Yeah. I use tracking blockers. :)

I'd pay to belong again if this community could endure.

Thread title is hilarious

Can we sing David Bowie together, sol?:)

I find that I don't click/visit half the sites I used to because of insidious ads, commercialization and the outright monetizing of everything. Yep, I use ad blocker, and now notice that some sites are telling me to turn it off. Daughter started a blog, and sales lining up to have her "try" free products.

Sometimes I look at my husband and say "is this crankiness justified? or is this just my "old person" crankiness coming through?" :)

CathyinSWPA

I use tracking blockers. :)

I hope you don't think those keep this site from tracking you and harvesting your web browsing history and data. The only way to prevent that entirely would be to block the cookies needed for the site to load. I use Ghostery and several other things and if I don't immediately delete the site cookies after visiting, within a couple of hours I'm getting spam emails targeted to where I went after I left here.

Too bad that print media has died and that we're all forced to pixelate our reading. The nice thing about magazines was that they rarely changed format, and if they did, the complaints took months to reach the audience and were heavily filtered by the editors.

In today's instantly changing world, our level of comfort is kicked and sliced at the programmer's whim (or his boss's). Our "magazine" no longer has the soft feel of immutable paper and our complaints hit the screen milliseconds after we've conjured them. We could skip the ads on those pages we didn't want to read, but with digital life comes advertising that's in your face whether you want it or not.

The folks that managed real magazines had little knowledge of their reader base, especially when a large chunk of it came from newsstands (remember them?) Here, in the electronic world, no one is truly anonymous. Every click, keystroke, and swipe equates to a revenue stream. From the gigabyte down to the bit, this is money changing hands. Was it really a surprise that the magazines vanished?

As someone who has made a nice living from programming, I understand how users hate change. We are all users here. Right now, it's free to use this stuff. At some point it won't be. Until then, if the Houzz folks think they can make more money by changing things and we're not willing leave, there isn't much else we can do about it.

I don't get those, Writersblock. I don't know why. Maybe it's because of my ISP?

ricky … the print media hasn't died yet … yes, it is dealing with shrinking usage and readership. we are going to start charging extra to those who like to use our product as bedding ...

I don't get those, Writersblock. I don't know why. Maybe it's because of my ISP?

I'm not sure what you mean, plllog. The spam? It probably just means you have a good spam filter. I do a lot of business by email so I let more things come in and delete them myself rather than lose a query that gets flagged as spam because they sent the same email to several people simultaneously.

Ok, now I'm really ready to huff and puff! I was reading the thread about Sloppy Joes and was interrupted 3 times by major, full-page ads from Houzz.... about things that I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever.

Hmm, I don't get spammy emails after reading here (or kitchens or laundry forums), nor do I get pop up ads. What browser are you using? If you use Firefox with the added pop up blocker it seems to repel these insidious invaders.

Sushipup, I noticed the update on my phone. But I'm still enjoying the old format on my desktop. So, when change cometh, we riot.

Annie, I remember when Michael (bunnyman) came on the scene ('97). At the time, he was the first Michigander on this forum, so we quickly became best buddies. You joined soon thereafter. And then, there were three . . .

Cathy, sure we can sing to David Bowie. Better yet, maybe I should lip sync.

In any case, your 'crankiness is justified. And like Writersblock, I do take some precautions online. However, the reality is, there isn't much that is unhackable these days.

Sol

"However, the reality is, there isn't much that is unhackable these days." How true, and how sad, solsthumper.

Can't seem to do much online without feeling like one is constantly being monitored and data mined, even scrutinized. I'm old enough to remember the good old days... when the black and red hats talked about the coming issues, but they'd not yet existed to the extent now.

bragu_DSM 5

ricky … the print media hasn't died yet … yes, it is dealing with shrinking usage and readership. we are going to start charging extra to those who like to use our product as bedding …

Yeah, I hear you. I am raising up chickens this year, and those babies/juveniles do LOVE their newsprint! And, they leave their commentary everywhere!

I still get the daily newspaper, small though it is out here in the boonies. After I read it, Elery does the Sudoku puzzle, then it gets used as mulch in the garden under straw, or crumpled up and used to light the charcoal grill. I do still get a few magazines too, so I'm glad print media isn't dead. And what the heck would I do if the power went out if I didn't have books?

Sol, I remember it was you and me and Michael, then we got Sherry and Nancy and Karen, a bunch of Michiganders. And now it's back to you and me, I think...

I do have AdBlocker and I don't seem to get spam emails, unless they are caught by my Spam Filter and I don't see them. (No, I don't check my Spam filter, I just delete them all. Bad, I know). Somehow, though, the internet always seems to know what I've talked about or looked at and then I get those ads.

Annie

I'm pretty much tone deaf, Sol, so we'd be good:)

Sol said "However, the reality is, there isn't much that is unhackable these days." So, so true, and as 2Many said so, so sad. My 86-year dad received a letter about past due payment to Paypal; I told him to ignore it because he a) never hear of Paypal and b) didn't have an account. On a whim, I called Paypay, actually talked to a live person (Maeve in Ireland, no less) and was HORRIFIED that someone had stolen his identity (complete with birthdate/ssn) Won't go into anymore detail/derail this thread -- but what a RABBIT HOLE!

Compumom, I use Firefox and Adblock Plus too. I'm actually looking into installing it Adblock Plus on my phone if I can figure it out -- or I'll ask one of the youngsters:)

Annie, that is pretty much what we do with our newspaper (only on weekends though), except I do crossword and DH does jumble:) And I still have a ton of books, but am partial to that Kindle at 2:00 a.m. with nothing to read and wide awake:)

CathyinSWPA

Spam filter here too. And I can't carry a tune to save my life... neither can DH. We love music, and sometimes we sing together with the little blutooth speaker up close to us, very loudly, very badly. Nice to have someone who sings as bad as you do, drowning one another's off key! So I'll join in with Sol and Cathy... Ch ch ch ch changes...

I've a couple hundred books which I will never give up. I re-read them, too. Something about the old paper, the dog-ears, the covers falling apart. Love them. But... I admit to Kindle also! Very handy late at night.

Cathy, do not get started with that Kindle Audible! I had one I enabled and can't get through the darned thing! It's the ultra-lazy way to read a book and puts me to sleep. I wake up in the morning, my place is lost, and the book is completely read! It's evil, I tell you, evil! (And it's nice, like being read to!)

Just to clarify, AdBlock does not prevent ads from loading, merely from displaying, the same way the facebook blockers work. You're still getting ads from the sites you visit, and having to wait for them to load; you just don't see the result.

That's why my old computer became allergic to Houzz. It took so darned long for all those flippin' ads that no one ever looks at to load. It amazes me how many in the "new economy" can't hang on to rule #1 of advertising--if they don't see/hear/understand your ad, you can't sell them anything. Rule #2 is don't p$%# off the customer. The one that makes me laugh on my tablet is where Amazon pays to have people display the thing you already bought to you!

writersblock -- exactly. And while I don't see the ads and have empty space, it is somewhat fulfilling to see that ABP in the corner with a number 7 (or whatever) of stuff I don't have to see:)

My mom literally couldn't figure out how to get part of her accuweather (or some other) site to show because it was infiltrated with so many ads.

plllog -- love your rules, but particularly #2.

CathyinSWPA

At least, for now, no pop-ups...no click-bait. I can't even look up the simplest of ingredients anymore for recipe ideas without pop-ups and the close-x hidden.

I don't visit other forums here but 'kitchens' about once a month and 'appliances' if one of mine is acting up. And the farm fellas once a year to let them know how my mower is holding up, lol.

Fishing around,

explore topics gives a list of the old format and similar I guess...other listing finds old postings circled...

Writersblock, I missed your previous. I also get all the e-mail, other than the kind that the ISP won't even deliver because it tests out as mal. But I have an independent ISP. Yahoo mail leaks like a sieve, and just having it open can open you to bogus push attacks. I also only use a PC. I tried the app and it freaked me out before I ever got past the setup page.

I do have security, but I don't get spam e-mails from my browsing. I do get those linked ads things on my tablet, which is why I restrict where I go on the native, faster browser. I also have a couple of high privacy browsers on my tablet.

So, the new look. I agree with Lars on the not pretty, but so far, so ignorable.

I tried the app and it freaked me out before I ever got past the setup page.

Oh, the app was never any good for anything but looking at pictures. It made the forums totally unusable.

Ugh, mine's changed now. (sigh) Of course there was a pop up box (and yes, I have AdBlocker) that made me check my interests so Houzz could give me suggestions. No "x" to close the box, so I just indicated that I don't have any interests other than cooking. It's pretty true, the only forums I go to here are Cooking and Harvest with an occasional foray into Peppers or Beans.

Annie

So disgusted with the new “improvements”. I’m totally in the dark as to why they decided these changes were necessary, or even desirable.

(Speculating) For us, it's to have a unified look. For forums that they can monetize it's to make more money, and integrate the forums with their pro advice. They bought gardenweb for the eyeballs. I don't know that they profited on old stalwarts, but GW had very high Google ranking and clickthrough.

Well, I just came on and discovered the new "improvements". I don't like it one bit. Had me listed for Harvest and one other, I think of their choice. No indication of how to get to the Cooking, which is my number one. Are they trying to make it harder for us or drive us away?

Madonna

Basically, I'm an internet troglodyte. My bookmark that used to bring me here to the Cooking page, now takes me to the Gardening menu.

For now, I'm just googling "gardenweb cooking", and I get to this page.

Will be trying to bookmark to see if that works.

CathyinSWPA

Madonna, I just figured out that if I am at the page that lists all the threads, the left top has a box and one of the options is explore topics. If you click that and type in Harvest or Cooking, or whatever, you'll be able to click on that topic and it will take you there.

Where it says "your topics", click "edit" and then type in the name of the forum you want to add, and it will give you a link to that forum, and you can add it to your topics.

You'd think there'd be a warning, or a tutorial, or something.....

Annie

My old cooking forum bookmark still works (touch wood), but I am getting really tired of all the open Gardenweb (or should I say HOUZZ) tabs.

What has happened here is eerily similar to what happened at Chowhound, another formerly great forum, a few years ago. Massive, unnecessary site overhaul to "improve user experience" which in reality simply created more ad revenue opportunities for the site. After our complaints fell on deaf ears, the vast majority of users just left. Chowhound is now basically dead.

Fortunately, one of us started a new forum, hungryonion.org, and many members have continued contributing there. I sincerely hope the Houzz fixes this before the same thing happens to them.

Here are a few tips for those who are still struggling with trying to get to their favourite forums.

When you're on one, such as Cooking, click the Follow button. It will automatically be added to your favourites, on the left hand side, in Your Topics.

If anyone else hates the Top Posters as much as I do (who the heck cares who they are)?? If you have AdBlockPlus installed, click Block Element. Highlight the Top Posters and right click, and it will disappear.

I use an iPad mostly. Just went to App Store to install an AdBlocker to iPad and many to choose from. Need suggestion...free..buy...which brand??

I don't do any of that stuff. I just come straight to the cooking forum. ths.gardenweb.com/forums/cooking

Cathy, reset your bookmark to that.

Yes, what plllog said.

Plllog, I just use my trusty bookmarks, but members do use several forums, and it's difficult to navigate to the others........especially since they didn't even put the forums in alphabetical order!!!

My old bookmark still works too, but getting to Harvest from Cooking was another adventure altogether, so I had to navigate from one to the other. Good thing I only use those two!

Annie

Try Google!

Jasdip, I currently have only come back to Cooking, but I used the URL or bookmark buttons even when it was That Home Site. Kitchens is kitchbath, Appliances is appl, and Kitchen Table is kitchentable. Template: ths.gardenweb.com/forums/[name of forum]

The garden side template is: www.gardenweb.com/discussions/[name of forum]. Harvest is harvest.

I do not go through their gatekeeper!

In his farewell, Myxplx (sp?) mentioned going to a new forum he hadn't discovered before. That would require going to their list or Googling what one might like to find. Since Houzz seems to want you to do a "project" with "ideabooks" rather than just chat about what you want to share info on, finding a new forum might be difficult. But we should all be able to get to our old favorites without disturbing the Houzz gremlins, so long as the forums are functional. Everytime there's a big change, we lose a lot of people... I do think they want to get rid of us in the long run...

What I despise, is them telling me where to post my topic on. I had a heck of a time posting the daily quiz at the Kitchen Table. I don't know why it can't automatically be posted in the forum you're currently at, instead of going thru hoops. Then they had a check mark beside 'Kitchens' as well. Noooo, just the Kitchen Table. Don't tell me what I want to do, I know what I want to do.

We're already seeing Gardenias in the Kitchen and lots of very old zombie threads coming up. And I read someplace that Emily says that the new system will help prevent duplicate posts. HUH? That's a joke.

Here's a new one: I tried to start a new thread and can't figure out how to do it. What I found is that you do your title, type your message, and then have to choose a forum you want it to go to. So now I can't just type a new thread on this forum and have it posted there?

I tried to start a new thread on Ice Chests/cooler, but I do not see it. I think I did everything correctly. Before that I started a thread about white flowers on Home Decorating, and that got published and responded to, but not the one I tried to start here. I do not think I will bother trying again.

I chose my message to be posted also on "Cooking Outdoors", but it did not show up there either.

I see my ice chest thread now. Also, the white flowers thread that I started on Home Decorating I also checked "California Gardening", and now it shows up there as well with all of the responses from Home Decorating. Perhaps this method is meant to help revive some slow forums, such as the Cooking Outdoors forum.

I think it's meant to keep people from posting. :)

plllog -- yep, reset the bookmark, and it seems to be working. In the olden days, you know, last week, I only signed in when I wanted to post (laughable, I know, like I'm actually privatizing my forum trail and someone cares) and I could just use That Home Site Forums - Gardenweb menu to look at Kitchens, Cooking, etc. If I want my topics now, I have to sign in; otherwise, I'm sent to the Garden Forum. It makes sense signing-in, I get it, but I just need to grumble a bit.

And I'll whisper: this change and not knowing what the end of net neutrality is actually going to mean, makes me want to grumble, grumble, grumble a bit more:)

On a positive note: I thought I was too old to learn new tricks; yet, a new talent that I've acquired is filtering out the peripheral, intrusive, embedded nonsense on the sides, top and bottom of my screen/phone. Advertisers think I see their stuff, but I don't:0)

CathyinSWPA

CA Kate, when you post a new thread here, it does stay in the Cooking forum. If you want to post to other places, then you look thru the other forums.

Make sure that you have cooking, and any other forums you frequent under "Your Topics" on the left at the top. Those are your forums for easy access.

Thanks, Jasdip.

I still have no grumbles but I've not tried starting a new posting yet.

All, or most, big business on-line sites have a future plan that may just get rid of this and other forums. All about advertising and money needs to be made. Maybe such a weenie side offering to keep old-timers happy is not so bad me thinks?

Such small leaps are really not that hard to follow.

When you post a new topic, make sure to uncheck the forums you don't want them to crosspost you to!