in hindsight it may have been a mistake to google "gimp mask" to try to figure out how to do a layer mask in gimp, the free and open source equivalent of photoshop
When I think about how the old, good internet turned into the #enshitternet, I imagine a series of small compromises, each seemingly reasonable at the time, each contributing to a cultural norm of making good things worse, and worse, and worse.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
But thanks to the antitrust trial, we're learning about more of these. #MeganGray - ex-#FTC, ex-#DuckDuckGo - was in the courtroom last week when evidence was presented on Google execs' panic over a decline in "ad generating searches" and the sleazy gimmick they came up with to address it.
I've been talking about how AI will directly lead to an Idiocracy (2006) scenario for some time, but today's update to the "can you melt eggs?" saga is as clear an illustration of how as I think it's possible to ever have.
Quora's AI answers made up the melting point of eggs, and then Google picked it up and responded affirmatively that you can indeed melt eggs.
Then people wrote articles about how stupid it is that Google says eggs can melt. The Google fixes the answer.
Then Google ingests an article about how stupid it is that Google says you can melt eggs, and suddenly Google starts answering affirmatively again that you can melt eggs, citing the article about how stupid Google is for thinking you can melt eggs.
So, this surveillance capitalism thing is totally out of hand. Today @protonmail had a great explainer (https://mastodon.social/@protonmail/111165171600485248) on the mind bending evil Google is up to with it's new "privacy features". But pretty much every tech company is now in the business of profiling you and monetizing your tidbits.
What can you do? A lot as it turns out, but if you just want ONE EASY THING that you can do today, SWITCH TO FIREFOX (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) and make DuckDuckGo your default search engine.
Hi, long time vegan, but rather new to cycling. I used to be OMAD (please don’t question the health/fitness, I’m just poor, not ideological), but due to cycling I need to eat 2 meals to have the strength to get back home (riding uphill). I tried eating breakfast, but by the time I get to work and get through the shift, I...
"Corporate crime" is an oxymoron in America. While it's true that the most consequential and profligate theft in America is #WageTheft, its mechanisms are so obscure and, well, dull that it's easy to sell us on the false impression that the real problem is shoplifting:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
While this veil has parted somewhat, it is still intact enough to allow the company to work the refs and kill disfavorable reporting from the trial. Last week, #MeganGrey - ex-FTC, ex-#DuckDuckGo - published an editorial in #Wired reporting on her impression of an explosive moment in the Google trial:
@bartvdpoel@macrumors I have no doubt it is. And sadly, most people don't question it. That's why Google the tech giant has any power when there are better options like #DuckDuckGo these days. People just don't care.
first wave blogger known SEO has always been bullshit for Google.
many of y'all don't even know about the Indian "web security" company that back in the aughts blackholed Boing Boing and a chunk of in the USA feminist/political blogsophere.
sites like mine were getting massive amounts of traffic from India & Pakistan & POOF gone and completely delisted from their search pages in their localized Google...
it just keeps on and on spreading itself thru every single TLD they can get their hands on: .com .org. .net. ca. fr. .es .de. jp. .com.mx. .au. .com.au.
Decided to try @Mojeek as my default #SearchEngine (switching from #DuckDuckGo). I like that they have their own crawler, instead of just using #Microsoft's results. Let's see how this goes...
@Mojeek Sorry, can't do it. I keep finding that the search results on Mojeek are too generic/unrelated. As soon as I go back to #DuckDuckGo I see the results I expect.
For example, I did a search in both engines re. the information Mastercard stores about me. In Mojeek I got a bunch of random, third-party sites about Mastercard business details and phone numbers. In DDG I at least got a bunch of support pages from Mastercard's own site...
Having just spent a fruitless 20 minutes, I have determined there’s no way to create a QR code using my phone without signing up for some dumb service.
#DuckDuckGo aggregates a wide variety of sources, plus its own crawling of the web. Good! But:
That web is increasingly filled not only with crap, but with sites that actively subvert the usefulness of search results.
> Engineers [are] not trying to cure cancer […] they're trying to engineer ways to force you to click on things you don't wanna click on, basically, technological forms of mind control, and also find ways to avoid legal responsibility for that.
Voilà 15 ans que DuckDuckGo défie Google sur le terrain de la recherche en ligne, mais avec un argument de poids : pas question d’exploiter vos données personnelles.
I couldn’t think of James Garner’s name. So I search on #DuckDuckGo for “Maverick.” And lo and behold everything is about Maverick: Top Gun. I add “gunslinger.” Nope. Same results. I switch to Google and I get 1994 film with Mel Gibson. Ugh. Add “TV” and I finally get James Garner. I should have searched on “Rockford Files.”
15 ans pour l'outil de recherche respectueux de la vie privée. #DuckDuckGo... et toujours utilisé par moins de 0,6 % des internautes dans le monde. Qu'est-ce que ça lui prend pour monter en popularité?
How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet - WIRED (www.wired.com)
cross-posted from !google...
Vegan lunch ideas, please [with very specific "requirements"] [adult advice needed]
Hi, long time vegan, but rather new to cycling. I used to be OMAD (please don’t question the health/fitness, I’m just poor, not ideological), but due to cycling I need to eat 2 meals to have the strength to get back home (riding uphill). I tried eating breakfast, but by the time I get to work and get through the shift, I...