Posts by ianb@mastodon.well.com
(DIR) Post #AsJ9mJ5sWsxgSZVKvg by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T07:39:34Z
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There are people - and I confess I am one - who use AI for search and say to themselves “well yeah, I know it gets things wrong, but I’m smart enough to spot that so I’ll keep doing it”.Reader, I am not smart enough to spot that.
(DIR) Post #AsJ9mKFUEeF22f0WXo by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T07:39:58Z
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But this begs the question: knowing about the factually inaccuracies, why keep doing it? And there are two parts to that. First, Google searching isn’t exactly full of the best answers right now (this is why people add “wiki” to the search query, because they know Wikipedia gives a better answer)
(DIR) Post #AsJ9mMN0LfRYcYXYXY by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T07:45:52Z
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@loke There is that, but I think the same is true of much internet based "research". It's gone backwards in the past three years broadly, because of the inevitable consequences of monopolisation of finding information.
(DIR) Post #AsJ9mPzOtMwHqVWlIu by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T07:40:10Z
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But second, the user experience of a plain language search and single answer is a better user experience than ten links of random quality plus ads plus answer boxes plus other misc garbage and more ads. Google enshittified itself into uselessness.
(DIR) Post #AsJ9mVq3931ZzFCNYu by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T07:40:22Z
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And conversational interfaces are great! When you get your answer you can fine tune it, give it more information to get a better answer. For many kinds of information query, it better matches the way our messy, imprecise, uncertain brains work.
(DIR) Post #AsJnTzUqeJRedN0MN6 by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T13:44:11Z
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Do you think that Google realises that it being able to remove one category of content without any effect on its revenue is a clear demonstration that it's a monopolist? https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/our-experiment-on-the-value-of-european-news-content/
(DIR) Post #AsJnU5BZUtagHK239s by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-22T13:44:23Z
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The whole case is weird, though: publishers largely use Google ads as backfill, not their main source of revenue. But the point is the market distorting power of Google's control over the ad market, not "how much money does Google Make from news".
(DIR) Post #AsLZRt14lGVyum6Kp6 by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-23T11:42:44Z
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The people who say this Labour government are “Red Tories" have got it totally wrong. They're “Red Reform”.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/mar/23/rachel-reeves-promises-economy-and-living-standards-will-improve
(DIR) Post #AsYJoIUel1gb51CO5Q by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-03-29T16:31:31Z
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Ha ha ha get fucked you orange shitweasel
(DIR) Post #AsikmKXQpBhRBZNn3g by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-03T15:29:36Z
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Sometimes the symbolism is heavy
(DIR) Post #At35vtE5U4FE0V0QVc by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-13T12:54:21Z
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In which a large consulting firm finds that bending the knee to King Donald and meekly following the US descent into fascism means Europeans don’t want to do business with you. https://archive.md/WQGpQ
(DIR) Post #AtDzy9ArHcDbavCPD6 by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-18T18:15:58Z
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Absolutely joyous
(DIR) Post #AtMCjBO3cuTmmaFNYW by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-21T07:30:59Z
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Bingo.https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/anti-trans-activist-hadley-freeman
(DIR) Post #AtUPsLjJo20i5Gy55s by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-26T08:43:50Z
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Oh do fuck off you right wing fuckwads. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyw9qjeq8po
(DIR) Post #AtY8EwgCNFoMu98LvE by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-28T12:19:11Z
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“IBM won the mainframe wars fair and square by building a better product for business.” Oh no wait, we’re talking about Google. https://world.hey.com/dhh/don-t-make-google-sell-chrome-93cefbc6
(DIR) Post #AtY8Ey676O8RIoGYxE by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-28T12:19:11Z
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This is the thing that tech bros never understand: someone can “win” fair and square and, because they have developed a monopoly, still be subject to limitations and divestitures. The point is to ensure that markets remain competitive.
(DIR) Post #AtbmESimL0X3dBXpg0 by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-04-29T19:49:37Z
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This, of course, is the food that Nigel Farage says is perfectly fine for Britons to eat.
(DIR) Post #AtmzLV1XQnREolCTse by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-05-05T08:36:58Z
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Yes, yes it has. @libreoffice is more than good enough.
(DIR) Post #Aw8nrSToU3YMvM2Co4 by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-07-13T10:02:54Z
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A rare “yes”https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/13/could-ai-be-accelerating-slowdown-in-the-uk-job-market
(DIR) Post #Aysdz4L4nyP5sE5stU by ianb@mastodon.well.com
2025-10-04T13:28:07Z
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Opening up William Dalrymple’s “The Anarchy”, about the rise of the East India Company, and he leads with this magnificent quote.