back to article Nah, it won't install: The return of the ad-blocker-blocker

If I give you some money, would you take your clothes off? Now that's what I call premium service. This is just my personal fantasy, of course. I wouldn't really stop passers-by and ask them to remove their apparel. Not since the restraining order, anyway. As I wander along my local high street, advertisements glare at me …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "handing over your own cash for the privilege of having "GAP" screaming across your chest in 90,000pt font "

    Simple solution: don't buy it; buy something else without the logo.

    Less simple solution: try to bill the company for advertising their product.

    1. Vehlin

      Could be worse

      They could have spent £130 to have "Juicy" written across your arse

      1. Message From A Self-Destructing Turnip

        Re: Could be worse

        A whole new meaning to the phrase 'arse for rent'.

      2. sorry, what?
        Joke

        Oh, I thought it read...

        Those T-shirts and jackets with them logos... I clearly need glasses. Just to name a few I misread:

        Tummy Hiltfinger

        Superdross

        Glop

        Hicoste

        Ididass

        Nicked

    2. Steve the Cynic

      Simple solution: don't buy it; buy something else without the logo.

      The last time I went shopping for new clothes, I spent some time carefully searching the racks of T-shirts for something with an interesting design but where the company's logo wasn't prominently displayed. It's harder than you might think to actually find such a thing. At one shop which shall remain nameless because it's nobody's business but mine that I shop there(0), I eventually bought one that still had the logo, but the logo is *below* my belt-line, and therefore not visible(1).

      (0) Why do you think I'm spending so much effort to not have a visible logo?

      (1) I'm not one of these scruffy youfs who think It's OK to go around with their T-shirt hanging out of their trousers. Now get off my lawn!

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        Every 5 years or so you DDG "discount t-shirt" to find whichever site is still in business

        Buy 2 dozen plain black cotton T-shirts (for roughly the price of a coffee each)

        Wear one each day for work

        Do laundry once a month

        1. Persona Silver badge

          This is exactly what I do. They are all black "fruits of the loom" T-shits from ebay. I even went as far as to cut out the inside label on one, but then kept putting it on the wrong way round, so decided the tolerate the internal labels.

          BTW - I also buy 25 identical pairs of socks at a time. So much easier to pair them up after washing day, and I never have more than one odd sock hanging around.

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            "I never have more than one odd sock hanging around."

            It's the sequence from odd to progressively smaller even numbers that's the problem. Where do they go?

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              "Where do they go?"

              No one knows where socks go ...... the odd thing is that sometimes, albeit rarely, they come back.

              1. usbac Silver badge

                It's the sock grinding mechanism in the dryer that takes them. I contend that accurate machine vision systems have secretly existed since at least the 80's. How else does the dryer know to eat one of each pairs of socks?

                I though I would outsmart the dryer by doing what 'Persona' above mentioned and buy all the same socks. But alas the dryer still has an apatite for socks.

                Where do you think all of that lint in the filter comes from? There's no way all of that is just coming off of your cloths, right?

          2. PeeTee

            Gildan tees for me. Nice fit and they are often used for tour t-shirts so they can't be too bad. I do have to park my conscience down the road whilst ordering them, given where they're probably made. When it comes to socks and pants then I push the boat out for 'performance wear., but the labels are hidden from view

      2. Alistair
        Windows

        @Steve:

        Yer still too yoof. Thats *orf* dammit.

    3. Mage Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      RE: buy something else without the logo.

      The problem is EVERYONE ELSE!

      I don't stare at myself in the mirror.

      FINALLY a use for hyper real augmented reality sunglasses. Editing out the logos. I remember it being experimental on video editing about 12 years ago?

      1. JohnFen

        Re: RE: buy something else without the logo.

        "FINALLY a use for hyper real augmented reality sunglasses"

        Damn, you're right! I couldn't think of a really solid reason for AR glasses, but you've supplied what would count as a "killer app" right there.

        1. Haku

          Re: RE: buy something else without the logo.

          Blocking reality with AR.

          Throw in facial recognition to block people I don't want to see and I'm sold!

          Just like that Black Mirror episode "White Christmas".

      2. wayne 8

        Conspicuous Consumers

        They want the brand name displayed to show they have arrived and/or are a member of a group.

        Not buying a shirt, buying status.

        "Conspicuous Consumption" is the name of the behavior. It's not a recent development.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Conspicuous Consumers

          They want the brand name displayed to show they have arrived and/or are a member of a group....Not buying a shirt, buying status. "Conspicuous Consumption" is the name of the behavior.

          I think that's two separate behaviours. Buying for group identity (eg a music group, campaign, political et al) has a degree of logic, even if you and I don't do that. That's not conspicuous consumption.

          Buying to show a commercial brand identity, now that's conspicuous consumption for those who want the brand name and are paying top price. I've got a few tee shirts with the maker's name on them - but as others mention, it can be difficult to buy a good quality plain tee shirt - and TBH, plain colours accentuate whatever's underneath, so unless you REALLY don't care, or you have the body of a god, there's some advantage in a pattern, any pattern.

      3. xeroks

        Re: RE: buy something else without the logo.

        "FINALLY a use for hyper real augmented reality sunglasses. Editing out the logo"

        came here to say this. Hololens should be able to do.

    4. jelabarre59

      Simple solution: don't buy it; buy something else without the logo.

      Took me AGES to find a baseball cap without a logo. I don't want to *pay* to advertise someone's product, and I don't give a crap about sports of ANY variety, so that's right out too. You want to GIVE me a cap with your logo tastefully and discretely placed on it? It still depends on the product, but if you'll give it to me FREE, then I'll take it (could use one I don't mind getting scuffed up and soiled).

      1. Adam 1

        I proudly wear my Telstra hat. I enjoy advertising their next generation CDMA network.

        1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
          Trollface

          I have a T-Shirt that says "Aperture Science"

          Did someone mention Tommy Hilfifif(n)gerer?

          Have some William Gibson:

          She's gone to Harvey Nichols and gotten sick.

          Should have known better.

          How she responds to labels.

          Down into menswear, unrealistically hoping that if anyone might have a Buzz Rickson's it would be Harvey Nichols, their ornate Victorian pile rising like a coral reef opposite Knightsbridge station. Somewhere on the ground floor, in cosmetics, they even have Helena Stonestreet's cucumber mask, Bernard having explained to her how he'd demonstrated his considerable powers of suasion on the HN buyers.

          But down here, next to a display of Tommy Hilfiger, it's all started to go sideways on her, the trademark thing.

          Less warning aura than usual. Some people ingest a single peanut and their head swells like a basketball.

          When it happens to Cayce, it's her psyche.

          Tommy Hilfiger does it every time, though she'd thought she was safe now. They'd said he'd peaked, in New York. Like Benetton, the name would be around, but the real poison, for her, would have been drawn. It's something to do with context, here, with not expecting it in London. When it starts, it's pure reaction, like biting down hard on a piece of foil.

          A glance to the right and the avalanche lets go. A mountainside of Tommy coming down in her head.

          My God, don't they know? This stuff is simulacra of simulacra of simulacra. A diluted tincture of Ralph

          Lauren, who had himself diluted the glory days of Brooks Brothers, who themselves had stepped on the product of Jermyn Street and Savile Row, flavoring their ready−to−wear with liberal lashings of polo knit and regimental stripes. But Tommy surely is the null point, the black hole. There must be some Tommy Hil−figer event horizon, beyond which it is impossible to be more derivative, more removed from the source, more devoid of soul. Or so she hopes, and doesn't know, but suspects in her heart that this in fact is what accounts for his long ubiquity.

          She needs out of this logo−maze, desperately. But the escalator to the street exit will dump her back into Knightsbridge, seeming somehow now more of the same, and she remembers that the street runs down, and always her energy with it, to Sloane Square, another nexus of whatever she suffers these reactions to. Laura Ashley, down there, and that can get ugly.

          Remembering the fifth floor, here: a sort of Californian market, Dean & Deluca lite, with a restaurant, a

          separate and weirdly modular robotic sushi operation humming oddly in its midst, and a bar where they served excellent coffee.

      2. knottedhandkerchief

        > Took me AGES to find a baseball cap without a logo

        M&S

    5. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      "Simple solution: don't buy it; buy something else without the logo."

      I remember, back in the dim and distant past, when dinosaurs ruled the earth and I finally became old enough to get my first part time job and could afford to go choose and buy my own clothes and suddenly realised why mum would never accede to my demands for Wrangler or Levi jeans. What a rip-off!!! And they expected me to display their advertising too!!! Bastards! I never did get a pair of Lees although ISTR I did once own a pair of Wranglers when I was still 26" waist. That put me of "brands" for life. I may be more likely to look at brand names when buying if in my mind I feel I can expect better quality or service, but I'll still balance that against the price when comparing with similar products.

    6. wayward4now

      I always wanted to marry Daisy Mae.

  2. Fading
    Mushroom

    They Live....

    With the weather reminiscent of my misbegotten youth, I have taken to wearing sunglasses as I wander about town (only during daylight hours - I am definitely not "cool" enough for the sunglasses at night look). One unexpected advantage is that the polarized lenses cause the electronic advertising boards at the many bus stops to fade into darkness. No risk of an autosomal compelling helio-ophthalmic outburst induced by an overly flashy perfume ad from me....

    I do surreptitiously check for Rowdy Roddy Piper lookalikes, just in case.

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: They Live....

      polarized lenses cause the electronic advertising boards at the many bus stops to fade into darkness

      Which is an issue for me - I wear glasses and recently got some that self-darken in sunlight and come with a spiffy set of polarisied magnetically-clip-on sunglasses for use when behind glass (such as in the car).

      The issue is that, with said clipon sunglasses in place, I now can't read the in-car displays. Sure - the speedometer is old-fashioned analogue but pretty much everything else is displayed on one screen or another - all of which seem to get mostly blocked by the polarised sunglasses attachment.

      So, ot's a choice of "drive with my eyes mostly screwed up"[1] or "drive without all the fancy stuff". Being a techie I, of course, selected the first option.

      [1] Acute myopia seems to have made my eyes much, much more sensitive to bright light. It does have the plus side of enabling me to see well in the dark though.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: They Live....

        Polarized lenses work by blocking horizontally polarized sunlight, which preferentially reflects from low flat surfaces like water and asphalt. ALL polarized glasses do this. If car displays are being blocked it must be because they emit primarily horizontally polarized light.

        If that's true, why are the manufacturers doing this? Could they not have chosen to make screens polarize the opposite way, or is there some technical reason that isn't done?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: They Live....

          If car displays are being blocked it must be because they emit primarily horizontally polarized light. If that's true, why are the manufacturers doing this?

          Inherent in the LCD and LED technologies that underlies the displays. I suspect that it would have been better to used the sort of e-ink displays like on a Kindle for car use, but those don't allow the sort of glitzy colours, high contrast and brightness, and high res, fast changing graphics that attract marketing people like a milk bottle top attracts a magpie.

          Car makers should have been kept away from all forms of user digital interface by law, on pain of death. I can't think of a single thing they've improved through these things, and many things are now harder to control, more poorly implemented, and demand more attention for the same result. Car controls used to be (mostly) a masterpiece of carefully thought through control logic and ease of use. They've now thrown half of that away just to offer garish displays and levels of interaction that simply aren't needed in a moving vehicle.

          1. Stoneshop

            Re: They Live....

            Inherent in the LCD and LED technologies that underlies the displays.

            LCD: yes. LED: no.

            LCD works on the principle of polarisation by the liquid crystals and require light passing through. LEDs just emit (non-polarised) light themselves.

            1. ridley

              Re: They Live....

              Even if LCD does inherently produce polarised light, it doesn't stop the manufacturer turning the display 90 degrees.

              1. Adam 1

                Re: They Live....

                > Even if LCD does inherently produce polarised light, it doesn't stop the manufacturer turning the display 90 degrees.

                That's true, but I agree with the vehicle manufacturers that a sideways mounted LCD screen is going to look a bit out of place when all the other switch gear is mounted in the upright orientation.

                /Ah, my lab coat

              2. GruntyMcPugh Silver badge

                Re: They Live....

                @ridley: "turning the display 90 degrees."

                From memory (and I can't check this right now, as I'm work, and it's pouring with rain, so I didn't bring sunglasses with me) the LCD panels in most kit are offset at 45º, but that blocks enough light to vertically oriented polarising lenses to make them look pretty dark. Still doesn't answer why it's 45º and not vertical though. Perhaps viewing angle,.....

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: They Live....

              LCD: yes. LED: no...LCD works on the principle of polarisation by the liquid crystals and require light passing through. LEDs just emit (non-polarised) light themselves.

              For basic LED displays, yes, but the increasingly common OLED and AMOLED displays usually incorporate polarising layers, as do some high contrast LED displays.

        2. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

          Re: They Live....

          LCD screens that don't black out when you're wearing polarised sunglasses do exist. They use circular polarising filters, like the ones in passive stereoscopic "3D" glasses that work regardless of their angle relative to the screen. And yet, there are cars being manufactured with linear polarising filters on their LCDs even today.

          The probability of having problems with polarised sunglasses appears to be inversely proportional to the price of the car, but shame on car manufacturers for still designing cars that don't work properly when the technology is available to avoid it.

        3. fredj

          Re: They Live....

          Be careful with plastic glasses of any sort. There is a good chance they do not block UV light and you will end up with wrecked eyes. Not usually much of a problem in the UK of course but in the tropics the effect is well known.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: They Live....

        Acute myopia seems to have made my eyes much, much more sensitive to bright light. It does have the plus side of enabling me to see well in the dark though.

        Just wait a few years until middle age then you need a bright light with everything.

        1. Updraft102

          Re: They Live....

          Just wait a few years until middle age then you need a bright light with everything.

          Or reading glasses/bifocals.

          Bright light causes the pupils to contract, which increases the depth of field. More depth of field effectively reduces the minimum focal length of your presbyotic eyes.

          I'm severely myopic and middle aged, but I am also fairly photophobic. Bright lights and me do not mix well, and I have written a bunch of times about how the white backgrounds that are endemic in the computing world hurt my eyes. And if that is not enough, my night vision is terrible too. I got all of the downsides but none of the benefits!

          1. MJI Silver badge

            Re: They Live....

            Severe myopia, need special computer glasses, but night vision is cat quality.

            And close up work, who needs magnifying glasses.

            Only issue is car maintenance when you need to focus on an unsupported distance and the glasses you need are indoors.

            Fix is a LOT of light

            1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: They Live....

              "And close up work, who needs magnifying glasses."

              Time fixes that. As you get older your range of accommodation shrinks and some of that is at the close-up end.

      3. sorry, what?
        Unhappy

        Re: They Live....

        So this is really off topic, but I had some of those clever self-darkening lenses at great cost. Less than a year later the prescription in just one of my eyes radically changed. Guess what? You can't replace just one of these lenses you have to replace both at twice the cost! Why's that? Because the manufacturer refuses to do a single lens ("we can't guarantee the same colour or speed of lightening/darkening").

        Do not buy (regardless of the brand which may, like the T shirts, be on display for all to see)!

        1. Alistair
          Windows

          Re: They Live....

          @sorry:

          For some of us this is a biannual thing. Taking care of what eyesight we retain is for some of us worth the expense. My SO has a degenerative eye condition that is accelerated by overly bright lights. It may be a few years yet before we get grands, and she really does want to see them.

          1. sorry, what?
            Unhappy

            Re: They Live....

            @Alistair, sorry to hear that. However, the solution I arrived at instead was to have a magnetic clip-on "sunglassy bit" for my non-reactive lenses and a small hard container for them that is easy to carry around. Sorted.

        2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: They Live....

          "Do not buy"

          Or at least wait until your eyes stop changing. Years ago my employer decided to fit us out with safety glasses, prescription if needed. Being short-sighted and astigmatic I got the prescription glasses. I always thought it was suspicious that on every re-test I needed a slightly different prescription - and possibly it was. But now my prescription hardly, if ever, changes but if I hunt up one of those old pairs of safety glasses that were worn for just walking around* are now ideal for close-up work.

          * When I wanted to examine something closely I took them off. Now that doesn't work either, I can't focus as close-up as I used to.

      4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: They Live....

        "The issue is that, with said clipon sunglasses in place, I now can't read the in-car displays."

        I just spent two days trying to find a pair of non-polarised sunglasses that were cheap and cheerful, sort-of aviator style (I snapped the arm off mine). I ended up with a pair for a fiver from a local shop after trying all the more obvious places only to find that if I was a woman of a child I would have an enourmous range to pick from, but as a mature male, in the middle of summer, their's almost no choice at all if they even have any in stock.

        I, like you, discovered that polarised glasses and LCD type display don't mix well when I bought my first SatNav years ago.

        1. Stork Silver badge

          Re: They Live....

          I prefer polarizing sunglasses for driving as they are better at reducing reflections. Luckily all displays in the accord are visible, the colours of the navigation just change a bit. In fact, it is very rare the controls are in the way in that car

      5. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: They Live....

        "blocked by the polarised sunglasses attachment."

        It sounds as if your polarisers were cut out of a misaligned sheet. Either that or, as Big John says, there's something wrong with your dashboard. The two should work together.

        1. Patched Out
          Facepalm

          Re: They Live....

          I once purchased some polarized sunglass clip-ons at one of those mall stores specializing in sunglasses. I couldn't understand why they seemed to bother me and even give me headaches until I looked at an LCD display while outdoors and wearing the clip-ons. One lens blocked the display while the other passed it. The two lenses were polarized in different orientations - one vertical, one horizontal!

  3. Warm Braw

    Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

    This isn't exactly new. Nobody buys a Rolex because they need a watch, they're paying Rolex to create a fantasy for them in which they imagine they participate. High street retailers have just spread the idea downmarket. And Facebook will now do it for your for free (for some definition of "free", some assembly required).

    1. macjules

      Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

      Really? I thought that people buy Rolex as either an advert for "Hey mug me please?" or as a method of moving wealth around the globe in a hurry, The recently arrested Malaysian PM Najib Razak was found to have over 400 Rolex watches in his house in case he had to run .. obviously not quick enough this time.

      1. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

        Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

        recently arrested Malaysian PM Najib Razak was found to have over 400 Rolex watches

        Is he now doing time?

        1. AndrueC Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          Oh come on, that has to be a wind up.

        2. AndyFl

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          Not yet, he is on RM1M bail at the moment and cannot leave the country.

          When his house was raided they ended up with about USD 100M worth of handbags, jewelery and mixed currencies. He and his wife claimed it was all "gifts" from various people.

          Imelda Marcos was nothing compared to his wife Rosma. Imelda may have had a lot of shoes but Rosma had 284 boxes of handbags from Birkin et al. Some of the bags are supposed to be worth something like USD 200,000 each. It took 5 trucks to transport everything. Many of the handbags were stuffed with cash and jewelery.

          If you want to follow the story then search for "Rosma and Handbags"!

          Andy

          1. SW10

            Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

            “boxes of handbags from Birkin et al.”

            Hermès.

            Birkin (named after Jane) is a Hermès bag.

            Yes I, er...

            I er, know a bit about this stuff...

          2. J.G.Harston Silver badge

            Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

            How do you transport your wealth in a hurry if it needs five trucks to move it?

            1. macjules

              Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

              Pickfords do a "oligarch fast service", including a full check for Polonium and Novichok.

            2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

              Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

              "How do you transport your wealth in a hurry if it needs five trucks to move it?"

              Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

        3. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          "Is he now doing time?"

          Probably lucky if he has a Timex now :-)

    2. JohnFen

      Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

      I have to admit that I'm glad that brands like Rolex exist. They're very handy for identifying people to avoid doing business with.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

        "They're very handy for identifying people to avoid doing business with.

        In 1973 I bought an Omega wristwatch - because I wanted something that was self-winding, water-resistant, kept good time, and showed the date and day of week. Working hours were long and irregular at that time.

        In fact it was never a good time-keeper. Remembering to change the date at the start of a short month was also a chore. Omega recommended an annual service by their workshops - which took six weeks and cost several hundred pounds in today's money. Eventually they apparently outsourced the repairs for older watches to other people - who didn't have the equipment to renovate the waterproof seals.

        After the last £200 pound repair to replace rusted gears - the new owners of the local jewellers also upped the price of a generic leather strap from £7 to £25. The watch was then consigned to be just a special occasion "dress" piece - together with my Wedgwood cuff-links. My women friends complain because I wear it face inwards - so people have to be sharp-eyed to spot the brand logo on the fastener. According to them it is supposed to be flaunted.

        I now wear a quartz analogue sweep that keeps very good time - and it was £3.99 in Aldi. I change the battery myself.

        1. Cpt Blue Bear

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          Crikey! They saw you coming didn't they. 200 squids and they didn't even change an O-ring and pressure test it (that's all that seal is, seriously). I get this done (clean, lubricate and pressure test) on Seikos about once a decade and it costs under 100 Ozzie Pesos.

          1. the spectacularly refined chap

            Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

            Crikey! They saw you coming didn't they. 200 squids and they didn't even change an O-ring and pressure test it (that's all that seal is, seriously).

            That isn't the issue here, the issue with resealing is that it needs to be done in a vacuum chamber: it is the pressure difference inside and out that restores the waterproofing. Personally I wouldn't trust a "service" from someone not willing to vouch for the seal afterwards - it isn't difficult but needs the equipment, and if they cut corners there what else have they done.

            Not that a watch service should cost anywhere near £200, or need doing anything like annually.

        2. Stoneshop

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          In 1973 I bought an Omega wristwatch - because I wanted something that was self-winding, water-resistant, kept good time, and showed the date and day of week. Working hours were long and irregular at that time.

          The Seiko 5 I was given forty years ago has all those features, still works fine when I wear it (not often; I've started disagreeing with the metal strap) and cost less than each of those Omega service jobs.

          1. Stork Silver badge

            Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

            Same with mine, even if it is only about 10 years

        3. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

          About 13 yeara ago I spent £5000 on an Omega and it lasted me 8 years.

          Did around 100,000 miles in it!

    3. ridley

      Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

      Hang on.

      Are you trying to tell me that you don't need a Rolex if you fly gliders or travel the world exploring the world's tallest/deepest etc?

      I feel sullied to have been lied to in this way.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

      Nobody buys a Rolex because they need a watch, they're paying Rolex to create a fantasy for them in which they imagine they participate.

      At least Rolex watches are suitably gaudy, old-school Auric Goldfinger stuff (well, until a London ratboy on a moped snatches it from the wrist).

      Pity instead the pathetic twerps paying a small fortune for any of the gauche "aviator" or "deep sea diver" twatches, and imagining that having an ugly watch the size of a saucer, with a bazillion dials and a price tag above that of a competent car makes them Top Gun or Jacques Cousteau. I suppose these same people are keeping BMW's Rolls Royce brand alive, and likewise Volkswagen's Bentley sticker. Sad to see RR Motors and Bentley ending up as the modern equivalent of Ghia. How long till we see "Bentley" as a trim level on the VW Golf Mk23?

      1. Cpt Blue Bear

        Re: Unpaid walking advert for someone else's company

        "Sad to see RR Motors and Bentley ending up as the modern equivalent of Ghia. How long till we see "Bentley" as a trim level on the VW Golf Mk23?"

        Rolls Royce hit that point in the late 1970s selling what was, fundamentally, a rebadged Austin Maxi with some wood trim glued on. My uncle hid one in my dad's shed during while getting divorced.

        I'd not miss RR or Bentley: the former has always been a marketing driven company and the latter's glory days were 90 years ago.

  4. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
    Pint

    Have a nice holiday, Dabbsy!

    Have a nice weekend, everybody...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re. Have a nice holiday

      I'm already having a nice holiday. Until a - DING! - YOU'VE GOT MAIL :/

  5. monty75

    Those magazine inserts always make me think of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgyjTnimZfg

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Subscription

    "or let me pay a subscription fee to turn them off. ............ The subscription? I dunno but promise not to circumvent your agreement to hide the ads by then stuffing your site with "exclusive subscriber offers" (i.e. ads)."

    Fat chance. Totally untrustworthy so promises are valueless. . In the early days of Sky TV, some of the subscription channels were ad free. (Sky1 ?) They soon became subscription AND stuffed with ads. STNG on Beeb2 was 45 minutes. On Sky a full hour.

    The world is full of Steff Murkeys ( http://www.userfriendly.org/) and they gravitate to Advertising. I hate it when it is called the "Advertising Industry". It doesn't make anything. In many ways it is an anti-industry in that it sucks the lifeblood from something that has value and diminishes it.

    1. Shadow Systems

      At EastFinchleyite...

      You get an upvote from me for the UserFriendly refference. The Stef's of the world should be forced to board the B Ark & get launched into the sun.

    2. the Jim bloke

      Re: Subscription

      What we need is a 'subscription-paid-in-arrears' arrangement, where the user agrees to pay for a service but can cancel if the provider fails to comply with the conditions they initially stated.

      Its basic contract law.

      The providers will fight against this to the bitter end, for obvious reasons.

    3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Subscription

      I hate it when it is called the "Advertising Industry". It doesn't make anything.

      Oh, but it does. And it sells it. It makes advertising. Totally useless for those who ultimately pay for it, of course.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not Ads, but chuggers

    I haven't really been paying much attention to people displaying brand labels on their clothing, but now that you have mentioned I'm sure it will become infuriating - so thanks for that!

    However, it will still pale into insignificance compared to being hassled by desperately cheerful chuggers leaping in front of me and trying to persuade me to sign up for X pounds per week.

    1. Rich 11
      Devil

      Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

      being hassled by desperately cheerful chuggers leaping in front of me

      Gloucester Westgate, one Saturday last month. Three of the fuckers in a row, maybe eighty yards apart. I was polite to the first one, brusque to the second, and snarled at the third "Only if you suck my cock." The look on his face was priceless.

      1. Martin Summers Silver badge

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        "Only if you suck my cock."

        And if he'd said yes?...

        1. JohnFen

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          Hey, free blowjob!

    2. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

      being hassled by desperately cheerful chuggers

      I just say "already support them" as I walk past.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        > I just say "already support them" as I walk past.

        I say "I used to support you, but not any more, since you started spending your money on chuggers"

        1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          I say "I used to support you, but not any more, since you started spending your money on chuggers"

          It's a genuine shame that although I agree with most of what Amnesty do (with exception to their apparent attitude towards liberalising prostitution which is harmful to the millions of women worldwide forced into the sex trade, because "some of them might want to be doing it"), I won't give them a single penny because of their use of chuggers.

          I could stop to explain this to them, but I find loudly proclaiming, "NO" before they have had a chance to open their gobs to be just as effective, and less of a theft of my time.

          1. Updraft102

            Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

            with exception to their apparent attitude towards liberalising prostitution which is harmful to the millions of women worldwide forced into the sex trade, because "some of them might want to be doing it"

            If you let it come out of the shadows, it becomes harder to force people into it. Sunlight, as they say, is a great disinfectant, but as long as it's illegal, it will remain in the dark, along with all of the creatures that live in the dark, like the traffickers.

            1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

              Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

              If you let it come out of the shadows, it becomes harder to force people into it

              Sadly, if you talk to any organisation involved with helping victims of modern slavery, with sex work, it is quickly apparent that this is not the case.

      2. $till$kint

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        If it's amnesty international (a regular crowd around Holborn Circus) I tell them I work for an arms manufacturer.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

      How about when they knock on your front door every six weeks or so at half-past seven in the evening when you're trying to eat your tea? That gets a bit tedious.

      I asked one of them, "Does your charity have a website with a clearly indicated 'Donate' link on it?"

      "Yes." He replied.

      "Then why are you here?" I asked him. He had no answer.

      1. JohnFen

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        If someone is unexpectedly knocking on my door, I know right away that it isn't a friend or family member -- they would have texted ahead. Therefore, if I'm busy (regardless of whether it's eating, working, or I just settled down into a comfy chair), the door doesn't get answered. Problem solved.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          Problem not solved if you work night shifts and the knock at the door wakes you up.

          Putting a notice om your door asking people not to disturb you doesn't work.

          They always think their cause is more important than your sleep.

          I no longer give to any charities unless I'm at a funeral where the family have requested a donation to a particular charity that means something to them. I think that's an appropriate exclusion to my rule,

        2. Spamfast

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          the door doesn't get answered

          I've gone one better. I live in an upstairs flat with a long staircase and a soundproof inner door. I've disconnected the front door bell.

          I don't even notice if someone is at the door pressing the button or knocking.

          You want in? I'll give you a key or my mobile number if I want that. Otherwise bog off.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

            Wonder what happens if they persist and then report you as possibly missing to the cops...?

      2. Stoneshop
        WTF?

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        when you're trying to eat your tea

        My impression is that most people tend to soak their tea leaves in boiling water for the appropriate time, then drink the infusion.

        But whatever floats your boat.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          "when you're trying to eat your tea

          My impression is that most people tend to soak their tea leaves in boiling water for the appropriate time, then drink the infusion.

          But whatever floats your boat."

          Ha!

          http://greatbritishmag.co.uk/lifestyle/why-do-some-people-call-their-evening-meal-tea

        2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

          "then drink the infusion."

          Southerner!

      3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        "How about when they knock on your front door every six weeks or so at half-past seven in the evening when you're trying to eat your tea?"

        They usually have some laminated ID badge they wave in your face. It puzzles them then I point out it means nothing because I could knock one up with a camera and colour printer and buy the laminating stuff off eBay so it means they could have done so as well.

        What is is with ID badges? They mean nothing out of a particular context - the premises of the organisation that issued them.

      4. Dan White

        Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

        My version:

        Open the door.

        "Hello sir. Can I tal..."

        "Does it involve a Direct Debit?"

        "Er... yes."

        <slam>

    4. Updraft102

      Re: Not Ads, but chuggers

      However, it will still pale into insignificance compared to being hassled by desperately cheerful chuggers leaping in front of me and trying to persuade me to sign up for X pounds per week.

      Now don't be hasty. How many pounds per week are we talking? I could be persuaded to sign up to receive pounds every week!

  8. Crisp
    Flame

    I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

    There are far too many neurons in my brain that do nothing except store advertising jingles and it's high time advertisers were held responsible.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

      McDonalds seems to have been very successful in conditioning people to whistle their irritating little signature tune at random times of the day. I'm sure they don't even realise they are doing it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

        > McDonalds seems to have been very successful in conditioning people to whistle their irritating little signature tune at random times of the day.

        I can't remember the last time I watched TV with ads and have no idea what McD's jingle is...

        All I know about McDonalds is the endless amount of litter from them (and KFC, etc) on our local streets. I harbour fantasies of disrupting their sales by getting our neighbours to take back McD litter and dump it on their serving counters with the words "I think one of your customers dropped this in my street" and force them to stop and disinfect everything... Maybe even buy and "accidentally" drop opened thick shakes on the counter so the sticky liquid runs under the cash registers and all over the floors.... It would serve them right!

        1. stiine Silver badge
          Unhappy

          Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

          "I think one of your customers dropped this in my street"

          Which means you should really be shooting their customers, or knifing them seeing as you're in the UK, or simply bludgeoning them if you're in London and can't own a kitchen knife anymore. Because it isn't McDonald's fault that their customers are stupid fucks who litter because its easier than thinking.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

            Which means you should really be shooting their customers, or knifing them seeing as you're in the UK, or simply bludgeoning them if you're in London and can't own a kitchen knife anymore.

            London isn't quite to compulsory soft plastic spork levels yet. But we're getting to the point where we could easily create 'ad free' shopping zones. Israel, South Korea and others have developed automatic and computer controlable sentry gun mounts. Logos, being prominent and clearly defined are much easier for pattern recognition systems than individual faces. So bye bye to superdry, convert Gap to goop, and other t-shirt wearers can fcuk right off. Could even make it self-funding and allow brand owners to raise or lower (but not remove) their logos from the target priority lists.

          2. Martin Summers Silver badge

            Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

            "Because it isn't McDonald's fault that their customers are stupid fucks who litter because its easier than thinking."

            Quite, and people who blame companies and councils for the litter all over the place are as far as I'm concerned just as bad as the people who drop it.

          3. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

            "Because it isn't McDonald's fault that their customers are stupid fucks who litter because its easier than thinking."

            Oh yes it is. Without McDonalds the stupid fucks would have to provide their own litter to drop.

            1. Charles 9

              Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

              And where do you think they get their own litter to drop? If not McDonald's, then whatever takeout place is handy. It's less a problem with the venue than with the customer. Customers demand eating on the go and whoever accommodates will get their money. What else can you do?

          4. dajames

            Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

            ... it isn't McDonald's fault that their customers are stupid fucks who litter because its easier than thinking.

            Of course it is. If they wanted a more discerning clientele they'd market a less disgusting product.

        2. JohnFen

          Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

          "I can't remember the last time I watched TV with ads and have no idea what McD's jingle is"

          I was about to say the same. Although I can remember the last time I watched TV, because the advertising was absolutely horrific and reminded me of why I stopped watching TV.

          "All I know about McDonalds is the endless amount of litter from them (and KFC, etc) on our local streets."

          Where I live, businesses have a legal requirement to remove any of their litter from the streets. All that's required is for a citizen to complain to the city, then the city tells the business to clean up the litter in the next day or pay a steep fine. You see remarkably little of that kind of litter on our streets.

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

            "I was about to say the same. Although I can remember the last time I watched TV, because the advertising was absolutely horrific and reminded me of why I stopped watching TV."

            I find there's actually quite a lot of stuff on TV that enjoy watching. But I do take the precaution of recording everything so I can skip over the ads. It's a rare occasion when there is something on worth watching at time of broadcast.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

          All I know about McDonalds is the endless amount of litter from them (and KFC, etc) on our local streets.

          Could not agree more about that.

          Just over half a mile away there is a McD's and a KFC right next door to each other.

          KFC wasn't so bad but since McD's opened a year ago, the amount of their branded litter that is strewn on the road between my house and their emporium of shite in a cardboard box has grown astronomically.

          They don't care a toss about it. We are left to clear it up and put it in a bin.

          I ate a Mc'D's thing once. (Albany, NY, 1977) and it was shite. Sorry, tasteless shite. I've vowed to never set foot in one again even if nothing else is open.

          If McD's closed down tomorrow, I'd run naked through our town (not a pretty sight) but they won't so everyone is safe.

          As for adverts while you are shopping. Anything advertised to me is NOT bought.

          I'm an Anti-Ad person.

          This is due to working for an Ad Agency for a while in 2009/10. I saw how they operated and it changed my behaviour for good.

        4. ridley

          Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

          Not only on. Our streets but also in the country side.

          What is it with McD customers who happily buy the stinking sh*t, drive 5 miles with it in their cars, park up somewhere nice, eat some of the cr*p and then presumably think you know what this stuff is stinking up my car let's, chuck it in that pretty field.

          I mean if they wanted it out of the car just store the rubbish in your exhaust pipes till you get to a bin, they're fecking big enough.

        5. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

          I hate to have to stick up for McDonald’s, but as a PFY (not so P, actually) one of the part time jobs I had when at school was working in the local McD’s, and if your shift had you rostered for cleaning duty, one of the cleaning tasks was to go out every couple of hours with a bin bag and collect any dropped McD’s litter within 50 m of the restaurant, so at least they had a small element of social responsibility.

      2. Adrian 4

        Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

        'McDonalds seems to have been very successful in conditioning people to whistle their irritating little signature tune at random times of the day. I'm sure they don't even realise they are doing it.'

        One of the popular mobile phone manufacturers has a ringtone (or possibly SMS notification) that sounds a lot like the McDonalds jingle.

      3. Updraft102

        Re: I'm seriously thinking about charging Coca Cola rent.

        McDonalds seems to have been very successful in conditioning people to whistle their irritating little signature tune at random times of the day.

        My mother tells me that I wasn't talking yet at 2 years, just making sounds, until I started uttering the McDonald's "You deserve a break today" jingle (and appropriately, meaning when I was in the little seat and the car passed by a McDonald's)." My first words might have been advertising for a company we have nothing to do with, other than as infrequent customers!

  9. Franco

    Where do you draw the line with advertising of the brands you have bought though? Clothing is one thing, but taking it to extremes you'd need to use a cover or tape over the logos on your phones and tablets, cover up the logo on the lid of your laptop and de-badge your car, the latter of which is only done (at least where I live) by people who have more power in decibels in the boot than they do in horses under the bonnet.

    1. alain williams Silver badge

      Advertising from mobile 'phones

      I get annoyed with the advertising that I get when I receive email from some people that has appended to it a line like:

      Sent from my iPad

      I have no idea if it is possible for them to tickle a setting to not put this in.

      1. Sandtitz Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

        Sent from my iPad

        I have no idea if it is possible for them to tickle a setting to not put this in.

        It's easily edited or removed.

        My .sig used to be "Sent from my Vertu". I've never even seen one.

        Now it's "Sent from my iPhone 9". My phone wifi SSID is "iPhone 9+".

        I have to update the settings every year just to keep annoying people, hence the troll icon. :-D

        1. doublelayer Silver badge

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          It is possible to remove this, but the setting is hidden so that most people don't try to find it. Also, it has an irritating habit of switching itself back about once a year. If you send relatively few messages from your phone compared to your computer, you're liable to send out a few before you notice that the thing is back.

        2. Arthur the cat Silver badge

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          My .sig used to be "Sent from my Vertu". I've never even seen one.

          Now it's "Sent from my iPhone 9". My phone wifi SSID is "iPhone 9+".

          I have to update the settings every year just to keep annoying people

          Try "Sent from my Commodore 64" next time. :-)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

            Arthur the cat noted, "My phone wifi SSID is 'iPhone 9+'."

            Mine is 'FREE PORN SERVER'. It's difficult to avoid grinning when somebody bursts out laughing. A bit awkward in cases where there are only two of you on the rail car.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

              I'd be careful. You might elicit screams of outrage from overprotective Catholic mothers.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

                "You might elicit screams of outrage from overprotective Catholic mothers.

                A few years ago a "think of the children" woman took me to task in the street because of my T-shirt's very abstract motif. I pointed out that if the children she was protecting could understand the sexual allusion then they were not "innocent".

                A neighbour looked at it one day and was puzzled by its meaning. "Oh mum!" said her 14 year old daughter - who then explained it to her.

                A Catholic neighbour shocked me the other day by saying she regularly checks the contents of her 15 year old son's smart phone and emails etc. He is expected to hand it over on demand. He is not an irresponsible type - I await the day he rebels about being dragged out of bed for 9am Mass on Sunday's while his father gets a lie-in.

                1. JohnFen

                  Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

                  "she regularly checks the contents of her 15 year old son's smart phone and emails"

                  Sounds like the perfect way to increase the tech skills of kids.

                2. rskurat

                  Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

                  That's what University is for: getting your own, non-parental mobile and no Mass from August to December.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Trollface

              Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

              That wasn't the FREE PORN SERVER I was laughing at. I was reading REG comments.

            3. DiViDeD

              Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

              Not my phone as such (or indeed at all), but I seem to have fewer intrusion attempts on my home wifi since I renamed it 'ASIO Surveillance Van XK437' (used to be called 'LAN Down Under')

        3. Khaptain Silver badge

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          My personal hotspot is "Bad Connection" which always make me wonder if others truly believe it is a bad connection.

        4. This post has been deleted by its author

        5. Stoneshop

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          My .sig used to be "Sent from my Vertu". I've never even seen one.

          "Sent from my Friden Flexowriter".

          Okay, it also involved a punch tape reader and a laptop with a serial port, but the message was written on the Flexo.

      2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

        Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

        I have no idea if it is possible for them to tickle a setting to not put this in.

        It is.

        But that would require them to a) care and b) spend 5 minutes of their lives working out how to and then do it.

        So very very few of them do.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: that would require them to a) care and b)

          I was that harsh (and furious) when I got an e-mail from my wife, when she got an iphone at work (a pretty out of date model, etc.). Well, she didn't realize. Because you don't see it when you're sending the message. Just like you don't see the advertising shit that gets attached to the e-mail you send. Until you realize, sooner or later, you've become a "carrier" :/

      3. -maniax-
        Pint

        Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

        > Sent from my iPad

        My friends and I have a tendancy to subvert footer messages like that (usually when we're planning a pub crawl)

        Here's a selection from the recent collection of emails relating our annual pilgrimage to the pubs of Cambridge (that ocurred last weekend)

        *****

        Sent from my Amiga

        Sent from my Vic 20.

        Sent from my Tandy TRS-80

        Sent from my Phillips Videopac G7000

        Sent using intergalactic morse code

        Sent from my Atari 8000XL

        Sent from my HAL9000

        What are you doing, Dave?

        Sent from my Orac

        Sent from the bottom of a beer glass

        Sent from my Holly.

        Everyone's dead, Dave.

        Sent from the footplate of a Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive

        Sent from my iBacus

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          When I first built this PC I used to reply

          Sent from my Q8200 with 2TB of HDD

          BTW now 4.5TB

        2. Updraft102

          Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

          Sent from my Babbage difference engine...

      4. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Advertising from mobile 'phones

        "Sent from my iPad"

        Are they boasting, confessing or complaining?

    2. A. Coatsworth Silver badge
      Trollface

      A Mexican comedian had a great sketch about this.. He would "invade" random tv shows to stop them from doing any advertisements. In one memorable scene, the actors were driving around in an Volkswagen Beetle. He covered the VW logo with masking tape and flew away, his work done.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re. Where do you draw the line

      I do. I mean, I do all those things. Minus the car thing, cause I don't own one, and when I tried to get the badge of my wife's panda, she beat me up real hard. But all other logos and badges.. yeah, they go.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: re. Where do you draw the line

        " I tried to get the badge of my wife's panda, she beat me up real hard."

        Yeah, but Pandas are cute and cuddly and endangered, so what do you expect you hard hearted bastard. :-)

  10. Mark 110

    The Indy can't be as bad as the Liverpool Echo

    "Just try to visit UK daily newspaper The Independent without an ad-blocker (remembering to disable media autoplay as you go) and you'll find yourself mired in a swirling nightmare of digital ad manure that keeps jumping around but never completes loading. "

    On the rare occasion I mistakenly hyperlink into https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/ I just spend my time fighting the thing to stop throwing awfulness at me before I manage to close the tab in disgust. The things in unreadable and blocks your adblocker.

    1. Jean Le PHARMACIEN

      Re: The Indy can't be as bad as the Liverpool Echo

      As a past employee of a Large Secondary Healthcare Establishment in central Liverpool, I found the best solution was not to read that rag at all.

      (It always has a good line in dodgy 'real' stories about the trust)

    2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: The Indy can't be as bad as the Liverpool Echo

      The things in unreadable and blocks your adblocker.

      Presumably that can be solved by using something like NoScript?

      Unless it's one of those abominations that *require* Javascript enabled in order to show you articles..

      1. stiine Silver badge

        Re: The Indy can't be as bad as the Liverpool Echo

        With Ghostery, NoScript, and uBlock, the articles display just fine, but without tweaking it there aren't any images.

  11. Johndoe132

    For a while when physical junk mail advertising was a real nuisance, I took to opening it up and helpfully forwarding on all the crap to any company kind enough to include a pre-paid return envelope. Got it out of my house and ensured they were charged for the return postage at the same time.

    If only we could do the same with spam email......

    1. carolinahomes

      Reverse the practise back onto the advertisers

      I used to have a friend who would place adverts of his business into all of the free reply envelopes that the junk mail companies would send him.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      re: If only we could do the same with spam email......

      Especially with all those emails from 'Stormy Daniels'.

      There has been a new wave of them recently.

      Apparently I can get another 8in of growth you know where from buying some unknown shit.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: re: If only we could do the same with spam email......

        "Apparently I can get another 8in of growth you know where from buying some unknown shit."

        Did she give some to Donald?

        1. DiViDeD

          Re: re: email from Stormy Daniels

          "Did she give some to Donald?"

          Well he has been looking taller recently. I thought it was just elevator shoes.

  12. MJI Silver badge

    Independent

    Completely unusable currently I find.

    Had to reinstall FF ESR with CTR and I have not yet installed noscript.

    Completely locks up FF that I have to kill it.

    Before FF got messed up I had to block around 20 scripts.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Independent

      On mobile, I find ublock origin does most of the job, followed by whatever that firefox page-simplifying thingy is called. This last step is necessary else (usually) an unwanted video appears to take up half the screen and you have to peer through a small slot to read the text. I like the Independent, but there seems to be no sane way to read it without stopping the ads first (not that that's so different to other papers, mind).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Independent

      The Independent web site has an annoying habit of regularly asking for confirmation of your privacy options. You either can say "accept" with unknown consequences - or click through to see the discrete options which fortunately retain your previous setting.

      Many other sites are doing something similar since GDPR came into force - usually I just close the tab. The Independent hasn't quite exhausted my patience - yet.

    3. stiine Silver badge

      Re: Independent

      The latest firefox is fine, as long as you don't mind the fact that it stops responding after a day or two with a dozen open tabs. The only add-ons I really miss are Classic Theme Restorer and Status-4-Evar.

      1. JohnFen

        Re: Independent

        Yeah, the absence of those extensions is bad. Also NoScript (I know that there's a version that works under the new regime, but it's inferior to the old version).

    4. Tom Wood

      Re: Independent

      Our local rag's website shows the first paragraph of an article then asks you to answer a survey question to see the rest of it.

      Of course you don't have to actually read the question or any of the multiple choice answers, jabbing one at random works fine.

      No idea who is paying them for the survey results but it can't be very useful data.

  13. Chris G
    Pint

    A bit late

    Dabbsy, this party must be in its fourth decade by now, I first started noticing designer names plastered on clothing after all the RELAX sweatshirts knocking around in the '80s.

    I have nevver been much of a fashion watcher so I could easily be wrong.

    It's amazing that subsequent generations still buy into this crap, goes to show how shallow we are.

    A dozen Virtual Pints for the Blockheads vid though, Ian Dury was a London humoured poet/philosopher/ rock'n'roller of the highest calibre.

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: A bit late

      Ian Dury was a London humoured poet/philosopher/ rock'n'roller of the highest calibre

      The last song he ever did was a collaboration with Madness called "Drip fed Fred". Worth listening to..

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: A bit late

        There aint have been some clevers bastards, lucky bleeders. ( Nostalgia kicks in)

    2. Alistair
      Windows

      Re: A bit late

      @Chris G:

      I have photos from the 70's with shoe company logos on all sorts of shite.

      1. Chris G

        Re: A bit late

        @Alistair

        I don't really remember a lot of logo fashion from the '70s but I suppose that is because the '70s is kind of blurry in general. I had a lot of fun back then for most of the decade.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: A bit late

          "I don't really remember a lot of logo fashion from the '70s [...]"

          Tennis player Fred Perry's shorts carried the small laurel wreath logo on the left hem probably since 1952. More recent branding has shirts that have the logo writ large plus the name at the same scale - across the chest.

          Tennis player René Lacoste apparently put his crocodile/alligator logo on shirts in 1933.

          The Jantzen Diving Girl logo appeared on their swimsuits in 1923.

    3. JohnFen

      Re: A bit late

      "I first started noticing designer names plastered on clothing after all the RELAX sweatshirts knocking around in the '80s."

      You young people! This has been going on for much longer than my lifetime or yours.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Branded Advertising

      The last bit of branded clothing with really obvious adverts I bought was a 'Hendrix Lives' T-Shirt around September 1970.

      I hate all Adverts with a vengance.

      I am not interested in anything that is advertised to me in the Media and on TV especially "Over 50's Life Insurance", "Funeral Plans", leaving my money to Cancer Research UK even though I'm in remission from Leukaemia, 0% Car finance deals and the rest.

      As for sites that detect that you are using an AdBlocker. Well, Tough. There is always another place on the internet that I can go to.

      Yours,

      Grumpy.

      {Bah Humbug}

      1. whileI'mhere

        Re: Branded Advertising

        "Hendrix Lives" is a slogan, not a brand, nor an advert.

  14. krakead

    Is there anything advertising can't make worse? Venturing onto the web without an ad blocker is, these days, like voluntarily walking behind a farmer's muck spreader at full flow while trying to admire the scenery, and that's before you even consider it as a delivery vector for malware.

    Fuck that.

    1. JohnFen

      "Is there anything advertising can't make worse?"

      Nope. By definition, when you cover something in shit, it becomes shittier.

  15. sanwin

    The real irritant to me

    Cotton Traders sell cheap cotton clothes which are of varying quality. They also sell Guinness branded clothing which is dearer! If they want me to advertise Guinness then it should be a lot cheaper than the non-branded version.

    Grrrr

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

      Re: The real irritant to me

      At least the CT logo is relatively subtle and not in 100mm high print like some other brands.

  16. Lt.Kije

    How about ...

    ... a browser that let's the ad slingers do there thing in a tab you can't see then shows the actual content in a tab you can see?

    1. Swarthy

      Re: How about ...

      Return of the pop-under? I'll stick to Privacy Badger, thanks.

      1. stiine Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: How about ...

        No, not a popunder, but an invisible tab, the equivalant of /dev/null for output and /dev/urandom for input

        1. Charles 9

          Re: How about ...

          Nope, because the goal is to tie the content to the ad so that if you attempt to trash the ad, you trash the content as well. It's happening more and more often along with adblock-detectors that whitewash the session and ad-walls where no scripting means no article.

          Frankly, I think the journalism industry is soon going to to en masse to paywalls to stay in existence since newspapers and magazines don't seem to be cutting it anymore.

    2. JohnFen

      Re: How about ...

      That doesn't address the spying issue.

    3. Updraft102

      Re: How about ...

      I've been suggesting that for a while. The ad-blocker-blockers can only detect whether your browser requested certain pages or executed certain scripts... it has no idea whether any of the ads were actually displayed or not. There could be a pseudo-whitelist that would appear to the server that the full ad-laden page was being shown, but on the client end, it would look like the adblocked version. For people who want to support certain sites by turning off the adblocker, it would allow a painless way of doing it, and their advertisers would be none the wiser that it wasn't actually ever seen.

      Of course, that would still leave one subject to the tracking, the slow page load times, and the threat of the ad network being used to deliver malware. It would only be used for sites that have some degree of trust, though even that is not the best practice, since they're not hosting the ads themselves (so they could be anything).

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: How about ...

        "Of course, that would still leave one subject to the tracking, the slow page load times, and the threat of the ad network being used to deliver malware. "

        It would stop some of that. The cookies and malware just go to /dev/null. Page load times? Maybe there would be possibilities of capping the volume or speeds of the advertising sites providing the main site keeps loading, otherwise just go to a different site instead.

        I've advocated this for some time. The publisher gets paid so they're happy. The ad networks get pais so they're happy. The malware flingers don't get paid so everybody else is happy. The advertisers' crap doesn't alienate the viewers they're trying to pester so they should also be happy but probably wouldn't be if they knew it was going on. The trouble is that the advertising networks get paid, ultimately, by the advertiser's customers who should be unhappy.

  17. nevstah

    haven't ad's died yet?

    I really don't understand the business model of websites that rely on adverts for revenue.

    Nobody looks at them, nobody clicks on them, apart from by mistake when another ad loads and pushes the link you were trying to click on, to some other part of the screen.

    It just seems like pyramid selling to me, a vicious circle. Lets just cut the chain and have done with it. If the content was actually worth anything then we wouldn't mind paying for it!

    If I see a page that denies access because I refuse to load ads or accept a million cookies, then tough, i'll just go some place else

    1. Alister

      Re: haven't ad's died yet?

      I really don't understand the business model of websites that rely on adverts for revenue.

      He / She says, whilst posting on The Register - a website funded by Ads.

      1. dajames

        Re: haven't ad's died yet?

        He / She says, whilst posting on The Register - a website funded by Ads.

        There is a certain irony, isn't there?

        If funding by advertising works for The Register that's fine for The Register (and I'm happy to get it for nothing) ... but, like the earlier poster, I don't understand how that works. Why does advertising pay? Are we really such a bunch of feckless shallow fools that we spend our money on things just because we're seen them advertised?

        I'd really like to believe that we weren't, but the evidence seems to be to the contrary.

    2. Martin Summers Silver badge

      Re: haven't ad's died yet?

      "Nobody looks at them, nobody clicks on them, apart from by mistake"

      That's actually just not true. I do click on ads that show me something I'm interested in. It's how I found Digital Ocean on the Register when they advertised on here some years ago. I'm still a customer and it saved me money over who I was with. So ads do work and the way the Register presents them is exactly how it should be done.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: haven't ad's died yet?

        @ Martin Summers

        One advert worked for you some years ago? It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of advertising.

    3. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: haven't ad's died yet?

      I really don't understand the business model of websites that rely on adverts for revenue.

      They don't rely on adverts for revenue, they rely on advertisers for revenue. As long as advertisers think they're getting something, they'll pay, that's what finances the websites. When the advertisers go bust due to adblockers no-one cares, another one will be along in a minute. PT Barnum had it right.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nobody looks at them, nobody clicks on them

      I'm afraid enough people look at them, click on them and, ultimately, buy this shit. Otherwise, the ad spamming would have been long dead.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Nobody looks at them, nobody clicks on them

        "Otherwise, the ad spamming would have been long dead."

        You forgot one thing. The advertising industry is very, very good at selling. They sell advertising. Nothing else; advertising. They sell it to advertisers who are going to be pre-disposed to buy it because it strokes their egos by having their companies' "messages" "out there". The PT Barnum effect works.

  18. Anonymous Cowerd
    Happy

    sites who block adblockers

    do not get repeat visits from me

    1. RyokuMas
      Happy

      Re: sites who block adblockers

      Meh, they're normally very easy to take care of: open up web dev tools, a quick "display: none" on the offending overlay and an "overflow: auto" on the body tag and you're back in business...

      1. Boothy

        Re: sites who block adblockers

        I use uBlock Origin myself.

        I find it mildly amusing to use the adblockers picker tool, to block the sites adblocker blocker :-)

  19. Noonoot

    Anonymous apparel

    We could all simply wear sheets on the streets and no longer brand anything. Then you wouldn't need ads on websites making you buy the latest whatever. What a dismal state of affairs. Just like North Korea.

    1. David 18

      Re: Anonymous apparel

      "We could all simply wear sheets on the streets and no longer brand anything. Then you wouldn't need ads on websites making you buy the latest whatever. What a dismal state of affairs. Just like North Korea."

      I can't quite decide whether that's a better example of a false dichotomy or a straw man.

      Either way it's total bollox. Presumably from someone wasting their life working in marketing, or a victim - in which case it's not too late, you can get help, keep reading comments on here from the grizzled oldsters who have been there, seen it, done it and got the (unbranded) T-Shirt.

      1. Alistair
        Windows

        Re: Anonymous apparel

        @David 18:

        The logo branded shirt I'm most proud to wear has a small red vulture on it. And I'm one of the grizzled oldsters today (haven't wielded the blade about the yawp in a bit)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Presumably from someone wasting their life working in marketing

        oh dear, you fell for the simplest bait! :D

    2. stiine Silver badge

      Re: Anonymous apparel

      I'm sure your local KKK or ghost society would appreciate the participation.

  20. Headley_Grange Silver badge

    Go To Besźel

    You could go to Besźel or Ul Qoma and learn to unsee the street ads.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: Go To Besźel

      You could go to Besźel or Ul Qoma and learn to unsee the street ads.

      Only half of them surely?

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    clothes that bear the retailer's logo on the outside

    That Peter Kay classic...

    Fat girl wearing t-shirt emblazoned with logo: GUESS

    PK: Thyroid problem?

    1. Chris G

      Re: clothes that bear the retailer's logo on the outside

      Or an indication of the contents.

      A couple of years back a client asked me to drop them off at the gay beach near Las Salinas in Ibiza, while parked in the car park chatting before he went off with his mate for a swim, I was unaware that I was staring at a large lady in a shocking pink tee shirt bearing the legend 'fat' on the front and 'dyke' on the back. She grinned at me and said ' What! You gonna call me a liar?'

      That would happen only in Ibiza.

      1. Updraft102

        Re: clothes that bear the retailer's logo on the outside

        ...the gay beach...

        Those exist? Never heard of that before!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: the gay beach

          You can tell when you're at the gay beach...

          ...the oysters are blue.

          (Apologies for long past its sell-by date, stereotyped "humour")

  22. Valeyard

    CARS!

    I swear to god, trying to get the sales guy from evan halshaw et al to remove the ugly sticker with their name on from the rear window of a car I'm paying good money to buy outright is an ordeal, but it's the line in the sand for me, the walking away point. I know how much advertising is worth; If you want that sticker there you can pay me a fee for the life expectancy of the car.

    The only advertising I'll wear or have in my home is something where it's part of what I'm buying, like an old F1 t-shirt or scale model car; I even insist on the correct tobacco advertising rather than have it sanitised away

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: CARS!

      If you want that sticker there you can pay me a fee for the life expectancy of the car

      Having just bought a new car[1], I can confirm that proper dealerships confine their advertising to the small print on the bottom of the license plate.

      [1] Toyota C-HR. Driving a proper hybrid is very odd )but growing on me!). It also has lotsa toys :-)

    2. Gordon861

      Re: CARS!

      When I last bought a new car I was very direct during the early paperwork signings.

      1. If the car has any own brand stickers or badges on it the deal is off, you can put your name on the number plates, that's it.

      2. If I find the number plate holes have been drilled pissed then the deal is off. There is very little as annoying as a new car with a number plate that is just slightly pissed, you can never not see it.

      1. Mage Silver badge

        Re: you can put your name on the number plates, that's it.

        Is that legal?

        BTW I would not accept that.

        My plates are boringly as per regs with nothing added or taken away.

        The car does have the maker's badges. I'd take those off if it was feasible.

        1. Khaptain Silver badge

          Re: you can put your name on the number plates, that's it.

          The car does have the maker's badges. I'd take those off if it was feasible.

          BMW do it for a price, and I believe that others do it too. Well at least for the model numbet., Maybe not the actuelle BW hélice.

  23. Alan Stewart
    Joke

    a question to ponder

    This discussion does make me wonder, why don't The Avengers put some adverts on the side of The Incredible Hulk? He is after all a massive Banner!

    1. Alister

      Re: a question to ponder

      why don't The Avengers put some adverts on the side of The Incredible Hulk?

      It might make him angry?

      1. Rich 11

        Re: a question to ponder

        Hulk always angry. Smash!

        1. DJO Silver badge

          Re: a question to ponder

          Hulk always angry. Smash!

          So he's plugging instant mashed potatoes, I suppose he's preferable to the stupid alien robot things that they used to have.

          1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

            Re: a question to ponder

            "And then Hulk smash them into tiny bits!"

  24. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Searching for adverts

    I browse with javascript disabled so what I presume are adverts on the Register show up like broken links to pictures. I checked the HTML and the adverts have a <noscript> section containing a simple <img>. wget can get it. identify tells me it is a 1x1 gif with a transparency layer. The gimp shows that the pixel is transparent.

    That advert is a bit to cryptic for me. What are they selling?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That advert is a bit to cryptic for me. What are they selling?

      If you have to ask, you can't afford it. :-)

    2. Alister

      Re: Searching for adverts

      @Flocke Kroes

      You've never come across tracking pixels before then?

      1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

        Re: Tracking pixels

        Yes, but I did not see the point the the same site tracking me repeatedly on one page, with the pixel in places I remember seeing adverts on ages ago. There are also width and height markers in the URL that match the column width.

        It seriously looks like half an attempt was made to show adverts on browsers with javascript disabled: the page code is working but the ad server is just returning 1x1pixclear.gif

        (Hint to advertisers: I will not make an effort to block a static image that does not cover the text but if it moves you get blocked for years.)

    3. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: Searching for adverts

      What are they selling?

      Loss of privacy..

    4. JohnFen

      Re: Searching for adverts

      "What are they selling?"

      Tracking services.

  25. S4qFBxkFFg
    Boffin

    Real-Life Ad Blockers

    We could have had this, really.

    It could have been the killer app for Google Glass - something that detects ads whether on billboards, backsides, or buses, and on-the-fly replaces them with more pleasing images - nice landscapes, beautiful women, specialist pornography, or a combination of all three.

    For driving, it could just replace the ads with flat beige, to reduce distraction.

    ...but no, the word "Glasshole" was too tempting, and our urban views continue to be polluted by idiotic branding and the effluent of marketers' minds.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Real-Life Ad Blockers

      http://j.aufbix.org/plif/archive/wc161.gif

    2. Rich 11
      Joke

      Re: Real-Life Ad Blockers

      nice landscapes, beautiful women, specialist pornography, or a combination of all three.

      The first two are my specialist pornography.

      I've twice been banned from the National Gallery.

    3. RyokuMas
      Facepalm

      Re: Real-Life Ad Blockers

      "It could have been the killer app for Google Glass"

      Ah, but who would have blocked the ads that Google were slinging at you all the time?

    4. This post has been deleted by its author

    5. theDeathOfRats
      Trollface

      Re: Real-Life Ad Blockers

      Do you really think that the Big G would let you block adverts? On their hardware? And not substitute them for paid ones? Or add adverts EVERYWHERE, a la Minority Report?

      May I please have a lil' bit of whatever you're smoking? I want me pink coloured glasses, too.

    6. jelabarre59

      Re: Real-Life Ad Blockers

      It could have been the killer app for Google Glass - something that detects ads whether on billboards, backsides, or buses, and on-the-fly replaces them with more pleasing images - nice landscapes, beautiful women, specialist pornography, or a combination of all three.

      Mmmm.... replacing all the models on those ads with Megurine Luka....

  26. Bavaria Blu
    FAIL

    regulation of the illumination, for the nation, stopping domination

    I though there were strict rules on signage on premises viewable from a public space? Have they been relaxed for bus stops so that the screens can pay for the shelters as the state can't be bothered to?

  27. MonkeyCee

    Normcore

    "unless you're prepared to get out the sewing scissors at home and unpick the logo stitching."

    Hey! I resemble that comment :)

    I've unpicked or ironed off* many logos on clothes purchased for me by other people. Even my mum, who has spent forty odd years getting me clothes, keeps thinking that when I say "plain black hoody" I really want some bright pink logo and a picture on it. On the other hand my father in law manages to not only buy ones that fit me, but also monochromatic, no stupid logos and decent zips.

    I gathered, from a fashionable friend, that this is apparently "normcore". So even not having a brand is, in fact, a brand....

    I'll stoop to wearing logos on tshirts, mainly because the promo ones can often be of quite high quality. Although I'm getting to the age where polo shirts make me look less like a sack of shit. And those buggers seem to always come with a logo. Admittedly a truck flap or a little croc is within my tolerance, still draw the line at names.

    * not directly onto the iron, since that'll bugger it, but onto brown paper.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Normcore

      I've unpicked or ironed off* many logos on clothes purchased for me by other people. Even my mum, who has spent forty odd years getting me clothes,

      I've gone well out of my way to remove or obliterate IBM logos on whatever tat I got from them before being resourced. Feck them if they want me to advertise their shit.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ads... and I'm all out of bubblegum.

  29. DropBear

    "refusal to show complete content unless you disable the blocker first"

    That's ok, if manually updating the adblocker's lists doesn't wipe the overlay away then I rip it off manually using ublock's picker, HackTheWeb or the dev tools of the browser - and if all that fails, I go away and never return. If any of it succeeds, I read what I came for and never return.

    1. Updraft102

      Sometimes Firefox's reader mode will get you the content you want (if the text was what you were after) when the adblocker blockers hit. I also use an ad-blocker-blocker-blocker user script, but the paywalls are getting worse (some of them are not removed by the script, whereas it used to work nearly all the time).

  30. Daedalus

    We need Diminished Reality

    It's simple. Like Zaphod Beeblebrox, you wear sunglasses that block out anything you don't want to see. This is actually doable, if you don't mind carrying high-end AI around with you. A camera mounted on your sunglasses scans the field of view for logos and icons, and active optics conceal them from your vision.

    Of course it could get a bit awkward moving around if advertising takes up most of your field of view, but then the AI can also project helpful visual cues so you can dodge bus shelters, dogs, and oncoming moped bandits.

  31. Bavaria Blu
    Go

    Fashion

    The whole point of fashion is to express yourself and show you're a member of an exclusive group, a tribe if you will. This is especially true of replica football kit.

  32. Emmeran

    Be braver

    Buy a car and force them to remove all brand markings and labels from the exterior before you will accept delivery. I did that and the vehicle looked a lot better...

    1. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Be braver

      But mine is so obvious what it is.

      And I would rather people knew what it was rather than some import

      1. JohnFen

        Re: Be braver

        " I would rather people knew what it was rather than some import"

        Why do you care? I'm honestly curious.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Be braver

        "But mine is so obvious what it is."

        Car models used to be distinctive shapes - and makers had house styles. So a Triumph was square-ish cornered and a Rover rounded. A Volvo was rectangular.

        Nowadays I find it hard to distinguish them except for the logo on the front. Presumably the design is either outsourced - or the designers went to the same colleges and read the same influential reports.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: Be braver

          Worst thing I can think of car wise are body kits that let your premium quality car from good manufacturer look like a premium car from a knob manufacturer.

          Why would you want a top end Opel to look like an Audi?

          (Only rebrands people liked were Cadillacs as Opel and Vauxhalls as Holden)

  33. Daedalus

    Back to the Future

    The ludicrousness of the whole thing was encapsulated in the first BTTF movie when Marty McFly got the name "Calvin Klein" based on the jeans he was wearing.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: Back to the Future

      Wasn't the jean, it was the skivvies. For some reason, back then, it was a thing for mom's to put your name on your skivvies much like that done in the military.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: Back to the Future

        I may be mistaken, but I think part of the reason was that washing wasn't always a private affair, so skivvies that looked alike could get mixed up. It was certainly true in the military, particularly in the World War II period when underpants were a uniform drab olive to avoid drawing enemy fire when they were hung out to dry. So basically, if moms put names on the skivvies, it was for their sake, to avoid mixups in communal washes. This BTW became less of an issue after this time period because this was just about the point where underwear became a fashion statement.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Back to the Future

          " So basically, if moms put names on the skivvies, it was for their sake, to avoid mixups in communal washes.

          There was a ritual in my school days of some clothing worn to school having name tags. There were preprinted custom labels - but most people bought a bottle of indelible ink and some white tape. Understandable as the school uniform was standardised in most respects - and could get mixed up in cloakrooms and sport changing rooms.

      2. JohnFen

        Re: Back to the Future

        When I was a child, my mom put my name in my skivvies (and every other article of clothing) purely for summer camp purposes. Clothing gets tossed around and mixed up, and she didn't want to have to replace lost ones.

        1. onefang
          Facepalm

          Re: Back to the Future

          Reminds me of an ancient D&D character I once played. Typical thick as two short planks fighter, so dumb she was glad her mother put her name on her clothes. Only that was a long time ago, and now she mostly wears metal armour. We called her "Dry Clean Only".

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How about a deal - I’ll switch off my ad-blocker if you’ll stop dropping tracking cookies all over my hard drive?

    1. JohnFen

      If ads stopped with all the spying, I'd stop fighting them in a heartbeat.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        "If ads stopped with all the spying, I'd stop fighting them in a heartbeat."

        It'd take more than that for me. They need to turn of audio on all ads, stop any auto-play videos, and keep animation (especially high contrast flashing) to a minimum.

  35. Dominion

    Dabbsy for PM!

    “If I give you some money, would you take your clothes off?”

    Standard behaviour for my MP. I don’t even have to affix a HIGNFYesque “apparently” at the end of that statement!

  36. OptimumPlumb
    Holmes

    The Register could lead the way

    Perhaps The Reg should consider an optional paywall, add-free membership for a reasonable monthly fee

    The subscription could be pay any amount over £1 per month for the add-free service. Many would pay the £1 but other would happily pay more. This would also allow you to evaluate how much your readers are willing to pay for such a service.

    Just a suggestion.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Register could lead the way

      This has been mentioned a few times however I don't think it's sustainable. How would you serve an ad-free version? Duplicate the site with a paywall? Which one shows on the search engines then how do you get new subscribers if it's the paywall one? That's something all those paywall news website are going to learn the hard way eventually.

      1. JohnFen

        Re: The Register could lead the way

        "How would you serve an ad-free version?"

        Perhaps the way that lots of sites do it: if you're paying, then you are logged into an account. It's trivial for a site to simply not server the advertising code to logged in users.

  37. Craigie

    Stellar

    When does the ad-free Vulture Central option via Stellar (XLM) payment get switched on?

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Have a Pint...

    "One of the great retail marketing cons of the second half of the last century was to convince everyone that choosing a brand outweighed the value of choosing a product."

    Beautifully put.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Re: Have a Pint...

      Nicely put indeed. But one quibble: was it really the second half of the last century? My late mother (born mid-1930s) told a story against her (mid-century) schoolgirl self falling for some advertising, and her dad - already then an Old Cynic about such things - laughing as he explained how it worked. And - credit where it's due - my upbringing successfully made me a complete cynic before I reached the age of having or spending money.

  39. Alistair
    Windows

    I see Dabsy:

    You've finally found this comment:

  40. JohnFen

    Hee Hee

    "Why the hell you want to set yourself up as an unpaid walking advert for someone else's company is anyone's guess."

    I don't understand this either. In my younger days, I took to removing the branding from everything I could, especially on the clothes. I confess that I didn't keep up that habit (it was a lot of work), however I still tend to avoid buying things that have very prominent branding.

  41. Jonathan Richards 1
    Thumb Up

    "One of the great retail marketing cons of the second half of the last century was to convince everyone that choosing a brand outweighed the value of choosing a product."

    That's so true. I think it should be on a Vulture tee-shirt, really.

  42. IGnatius T Foobar !

    Just block all Facebook domains

    The most obnoxious ads seem to come through Facebook's ad network. If you simply block all of their domains, the REALLY intrusive advertising doesn't come through, even if AdblockPlus is switched off.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Just block all Facebook domains

      Yep. Most of Google, FB, Twitter and all that other anti-social media sites are blocked on my firewall.

      Pisses my Grandkids off a bit but they have learned that my home is a social media free zone and they are only here for a few hours every couple of weeks.

      1. Palladium

        Re: Just block all Facebook domains

        But-but-but if I don't use social media how would I live without seeing the #22394732984 pic of someone else lunch and tourist traps, plus the endless deluge of IQ-lowering clickbait and targeted ads? Those things will never get boring or annoying ever!

  43. rnturn

    Walking Billboards

    There's a scene towards the end of '94s documentary `Crumb' where Robert Crumb is sitting on a bench along a street shaking his head at the people proudly walking by with "BENNETON", "GAP", or some other corporate logo emblazoned across their chests. Apparently, shirts with the corporate mascot--an alligator, etc.--sewn on the pocket were just a test for the later unpaid advertising blitz that uses that "90,000" point font. How long before the logos are on the back of the shirts as well?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Walking Billboards

      "Apparently, shirts with the corporate mascot--an alligator, etc.--sewn on the pocket were just a test for the later unpaid advertising blitz that uses that "90,000" point font."

      In doing some research for a comment I found that the discrete laurel wreath logo of Freddy Perry probably appeared from the start in 1952. My 1970/80s shorts are like that.

      Fast forward to the current day. On a sports shirt this JPG has the branding like a billboard plastered across the chest.

      If you go to the Fred Perry brand site itself - they have a drop down for "Subculture". You can find the link yourself if you want.

  44. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Why the hell you want to set yourself up as an unpaid walking advert for someone else's company is anyone's guess.

    Once I remember watching "Wogan" - though I can't remember if the person being interviewed was Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger (I think it was probably the former) - anyhow, what I do remember is Wogan mentioning that it is known that he does not wear clothes which advertise the name of the brand - to which the reply was that if his company wanted him to do that, then, the company should pay him for the service

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "the person being interviewed ... what I do remember is Wogan mentioning"

      That was the Wogan programme. He talked and his guests listened.

  45. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My plastic carrier bag from Waitrose is a walking advert. I consider it a fair deal. It cost me 10p many years ago - and every time it wears out they give me a free replacement. The old ones get recycled into making new carrier bags.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "My plastic carrier bag from Waitrose is a walking advert."

      It wouldn't be much use having Waitrose advertise to me. I don't even know where there's a Waitrose near enough to where I live to avoid it.

  46. Tannin

    Here is the deal

    Here is the deal, Mr Dabbs.

    You promise not to track me, not to give my data to Google (or any other outsider), not to use sound, animation, or Javascript, and not to allow any third party code injections onto yor page.

    And then I promise not to block your adds.

    That the fairest deal you are going to get. You get open slather, provided only that you play by fair, decent rules.

    But you don't like it? Hmmph. I thought as much.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: Here is the deal

      "And then I promise not to block your adds."

      I have El Reg white listed in uBlock Origin and NoScript. 3rd party stuff is not whitelisted though. No ads. If El Reg want to place ads that meet that criterion, I'll see them. I'm fine with that. I've seen far too many intrusive ads, ads which cause the page to bounce/re-format, ads which auto-play video/audio etc., not to mention the well documented cases in these very pages of even so-called reputable ad slingers being hijacked or scammed into placing malware into the feed.

      It should be blindingly obvious to the El Reg staff that their readership are going to be high on the scale of security conciousness and find a way to do ad delivery in a way that we readers won't feel the need to block.

  47. Dave Bell

    Nine out of ten idiots deliver free advertising.

    There are a lot of TV channels now showing adverts, and that is pushing the old model to its limits. Perhaps it's why we are never likely to see the quality of Ridley Scott's Hovis adverts ever again. But in those far-off halcyon days the only thing the advertiser knew about his targets was that they were watching a particular TV programme.

    Nowadays, as GDPR has revealed, they can't place an advert without knowing your inside-leg measurement.

    One has to wonder if the computer has made people smarter, or just biased success in life towards sociopathic semi-literate jackasses.

    As for the clothing, Levi Strauss have their label on a pair of jeans, and I reckon that's OK. The logo-laden shirt of your favourite football club is tolerable. Nike have that swirl element in their footwear design, and if that's "in your face" you have other problems and are likely to wake up in hospital. Though the French Connection UK branding seems like a funny-once joke.

    But I doubt I would buy these expensive brands anyway. So there's no point in saying I'll boycott them.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Nine out of ten idiots deliver free advertising.

      "The logo-laden shirt of your favourite football club is tolerable."

      Only if you really believe that, if you turn up at a match wearing it and they're in need of a a last minute substitute, they're going to pick you because you came prepared.

  48. Dacarlo
    Thumb Down

    What gets my goat...

    ...is the gigantic "We value your privacy"* popup that covers up the content until you tell it to feck off. That and the in your face button to "Enable all purposes" button followed by a ream of much smaller switch off this reason to rape your privacy buttons. I don't want to view the vendor list. No I don't want to see the list of companies. What I want is a giant feck off I don't accept or disable all purposes permanently. Sure I can click through all of the tiny buttons and view the page with impunity, however if I have the temerity to click on another page it loads up the same bullshit to click through a the list again. It's a tactic to wear you down so you eventually click sod it, enable all.

    I even tried to use uBlock to remove these specific elements which appeared at first to work. Alas it also blocked the scroll bar, so I end up with a portion of the underlying page and no way to scroll.

    The final solution is to simply not use sites that force-feed irritating content down your throat.

    *Which is an even more gigantic lie. They're forced to pay lip-service by gdpr or something.

    /rage

  49. VikiAi

    I only wear visible brands if I am paid to. Since I am not a celebrity or anything, I consider giving me the garment for free adequate payment.

    ...

    Actually not entirely true. I do buy and wear T-shirts branded to my favorite web-comics, though I guess their entertaining me otherwise for free can be considered good payment too.

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Give me a cut of your ad revenues and i will turn Adblocker off. Been very happy to be "paid" on Swagbucks etcfor adverts.

  51. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One of the great retail marketing cons of the second half of the last century

    I applaud you, sir! I found it striking, way back when out of my teenhood, and exposed to the vile world of consumerism in the west, that the people are usually daft, preening with all over them. I have, pretty much, always bought good quality, because it makes sense (costs less, usually), but one of the main criteria before purchase was, whether I can remove or cover that piece of advertising they slap on (soo to be) MY property. I always told my workmates, who smirked at my obsession, that the brands should pay ME to advertise for them, and if they don't - FUCK THEM, here's a razor blade to remove that logo. Or a patch. Or, if worst comes to the worst, a non-removable (sadly washable) pen marker.

  52. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could someone invent an ad-blocker for real life?

    black mirror ahoy. Well, it was only for legal purposes, but I can't believe it starts and stops at that. Most likely, it will propagate from and within the "consumer" world. Once we get those eye implants... obligatory for any newborn, that is!

  53. Ipsprivacy

    Have you tried?

    www.blackfog.com

    BlackFog has a slightly different approach to the way that Ads are blocked by monitoring the outbound traffic. Plus it blocks all sorts of other nasty internet stuff.

    Let me know if you need assistance.

    https://www.facebook.com/ipsprivacy/

    Phil

  54. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Until the ad-services stop tracking without consent (must be opt-in, no log in required and if you clear cookies, you are opted out and stop half page pop ups saying consent or else) using whatever flavour of the month is being used for the tracking is stopped, ad-blockers will continued to be used.

    If the site uses static images (sick of auto-play and ads that expand convering half the page) and the total number of ads are only less than 10% of the page content and there is no tracking, then the ad-blocker will come off.

    Also, sites need to consider the band-width useage of the client. Eat their data allowance and lose the visitor.

  55. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Plain shirts

    Sadly, I suspect there are few clothing manufacturers that treat their suppliers and their workers properly ethically, so, on the assumption that they are all probably as bad as each other, at least Primark sell t-shirts (and sometimes, shirts) in an enormous variety of plain colours, with no branding visible whatsoever.

    (A similar peeve of mine is why on earth does the fashion industry think that as men we must like t-shirts with giant sports-like numbers on them, or meaningless ingrish slogans, or shirts with unflattering stripes or checks? Just plain single colours all the way for me, please.)

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Plain shirts

      "A similar peeve of mine is why on earth does the fashion industry think that as men we must like t-shirts with giant sports-like numbers on them, or meaningless ingrish slogans, or shirts with unflattering stripes or checks?"

      Probably because they sell and they have the numbers to back it up. If a superfan buys four or five of them at a time, they probably pull in more money than two or three normal customers. See where this is going? There's simply no cure for stupidity, especially when it's "Shut Up and Take My Money" stupidity.

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