I diligently mute them, I’m a freak I cannot stand them. But from the nature of many people’s complaints about ads, it seems like they listen to them and want to retain the words they’ve said?

  • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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    1 month ago

    I found a cool way of ad-blocking back when I watched TV. Probably does not work anymore, and relies on Teletext page 888 (closed captions, the number varies by country) not being updated during ads.

    1. Mute
    2. Switch to another channel and back to clear Teletext cache
    3. Turn on fullscreen Teletext, any page (I like the 89x test patterns)
    4. Type “888” as the page you want to go to
    5. The TV will now wait for 888 to be broadcast, which only happens after ads and trailers
    6. The program is now running with captions. Disable Teletext and unmute if you want sound instead.
      • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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        1 month ago

        It definitely still works in the Czech Republic and Germany. Our pre-2023 president was an avid user. Public TV stations hand-format their own and syndicated news for 39 columns and pick monthly poetry. Commercial stations just automatically jam syndicated news into the format, sometimes overflowing to another subpage just by 1 word, and host huge amounts of banner and fullscreen ads with meh graphics by Teletext standards, mostly for dodgy phone services like tarot and erotic hotlines. They also host “chat24”, probably the worst message board ever: imagine a public IRC room but $0.50 per message (by SMS) including setting your nickname and color.

        Pics: https://imgur.com/a/JF3wN6L

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I have not put myself in a position to be forced to watch ads in a very long time. Even when I had normal TV service I was recording shows to a computer that would identify the commercials to automatically skip them when I watched a show. But I guess I’m not anywhere near normal in that regard.

  • Smokeydope@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Ads aren’t a thing in my life. On the off day I have to visit someone who lives with ads and suffer through one or two I tough it out, or look at my phone, or do something different.

    I don’t watch live TV. I dont pay for any subscription services except phone service and internet data. I watch YouTube content that has the ads stripped out. I download youtube videos that get often rewatched to hard drive. For movies I buy DVD that can have the drm stripped out.

    I play good video games preferably drm free (steam is the one service I can’t really give up easy, but it has offline mode and the deck so praise gaben!). I read e-books that are drm free. I have a mp3 player downloaded with all my music drm free.

    The better question is, why are you willing to live with ads at all? Assuming you are in control of your living situation and have the power change whats shown on tv or played through speakers.

    Why would you tolerate being constantly bombarded with manipulative messaging by companies, political canpaigns, and all the other powerful groups who want to affect he masses for their benefit?

    Why is it so hard just say no? To give up the forms of toxic entertainment delivery? Why can’t you sacrifice ease and convinence and familiarity to regain some control overhow your attention is spent during free time?

    If you like something, buy it and really take the steps to own it physically.

  • Lauchs@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    That’s one of the reasons I cut the cord.

    And unsubscribed from Netflix/Prime when they started asking for more money for ads.

    And freak out whenever the weird hacky fix from the depths of Lemmy that kills youtube ads stops working for a day.

    Ads are the goddamn worse, Carpenter had them dead to rights in They Live.

  • LANIK2000@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I don’t watch shit with adds lol. I just recently learned that in the US Netflix, Amazon Prime and the such offer paid subscriptions that still show adds. Like what the actual fuck? Just pirate at that point, the bad sites have an equal share of adds and the good ones have none, it’s a much better experience.

  • Camzing@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Has anyone watched an NHL game lately. They got annoying moving ads on the boards. Hard to concentrate on the puck with whirling ads in the background. Someone needs to use AI to counter thier AI. It’s enough for me to stop watching. And I mute ads of course.

  • Vanth@reddthat.com
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    1 month ago

    I don’t watch television in a way that exposes me to commercials. Same with YouTube and Spotify.

    I fast forward through ads during podcasts assuming my hands are free enough to do so, but will listen through them if I’m driving. I don’t absorb much from them, I’d be hard pressed to recall any I heard even within the last hour. I think I’ve been hearing one on repeat lately about subscribing to a service to tell you what services you’re subscribed to; couldn’t tell you the name of the company though.

    • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      YouTube you can skip ads with uBlock origin for the normal kind and sponserblock for the embed “ad read” kind the youtuber does.

    • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      I recently tried to watch sports. It was fun but disgusting. The biggest racket I’ve ever seen. $80/month to watch Baseball?! $17,000 for World Series tickets?!

      I always thought not wanting to watch sports was a choice. Apparently you can only watch sports if you’re a fucking millionaire.

  • JoeKrogan@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I use a TV and pi connected to my server thus no ads but what gets me is radio ads in cars such as a taxi or in the barbershop, I hate them, they’re obnoxious.

    • daddy32@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      And restaurants! That makes me quite angry - if a restaurant forces me to listen to ads while waiting for food, I may not really come next time.

    • Cycadophyta@lemmy.cafe
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      1 month ago

      Agreed. I’m in the UK and exclusively listen to the BBC radio stations which have no ads. It always annoys me when colleagues have other radio stations on with ads