23/30: A Chrome extension that I like

[darkemeralds]

One of my most-used Chrome browser extensions is Clearly. You install it and it puts a little button at the top of your browser window.

Then, when you come across a page like this:
,

you click this little reading lamp:


and you instantly get this:


I like it better than ad blockers because a) sometimes I do want to see ads, but get them out of the way for serious reading, b) as far as I know, the web page still gets an ad-hit for my click, and c) Clearly, besides removing extraneous crap from the page, renders the main content in a font size and line width I can specify for my own reading ease.

ETA: Oh, and a page rendered in Clearly usually doesn't display comments--believe me, a huge boon when reading anything about bicycling in any local press anywhere.

Comments

[grrlpup]

I like it too!

[darkemeralds]

I find it a boon to both eyesight and attention span.

[jesse_the_k]

I've been clutching at Safari because Reader so a thousand thanks for this post.

[darkemeralds]

Oh good! I'm glad it's helpful! Your icon is so perfect for this subject. :D

[unseelie]

Ack, this is so USEFUL!
Thanks, I've been using adblock but it's sometimes too dramatic and if a page layout is the problem it doesn't help in that regard.

[darkemeralds]

I'm so glad I decided to mention it! It really is transparently useful, several times a day.

[darkemeralds]

Ooh, I love the metallic silver nailpolish in your icon! That's splendid.

[sasha_feather]

Thank you!

[darkemeralds]

My pleasure!

[greghatcher]

I assure you that the 'comments' thing is not limited to bicycles. Whenever I start to get a big head about actually being a pro writer I can look at the comments sections of various columns I've done and remember that lot of arrested-adolescent misogynist idiots are the ones subsidizing the effort a lot of the time. My colleague Sonia says her goal every week is to have as few comments as possible. I don't think she's kidding... as nasty as mine get sometimes, she and Kelly routinely have to deal with things like rape threats and exhortations to go find a man.

I love comics and even the comics community, most of the time-- but whenever I get a close-up look at the craziness of its fandom and the genuine fear that publishers seem to have of NOT trying to cater to it, it's really pretty damn depressing. I remember when comics and superheroes were a MASS medium and not a key club for emotionally-stunted man-children.

[darkemeralds]

I imagine that in any area of passionate interest there are trolls and comment-wars. I'm sure that after the first ten of those you read, you've essentially read them all.

I don't know if women bike bloggers have to put up with rape threats--the ones I've followed have pretty civil blog environments, but I wouldn't rule it out. It shocks the hell out of me that your female colleagues do. Note that I don't say "surprises". Just "shocks."

I've noticed a gratifying decline in the general male-privilege odor in the bike blogosphere over the four years of my involvement, but when bike-related topics hit mainstream sources like the local newspaper, the knee-jerk political reactionaries come out in force. I wonder if there's a comics-world equivalent to "Scofflaw cyclists need to pay road taxes like the rest of us".

The two worlds--bikes and comics--have a somewhat "fringe" element in common, but I'm guessing that it plays out very differently in each.

As to the relationship between being a pro writer and the intellect of those subsidizing your craft: well, I suspect the ratio of smart reviews and idiotic comments never really changes, even though the bulk quantity goes up as you get a wider audience.