flower bathed in lightwehpudicabok@kind.social
Sep 23, 2026, 2:07 AMYOU USED TO BE ABLE TO FIND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET. i sound insane right now because the internet is a store but it used to be a library
Replies
- flower bathed in lightwehpudicabok@kind.socialSep 23, 2026, 2:09 AM
can you tell me what this thing is called. no i don't want to buy one. i want to know what it's called. no i don't want one near me. just tell me what it's called. stop loading maps. stop loading amazon. just tell me what it's called. i am not going to buy one i just want to know what it's called!
- flower bathed in lightwehpudicabok@kind.socialSep 23, 2026, 2:10 AM
instead of burning down the library of alexandria we just started replacing bookshelves with retail aisles but people still call it the library for some reason
- flower bathed in lightwehpudicabok@kind.socialSep 23, 2026, 8:32 AM
muting this thread btw
TransientArchiveTransientArchive@musicworld.socialSep 23, 2026, 2:10 PM@wehpudicabok doesn’t sound crazy. Sounds like commodification of digital space. It happened and continues to happen.
BARKING WOO WOOalbinanigans@blackqueer.lifeSep 23, 2026, 2:17 PMfood library
Sep 23, 2026, 11:26 PM@wehpudicabok That's bazaar (wink)
Sep 23, 2026, 6:25 AM@wehpudicabok I don't know how you searched, reverse image or description of thing but I managed to find out the model of a vintage Kipling bag I own 🤷🏼♀️ via reverse image search.
katzenbergerkatzenberger@tldr.nettime.orgSep 23, 2026, 9:21 AMIn many cases, searching for images has become the faster way to get such a result, because we can scan a page of image tiles faster for what we're looking for than a page of text.
The downside is that you still have to visit the linked page, because the page title is almost always clickbait…
Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPETimWardCam@c.imSep 23, 2026, 12:24 PM@wehpudicabok Sometimes the ads are helpful, because they show you a picture of the thing, which helps you decide whether you've found the right name for the right thing.
Maria Langer VOTEDmlanger@mastodon.worldSep 23, 2026, 2:02 PM@wehpudicabok One of the great features of the Kagi search engine is that you can tell it to stop showing results from specific sites. So you can block Amazon and eBay and whatever you don't want to see. It's a sad state of affairs when we have to pay for a search engine service to be able to get a good Internet experience, but that's where we stand these days. Sometimes it's worth $5/month for sanity.
Khleedrilkhleedril@cyberplace.socialSep 24, 2026, 4:38 PM@wehpudicabok You are not asking for a cartographic representation of the river which dominates the continent of South America, are you?
Darwin Woodkadarwinwoodka@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 2:37 AM@wehpudicabok uh huh
SablebadgerSablebadger@dice.campSep 23, 2026, 2:39 AM@wehpudicabok 100% true. DuckDuckGo is better than google, but not great, but better. I still have to wade through retail links, but the real links are at least closer to the tops... sometimes.
Slumbering Girlalice_follows_rabbit@masto.aiSep 23, 2026, 4:42 AM@Sablebadger @wehpudicabok really? the results are all ai slop pages for me.
- SablebadgerSablebadger@dice.campSep 23, 2026, 5:40 AM
- Slumbering Girlalice_follows_rabbit@masto.aiSep 23, 2026, 5:49 AM
@Sablebadger @wehpudicabok I already use this, it doesn't stop giving me links to slop pages.
Raikaraika_amaris@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 6:47 AM@alice_follows_rabbit @Sablebadger @wehpudicabok I use a whole suite of browser extensions to make adjustments. It's not perfect, but it helps. Sounds like you'd find uBlacklist, in particular, useful
SoundtrackcitySoundtrackcity@mastodon.nlSep 23, 2026, 6:50 AM@alice_follows_rabbit @Sablebadger @wehpudicabok The browser Vivaldi?
- SablebadgerSablebadger@dice.campSep 23, 2026, 7:18 AM
TofuTheSquirrelTofuTheSquirrel@piaille.frSep 23, 2026, 7:27 AM@Sablebadger @alice_follows_rabbit @wehpudicabok noai in duckduckgo is removing duckduckgo own AI features and it tries to filter out AI images (and images only). AI generated websites are still present un the result. https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/ai-features/about-noaiduckduckgocom
econadseconads@mendeddrum.orgSep 23, 2026, 1:13 PM@Sablebadger
I tend to start with ddg and use ecosia if that fails. If that fails, kagi.
Sep 23, 2026, 2:33 PM@econads @Sablebadger @wehpudicabok I use a mediawiki snapshot, then one of (ddg/marginalia/arxiv/scihub), then the next most similar option, but at any stage I may go straight to asking someone I know who is into the topic.
Ricardo Antifa Harvinricardoharvin@mstdn.socialSep 23, 2026, 5:34 AM"Um, this is a Wendy's"
Bob Tregiluselaterite@mastoart.socialSep 23, 2026, 8:16 AM@wehpudicabok Absolutely!
Whiskers 🇦🇺ecoscore@aus.socialSep 23, 2026, 10:39 AM@wehpudicabok
www.udm14.com/
Works for me 👍
JestbillJestbill@mastodon.worldSep 23, 2026, 2:10 PM@ecoscore @wehpudicabok
www.udm14.com worked for awhile and then started asking me to prove I was human.
Apparently it's back to working correctly now.
Sep 23, 2026, 11:49 AM@wehpudicabok something that I noticed a short while ago and it's been *really* bothering me, is that every search query is now interpreted as a brand name first and as a word second. even on duckduckgo. for specific and generic words alike.
it just *always* searches for some kind of company or product first, even when it obviously makes no sense from a results quality POV.
Sep 23, 2026, 12:14 PM@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech @wehpudicabok@kind.social well duckduckgo doesn't have its own index or anything
it's just a Bing proxy
it used to be way better back when they used yandex + bing, instead of just bing
so ofc it works the same as bing, the ONLY benefit is "not tracking your every move, probably, maybe"- Sep 23, 2026, 12:21 PM
@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech @wehpudicabok@kind.social
https://seirdy.one/posts/2021/03/10/search-engines-with-own-indexes/ is a good post btw
it's last updated in 2025 too, unlike what the url might suggest 
patterpatterfloof@meow.socialSep 23, 2026, 11:51 AM@wehpudicabok and was powered in part by people wanting to write pages about their latest fixation, in case anyone was interested.
Hoping the page gets read, while being content if it reaches the right 3 people.
FaintdreamsFaintdreams@dice.campSep 23, 2026, 1:04 PM@wehpudicabok just a few days ago I was thinking about how at least one entire Generation of people now exists who have only experienced the Internet primarily as Consumers, instead of individuals seeking community and communication or information.
A certain age group only knows the Internet as something to Spend Money on, or Make Money off.
Which is kinda sad.
Tommi Siiktsiika9@mementomori.socialSep 23, 2026, 1:42 PM@Faintdreams @wehpudicabok this is horrifying to even think about. Even more horrifying is the future generations who’s only source of truth is the LLM of their choosing. :crying:
- Sep 23, 2026, 2:24 PM
@tsiika9 @Faintdreams @wehpudicabok or as an improvement which remains insufficient, a 2022 wikipedia snapshot
Graveography 🪦 🇨🇦 :magpie:Daveography@yeg.bikeSep 24, 2026, 5:14 AMI think I need to lie down after reading that
CarolynCStamp@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 1:48 PM@wehpudicabok You don’t sound insane.
Cesarcesarb@mastodon.socialSep 23, 2026, 1:53 PM@wehpudicabok Your "used to be a library" reminded me of SCP-2602: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-2602
It feels oddly relevant...
Raulraulinbonn@treehouse.systemsSep 23, 2026, 2:03 PM@wehpudicabok More like a former library becoming a landfill. Anything goes, specially slop, and intentionally misleading info
CiaraCiaraNi@mastodon.greenSep 23, 2026, 3:55 PM
Matt Hall401matthall@mastodon.xyzSep 23, 2026, 6:28 PM
olioli@hachyderm.ioSep 23, 2026, 6:37 PMToday's comic is very fitting
https://framapiaf.org/@davidrevoy/117321219590424659
Oct 2, 2026, 2:11 AM@wehpudicabok It's been a store since the early 00's. :P
Also gestures at advertising on the early web and no adblock
geekystevengeekysteven@beige.partyOct 18, 2026, 2:10 PM@wehpudicabok tattooing this on my forehead
Oct 18, 2026, 10:51 PM@wehpudicabok really good metadiscourse on this rn https://bsky.app/profile/jumbojorts.northsky.social/post/3my65r22pr22j
Oct 18, 2026, 11:01 PM@nora @wehpudicabok lol