for RSS, having removed support for live bookmarks in Firefox 64 (2018) and no longer displaying the RSS icon anywhere in the UI when a website has any <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"> tags. If you want to subscribe to feeds you have to jump through a bunch of hoops instead of it being a single click.

Fortunately, Thunderbird still has support for feeds and doesn't seem to have been afflicted by the same malaise as the rest of the org chart. Who knows how long that will last.

snackbroken commented on LibreOffice says Microsoft Office exploits you, offers free ODF migration guide   neowin.net/news/libreoffi... · Posted by u/bundie
bundie · 18 days ago
> so ugly

I think this is a common issue with open source software, except when it comes to GNOME/GTK/Libadwaita apps. For some reason, GNOME apps almost always manage to look good.

snackbroken · 18 days ago
It's easy to make something look nice when you drop "being useful" as a requirement.
snackbroken commented on RISC-V single-board computer for less than 40 euros   heise.de/en/news/RISC-V-s... · Posted by u/doener
rjsw · 19 days ago
The GDPR just requires that if a service provider wants to process personal data then it has to follow certain rules. I don't think it prevents that service provider from restricting access to their service in some way, that is just outside the scope of this law.
snackbroken · 19 days ago
Sure, if you want to restrict access to your service or plaster your website with annoying pop-ups just for fun, the law doesn't cover that. It only cares about this in the context of processing personal data.

Essentially: If you wish to process personal data on the basis of consent, then the consent must be freely given, and consent is not freely given if you engage in coercive or deceptive practices, which includes providing a consent form that has an "accept all" option but no "reject all" option.

Here's the relevant text of the regulation:

> 1. Where processing is based on consent, the controller shall be able to demonstrate that the data subject has consented to processing of his or her personal data.

> 2. If the data subject's consent is given in the context of a written declaration which also concerns other matters, the request for consent shall be presented in a manner which is clearly distinguishable from the other matters, in an intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language. Any part of such a declaration which constitutes an infringement of this Regulation shall not be binding.

> 3. The data subject shall have the right to withdraw his or her consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. Prior to giving consent, the data subject shall be informed thereof. It shall be as easy to withdraw as to give consent.

> 4. When assessing whether consent is freely given, utmost account shall be taken of whether, inter alia, the performance of a contract, including the provision of a service, is conditional on consent to the processing of personal data that is not necessary for the performance of that contract.

snackbroken commented on RISC-V single-board computer for less than 40 euros   heise.de/en/news/RISC-V-s... · Posted by u/doener
rjsw · 19 days ago
In this case, rejecting is easier than accepting, just don't click on anything.
snackbroken · 19 days ago
If you don't click on anything then you are gated from the service. The service provider may not impose obstacles to using the service without providing consent that are not present when providing consent.
snackbroken commented on RISC-V single-board computer for less than 40 euros   heise.de/en/news/RISC-V-s... · Posted by u/doener
rjsw · 20 days ago
The linked site states that it does not collect personal information until you click on the "agree" button, in what way is that non-compliant with the GDPR?
snackbroken · 20 days ago
Like I said upthread,

> Not having an option to reject that is as convenient as the one to accept is not compliant with GDPR.

The law, guidance provided by regulators, and court rulings are all quite clear on this: Consent must be freely given, the consent form must not be coercive in any way.

This includes (but is not limited to) making rejecting more difficult than accepting, degrading the quality of service for those who reject, gating the service behind accepting, or requiring payment from those who reject. Collecting personal information without prior consent would obviously also be a (worse) violation of the law.

snackbroken commented on RISC-V single-board computer for less than 40 euros   heise.de/en/news/RISC-V-s... · Posted by u/doener
rjsw · 20 days ago
The linked site provides the same choice that other publications do, my guess is that they have all checked this with lawyers.
snackbroken · 20 days ago
Guidance from the regulators has been abundantly clear on this point. You'll notice all the big players have a "reject all" button because they would get fined otherwise. We're well past the point where anyone can make a reasonable excuse of ignorance, making it onerous to opt out is simply banking on lax enforcement.

I, for one, think it's time to start busting some proverbial kneecaps if we ever want publishers to take the matter seriously. The other alternative is to outlaw the collection of personal information without a legitimate purpose (consent or no) _and then_ come down hard on violators. The industry has had ample time to regulate itself and has chosen profit over ethics at every opportunity.

snackbroken commented on RISC-V single-board computer for less than 40 euros   heise.de/en/news/RISC-V-s... · Posted by u/doener
anonym29 · 21 days ago
Unrelated to the contents of the article itself, but this page is a great example of the UI ramifications of GDPR. On mobile, I get a full screen popup, and there appears to be an "accept all" button, but no "reject all" button. I'm grateful to have tools like uBlock Origin's element zapper for pages like this.

For those who don't, here's a version of the page with no full-screen banner: https://archive.is/bTEse

snackbroken · 21 days ago
> this page is a great example of the UI ramifications of GDPR.

Not having an option to reject that is as convenient as the one to accept is not compliant with GDPR.

snackbroken commented on Bus Bunching   futilitycloset.com/2025/0... · Posted by u/surprisetalk
lexlambda · a month ago
Some of the proposed solutions are problematic. A public transport systems absolutely needs to be reliable for the people who use it.

Skipping stops is the worst in that regard and breaks the whole point. No schedule causes issues downstream, since now there won't be a schedule to depend on when needing to switch to trains or other busses.

But in general, the only thing to realistically improve without decreasing reliability is the amount of time spent at a stop (also mentioned in the article).

All in all, I see these suggestions as "what to do in a worst-case scenario", i.e. if the service already has major issues.

snackbroken · a month ago
No-schedule works fine if (and only if) service is sufficiently frequent, say every 5 minutes. The overwhelming majority of intra-city trips will have 3 transfers or less in a well designed bus network and when planning to catch a less frequent service, it's acceptable to bake in a 15 minute safety margin.

u/snackbroken

KarmaCake day269December 5, 2024View Original