Category - Other

Word of mouth in the age of the ad-driven internet

Sara Gerretsen 12/28/2025

If you're my age or older, you probably knew the era where google was actual magic. No matter what you wanted to find, it was there at your fingertips. No matter how specialised or generic, you could find it, if not in one search, then definitely in two. But none of that exists any more. Profit incentives pulled the search engine owners' interests and those of the engine's users apart. Two searches make more money than one. And the advertising model is showing cracks big enough to spook the industry to the next false promise of infinite growth. Now the users of search engines are left with half-functioning and intentionally dysfunctional products. With very little sign it'll improve soon. A problem analysis What does a search engine give the user. Answers to questions yes, but more importantly, a way to discover the internet. The Pre-AI Problem A simple thought experiment, how would you browse the internet without a search engine? What if google, bing, yahoo, kagi, searx and all the me

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How to appear as a kinder person

Forbidden Tempura 8/24/2025

Your life is difficult. You have a hard time getting along with others. Yet you can't identify why. This post gives some pointers on appearing as a kinder person. Perhaps appearing kind isn't the problem you have. But maybe it is. If you're in doubt, try it out and see. Disclaimer: I hold neither a degree in psychology or political sciences. These are merely personal observations of mine. Anyone pitching in with solid research to disprove my claims or to provide a stronger foundation thereto would be greatly appreciated. Important context: This text is aimed at people who aren't kind people at heart but who need to blend in with society. Maybe they just don't want to be hobos like in Patrick Suskind's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. If you find yourself here, you should have already exhausted all avenues of genuine improvement. Mindset about life and death It matters a lot how you frame things in your mind. Your mental framing frequently carries over into your phrasing, even without

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Electrical Engineering for the Layperson

Mia Rose Winter 9/23/2024

After a long day of nerding on fedi about new chargers that can handle 160W charging in a really small casing I decided to write down some general purpose.. things about how electricity works. Since I've done some explanations to some people and they said they found that info very useful here something made for people not good at math and without a degree in electronics engineering. I will try to explain everything in simpel terms and with analogies, but the last time I done the math was six years ago during my A-Level exams, so any more educated person is free to weight in, just write me on a Platform of your choosing. Whats a Watt When looking at a charger or power supply, or talking about what comes out of a power socket, you will have seen or heard about Volts and Amps and Watts but how does this all go together. Well, basically, W is just V times A, and if you are in the EU your socket always gives you 230V. Doing simple math that means if you want 230W to, for example, charge yo

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