Remember that Firefox is an option

I consume a fair bit of basically-free online content, and don't have anything against "paying" the creators of that content by having a little advertising accompany it, as long as those ads are not intrusive, or disruptive, or loaded with crypto-jacking (or other) malware. I only went nuclear on online ads because advertisers couldn't get their shit together.

So, when Google announced that their Chrome browser's selective ad-blocking functionality would be rolling out worldwide, I was cautiously optimistic. I was even considering switching back to Chrome from Firefox, just to see what sort of a web browsing experience I could have on Google's browser, now that I didn't have to be running multiple extensions in order to block the bad guys.

And then, Google had to go and break everybody else's ad-blockers. Because of course they did; Google sells advertising, and obviously they want you to stop blocking as many ads as possible. Which sucks; they're basically taking away consumer choice, just to line their own pockets. Even worse, though, Google aren't just breaking ad-blocking extensions; they're breaking a whole bunch of other stuff in the process.

As reported by ZDNet:

A planned update to one of the Google Chrome extensions APIs would kill much more than a few ad blockers, ZDNet has learned, including browser extensions for antivirus products, parental control enforcement, and various privacy-enhancing services.

[...]

The biggest of these categories would be extensions developed by antivirus makers and meant to prevent users from accessing malicious sites and for detecting malware before it's being downloaded.

Yikes.

Nokia channels The Onion, announces 5-camera phone in desperate bid for relevance

One of my all-time favourite pieces on satirical site The Onion took dead aim at the increasingly ridiculous men's grooming industry. It's title? Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades.

Would someone tell me how this happened? We were the fucking vanguard of shaving in this country. The Gillette Mach3 was the razor to own. Then the other guy came out with a three-blade razor. Were we scared? Hell, no. Because we hit back with a little thing called the Mach3Turbo. That's three blades and an aloe strip. For moisture. But you know what happened next? Shut up, I'm telling you what happened—the bastards went to four blades. Now we're standing around with our cocks in our hands, selling three blades and a strip. Moisture or no, suddenly we're the chumps. Well, fuck it. We're going to five blades. 

I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me... and became even funnier when Gillette released a six blade razor only months after The Onion's piece was published. And now, years later, it's giving me flashbacks, thanks to this piece on Thurrott.com:

Nokia’s Next Android Flagship Features Five Cameras

I shit you not, they even have pictures. And a promotional video, which has inexplicably been shot entirely in portrait mode. And claims, like:

The company’s Nokia 9 PureView handset will feature a penta-lens setup with ZEISS optics on the back. The “revolutionary” five-camera setup will, of course, allow for better quality pictures.

Of course, it will.

Extremely. Bad. Timing.

To say that Microsoft isn't having the best month would be quite an understatement, at this point. With Windows 10 (WX) losing ground yet again to Windows 7 (W7) in global usage share, and MSFT pulling WX's 1809 update because it was permanently deleting user's data, it's turning into the roughest month that the Windows team has notched in years. So.... what better time for people to discover that MSFT stealthily increased prices a few weeks ago?

That's right, dear readers, in a move which was obviously planned months ago, and obliviously enacted at the start of this increasingly terrible month for Microsoft, they really are hiking the price of WX's Home version. Yes, you read that correctly: the Home version. Yes, really.

From MSPoweruser:

If you are one of the rare buyers of the OS (e.g. you want to install it in Bootcamp on your Mac) then you will find the Windows tax has just seen an increase.

Windows 10 Home will now set you back $139, a $19.01 increase over the earlier $119.99 price. It is not 100% clear when the price increase went into effect, but near as we can tell it was some time in early September.

[...]

Given the recent quality issues with Windows 10 recently do our readers think the price increase is justified?

That's a really good question, MSPoweruser! Let us spend several hundred words exploring a very detailed answer to it... jk, the answer is obviously no. Hell, no. Fuck, no. Are you kidding me? No!

That this change was rolled out quietly, rather than receiving any sort of announcement, is not nearly as surprising as the fact that it happened at all. What are they smoking in Redmond, and can I buy some locally? Because stuff like that is about to become legal in my neck of the woods, and I'm thinking that Satya Nadella's team must really have a line on the good shit.