ClintonFitch.com

In a blog post yesterday, Google clearly and carefully outlined their plan for blocking overly aggressive adverts on the web.  At first blush, it would seem odd that Google, a company who primarily makes their money from adverts, would block ads.  Further, it would seem self serving as the types of adverts they want to block in Chrome, they themselves don’t serve up so only their ads would get through the blocker.  That’s not entirely true.

As a site owner who depends on adverts and as a consumer, I’m quite happy with this announcement and planned implementation in 2018.

The short of it is this:  In Google Chrome, starting in 2018, overly intrusive adverts are going to be blocked by the browser.  As Google described them, “it’s far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the web–like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page. These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads–taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation.”

We all know examples of sites that use these types of ads and as a consumer, I hate them.  I never block the ads but I just don’t go to those sites any more.  And that hurts me in getting the information I want or need and ultimately, it hurts the site as they don’t get revenue from their ads.

Today’s Deal is on the slim, 4-port USB 3.0 hub from Anker.  This hub supports USB 3.0 on all four ports and right now it is $9.99 on Amazon.  That’s a savings of 50%.  The hub also supports SuperSpeed Data which can give you 5 Gbps throughout for data transfers.

The hub is small and lightweight, weighing less than an ounce, and has a reinforced cable to connect it to your PC or Mac as well as heat-resistant connectors within the hub.

As with all Anker products, you get a 18-month warranty on the hub and as one who personally uses Anker products, I never have a hesitation in recommending them.  They work and they last.

The deal over at Amazon is today and there is no limit to the number you buy.  If you are an Amazon Prime customer, shipping is free for you.

Honor, the junior brand of Huawei, have teamed up with Target to start selling the Honor 6X.  The 6X has been in the United States since January but was only really available from Honor directly or through their Amazon store front.  With the phone now becoming available in over 400 Target locations, both companies are expected the $249 phone to sell.

I reviewed the Honor 6X back in March and it is a solid performer at an excellent price point.  That $249 price gets you the 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage configuration of the phone, with that storage expandable thanks to the MicroSD card slot.  Through Target stores, you can get the phone in Silver, Gold and Gray (the Gray is only available in stores, not online).

Just a day after launching in Canada, Android Pay has expanded to another new country today.  Taiwan has now been added to the list of 13 countries where you can use your phone to tap-and-pay for products & services.  While it is good news for Taiwanese and for Android Pay in general, it does have some pretty significant limitations in the country.  Namely, at launch, the support of only two banks.

CTBC and First Bank are the only two banks that are supporting the service today but Google indicates in their post that other banks like EnTie, Hua Nan and Shin Kong are coming soon to the service.  Adding those three major banks would bring the service to a significantly larger number of users.  This limited bank support also puts them behind Apple Pay which is currently supported by 7 banks in country.