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Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#101

Post by taylodl »

mech422 wrote: post #94
TheRealPomax wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having decent google fu never stopped being important, you can still find what you're looking for just fine most of the time if you know how to ask google to find that for you.

'Google fu' is a myth - it's just to make us feel good. Google ignores pretty much +"anything" it wants to. (thank god it doesn't igore site: yet) What would be awesome is to have a REAL _search_ engine back, like Alta Vista - with a proper search language, and not some NLP that tries to guess what I want. Imagine being able to search a database with only keywords, vs SQL queries - thats pretty much the difference be…

I would love to have Alta Vista in 2023!

I still remember when Google search first came out and it seemed like magic. Now that magic has long worn off. If it weren't for YouTube, which Google didn't even create, Google wouldn't be in my life at all. I think that's significant for a company that at one time used to be so dominant.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#103

Post by suddenclarity »

mech422 wrote: post #94
TheRealPomax wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having decent google fu never stopped being important, you can still find what you're looking for just fine most of the time if you know how to ask google to find that for you.

'Google fu' is a myth - it's just to make us feel good. Google ignores pretty much +"anything" it wants to. (thank god it doesn't igore site: yet) What would be awesome is to have a REAL _search_ engine back, like Alta Vista - with a proper search language, and not some NLP that tries to guess what I want. Imagine being able to search a database with only keywords, vs SQL queries - thats pretty much the difference be…

Maybe different definitions of Google fu? I can't recall the number of times coworkers claim to have googled something for half an hour that I manage to find on the first or second attempt. Maybe you overestimate the skill of the average Joe?

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#104

Post by suddenclarity »

eimrine wrote: post #43

Torrent trackers (but not tpb usually). Just search some books on the topic you are interested in and that's it. For example, I used to have 2 medical problems which I have successfully solved using this method. One medical problem of mine I have solved completely and what about another I can prove you there is just no cure (despite of some doctors promise me that they can do it for $$$). That was a lot of reading bu…

Maybe Facebook? I believe there are a ton of semiprivate support groups for different health conditions. But I guess one might need a starting point to be able to find a relevant one since they are specialized.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#105

Post by Asraelite »

eimrine wrote: post #43

Torrent trackers (but not tpb usually). Just search some books on the topic you are interested in and that's it. For example, I used to have 2 medical problems which I have successfully solved using this method. One medical problem of mine I have solved completely and what about another I can prove you there is just no cure (despite of some doctors promise me that they can do it for $$$). That was a lot of reading bu…

Do you mean public or private trackers?

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#106

Post by pkulak »

satoqz wrote: post #17

I've been selfhosting SearXNG [0] for a few months and cannot complain. It's a meta search engine, i.e. collects results from a variety of underlying search engines including Google (if enabled). The main selling points for me are: - No ads - Improved Privacy - Open Source - Customisability (Plugins, Search Engines) I'm quite content with the search results even though they're not quite on par with the quality that G…

I tried that for a while but it's so slow. Couldn't take it and finally broke down and started paying for Kagi.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#107

Post by anyfoo »

user3939382 wrote: post #46

Kagi. DDG/Bing are ridiculous with ignoring your search terms, even with quotes. I had enough. Google often has a whole page or almost a whole page of clever-widgets before any actual results, not to mention my ethical objections to their behavior and the SEO spam. Kagi works great, I like the fact that I'm paying for it and my interests are primary in the relationship.

Same. I basically gave it a try, and stayed with it. I sometimes feel I should make more use of the advanced features, like lenses, but I'm pretty happy with just regular searches, too. Reminds me a lot of how Google used to be.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#108

Post by anyfoo »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #74
throw_away1525 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what does your 2023 google fu look like?

I have no idea how to answer that, because it depends on what I'm looking for, and involves making sure I have the terms that go with the subject I'm looking for.

That approach used to work well for the past ~20 years or so on Google, and effectively stopped working recent-ish.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find stuff on the internet now?

#110

Post by seanw444 »

tcmart14 wrote: post #82
carterschonwald wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I’m horrified but it’s wound up being the only way to find quality amateur writing about dog breeds. Most websites in that subject matter seem to be semi algorithmic content farms that echo the same uncited information.

Not to mention, most of those websites are loaded up to the hilt on a bunch of annoying adware. You can read 2-3 sentences, then you hit ad add you have to scroll past to read another 2-3 sentences to hit yet another ad you have to scroll past.

You browse the web without an adblocker? Courageous.
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