The 'web' button is gone?
There used to be a 'web' button on each HN comments page, between 'past' and 'favorite' (looks like https://archive.is/IkXqk), which basically Googles the title for you. It's useful for finding original/alternative/more reputable sources, and sometimes for bypassing paywalls, either through an alternative source or through Google's cached copy. Sure you can just copy the title and Google it yourself, but as someone who often browses HN from an iPad I find it pretty handy.
It seems just gone now (I think I last used it within the past couple of days)? Wonder if I'm the only one who gives a damn about it. Would love to hear from dang or another mod about the rationale behind the removal, too. I thought to email the mods but decided to post an Ask HN on the off chance this resonates with people.
I suggested keeping 'past', and he brought it back -- although this might have been as much for layout reasons as for any persuasiveness I had. Personally I used 'past' much more frequently than 'web', but I'm sure he'd listen to arguments for 'web' if there was a significant contingent who misses it. Write him email if you don't get a response here.
Btw, is Wayback Machine down? I mean https://web.archive.org is up but I consistently get 503 when trying to pull any page from it. Ended up finding an example of the old layout on archive.is.
The official home page is too small on mobile and too cluttered. I wrote my own HN home page years ago using the API. Mine is about 130 lines of JavaScript. And it includes a web button. Source is on GH.
I use 'web' to Google domains I don't recognize and I'm not sure if I should trust. I assume Google will warn me at least some of the time if I'm going to a dangerous site.
https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hn.html
Well, you can use a user script to add back whatever links you want, I suppose. I don't use that link, but would like chronological sort order for everything; it can't be done on the client side so easily when there is pagination involved.
I didn't even know it existed. But now that I hear about it, I would like to have it.
I've used it and found it handy for all sorts of things too
Seems like the paywall-bypass trick hasn't worked for a long time now.