Personally, I’m waiting for [suspended member] and [suspended member] to return and weigh in on the banner ads before I finalize my own opinion of all this.
After years of struggling with the declining quality of the SDMB, I think this is the final straw. I’ve been bitching a lot about the board recently because I’ve wanted to be convinced that it’s still worth the price of admission. This proves to me that it is not.
Bye, guys. It’s been a fun 7 years.
[QUOTE=Shoshana]
I’m just blown away that paid members are getting ads–usually one of the perks of membership in an online community is that members don’t have to see ads.
[/QUOTE]
See this is why I see a change coming.
Free access for everyone but $14.95 a year to be able to view ad free. Cool huh?
Edit:
I just want to say that I also read and post on SA and they have ads but you can pay a meer $5 not to see them ever again.
I liked the Dope because during work I could read pretty much with out issue as it was a smooth looking board. Now with the banner ads I feel like I am surfing for porn and having to watch over my shoulder to make sure no one seems me.
[QUOTE=Shoshana]
I’d like to try the HOSTS fix but now we discover the limits of my computer literacy. How do I find and open the file? Small words, please.
[/QUOTE]
First, to find the file. Look here:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
A small minority of workplace Windows users may have to look here:
C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC
Let us know what you see in that folder. If you see nothing, report back.
On the other hand, if you do see a file named simply “hosts”, report that back as well.
[QUOTE=Shoshana]
The IE fix is not working. I’d like to try the HOSTS fix but now we discover the limits of my computer literacy. How do I find and open the file? Small words, please.
[/QUOTE]
Open “My Computer”. Open “Local Disk (C)”. Open “WINDOWS”. Open “system32”. Open “drivers”. Open “etc”.
You should see a file named “hosts”.
Right click it and select “Open”.
A window pops up asking what you want to open it with. Select “Notepad” and click “OK”.
You should see the file’s contents now in Notepad.
Go to the very bottom, scrolling if necessary to get there. Position your cursor at the far right end of the very last item and press “Enter”.
Now type or copy-and-paste this: 127.0.0.1 media.chicagoreader.com.
Just make sure it’s on a whole new line all by itself.
On Notepad’s menu, click “File”. Then click “Save”.
Close Notepad.
Close your browser.
Open your browser.
=======================
Sorry, bordelond. Didn’t mean to step on toes.
Quick question: how do you disable Flash ads with Adblock? Right-clicking on them does not give you an Adblock option or an address to block.
[QUOTE=Shoshana]
I’m just blown away that paid members are getting ads–usually one of the perks of membership in an online community is that members don’t have to see ads.
The IE fix is not working. I’d like to try the HOSTS fix but now we discover the limits of my computer literacy. How do I find and open the file? Small words, please.
[/QUOTE]
Go to the Start menu and click on Run . . .
In the box that pops up, copy this line and press enter:
notepad C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS
That will open a Notepad window with the file in it. Go to the bottom of the file and on a new line copy this:
127.0.0.1 media.chicagoreader.com
Save the file and quit Notepad. After you do so, you may have to reboot for it to take effect.
[QUOTE=Liberal]
127.0.0.1 media.chicagoreader.com.
[/QUOTE]
Only without the final period. Like this:
127.0.0.1 media.chicagoreader.com
[QUOTE=Liberal]
…
On Notepad’s menu, click “File”. Then click “Save”.
Close Notepad.
Close your browser.
Open your browser.
=======================
Sorry, bordelond. Didn’t mean to step on toes.
[/QUOTE]
No worries.
The only thing I’d add is that I believe by default, Notepad will save a file out with a *.txt extension. To me, it’s better to:
(1) make a copy of the “hosts” file elsewhere on the hard drive (or on a thumb drive or whatever)
(2) then open the COPY of “hosts” in Notepad and perform the edit
(3) then save that edited copy of “hosts” somewhere else altogether as a text file.
(4) then go to that edited file and rename it from “hosts.txt” to just “hosts”.
(5) THEN copy “hosts” back into C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC, replacing the old “hosts”.
If something goes wrong (highly doubtful if **Liberal’s ** editing instructions are understood and followed to a T), you’ve still got a copy of your original “hosts” file that can be copied back into C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC if needed.
[QUOTE=Giraffe]
I think the problem is what has been mentioned earlier in the thread – the people who make the major decisions about the site are not the ones who spend all their time here. So not only are their priorities going to be different, but information is going to travel slowly in both directions and the site’s representatives (us) are rarely going to be able to speak with authority on decisions in progress. It sucks, to be honest.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I’m not irritated by the lack of info coming from mods, or even administrators, because I don’t think they have any. I am definitely annoyed by the lack of communication between the people who use, run and pay for the board (us, you, Tuba, etc.) and those who take in revenue from its operation (the owners of the board and the Chicago Reader).
However, I am not going to be as generous as to interpret the imposition of banner ads as a simple breakdown in communication. At its least offensive, the lack of information coming to customers signals indifference and lack of understanding of the community.
I feel the same way about this as I do when airlines delay flights for hours for known reasons, but don’t take customer service seriously enough to inform the people waiting about the circumstances. It’s rude, and it’s bad for business.
On the bright side, Giraffe, I think you’re just peachy! 
So I come to the Dope to see what’s up, as usual, and suddenly my PC starts blaring a chipper little tune at me. What. The Fuck?
OH, oh, I see – Tuba’s being a bitch (no surprise there), Jerry’s running silent, and ads are permeating the board despite the money I shelled out to become a member?
Fuck this, man. I was going to re-up in January. I’ll go buy myself something with that instead.
[QUOTE=Bambi Hassenpfeffer]
Save the file and quit Notepad. After you do so, you may have to reboot for it to take effect.
[/QUOTE]
Will your process turn C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC*HOSTS* into C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC**HOSTS.TXT ** ? The latter will not work, though it is simple to go into C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC and rename the file.
Just want to make sure that anyone employing the “hosts” file fix understands that it is imperative that the file is simply named “hosts”.
My My you’re a principled bunch.
I can’t complain about this Ad after putting up with British satelite TV
Whaaat?? I come back, and this is what I get?!
The sad thing is that with all our bitching here, TPTB are probably studying their metrics and saying “see? ever since we inserted ads, traffic has increased. They love it. What a great idea!”.
Tuba responds.
[QUOTE=Liberal]
Fathom is a good board, Maastricht, and **OpalCat ** is a good person. She both owns and administers the board. It is a very different look and feel, however, and it’s hard for some people to adjust to such a drastic change. But then again, SDMB used to look quite a bit different too.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the recommendation. I just signed up over there, and will lurk for a bit to see if we’re a good fit. I do see lots of names I’m fond of, so that’s a good sign!
Thanks to all who helped me eliminate the banner ads. I feel much better now.
Thanks–the HOSTS fix seems to be working.
My IT guy has reminded me that we also run Peer Guardian on all the home and work boxes–it’s an IP blocker program intended to protect P2P users from sites that flood with garbage and/or are shills for the RIAA and such. It has a constantly updating database which seems to be really awesome in getting rid of some of the more flagrant abusers, and ad servers are definitely part of the blacklist. If you’re interested, the download can be found here. No support for Vista yet, sorry, but XP is well covered, including x64.