Recent posts

#51

Off the Record / Re: Brexit and the waning days...

Last post by garbon - December 29, 2025, 01:56:49 AM

I just saw at end of Feb 2026, the UK will finally enforced its ETA scheme. Dual nationals will need to enter UK on their British passport. Given US requires me to enter and exit US on an American passport, looks like this will be first time that UK and US requirements directly conflict. I wonder what guidance will eventually say.

#52

Computer Affairs / Re: Alternative search engines

Last post by garbon - December 29, 2025, 01:22:22 AM

I use duckduckgo on my phone and find it less annoying than google... but not so much better that I've switched on my computer.

Yeah that's been my same experience. It is alright on my phone but nothing I find great.

I use Bing, as I can donate to charity for using it.

The results alsi seem less scam-financed and fewer social media posts.

I'm worried with Bing that Microsoft is all in on AI so it will be pretty AI heavy.

I did just find and try Startpage. Here's summary of what I just saw when doing head to head search on the following: history of the mongols

Google - That wretched AI overview, followed by a couple links (wikipedia and britannica). Then it was those dreadful dropdowns of questions I had not asked and when you clicked arrow to show answers, all AI summaries. Then a few links before another set of dropdown questions followed by what people were saying on social media. Though it did also have some links to university pages on the topic on first page though buried after the aforementioned dross.

Bing - First thing was a dashboard created by co-pilot. It did feel a little less annoying than google's AI overview but still a rose by another name... Did then quickly get me to links of webpages and some videos I could watch on youtube. Annoyingly some sort of interface opened at the bottom asking me to refine my search with copilot. No hits from university webpages until page 3 of search results.

Startpage - gave me 3 ads, 2 to buy books on the mongols (one was Amazon but had picked a specific title) and then 1 for watching a show about the Mongols. Then just hits where I could learn about the history of the mongols. (it did have something on right suggesting their AI offer but with one click it disappeared). Also when I refreshed the page, the ads disappeared or when went back to search turned into just one row of books I could buy ahead of the links. Had university sites on the topic on first page.

Qwant - gave me 2 ads, one about shopping on Amazon, one on great deals on Ebay. Lots of ads on the far right. Refreshing added 2 more ads, one for appcrazy (?) and some site on teaching materials (teacherspayteachers.com). Did have university sites on first page.

Duckduckgo - gave me 3 ads, one shopping on Amazon (looks like possibly specific title), one on thriftbooks and one on Secret History of the Mongols on ebay. Next it had an AI generated summary before letting me have links I was looking for. Unlike google, you can click to tell it to never give AI generated summaries. Did have university sites on first page.

From this simple test looks like Startpage and Duckduckgo feel a little less clunky than google/bing and don't have the bizarre ads of qwant. Will need to look deeper at the quality of results it provides as less cluttered page isn't great if it doesn't give relevant results.

#53

Off the Record / Re: Dead Pool 2025

Last post by Razgovory - December 28, 2025, 11:30:36 PM

One of the worst person in the French film industry.

Better or worse than Gérard Depardieu?

Which one had bigger tits?

#54

Off the Record / Re: Youtube Recommendations

Last post by viper37 - December 28, 2025, 10:59:36 PM

Die Hard, judged by 2025 law:

I really like this lightee stuff from Legal Eagle.

#55

Off the Record / Re: Dead Pool 2025

Last post by crazy canuck - December 28, 2025, 06:47:05 PM

Run of the mill?

#56

Computer Affairs / Re: Alternative search engines

Last post by mongers - December 28, 2025, 06:18:37 PM

I use Bing, as I can donate to charity for using it.

The results alsi seem less scam-financed and fewer social media posts.

#57

Computer Affairs / Re: Alternative search engines

Last post by Jacob - December 28, 2025, 05:23:20 PM

I use duckduckgo on my phone and find it less annoying than google... but not so much better that I've switched on my computer.

#58

Computer Affairs / Alternative search engines

Last post by garbon - December 28, 2025, 04:34:05 PM

I have been getting annoyed with Google lately as it covers its search results with ai summaries (the overview and those similar question drop downs with ai summary).

It used to be great but feels like I need to scroll past more things to find answers.

That got me thinking as to whether there are any viable alternatives. Today I've started trying qwant which has some odd add results at top (searching pugs told me to shop for pugs on Amazon) but results after that were cleaner.

Any others that you have tried/regularly use?

#59

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by HVC - December 28, 2025, 02:33:20 PM

A bad crepe is better than a bad pancake, but a good pancake is better than a good crepe.

#60

Off the Record / Re: Facebook Follies of Friend...

Last post by Grey Fox - December 28, 2025, 02:31:41 PM

It's just stupid food gate keeping, anyway.

I make crepes for breakfast every Sunday. My kids have them with Nutella, my GF with peanut butter and I like sliced ham. All drenched in maple syrup.