Explore Independent Media

FiveFilters.org started with the aim of promoting non-corporate, independent media. Unfortunately the app that started it all hasn’t been working for quite a while because of Google shutting down its search API. We’ve finally had time to fix it and remove our dependence on Java. Try it out: Explore Independent Media.

It currently searches a handful of sites: Media Lens, Counterpunch, Democracy Now, The Canary, and Truthdig. But we’re considering expanding it and allowing users to enter their own preferred sources. Let us know what you think.

Full-Text RSS 3.8

Full-Text RSS 3.8 is now available. Full-Text RSS is used by software developers and news enthusiasts to extract article content from news sites and blogs, and to convert RSS feeds that contain only extracts of stories to full-text feeds. This is mostly a maintenance release, with a few new additions. Existing customers can download the latest version through our customer login.

Full-Text RSS 3.7

The new version of our Full-Text RSS application is out now. Full-Text RSS is used by news enthusiasts and software developers to extract article content from news sites and blogs, and to convert news feeds that contain only extracts to full-text feeds. This release contains a number of fixes and improvements. Here’s what’s new.

Customer login page

We now have a simple login page for customers. Once you log in you’ll be able to download the latest version of our software, or an earlier version, depending on when you purchased. If you purchased an application more than a year before the latest version was released, you’ll get a link to download an earlier version and a link to upgrade to the latest version at a discount.

Block Ads! update

Our Block Ads! site is a simple way for people to check whether their browser is blocking advertising or not, and to get a recommendation for an ad blocker if it isn’t. It’s also intended to be a website you can send to friends and family so they can quickly test their own browsers and install an appropriate ad blocker.

There are no acceptable ads

Our Block Ads! site reached the front page of Hacker News on Friday. It sparked a big discussion—over 120 comments! Thanks everyone who upvoted and gave us feedback about the tool. We’ve started work on improving it and will post about the changes soon.

I want to address some of the feedback we’ve received, as much of it comes up whenever ad blocking is discussed.

Let’s encourage ad blocking

If you use an ad blocker, you’ve probably come across sites which ask you to switch it off. Doing so exposes you to not only ads and spying, but often malware too—as many Forbes readers discovered when they did just that at the behest of the site.

Many ad-dependent sites are now so desperate for ad money that they’ll give you a stern telling off if they find you’re using an ad blocker, or prevent you from seeing their content until you turn it off