Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#1

Post by iamscout » Tue, Apr 26, 2022, 8:00 AM UTC

Hi HN!

Ctrl+F sucks because I can never seem to find what I'm looking for. I built an NLP-based alternative that works pretty damn well.

Let me know what you think.

P.s. it will soon support image searches

Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F
chrome.google.com

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#2

Post by wackget » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

Honestly I wouldn't even consider installing this because there is zero information about how it works and what it does with the data I type into it.

Are my search terms sent to some random server to be "processed" and/or logged for analytics purposes, or is everything done locally?

The single-line privacy policy is [woefully bare](https://sites.google.com/view/scoutcrx/privacy).

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#3

Post by crtasm » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 2:19 PM UTC

"Any data about your use of Scout is not knowingly sold or offered to third parties or stored on our servers."

Privacy policy seems to imply that data is being collected - would be good to clarify that. Does it rely on a server/API?

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#4

Post by srajabi » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

Is this open source? Seems like it might be small enough to be great for learning from.

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#5

Post by llanowarelves » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 2:53 PM UTC

Cool idea. I want to be able to semantically search the contents of files on my computer and an archive of my bookmarks

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#6

Post by Bancakes » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 3:12 PM UTC

Where's the source code

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#7

Post by Der_Einzige » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 4:20 PM UTC

This is not the first time that we've had semantic search as a "Ctrl-F" replacement in chrome:

I actually cited the precursor to this in one of my papers:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fuzbal/lidjpicdkcg...

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#8

Post by dewey » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 4:21 PM UTC

Bancakes wrote: post #6

Where's the source code

You can download it with an extension like: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-extension-s...

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#9

Post by infinityio » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 4:24 PM UTC

crtasm wrote: post #3

"Any data about your use of Scout is not knowingly sold or offered to third parties or stored on our servers." Privacy policy seems to imply that data is being collected - would be good to clarify that. Does it rely on a server/API?

not sure, but could the privacy policy just be a requirement of Google and no data collection is taking place?

Re: Show HN: Semantic Search for Ctrl+F

#10

Post by mdaniel » Sat, Apr 30, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

Please do consider updating the image to be something that shows what is actually going on, because that one just makes it look like your extension draws highlights on a webpage. Bonus points for some animated gif or video or something showing how it changes as you type more stuff