
Show HN: Firefox addon that hides news articles about Covid-19 - mailea
https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/phagocyte/
======
lhdj
I was literally developing the exact same thing (I called it Novid-19 [1]).
While testing it out on HN, I saw a post filtered out.

It was this post...

[1]
[https://github.com/christoshadjiaslanis/novid-19](https://github.com/christoshadjiaslanis/novid-19)

~~~
tallon
You just made me spit out my coffee, thanks!

------
jasonv
I keep a long list of blocked words in Twitter, Feedly, and I try... as much
as I can, to only consume news on reuters.com (and 4 print weeklies). I block
CNN and Facebook in my hosts file.

And yet, I'm barraged on the web with celebrity news, popular news, Tiger King
(never clicked on it, never wanted it, can't get away from it), whatever the
foamy coffee thing that's big right now.

I know about the shelters in place. I knew not to bring my re-usable bags to
the grocery this morning.

The whole of media, content, everything you see when you open your browser and
leave the house, is a monumental barrage of trending, overwhelming,
unavoidable content. Memes you can't get away from but which you'll see
hundreds, thousands of times.

Whatever people need to do to get away from it... you'll still get it, but if
you choose and are aware of the filters you use, by all means.

~~~
AznHisoka
I saw the first episode of Tiger King, expecting to see some epic, thrilling
dramatic series, given all the buzz. I was severely disappointed. Is this
really what humans love to watch?

~~~
darkstar999
I wasn't super impressed with the first episode. But if you are generally into
documentaries and true crime, the series as a whole is great.

~~~
dawnerd
It was a bit of a letdown at the end. I was expecting more to it than just,
well he's in prison how. Very anti-climatic.

------
dessant
I don't know. I think it's important to stay informed about the evolution of
the pandemic, and local news are also extremely useful for staying prepared
and anticipating certain actions that you'll need to take.

It might be better to consume _all_ news in small daily doses rather than
blocking out potentially critical information.

~~~
prox
I agree, I understand the sentiment, but shutting yourself off is a dangerous
head-in-the-sand strategy. Something to be used responsibly.

~~~
Barrin92
>but shutting yourself off is a dangerous head-in-the-sand strategy

only if that actual makes a material difference in your life. I think the
opposite is true in this case.

People read about Covid-19 all day as a coping mechanism because absorbing
more information gives people the illusion they have control over the
situation.

Reality is nobody has much individual control over a pandemic, life got more
dangerous, and reading a thousand papers isn't going to reduce that anxiety.
We live in an age where people keep telling us that 'knowing things' is an
antidote to tragedy or danger in life, because they're content creators, but
really it isn't.

Everyone can learn how to deal with this in 5 minutes. Wash your hands, only
leave your house if necessary, yet still people may die, even some you know.
No news source in the world will fix that.

------
vardump
Direct link in English: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/phagocyte/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/addon/phagocyte/)

~~~
mailea
Thanks! I didn't notice I posted the German version, will double check next
time...

------
tylermac1
I have to say. Staying off Twitter and avoiding any non-local news has been
incredibly beneficial to my mental health over the past few weeks.

------
jonathanoliver
I'm seriously thinking I should develop a plug-in that blocks news articles
about the Kardashians.

~~~
guerrilla
I've never seen an article about the Kardashians. Maybe your news sources are
the problem.

~~~
jasonv
Apple news and google news shovel the Ks at me, along with brad Pitt and
Angelina Jolie. I’ve tried instructing both to stop suggesting them to me but
they won’t.

I don’t use either anymore, but the forces are out there. I wanted some of
those feeds but couldn’t control it. And so I did make a choice about the
sources, but those are very popular news platforms that promise customization.

~~~
guerrilla
try an rss reader like liferea or feedly

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pauldelany
[https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Joo_Janta_200_Super-
Chro...](https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Joo_Janta_200_Super-
Chromatic_Peril_Sensitive_Sunglasses)

------
chmanie
This means this Show HN link won’t show when using the plugin? Clever.

------
tomaszs
Thanks for the plugin. I dont know about other countries, but here in Poland
we receive SMSes with crucial informations. So there is no need to read all
the time about it. Unfortunately it is very hard to read anything else these
days. This plugin can help. We need to take care of our mental health. And it
is very easy to go into panic mode. Especially since its very hard to notice
symptoms of this. It can be bad for our health also. So again thanks.
Appreciated

------
Qahlel
ublock origin filter:

a:has-text(Corona)

a:has-text(Covid)

a:has-text(Epidemic)

a:has-text(Pandemic)

a:has-text(Virus)

a:has-text(Death)

a:has-text(ICU)

a:has-text(Social Distancing)

a:has-text(corona)

a:has-text(covid)

a:has-text(epidemic)

a:has-text(pandemic)

a:has-text(virus)

a:has-text(death)

a:has-text(social distancing)

~~~
iKenshu
I suppose that this only works with a-href right?

~~~
sovok_x
The filter is applied to entire content of a given tag and its subtags, here
is the example for HN (has-text _must_ be site-specific):

    
    
        news.ycombinator.com##.itemlist .athing:not(.comtr):has-text(/corona|covid|\bsars\b|(?:epi|pan)demi|virus|death|social distanc|\bICU\b|wuhan|quarantin/i)+*
        news.ycombinator.com##.itemlist .athing:not(.comtr):has-text(/corona|covid|\bsars\b|(?:epi|pan)demi|virus|death|social distanc|\bICU\b|wuhan|quarantin/i)

------
mouzogu
Oh great so I'm not the only one who's avoiding all of this. I stopped
following the news after the Guardian put up a death counter.

There just isn't enough balance and too much negativity - or at least there
was two weeks ago when I last checked. I can only imagine how bad it must be
on those 24hr news channels. Regurgitating the same thing over and over again.

------
ajoy
For those who don't want spend too much time on news, but want to stay
informed, do check us out :
[https://www.thefactual.com](https://www.thefactual.com) (daily newsletter
with summaries and multiple viewpoints from curated news sources)

------
dccoolgai
Document.write('')

------
johntfella
be interesting if augmented reality eventually allows you to block things in
real life such as political signs or billboard adds. sort of a pi hole, but
with goggles. granted this comment is not related but thats what i thought of
after reviewing comments on here.

------
radenska
i'm making one that replaces that psyop name with the disease's actual name:
SARS-2.

~~~
dragonwriter
> i'm making one that replaces that psyop name with the virus's actual name:
> SARS-2.

The _virus 's_ actual name is SARS-CoV-2, the _disease’s_ actual name is
COVID-19. [0]

SARS-2 is the name of neither, and neither of the actual names is a “psyop
name” and calling it that is serious tinfoil hat territory.

[0] [https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-
coronavirus-2...](https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-
coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-
disease-\(covid-2019\)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it)

~~~
radenska
meant disease; point stands: _IN 2002 the virus was named SARS-CoV and the
disease SARS_

~~~
dragonwriter
> IN 2002 the virus was named SARS-CoV and the disease SARS

Yes, and...so what?

There's no consistent relationship between naming of diseases and naming of
related viruses, so trying to paint a conspiracy out of the fact that a
pattern you've extrapolated from one other example (and which is takes
ignoring most every other disease/virus pairing to paint as the normal
pattern) wasn't followed is, again, serious tinfoil hat territory.

The actual name of the disease is _not_ SARS-2, nor is there any particular
reason it should be.

------
miked85
How is ignoring a major event like this in any way good?

~~~
chukye
How seeing a lot of news about an event that I can't do anything is good? It
just gets me depressing! Watch the news is the worst thing at the moment! I'm
encouraging everyone that I love to stay away from this. Fear/depression is
way worst than this virus.

~~~
miked85
There can definitely be information overload. But ignoring everything is not
good either.

~~~
chukye
I'm sorry, but I really don't understand why ignoring is not good.

~~~
miked85
You don't understand why ignoring news during the biggest global pandemic in a
century might not be wise?

~~~
chukye
Yes. :) I don't even have a TV, I blocked news sites in my /etc/hosts about 4
years ago. So, I'm ignoring the news for more than years and have no idea why
it is good for me to hear that, especially now. There is virtually nothing I
can do to help and nothing good on that (watch news will give me anxiety) IMHO
is a good idea to ignore the news, especially during the biggest global
pandemic in a century

~~~
smcl
For one thing if you are aware of how your national or local government have
responded to the crisis you can vote accordingly the next time elections come
up. This may or may not affect you personally, depending on if you do or _can_
vote, but it'll definitely be a factor in many elections across the globe.

Additionally if you were paying attention you might have started taking
precautions earlier - getting set up for home-office, ensuring you had
supplies (obviously I don't mean panic buying 50kg of pasta, but at least a
sensible supply of the essentials to see you through a small period of
quarantine) and postponed or cancelled trips into affected areas.

In my case if I was a little more informed and a little less flippant I would
have not travelled to Austria for a skiing trip when I did. I thankfully
isolated myself for 2 weeks when I came back (which I learned from the news
was required by law for those returning from Austria). Plus I learned by the
news that losing sense of smell and taste was a likely indicator of Covid-19.
I got tested and discovered I was positive. Had I not learned this my
girlfriend (who had moved out during my 2 week post-trip quarantine) would
have returned and I might have infected her, and I might have been less
careful in my apartment building and infected my elderly neighbours.

I actually made my decision to go ahead with my Austria trip before ANY
European country entered lockdown, including Italy. Official guidance was that
travel was fine, even to many parts of Italy. Had I been paying more attention
to the news, I _might_ have been more skeptical (I am not sure about this,
though).

Yes the news can be overwhelming, you _certainly_ shouldn't binge it and if
you're easily spooked you should maybe take it in small doses otherwise you'll
get yourself all worked up for nothing. But burying your head in the sand
completely is perhaps too far in the other direction.

------
barrystaes
So you are saying, it would be possible to block news on the latest trump
thing that happened?

Its great to have a laugh but it gets old fast.

Would never block Covid-19 myself, but then again i think the media in the
Netherlands are quite informative and value quality content above quantity.

