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Google Declaring War on the Web

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Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#281

Post by somenameforme »

acdha wrote: post #267
nunez wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm almost certain there is biblical-level astroturfing happening to make camp (1) much bigger than it really is. Otherwise, Schmidt wouldn't have drowned in a sea of boos at his commencement speech at UA.

I think there’s also a lot of people who haven’t quite realized what side they’re on. A ton of techies confused better than average pay with being part of the upper class and didn’t realize that the average CEO/VC views us roughly the same as the janitors except more expensive and less reliable. If you’re currently working at a stable tech job, it’s easy to focus on the cool things you can do and ignore how hungry th…

Exactly what I was thinking when a recent big bank CEO accidentally let his contempt slip out. He referred to mass layoffs as "It's not cost-cutting. It's replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we're putting in." [1]

That "lower-value human capital" isn't janitors - it's a wide array of highly skilled professions including software engineers and many others. Of course the guy who's at the top engaging in nothing but 'unfalsifiable' fuzzy actions, and could be replaced (sans his connections/corruptions) most easily of all, is ultra-high-mega-untouchable infinity value humanity embodied.

I really don't like what big business does to people, on the bottom and the top. The fact somebody could even use the term lower-value human capital without cringing at themselves, let alone to a reporter in public - that's one hell of a bubble this guy lives in. And now we're dumping "AI" into this bubble. WCGW?

[1] - https://news.sky.com/story/standard-chartered-to-replace-low...

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#282

Post by aussieguy1234 »

luqtas wrote: post #274
aussieguy1234 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose with those same artists, at least for the smarter members of the group, might start using AI for basic commercial freelance jobs and just act as the human review, perhaps doing some final adjustments to the finished artwork. So instead of being paid a small amount of money for something that they spend hours on, they create 10 artworks in that same number of hours and earn 10x what they did previously.

innocent. like demand won't lower prices?

I think you mean supply. Demand usually causes prices to go up.

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#283

Post by aqfamnzc »

efilife wrote: post #253
stubish wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use Cloudflare to proxy your site, there is a button to click that blocks the AI crawlers (even the free tier). It is almost as if the AI crawlers are a DDoS attack. You can't really do it any other way, since many don't respect robots.txt. At least until someone comes up with crowdsourced blacklists with few false positives.

"You can't really do it any other way" Any custom solution by a half-competent programmer filters out all web crawlers. I'm running a semi-public website for years and nothing gets past

Yeah, I feel like unless you run a site large enough for google monkeys to write a special case for your site specifically, why not just password protect the entire site but put the password on the login page? Or any other rudimentary captcha I suppose - like the old days.

Doesn't keep out anyone even mildly interested in your site specifically, including scrapers, but at least it blocks googlebot etc.

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#284

Post by antics9 »

RiverCrochet wrote: post #125
LinuxAmbulance wrote: post #10

We abrogated getting traffic to our websites to Google long ago. Mostly because Google was so good at it that the alternatives became significantly less useful. Now that Google is focusing on becoming 'self contained', so to speak, we should find a better way to drive traffic to websites. Ideally one that's not under the control of a single corporation. Anyone miss StumbleUpon?

An open way to trade, store, and export lists of websites in a way that works seamlessly on desktop and mobile browsers would be pretty neat.

There’s wander: https://susam.net/wander/

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#285

Post by Refreeze5224 »

eikenberry wrote: post #144
soundworlds wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who simultaneously makes music professionally, and works in IT professionally, it has been really interesting watching GenAI unfold, and the diverging cultures around it. It is almost like the world is splitting into two "societies": 1. One that loves AI + Big Business + very fast Innovation and disruption 2. One that loves Artisanal work + Small Business + slower but more sustainable innovation I personal…

But big businesses suck at innovation so much that their primary form of innovation is through acquiring small businesses. But that is a big benefit for #2 as we need innovations to get to a sustainable system.

The only innovation needed to be sustainable is to recognize that capitalism is not sustainable, and never can be. But that's not a profitable innovation, so it never gets pursued.

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#286

Post by wwweston »

nunez wrote: post #199
soundworlds wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who simultaneously makes music professionally, and works in IT professionally, it has been really interesting watching GenAI unfold, and the diverging cultures around it. It is almost like the world is splitting into two "societies": 1. One that loves AI + Big Business + very fast Innovation and disruption 2. One that loves Artisanal work + Small Business + slower but more sustainable innovation I personal…

I'm almost certain there is biblical-level astroturfing happening to make camp (1) much bigger than it really is. Otherwise, Schmidt wouldn't have drowned in a sea of boos at his commencement speech at UA.

And it just so happens that one of the things the new tech is good for is astroturfing.

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#287

Post by wahnfrieden »

lkrubner wrote: post #117
wahnfrieden wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re describing a social revolution. Otherwise there is no way that leaders whose power over us corrupts them would want to put that into law. The cassette reference was a tax on consumers to send money upward. What you’re describing is the complete inverse.

No, it is exactly the same thing. The tax on cassettes raised money that was given to artists.

Thanks for correcting

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#289

Post by marcus_holmes »

bmitc wrote: post #219
marcus_holmes wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I make my own furniture. I am absolutely not a carpenter. But I hate Ikea furniture - it's made of shitty, flimsy, materials, and its design priorities are all based on cost and ease of transport, not on being great furniture that will last years and be an actual asset to the home. This is an analogy, obviously. Ikea has been innovative, and it does provide a useful service for people; if you just moved into a new pl…

Ikea has long existed before the Internet and over capitalization. I have several Ikea pieces in my home, and I've had some for over a decade. If you build Ikea stuff properly, are selective in what you purchase, and use wood glue when constructing, then it lasts as long as anything else really. Their flat packed designs are actually innovative. People can outfit an entire room by using a Honda Fit to transport.

Agree completely, as I said their design priorities are cost and transportability, and they provide a valuable service. Mostly I hate the shitty laminated chipboard half their stuff is made from. If you replaced that with actual wood, and some of the weird aluminium pegs with actual dowels or joinery, it'd be fine. But that's kinda beside the point; if you did that it would be more expensive and less easily transported, and therefore wouldn't fit their priorities.

And, of course, their bedside cabinets are the wrong size for my wife's bed, so I'd have to make one anyway.

And this is just an analogy; if you like Ikea-style Google Search, then great for you. I pay for Kagi because that Ikea-style Google Search doesn't work for me.

Re: Google Declaring War on the Web

#290

Post by WarmWash »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #275
WarmWash wrote: post #154

Google made an egalitarian web, where money doesn't matter and attention does. A currency that everyone on Earth richest to poorest has a roughly equal amount of. I think almost everyone takes that for granted, and focuses purely on the negatives (you're not paying, therefore you are the product, kept in place by bait we call services) On the flip side, and I'm all for it, we can go to everything paywalled. The downs…

> and attention does This is an understatement. They weaponized human psychology against us. It’s not remotely an even playing field.

In an alternate universe Google is like the Apple of the internet, where it has a bunch of premium services with the customer at the center.

The flip side is that having a Google account is a status symbol, and very few people on Earth can afford it.

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