[gwern]

No, it's still bad. For example, it hijacks the space bar. You're spacing/pgdwning like normal when it pops out, then it hijacks the space to open up a nag modal. It was terrible when it was Clippy, it's terrible when it's a Bob the Builder avatar. Comeau's website never sparks joy in me because I'm always wondering what the next bullshit will be (was this the one which for a while was doing sparkles after the mouse?).

[marginalia_nu]

I seriously wonder if a person exists that likes being bothered when they're trying to read something? If that's not the case, and in fact nobody likes this, why anyone would think that this was a good idea?

[ulimn]

I personally don't find this particular popup bothering. I can continue to read the page without interruption. I also understand that they want me to subscribe or whatever so I know when their next article is up.

[udbhavs]

Can you give examples of sites that do spark joy for you? Whenever I encounter hate for certain design decisions online I like to know the alternative I should strive to follow instead.

[roryokane]

The person who complained, Gwern, has their own site at https://www.gwern.net/. It’s another article-focused site, so the designs should be mostly comparable. However, Gwern’s articles are much longer, so their design choices might reflect that.

[Retr0id]

HN

[ulimn]

For me Page Down does not trigger the click on the "Sure" button of the small popup. That would be a really weird thing. Space does, because the element is focused automatically (which is kinda bad imo).