Check out uBlock origins element picker

Watch out, there's a huge lifehack ahead.

I assume that you already use uBlock origin, aka the extension that makes the web usable. By default it blocks most adds that you might see, and breaks Sentry's error reporting. Turns out it can do way more.

I discovered today that it has an element picker. This lets you select bits of web pages you don't want to see, and then gets rid of them. I think it works by saving a chunk of custom css that gets loaded for that webpage.

I've used it to remove the homepage from Youtube. Why have I done this? Well, I sometimes like to watch videos of Youtube for purposes of entertainment or education. But I strongly resent being sucked into a hole of wasting time watching nonsense. And I'm too weak-willed to just resist. Also Youtube has been recommending increasingly unhinged shit to me recently.

I basically could just select the bits I didn't want to see, and then they were gone. And now it looks like this.

This feels like an incredible power to have. The bits of the internet that I use are going to start looking a lot more minimal right now.

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Postscript There's a lesson to take from this. It's great to just explore what the software you use can actually do. I often find that programs I use all the time can do absolutely wild shit. Yes I'm talking about Vim.