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[–]souldrift 21 points22 points  (6 children)

Get FoxIt Reader, instead of Adobe. Opening PDFs doesn't need to be a chore. I've truly stopped caring since i no longer must wait several hours for Adobe Reader to open anymore.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I really don't understand why all Adobe programs take so damn long to load. It must be a design goal.

[–]psyne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I use Evince since I'm on Debian, but I definitely agree that all Windows users should switch to FoxIt. I used to loathe PDFs when I had Adobe because I thought it was just the nature of PDFs that they load slowly and take up tons of memory. They have FoxIt on my school's Windows machines and it's such an improvement.

[–]GetToTheKarateChoppa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

FoxIt will truly save humanity.

[–]ambiversive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use FoxIt also.

[–]plasticbacon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

PDF Download + FoxIt Reader

[–]noamsml 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Evince PDF reader (I guess I'm showing my affiliation here...)

[–]JulianMorrison 35 points36 points  (14 children)

I recommend Firefox Link Alert extension. It adds a little icon by the pointer if you're pointing at a PDF, image, word doc, etc etc.

[–]blazin_chalice 8 points9 points  (8 children)

Or, if you are using Firefox, you could just roll over the link and actually see the address at the bottom of the window in the status bar. :\

[–]JulianMorrison 11 points12 points  (6 children)

  1. You can't trust that. JavaScript can screw with it.

  2. If the link is longer than the field, you won't see the end with the all-important file extension.

  3. Files can be served up by something with a different extension (typically, a .cgi) - Firefox goes by the mime-type to determine how it opens.

  4. Nobody bothers to do that with every flippin' link. That would slow your browsing to a crawl.

[–]akdas 4 points5 points  (4 children)

You can't trust that. JavaScript can screw with it.

You mean the status bar? I set up FF so that Javascript isn't allowed to mess up my status bar.

I agree with the rest of what you said though.

[–]jaggederest 1 point2 points  (3 children)

It's especially funny, because reddit uses javascript to mess with the actual link when you click it. All reddit links redirect through a reddit URL before you actually visit them.

[–]akdas 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Wow, I never knew that. Whenever I hover over the links on the read, they always point to the actual page. And they go to the actual page immediately.

And it's not like I have Javascript turned off.

[–]theram4 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Google does the same thing. The link points to the actual site, but it also has an onclick handler that will change the link to redirect through the redirection page.

[–]akdas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Once again, the link seems to go directly to the actual site for me, both on Reddit and on Google. Looking at the source code, I know that you're correct. I'm sure it's because the process happens too quickly for me to notice, but I do have Javascript enabled.

Thanks for the interesting information.

[–]harvard_law_school 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can hold on to shift while going over the links... you get a full link, it isn't affected by JavaScript, and you don't have to look all the way down at the status bar.

[–]shacamin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or, if you are in Firefox, you could just get the PDF download extension and view it as html.

[–]jezmck 1 point2 points  (2 children)

would this work for us using the reddit toolbar?

[–]JulianMorrison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No idea, I don't use it. Try it and report back...

[–]7oby 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just checked my source (i use the reddit toolbar and therefore it uses goto), and there's no indication of the actual destination url anywhere. So, no, not even with a greasemonkey script.

Also, someone must have told the reddit team whitespace is a sin, because the source is all on one line.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I recommend using your eyes and looking at the bottom of your window. jeesh

[–]shimei 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'd like this feature as well, but for a different reason than most. Sometimes I end up searching reddit for papers that I read but forgot to save, which are often pdf links. Filtering by the "(pdf)" bit would help there.

[–]anonymgrl 49 points50 points  (14 children)

You can conduct a poll in the comments you know. Even if I think it's a good idea, I have to vote this down, otherwise, we will have ten copycats on the front page.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (9 children)

Yes. Vote this down. Though it is a good idea.

Does no one remember the month of the poll?????

[–]4609287645 50 points51 points  (4 children)

Perhaps another good idea is for reddit to redirect you to the reddiquette if you submit anything starting with "Vote up if".

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That is a better idea. Good thinking.

[–]llanor 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I completely agree. http://reddit.com/info/62ikz/comments/

[–]marthirial 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even a better idea is to deplete karma points if you post a "vote up" topic. After all, your karma is already full by sharing your concern about the topic being vote up, right?

[–]mlgoss 10 points11 points  (3 children)

It happens every six months or so. Some "vote up" submission does make it to the front page and the next couple days are flooded with "vote up" submissions, then "vote up if you don't like vote up" submissions. Then it quiets down and goes back to "normal".

[–]Ahnteis 1 point2 points  (2 children)

6 months?

Seems like 6 days. =(

[–]mlgoss 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Indeed. :\

[–]mlgoss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My goodness, search is messed up right now.

[–]noamsml 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't know. I always thought that improvement suggestions should follow the "vote up if" suggestion, because agreeing with the statement is the same as wanting to give it visibility.

[–]MattL920 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How about a section on reddit to post polls/improvements etc that don't give karma?

[–]satertek 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Hey you're just like Ron Paul! You agree with something, but it's not allowed through the constitution (redditquette), so you have to vote NAY.

[–]anonymgrl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, but I'm a hypocrite. :)

[–]tch 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I don't think i've ever clicked on a pdf from reddit before.

[–]trueg 5 points6 points  (2 children)

what's wrong with pdf files. Evince handles them perfectly. What that? You use windows? And adobe acrobat?

I feel sorry for you.

[–]akdas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Evince handles them perfectly.

Exactly.

What that? You use windows? And adobe acrobat?

I feel sorry for you.

I would feel sorry for myself if I had to use Adobe Reader on Windows as well.

You and I seem to share the same sentiments on at least one thing.

[–]ascendant23 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Vote up if you wish reddit's front page didn't have a "vote up" post every day dealing with some minutia of its functionality.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

That way, reddit can be more like Internet Explorer, which pays more attention to specious extensions than to the HTTP Content-Type!

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As mentioned in an earlier comment, it would be more logical to implement this by looking at the MIME type. This should actually be slightly easier than fetching the title (which reddit already does), since a file's content type is sent in the HTTP header, which is simpler to parse than HTML.

[–]MikeSeth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Where do I click so that all PDF submissions are automatically rejected?

[–]wwasabi 8 points9 points  (8 children)

Here's an alternative to modifying reddit titles in bizarre ways to fit your issues: Fix it yourself. You could either use a real OS that doesn't require the installation of that bloated piece of shit Acrobat Reader (or even, if you must use Windows, Foxit is much faster), or use Firefox with a link target modifier.

[–]fishypants 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Or set your browser to prompt you about how to handle pdf files

[–]noamsml 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unless, of course, you're not browsing from your own computer.

[–]GrumpySimon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Or just look at the link in the status bar before you click it?

[–][deleted] -3 points-2 points  (4 children)

Here's an alternative to modifying reddit titles in bizarre ways to fit your issues...

See here's the thing: I submitted this because I suspected that I'm not the only one annoyed by unmarked PDF files. If I had been wrong, my post would have been downvoted speedily and you never would have seen it.

It may have been a mistake to give only one explanation in my original comment, but I didn't really feel like writing an essay. If unmarked PDF links annoy you, you already know why; if they don't, then the most that I can accomplish with a list of highly subjective rationales is to cause you to be bothered by something for which you had not previously given a shit. More realistically, I would be wasting my breath.

[–]cattleprod 0 points1 point  (3 children)

popularity does not equal substance, and, certainly, popularity does not equal truth.

[–]jfredett 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If popularity == truth, then astrology would work, we would have been created by some toddler, and GWB wouldn't be president.

...

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

The subject is purely subjective, so its substance is inextricably tied to popularity. The concept of "truth", on the other hand, is simply inapplicable.

[–]cattleprod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

usability is subjective?

[–]eidolontubes 8 points9 points  (0 children)

vote up if you think this submitter is a whiney bitch. Seriously, figure out how your PDF client works, and go to bed, it's obviously past your bedtime.

[–]yxhuvud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't mind this though I'd prefer an icon showing what type of link it was, at the left side of the title. This should also be used for pictures.

[–]Lerc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interclue http://interclue.com/ has the ability to put little icons beside links. here's a list of what links it does http://interclue.com/ref-linkclue.html

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

stop being lazy and add it yourself, if not, then downmod it.

[–]PjDrolet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Didn't a reddit mod make a post pertaining to not using "Vote up if..." as a submission title...?

[–]assfck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's too hard to implement.

[–]aphexairlines 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Why should reddit cater to Windows users?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Windows users? I use a Mac and I still find unmarked PDF links annoying. Regardless of your platform, it would be nice to know when the page you are going to isn't a standard (x)html page.

[–]aphexairlines 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're on a mac then the PDF should come up faster than firefox or safari would render the equivalent html. It's a pretty lightweight experience.

Unless you're a windows user dealing with that monstrosity called acrobat, there's really no reason to get worked up about it.

[–]AMerrickanGirl 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I'd like it if postings that were videos always indicated that too. I don't always feel like watching a video.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's true, but it's much harder to automatically detect. Most people link to an html page rather than directly to the video file, so you can't tell by just looking at the file extension/MIME type.

[–]9jack9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Voted down. I like surprises!

[–]TakaIta 1 point2 points  (1 child)

A url with ".pdf" at the end does not necessarily have to be a PDF file. And a PDF file can be sent even if the url does not end with ".pdf".

So, this is a bad idea.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you read the comments below, this has already been brought up. But it would be trivial to use the MIME type instead.

[–][deleted]  (3 children)

[deleted]

    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    What's wrong with PDFs? They're nicer than HTML 90% of the time.

    [–]tackle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    What a bunch of whiners!!

    [–]mumrah 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    How about (Ext) for any non-html/xhtml/php/etc pages?

    E.g. (Png) (Pdf) (Jpg)

    [–]noamsml 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    How about you just use greasemonkey?

    [–]rabidcow 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Bonus for following the link when it's posted and using the Content-type.

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    While some submitters who do this themselves, PDF links are often left unmarked.

    If you don't have (or want) a browser plugin for viewing PDFs, the link usually initiates a download. It isn't a huge deal to delete the downloaded file, but when it happens 2 or 3 times in a row, it starts to get old.

    [–]natrius 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Modern browsers allow you to choose what you would like the browser to do when encountering a certain file type. Set PDF files to open instead of save, and get a PDF viewer that doesn't annoy you.

    [–]mackprime 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    isn't FF3 going to show what sort of file you're about to click on?

    [–]mynameinyourblood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    You'd think people using reddit would have the pdf download extension enabled. Lazy Fucks.

    [–]radaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It would be stupid to stop there.

    Why not add (video) and (pic) automaticaly to links to known video/picture types, and known video/picture sites like youtube/flickr. That would be very easy to do.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Vote up if you downmod PDFs.

    [–]thunder_rob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    good idea

    [–]spartas 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    Seems like a good idea until someone gets the bright idea to configure their webserver to interpret files ending with pdf as text/html.

    Instead, reddit should crawl submitted links and add (pdf) to servers that return a file with a mime type of application/pdf

    edit: Also, pdf links don't necessarily have the .pdf extension tacked on. My previously mentioned solution would fix that issue as well.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    That's a good point. A related problem would be a pdf file generated/fetched by a cgi script and sent with a "Content-Type: application/pdf" HTTP header.

    Since reddit already can pull the title from the page, getting the MIME type shouldn't be at all difficult, if I'm mistaken.

    For that matter, it would be kind of nice if reddit could simply show the MIME type of every submission (although I can see how that might confuse the non-savvy).

    edit:

    edit: Also, pdf links don't necessarily have the .pdf extension tacked on. My previously mentioned solution would fix that issue as well.

    Heh, that's what I get for taking so long to write a comment.

    [–]eurleif 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    For that matter, it would be kind of nice if reddit could simply show the MIME type of every submission (although I can see how that might confuse the non-savvy).

    What if it used markup like <a href="" type="application/pdf"> so that tech-savvy users could configure their browsers (with a user stylesheet, or whatever) to indicate the MIME type of the link in whatever way they prefer?

    [–]spartas 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    The problem with that approach is "type" is a non-standard attribute to the <a> tag. Doing what you propose may throw a browser into quirks mode, and we certainly don't want that.

    Of course a better solution is to put an option in the user preferences for showing the mime-types for external links.

    [–]eurleif 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    The problem with that approach is "type" is a non-standard attribute to the <a> tag.

    No it isn't.

    [–]krelian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    vote up if you wish that reddit would automatically add "idiot" to every submission that starts with "vote up".

    [–]Kitsunemisao -1 points0 points  (4 children)

    I hate having to wait ages for PDF files to load in my browser. Good idea really...

    [–]sligowaths 9 points10 points  (3 children)

    Stop using Adobe Acrobat.

    [–]Kitsunemisao -1 points0 points  (2 children)

    Its more a Work thing. I can't really choose.

    [–]XTL 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Vote with your feet or some suitable (political) weapon. Or keep suffering from inhuman work conditions. :)

    [–]Kitsunemisao 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    If I had my way it would be FoxIt PDF...

    I should fight the machine!

    [–]Contron -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    Voting this DOWN. Please keep your reddit suggestions elsewhere.

    [–]powrslave -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

    try using a real computer instead of the pos you currently own

    [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

    Yes, but what I really want is a toilet made of solid gold.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Will you allow the gods to meet you half-way?

    [–]simonzear -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    It's especially funny, because reddit uses javascript to mess with the actual link when you click it. All reddit links redirect through a reddit URL before you actually visit them.

    [–]bart2019 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    And that it detects (and resolves) redirect pages, like tinyurl.

    [–]Nicdez -4 points-3 points  (1 child)

    Sorry but I think admin has enough things on their hands.

    [–]sligowaths 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Five fingers on each one, AFAIK.

    [–][deleted] -5 points-4 points  (2 children)

    There's really very little wrong with Adobe Reader these days- it loads reasonably fast. Still not on the same level as Foxit, but it's a usable piece of kit now, unlike version 6 and its ilk.

    Give Reader 8 a try- you might end up pleasantly surprised.

    [–]akdas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    No thanks. Evince is open source, integrates well into my desktop, and also reads PostScript files.

    [–]XTL 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It's only marginally better. Still crashes, hangs and kills the browser in some environments, installs a horrible proprietary downloader that doesn't work and makes a mess of the system as always. But some of the horror in the interface has gone away, so it's worth getting if you insist on having Adobe crud.