@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

jeruyyap

@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io

I write code, play games, and pick locks. Pretty stereotypical I guess.

Avatar made using https://twitter.com/mothgenerator

Cohost: https://cohost.org/jeruyyap
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@jeruyyap

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

These AI SEO spam operations have used lists of common searches to ensure that their pages come up first in searches in the “long fat tail” the kind of search where it used to be about 50/50 if you’d find a page addressing your needs. But, it used to be if you found something like “The top 15 smallest ants in the world” it wouldn’t be nonsense. It’d either exist and be the work of another person who cared OR you found nothing. Not so now! I can’t possibly over-stress how bad this is! 1/

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@MyWoolyMastadon @futurebird @seawall

I feel like at some point I need to do a longer post about pitfalls like this, but IMO searching for "questions" has always been bad for reasons besides SEO spam.

To put it bluntly, people who know their stuff almost never present information in that manner, so whenever you "ask" a search engine a question you're almost always leaning on whatever semantic behaviors that search engines is doing to dissect that question.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@futurebird @MyWoolyMastadon @seawall

To be clear, I don't mean to discount the impact of LLM generated SEO spam, as that has definitely made things much worse.
I'm more trying to point out that human written BS also has that same "shape" that makes searching for questions hazardous.

That said, admittedly I genuinely disagree on whether search engines should be able to parse questions due to all the problems that behavior leads to, but that's its own whole can of worms.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@MyWoolyMastadon @futurebird @seawall

Anecdotally, I've found that a useful characteristic that LLM SEO spam shares with the human kind is that it's very targeted at Google-Bing and isn't as effective on other indexes.

Unfortunately, Google and Bing have been very good at getting folks accustomed to their "magic answer box" style of semantic search. If that's all you've used, then it's gonna be really painful to leave, which is why many folks stick to search engines using those indexes.

beeoproblem, to random
@beeoproblem@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

Bye Google search. Nice knowing you

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/google-search-adds-web-filter-as-it-pivots-to-ai-focused-search-results/

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@yora @Nifflas @beeoproblem

Here you go:
https://seirdy.one/posts/2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes/

soatok, to random
@soatok@furry.engineer avatar

One of the Matrix developers saw fit to comment on my gist https://gist.github.com/soatok/8aef6f67fec9c702f510ee24d19ef92b?permalink_comment_id=5058644#gistcomment-5058644

In response, I actually looked at their code, identified two security vulnerabilities, and disclosed them to their security@ email.

This reaffirms the opinion I held previously.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@phryk @soatok

I remember a long while back one of the reason Signal put forward for not making a federated protocol was that it would make vital protocol changes like this more difficult to enact.

Needless to say that came to mind right away here.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@soatok @phryk

I mean, maybe this very much not intended by anyone involved, but admittedly I'm finding it hard to avoid the takeaway that maybe trying to do end-to-end encryption on a federated protocol isn't the best way to approach the problem...

nixCraft, to random
@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar

Everyone should immediately stop contributing to the stack overflow and its network. The human touch is what made it unique. Delete your profile from SO AND all your answers. Freeloaders are making money out of human contributions.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@Pajo_16 @nixCraft

If you're looking for blogs and other personal sites I recommend bookmarking these search engines:

Would also recommend checking out this very excellent piece as well for alternative search options: https://seirdy.one/posts/2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes/

jeruyyap, to fountainpens
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

I guess a lot of fountain pen enthusiasts in the US have already figured this out, but just in case.

There's a very common type of "store brand" spiral notebook that is labelled "Made in Vietnam" that are very fountain pen ink friendly.

In my area they show up as Office Depot "Stellar", CVS "Caliber", and Target "Up&Up".
There are probably other store brands they show up as.

Very helpful if you quickly need a notebook.

rysiek, (edited ) to DuckDuckGo
@rysiek@mstdn.social avatar

FuckFuckNo. 🤦‍♀️

I just want a search engine that works. I have zero need for a godawful "AI" hallucinating mansplainer in my results. Just… no.

Time to move off of DDG. What else is out there?

Edit: yes, it seems to be for real:
https://www.reddit.com/r/duckduckgo/comments/1adxgy4/give_duckduckgo_ai_chat_a_spin/

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@rysiek

I feel the question of "what else is there" depends on what you're actually looking for.

If you're just looking to use a large index while minimizing the data you're sending back, then DuckDuckGo still works for that. DuckDuckGo and Qwant use Bing's index, while Startpage uses Google's index, and any of those would work for that purpose.

If you're looking for a independent index for general use, Mojeek probably has the largest index that is not Google, Bing, or Yandex.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@matt @katzenberger @rysiek @MarkAssPandi

For what it's worth, if we have to do the "lesser evils" thing, I don't see how dropping Mojeek (which has its own index) due to AI in favor of what will almost inevitably be something using Google or Bing's index is a net positive.

Really the next step is to consider smaller independent indexes (Stract, Right Dao, Alexandria, Yep, etc.) but it seems most folks consider those not usable yet. (personally I disagree, but that's its own can of worms).

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@rysiek

Now if you're trying to avoid search engines that are into LLMs, then your options are going to depend on whether the index provider matters.

If only the service you are directly using matters, then you have plenty of options as there's seemingly endless search engines using Google or Bing (especially Bing).

If where the index comes from matters then you're pretty much out of large mainstream indexes and into small independent ones and a major change in search habits.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@rysiek @matt @Mojeek

If you're interested in other options then @Seirdy did an excellent piece on the topic that pretty much covers what's out there for now:
https://seirdy.one/posts/2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes/

sidereal, to random
@sidereal@kolektiva.social avatar

Why aren't turbine generators more of a thing? Is it because they have such precise tolerances?

Kinda seems like a generator that you can run on almost any liquid fuel would be useful, but I guess not if it breaks down easily.

EDIT: I mean at like the small scale of a portable backup home generator

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@sidereal

Not a professional engineer so take with a grain of salt, but as I understand it it turbines tend to work better when they're large and spin at higher speeds which don't seem to be qualities that align with portable generators.

Nifflas, (edited ) to random
@Nifflas@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

Best superpower? If you accept, a random human's life on Earth is saved. However, in 200 years a discovery will be made, incorrectly making people believe you were the most evil human to ever live. Movies, holo-books, quantum-oscillating turbo-florps and nano-implants will be made about how evil you were.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@Nifflas

I feel the big deal-breaker is that while one can take the position "I don't care what people think of me in 200 years anyway", that completely ignores any additional consequences that might have.

What we'd be doing is adding a "villain" to history that apparently most people agree on, and it's likely that would be used as a propaganda against anyone who happens like you.

Depending on who you are, the consequences could easily far outweigh the "positive" of saving a single human.

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Do you find it difficult to find clothes and shoes that fit off the rack?

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@futurebird

I know my size and it usually works most of the time.

That said, I think something that makes this a lot easier is my aversion to tight or close fitting clothing, especially in warm weather. I often get get a lot of clothing items slightly larger than I need because I don't like that sensation of it "sticking" to me.

It's when I get items that do need to fit "properly" (like a dress shirt or suit) where things can get trickier.

eniko, to random
@eniko@peoplemaking.games avatar

Package managers will never be a substitute for something that you can just download and run

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@eniko

Y'all I'm tempted to cite this exchange as evidence that Mastodon has reached critical mass... 🤣

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

It's so weird that I have like 600 mastodon boosts on a very basic observation about platform lock-in and only like 1 on the post where I linked an extremely good recording of air conditioner noises

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@mcc

Somehow I couldn't escape reading this in Alec Watson's (Technology Connections) voice... 😆

Nifflas, (edited ) to random
@Nifflas@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

Question? Am I in the wrong here? I'm not 100% sure I know how things works here? https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@Nifflas/110645514733968059

I'm so confused. I should probably not have made the original reply.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@Nifflas

Unfortunately, "Are things really that bad? Things have been nice on my end." is a common take for folks who gloss over issues that minorities have had on Mastodon and elsewhere.
Since your initial reply was like that, the rest of the exchange followed that.

To be honest, I can't really fault them for reacting that way as it's kind of understandable.

Unfortunately that's going to happen sometimes. Folks have really bad experiences and sometimes you brings those forth incidentally.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@Nifflas

I try to be conscious of what other people might have experienced when replying to them, but at the same time it's impossible to be perfect with it so don't beat yourself up over it too much.

It's one of those things that's inevitably going to happen when you have several thousands of people trying to find there way in a new space and who have plenty of legitimate reasons to be suspicious of others and dissatisfied with how things are going.

christinelove, to random
@christinelove@mastodon.social avatar

A few people have been asking if I'm going to stick around on Mastodon if I'm not posting on Twitter anymore, and... well, like, I'll definitely keep posting announcements here. But in general, honestly, I have no idea! My impression of Mastodon—having checked it multiple times a day for several years—is that it's just kind of a wasteland. People don't really seem interested in talking about anything other than social media meta? Those are the only posts of mine that get replies, anyway!

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@christinelove

The biggest thing is being more eager to follow people and using tags.

My feed got a LOT better after I've gotten over the sort of hesitation to follow I used to have on Twitter.

While I don't really post very much, if I want something to get out there then tagging seems to be a deciding factor. This also helps the feed because you can follow tags.

We got used to being algorithmically fed on Twitter and re-learning how to use social media driven by humans is hard.

jeruyyap, to fountainpens
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

@fountainpens What is your preferred fountain pen friendly copy paper?

OC Requesting Recommendations: Want a "signature pen," so a stub with generous tipping material, or a BB with a hint of line variation.

I have some Amazon funny money from Father's Day, so per the title, I want something that writes big and easy. No calligraphy nibs that depend on perfect position to be smooth. Possibly delusional, but hoping for recs that orbit around either side of the $100 USD mark. Gold nib and impeccable fit&finish is not necessary, but...

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

Do you plan on carrying this pen around with you?

Thing is, a lot of these challenges because a lot easier and cheaper if you don't need to "feed" a nib.

If you don't need to carry the pen around with you and are only going to use it for a specific purpose, then maybe a dip pen might be more reliable than a fountain pen for this purpose.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

This is often called a "stateless" or "generative" password manager, and while they do have some benefits they tend to be rather niche.

The main issue is losing the ability to easily change the master passwords as well as making it more difficult to deal with password requirements.

Also, for most users the sort of access needed to steal an encrypted password vault isn't much different from what is needed to grab a master password as its being used, so the benefit is very limited.

jeruyyap, to ChatGPT
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

I will continue to refuse to call cryptocurrency "crypto" and refuse to call things like ChatGPT "AI".

I'm very disappointed in the rest of ya'll who have caved on this.

I tend to be very disappointed in general.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

7 month check-in, still not gonna call cryptocurrency just "crypto" nor LLMs just "AI".

Still disappointed you've ceded this ground.

jeruyyap,
@jeruyyap@hachyderm.io avatar

"But AI is short and easy and technically..."

No, LLMs already have an acronym that's just three letters/syllables. The only reason you'd use "AI" to refer to an LLM is to misrepresent it as being more general than it is and I'm not interested in helping grifters by propagating that deception.

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