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Ask.com has closed

ask.com

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Re: Ask.com has closed

#241

The page seems AI-generated, it has a few front-end Claudeisms: - PlayFair Display and Inter as fonts - Comments in the HTML for each section (" " and " ") - Bottom fade-in animation - Tailwind (obviously a common choice for humans, but since it's an even more common choice for LLMs, it counts as evidence in favor)

Lots more AI-looking sections now removed in https://github.com/askmediagroup/ask.com/commit/90629dbe5ffb...

Re: Ask.com has closed

#242

The page seems AI-generated, it has a few front-end Claudeisms: - PlayFair Display and Inter as fonts - Comments in the HTML for each section (" " and " ") - Bottom fade-in animation - Tailwind (obviously a common choice for humans, but since it's an even more common choice for LLMs, it counts as evidence in favor)

I think that's fair for a static "end of service" notice which probably, almost by definition, won't be worked on further.

Re: Ask.com has closed

#245

Oh my, I remember the time they sent a friend of mine a cease-and-desist. https://web.archive.org/web/20001017194117/http://www.askgee...

Did he comply? Because it seems like that site would clearly have been covered by the protection for parody.

I’m not sure an unhealthy fascination with incest, underaged Catholic schoolgirls and see-thru mesh shirts constitutes an affirmative defense as parody. Also the whole thing was running on a university server, ‘twas simpler times.

Re: Ask.com has closed

#246

I don't think I have used ask.com in the past (perhaps many years ago though), but now I am becoming increasingly troubled here - does this mean we depend even more on google search? And it constantly gets worse too. That's concerning. We need some real alternatives that don't just suddenly vanish.

ask.com hasn't been an independent search engine for decades. Its results and ads came from other companies.

Re: Ask.com has closed

#248
post #23
post #4

Missed opportunity to name an LLM "Jeeves" and finally live up to the vision.

Maybe this is a precursor to them selling the mark to someone who (at least thinks they) can capitalize on it.

Feels fairly likely, though I'm skeptical the Jeeves name recognition is much besides a novelty now.

Re: Ask.com has closed

#249
post #242

The page seems AI-generated, it has a few front-end Claudeisms: - PlayFair Display and Inter as fonts - Comments in the HTML for each section (" " and " ") - Bottom fade-in animation - Tailwind (obviously a common choice for humans, but since it's an even more common choice for LLMs, it counts as evidence in favor)

I think that's fair for a static "end of service" notice which probably, almost by definition, won't be worked on further.

I think so too, wasn't ascribing any value judgement.

Re: Ask.com has closed

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I’ve just made the Woodhouse from Archer connection!

Archer has a whole load of obscure literary references that are easy to miss. e.g. in the very first episode, the flight attendant's dog is named Abelard > The name Abelard is a reference to Pierre Abélard, the French philosopher and monk, who is famous for his work in the fields of dialectic and theology, along with his tragic romance with Héloise d’Argenteuil. Additionally, Abélard was known for the studies of the…

I first came across Abelard and Héloïse from an episode of The Sopranos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentimental_Education_(The_Sop...

The episode title itself is also a literary reference. I’m sure there are many cultural references that went over my head while watching the show; I really should watch it again.

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