It's getting really annoying

Reg Sox

I thought this might have been temporary, but it seems not.  In my posts various words and phrases are having advertising links inserted behind them and it's getting really annoying as readers will not be able to differentiated from these inserted links and links I have purposely created within my text. They are being inserted by Skimwords.  I'm assuming that as I've seen it occurring in multiple people's posts (Jocko also specifically highlighted it) it is something to do with Hoop.la rather than my browser. Cheers, Reg.

Derek_R

I had this when I typed Ry Cooder recently. But not Joe Pass...

Richard - Richards Guitars

Skimlinks is a feature my forum had before I moved to the new platform for maybe a year or so.

 

I recently re-inserted the code which helps monetise the forum on a very small scale.

The community costs £120 a month to run and so its a very small way to get something back.

Jocko

I appreciate that it is an offset against running costs.  The difference now is we can easily add links to our posts which I wasn't aware we could do on the old format, if indeed we could.  Now someone reading my posts think I have added the link and believe I endorse or use the product the link takes them to.

Richard - Richards Guitars

Originally Posted by Jocko:

I appreciate that it is an offset against running costs.  The difference now is we can easily add links to our posts which I wasn't aware we could do on the old format, if indeed we could.  Now someone reading my posts think I have added the link and believe I endorse or use the product the link takes them to.

Well hopefully thats a positive then.  Indeed you could always add links to your post and you can continue to do that on this format.

 

I wouldn't be too worried about what people think about your links as they only appear if you are talking about the product and they link to the product you are talking about - hence giving the reader the ability to understand more about the topic.

 

For example, DAB Radio goes to a DAB Radio on Amazon and is that really such a bad thing?

 

I do hope not.

Richard - Richards Guitars

It may also make you feel better to see the hover over text says "product link added by skimwords" to differentiate from your links.

Reg Sox

Hi Richard,

 

I appreciate it helps monetise the forum and I'd be OK with it if it really worked the way you describe.  But take the example in Derek's post above (that will probably be recreated here).  When he types Ry Cooder you get a link to Amazon.  Whereas if I was reading that in a post I'd click on that link thinking Derek had inserted it as a link to some Cooderish content on youtube.

 

Anyway, here's an experiment, can I change the colour of my links to differentiate:

 

Ry Cooder

 

Let's see.....

 

Cheers, Reg.

Reg Sox

OK, That worked - apart from my old posts the links won't be in red, but never mind.

Richard - Richards Guitars

Yes it did work and the skimliink sends the visitor to one of his albums.

Reg Sox

Yep, and the note in my signature hopefully will guide people to the path of enlightenment (but probably not ever lasting fulfillment).

Richard - Richards Guitars

Originally Posted by Reg Sox:

Yep, and the note in my signature hopefully will guide people to the path of enlightenment (but probably not ever lasting fulfillment).

Reg - do you really think thats necessary?

 

Especially as if I change the links to red - which I could do.

 

I really think this is being over thought.  The hover over on the link literally says "link added by skimwords" and visitors and community members will soon understand what they do.

 

It has never come up before and I just think it is one of those things that once you are used to it you just dont have to think about it.

 

It genuinely is an interesting and useful feature - even just consider it as a bit of fun.

 

I enjoy clicking on the links and seeing what random product it will take me to - 90% of the time its very relevant.  If the links were not totally relevant I wouldn't let them on.

 

I really don't like "warning" signs in to signature areas - I think that is far more off putting than the links - it makes it sound like there is a problem with the site.

 

Imagine if everyone did that in their posts?

 

Hope you can understand my point.

Reg Sox

Hi Richard,

 

I understand what you're saying, but these are automated links produced by algorithms, not by any human intention.  Neither I, nor you as the site owner, have any control whatsoever as to where they link to.  The algorithms will not be perfect and as myself, and I believe others here, access the forum from work PCs I personally don't want to risk innocently clicking on a link that takes me to nefarious content that is then flagged to my IT department thereby creating the risk of the privilege of being access the forum during work time taken away.

 

Obviously that same risk exists with human inserted links, but I'd hope there's an element of trust generated between the regular posters here.

 

I also understand the point about hovering over the link, but there is a delay, albeit small, in the Skimwords being identified.

 

However, being in the ISP/communications industry I also know the business dynamics of how this stuff works.  If it was just a link inserted then fine, but anytime anyone actually clicks on it you are not just being redirected to the URL on that link.  Skimwords will be collecting data for sale for targeted advertising and cookies from the target site will be placed on PCs.  That I object to.  So I'm afraid I don't concur that it is an interesting and useful feature that is a bit of fun.

 

However, I'll be interested in other people's opinions should they choose to share them.  If I'm definitely in the minority then I'll look at doing it differently, perhaps by ensuring I avoid mentioning products that might produce links in my posts.

 

Cheers,  Reg.

Richard - Richards Guitars

Hi Reg,

 

The links go to verified members of affilated retail sites such as Amazon, Tesco, Ebay.

 

I am afraid I dont subscribe to your conspiracy theories - information is collected on your behavior 24/7 and a link to retail site based on the text is not an invasion of privacy.

 

Frankly, I am at a loss what to say.

Richard - Richards Guitars

I just checked.

 

Since the last few weeks of having the links there, they have generated 3 sales.

 

One to a Marshall amp that a person posted on the forum.  The others were TWO DAB Radios!!!

 

That has generated the massive sum of £8!!!

 

They are links to relevant products that help the forum generate a little extra cash - nothing sinister.

 

Please visit http://www.skimlinks.com for details.

 

Derek_R

Must admit, I'm okay with the Skimword links myself. I understand how it might cause consternation in some quarters but compared to other dangers of being misinterpreted on the web I think it's a minor thing and it wasn't even on my radar until these few threads were raised.

 

Here's an example of something more worrying - on a recent writing forum someone posted a piece that I disgareed with, so I replied stating my (opposing) opinions and asking a few clarifying questions. It was all done quietly and happily. A third person then chimed in, misread the initial post and thought that I'd written it. He then wrote a piece that had a little more bite to it, misquoting me, implying that I was the author of the first post, and basically attributing to me a load of views and comments that I hadn't made. Thereafter i was the bad guy of the thread with, on the face of it a set of opinions that all these people didn't agree with, yet I didn't agree with them either!

 

Now this was minor stuff - a closed group with probably less than 20 people reading the thread. But it does go to show how the web can be a very dangerous place.There's a piece out there that could be cut and pasted and, in isolation, make quite a few publishers very angry with me over something I never said. Accusations can be made (made up. even) and can fly very easily and quickly. Reputations ruined through spite and malice etc etc

 

If we start to  get evena little paranoid about Skimwords then we should be very paranoid about what else is possible out there. We just have to hope and pray that people really don't believe all that they read on the web or at least sensible enough to question it.

Reg Sox

Originally Posted by Richard - Richards Guitars:

I am afraid I dont subscribe to your conspiracy theories - information is collected on your behavior 24/7 and a link to retail site based on the text is not an invasion of privacy.

You are absolutely correct regarding data capture being 24x7, which is why I try to personally minimise my exposure to it.  Whether I consider it an invasion of my privacy is surely for me and only me to determine though?

 

As far as conspiracy theories are concerned, that's your description, not mine.  I tend to deal in facts.  As an industry insider I know how social profiling works, what it is used for, and where it is heading.  In fact I find it so distasteful that I'm in the process of giving up a large portion of my salary to move to a lower paid job in a different industry that I consider more ethical.  Others have different views about the contract between social media and privacy intrusion and that is their prerogative.

 

However, in the interests of not creating waves in what I consider to be an otherwise excellent forum I will change my signature again and look for other ways to minimise my exposure to automatically generated links.

 

Cheers, Reg.

 

 

Richard - Richards Guitars

Thanks so much Reg.

 

I am really grateful.

 

I look forward to reading your posts about E   B   A  Y & A m a Z on with interested.  And definitely no conversations about -D-A-B-Radi-o!!

 

Thanks again.

Reg Sox

OK, just tested this and it appears to work.  If you hover over the link it'll be identified  as being inserted by myself.  If anyone wants to follow suit by differentiating links you have inserted in your posts from those automatically inserted just put whatever text you want in the "Title" field of the link insertion pop-up.

 

Cheers, Reg.

Derek_R

I don't get any pop-ups when I hover over any links... Must be my browser. I tried to access a soundfile recently on Soundcloud, I think it was, and got a message to the effect that my browser (IE8) is too old...

Reg Sox

Unfortunately browsers aren't like guitars.  They won't in increase in value with age! 

Derek_R

I spent an evening updating my version of Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 a few nights ago. Or rather I tried to.

 

It took a couple of hours of downloading and loading and auto-configuring and lots of restarts. Then right at the end of the process I had an error message "We are unable to update this version of Windows. We are re-installing your previous version of Windows". Then it was another hour whilst it all put itself back to how it had been. Meanwhile I read a book. On paper. With proper pages.

Reg Sox

I've worked in technology ever since I left school at 18.  Despite the lack of any tertiary education I've been lucky enough to be involved in technology movements that have really made a difference to peoples lives.  I spent five years working on the IEEE 802.3 committee that standardised Ethernet.  Nobody thinks twice about plugging in an Ethernet cable and it working first time.  During the early days of the Internet revolution I set-up two ISP businesses, one in Sweden, and one in Italy, as subsidiaries of the company I work for.  I used to run the Security Product team for my company and we developed and brought to market one of the very first commercial DDoS attack prevention and mitigation services that protects the likes of this site.  I've since been involved for five years in the Cloud market helping drive the move from shrink wrapped software to applications that are delivered remotely via the internet at a fraction of the cost.

 

You'd think I'd embrace all forms of technology.  But guess what, no.  I'm increasingly hating it.  Partly because of experiences Derek encountered are becoming all too common.  But mainly because of the latest trend my last five years of work has contributed to enabling.  People might or might not have heard of the term "Big Data".  All the cloud computing stuff provides massively scalable computing power at a relatively cheap cost to provide analysis of almost unimaginable amounts of data.

 

And this, you might think to yourself, is absolutely brilliant.  With that sort of computing power available wonderful models can be built that will significantly decrease the length of time it'll take until we can cure cancer, and even vaccinate against it.  What about aids, and malaria - all wonderful stuff and all potentially within reach.

 

But guess what.  The biggest (and I mean probably 70%) application of all this wonderful technology is being used to profile individuals and sell sh*t them that they neither need nor want.  Before the end of this year I can guarantee you are going to be getting texts or emails (received of course out of your contract allowance) targeting "special" offers for you as you walk down the street approaching the next non-tax paying Starbucks or whatever.  I was giving a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a couple of years ago.  There was one stand there in one of the halls that had a banner in about one foot high letters that read something like (with the passage of time I'm paraphrasing - it was probably a lot more snappy than what I've written):

 

"There are around 4 billion people in the world who have never made a phone call.  In five years time you will be able to reach and sell to almost all of them via a mobile phone".  Like a big portion of these people don't struggle on a daily basis just to drink clean water - but hey never mind that, you can still sell sh*t to them.

 

What of the other 30%?  I'd say 28% is being used to manipulate financial markets for maximum gain for the banking industry.

 

Ever posted here, and then 30 minutes later googled a phrase or title and then discover a link direct to your post, and thought wow!?  Google (and other search engines) have what is known as "searchbots" continually scouring the WWW to pick up this stuff.  Ever wondered at the sheer number of non-registered users appearing to view the forum - the bulk of them won't be people, but search bots.   OK, you might say, makes stuff easy to find when I google something.  But hey, its not as if that technology isn't licenced out to third parties (I won't even mention Government).  You happen to mention you've got a dose of trigger finger in passing?  You think that won't end up in multiple insurance companies' databases all nicely cross referenced.  Sure as a single item of information it's anonymous but don't think it stays that way.

 

So, there you go.  Just a few of my rants based on being a conspiracy theorist.  But the point is, this stuff is no longer science fiction, and is no conspiracy - it's real.  And as such I have reached the end of my tether with an industry I have been in and loved for 38 years, but now view with contempt and disgust.  It's completely lost it's way.   I'm getting out, even though it'll be at quite a personal financial cost.

 

Sorry, didn't mean that to turn into a rant, but hopefully it explains some of my pushback (however irrational it might appear from the outside) about Skimwords.

 

Anyway, after today Ill be off-grid for 8 days and will hopefully gain some better mental equilibrium

 

Cheers, Reg.