“in 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.”
I’ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb’s js;dr page:
I have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?
E.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.
You can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.
Regarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:
“All your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.”
Of all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.
However instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration).
Since I wrote “js;dr”, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.
This means it’s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.
You wouldn’t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?
I’ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:
In 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.
There’s a lot more to unpack about what we’ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.
For now I’ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:
Practice Progressive Enhancement.
Build first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.
All content should be readable without scripting.
Links, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.
Scripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support.
Then make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.
If it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last.
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-03-10 19:55-0700",
"url": "https://tantek.com/2025/069/t1/ten-years-jsdr-javascript-required-didnt-read",
"content": {
"text": "Ten years ago today I coined the shorthand \u201cjs;dr\u201d for \u201cJavaScript required; Didn\u2019t Read\u201d\n\n* https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead\n\nin reference to (primarily content) pages that were empty (or nearly so) without scripts.\n\nSince then js;dr found its way into a book:\n\nPage 88 of \u201cInclusive Design Patterns\u201d by @heydonworks.com (@[email\u00a0protected])\n\n\nand stickers!\n\n\n\nAt the time I made the claim that:\n\n\u201cin 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\u201d\n\nI\u2019ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb\u2019s js;dr page:\n\n* https://indieweb.org/js;dr\n\nI have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?\n\nE.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.\n\nThe one almost exception I found was Facebook, e.g. this Smashing Magazine post on Facebook barely renders some content and all commentary is missing, in the earliest (2019) version saved on the Internet Archive:\n* https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490\n\nYou can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.\n\n\nRegarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:\n\n\u201cAll your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.\u201d\n\nOf all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.\n\nHowever instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration). \n\nSince I wrote \u201cjs;dr\u201d, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.\n\nThis means it\u2019s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.\n\nYou wouldn\u2019t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?\n\n\nI\u2019ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:\n\n\nIn 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\n\n\nThere\u2019s a lot more to unpack about what we\u2019ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.\n\n\nFor now I\u2019ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:\n\n\nPractice Progressive Enhancement. \n\nBuild first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.\n\nAll content should be readable without scripting.\n\nLinks, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.\n\nScripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support. \n\nThen make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.\n\n\nIf it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last.",
"html": "Ten years ago today I coined the shorthand \u201cjs;dr\u201d for \u201cJavaScript required; Didn\u2019t Read\u201d<br /><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead\">https://tantek.com/2015/069/t1/js-dr-javascript-required-dead</a><br /><br />in reference to (primarily content) pages that were empty (or nearly so) without scripts.<br /><br />Since then js;dr found its way into a book:<br /><br />Page 88 of \u201cInclusive Design Patterns\u201d by <a href=\"https://heydonworks.com\">@heydonworks.com</a> (<a href=\"https://front-end.social/@heydon\">@<span>[email\u00a0protected]</span></a>)<br /><br /><a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190405121431/https://twitter.com/jkphl/status/792452368562618369\"><img alt=\"Cropped photo of part of page 88 of Inclusive Design Patterns at an angle\" src=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190405121448im_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cv9bNjYW8AAHOac.jpg\" /></a><br />and stickers!<br /><br /><a href=\"https://kvalhe.im/@andrew/103211689652698610\"><img alt=\"A hand holding about a dozen stickers with the \u201cjs;dr\u201d in black on white text die-cut around the edges of the lettering\" src=\"https://andrew.kvalhe.im/+gcs1iho7eqcknyiqxtjm5qadxi366ewu?x=.jpg\" /></a><br /><br />At the time I made the claim that:<br /><br />\u201cin 10 years nothing you built today that depends on JS for the content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.\u201d<br /><br />I\u2019ve seen and documented many such sites, built with a hard dependency on scripting, that end up dead and unarchived. Many of these have been documented on the IndieWeb\u2019s js;dr page:<br /><br />* <a href=\"https://indieweb.org/js;dr\">https://indieweb.org/js;dr</a><br /><br />I have to ask though: does anyone remember building a site 10 years ago (Internet Archive citation) with a Javascript library/framework dependency to display content, that still works today?<br /><br />E.g. using one of the popular libraries/frameworks used to build such sites back then like AngularJS (discontinued 2022), Backbone.js, Ember.js, or even React which was still quite new at the time.<br /><br />The one almost exception I found was Facebook, e.g. this Smashing Magazine post on Facebook barely renders some content and all commentary is missing, in the earliest (2019) version saved on the Internet Archive:<br />* <a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490\">https://web.archive.org/web/20191123225253/https://www.facebook.com/smashmag/posts/10153198367332490</a><br /><br />You can extract the direct Facebook link if you want to try viewing it in the present.<br /><br /><br />Regarding those libraries/frameworks themselves, I wrote:<br /><br />\u201cAll your fancy front-end-JS-required frameworks are dead to history, a mere evolutionary blip in web app development practices. Perhaps they provided interesting ephemeral prototypes, nothing more.\u201d<br /><br />Of all those listed above, only React has grown since, likely at the expense of the others.<br /><br />However instead of fewer such libraries and frameworks today, it seems we have many more (though it feels like their average hypespan is getting shorter with each iteration). <br /><br />Since I wrote \u201cjs;dr\u201d, the web has only become more fragile, with ever more dependencies on scripting just to display text content. The irony here is that Javascript, like XML, has draconian parsing rules. One syntax error and the whole script is thrown out.<br /><br />This means it\u2019s far too easy for any such JS-dependent site to break, in one or more browsers, whenever browsers change, or Javascript changes, or both.<br /><br />You wouldn\u2019t build a site today (or 20 years ago) that depends on fragile draconian XML parsing, so why build a site that depends on fragile draconian Javascript parsing?<br /><br /><br />I\u2019ll repeat my claim from ten years ago, slightly amended, and shortened:<br /><br /><br />In 5 years nothing you (personally, not a publicly traded company) build today that depends on Javascript in the browser to display content will be available, visible, or archived anywhere on the web.<br /><br /><br />There\u2019s a lot more to unpack about what we\u2019ve collectively lost in the past ten years of fragile scripting-dependent site-deaths, and why web developers are choosing to build more fragile websites than they did 10 or certainly 20 years ago.<br /><br /><br />For now I\u2019ll leave you with a few positive encouragements:<br /><br /><br />Practice Progressive Enhancement. <br /><br />Build first and foremost with forgiving technologies, declarative technologies, and forward and backward compatible coding techniques.<br /><br />All content should be readable without scripting.<br /><br />Links, buttons, text fields, and any other interactive HTML elements should all work without scripting.<br /><br />Scripts are great for providing an enhanced user experience, or additional functionality such as offline support. <br /><br />Then make sure to test your pages and sites without scripts, to make sure they still work.<br /><br /><br />If it's worth building on the web, it's worth building it robustly, and building it to last."
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Tantek \u00c7elik",
"url": "https://tantek.com/",
"photo": "https://tantek.com/photo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "44159566",
"_source": "2460"
}
{
"type": "event",
"name": "\ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f The Level Up",
"published": "2025-03-08T22:30:00-0400",
"start": "2025-03-08T22:30:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/03/08/the-level-up/",
"featured": "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmarty/image/fetch/w_960,c_fill/https://media.martymcgui.re/18/c2/f5/ec/a054f44e92d9baa77a45abca345c8c7642995b16056a1d8b79de221d.jpg",
"category": [
"improv",
"show"
],
"location": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Magnet Theater",
"url": "https://magnettheater.com/"
},
"content": {
"text": "The Level Up is an indie improv showcase. Join us as we watch amazing New York indie improv talents gain XP on the Magnet stage, unlock new achievements, and reach new milestones. Or do comedy.\n\nCome support Michael as he dons his hosting-duties cap for three exciting indie teams:\nHalalrious\nIncognito\nThorn and Petal Stick\nI\u2019ll be playing in with Michael and the rest of the Level Up!\nLooking forward to it! And to seeing you there!! (Yes, you. Come on out!!!)\nSaturday March 8th, 2025 @ 10:30pm\n\nMagnet Theater\n\n254 West 29th St (btwn 7th and 8th Ave.)\n\nNew York City, NY 10001\n\nTickets $10: https://magnettheater.com/show/59432/",
"html": "<blockquote>\n<p>The Level Up is an indie improv showcase. Join us as we watch amazing New York indie improv talents gain XP on the Magnet stage, unlock new achievements, and reach new milestones. Or do comedy.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Come support Michael as he dons his hosting-duties cap for three exciting indie teams:</p>\n<ul><li>Halalrious</li>\n<li>Incognito</li>\n<li>Thorn and Petal Stick</li>\n</ul><p>I\u2019ll be playing in with Michael and the rest of the Level Up!</p>\n<p>Looking forward to it! And to seeing you there!! (Yes, you. Come on out!!!)</p>\n<p>Saturday March 8th, 2025 @ 10:30pm<br />\nMagnet Theater<br />\n254 West 29th St (btwn 7th and 8th Ave.)<br />\nNew York City, NY 10001<br />\nTickets $10: <a href=\"https://magnettheater.com/show/59432/\">https://magnettheater.com/show/59432/</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "event",
"_id": "44152684",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250308/car-loans-are-insane",
"published": "2025-03-08T19:46:58-08:00",
"content": {
"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://thehill.com/business/5183840-late-car-payments-record-high/\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>\u201cHigher car prices combined with higher interest rates have driven monthly payments upward and have put pressure on consumers across the income and credit score spectrum,\u201d researchers at the New York Fed wrote.</p>\n\n<p>The cost of buying a new car has risen more than $10,000 since the pandemic, from roughly $38,000 in January 2020 to more than $48,500 in January 2025, according to Cox Automotive data.</p>\n\n<p>Elevated interest rates have added to the pain, pushing up the cost of financing in recent years.</p>\n\n<p>The average monthly payment for a new car loan was $755 in January \u2014 down from the $795 peak in December 2022 but well above the $566 average in 2019, per Cox Automotive.</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>$755 a month?!</strong> \ud83e\udd2f</p>\n\n<p>I have absolutely no idea how anyone can afford that.</p>\n\n<p>The most I ever paid for a car payment was somewhere in the $300s\u2014and that wasn\u2019t even for a new car but a used (pre-owned from the dealer). And that was <em>quite</em> the stretch at times, let me tell you. I thankfully paid off the loan a few years ago and I thankfully still own the car. It\u2019s the second car I <em>ever</em> bought in my life. I will run this car straight into the ground (hopefully long into the future).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Car pricing has gone completely insane.</strong> We need <em>small, cheap EVs</em> (sub-$20,000) and we need them yesterday. (Also yet another plug for the miracle of <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/micromobility\">#micromobility</a>.)</p>",
"text": "\u201cHigher car prices combined with higher interest rates have driven monthly payments upward and have put pressure on consumers across the income and credit score spectrum,\u201d researchers at the New York Fed wrote.\n\nThe cost of buying a new car has risen more than $10,000 since the pandemic, from roughly $38,000 in January 2020 to more than $48,500 in January 2025, according to Cox Automotive data.\n\nElevated interest rates have added to the pain, pushing up the cost of financing in recent years.\n\nThe average monthly payment for a new car loan was $755 in January \u2014 down from the $795 peak in December 2022 but well above the $566 average in 2019, per Cox Automotive.\n\n\n\n$755 a month?! \ud83e\udd2f\n\nI have absolutely no idea how anyone can afford that.\n\nThe most I ever paid for a car payment was somewhere in the $300s\u2014and that wasn\u2019t even for a new car but a used (pre-owned from the dealer). And that was quite the stretch at times, let me tell you. I thankfully paid off the loan a few years ago and I thankfully still own the car. It\u2019s the second car I ever bought in my life. I will run this car straight into the ground (hopefully long into the future).\n\nCar pricing has gone completely insane. We need small, cheap EVs (sub-$20,000) and we need them yesterday. (Also yet another plug for the miracle of #micromobility.)"
},
"name": "Link: There's Never Been a World in Which I Could Have Afforded This",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44138309",
"_source": "2783"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250307/dems-are-so-fucked",
"published": "2025-03-07T22:43:59-08:00",
"content": {
"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://www.axios.com/2025/03/06/trump-speech-congress-democrats-disrupt\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>House Democratic leadership is privately confronting members who disrupted President Trump\u2019s speech to Congress, Axios has learned.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Many progressives defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries\u2019 (D-N.Y.) request to avoid making themselves the story.</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Serious question, has Hakeem Jeffries actually DONE <em>anything</em> useful lately? The guy seems like an empty suit to me. I find myself nodding off anytime he\u2019s being asked questions in an interview.</p>\n\n<p>Can we pleeeeuuzze just put AOC & Jasmine Crockett in charge of this party?! They\u2019re the <em>only people</em>* who have <em>any</em> star power whatsoever at this point. Everyone else is a <strong>snoozefest</strong>, and Trump goes through right through them like tinfoil. <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/politics\">#politics</a></p>\n\n<p>* Or Pete Buttigieg, but he doesn\u2019t hold any elected office at the moment. That fella is <em>outrageously talented.</em></p>",
"text": "House Democratic leadership is privately confronting members who disrupted President Trump\u2019s speech to Congress, Axios has learned.\n\nWhy it matters: Many progressives defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries\u2019 (D-N.Y.) request to avoid making themselves the story.\n\n\n\nSerious question, has Hakeem Jeffries actually DONE anything useful lately? The guy seems like an empty suit to me. I find myself nodding off anytime he\u2019s being asked questions in an interview.\n\nCan we pleeeeuuzze just put AOC & Jasmine Crockett in charge of this party?! They\u2019re the only people* who have any star power whatsoever at this point. Everyone else is a snoozefest, and Trump goes through right through them like tinfoil. #politics\n\n* Or Pete Buttigieg, but he doesn\u2019t hold any elected office at the moment. That fella is outrageously talented."
},
"name": "Link: \u201cCome to Jesus Meeting\u201d to Keep House Dems in Line",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44131379",
"_source": "2783"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-03-07T22:35:08-08:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/8719-DuckDuckGo-has-DuckDuckWent-all-in-on-AI",
"category": [
"search",
"AI",
"enshittification"
],
"name": "DuckDuckGo has DuckDuckWent all-in on AI",
"content": {
"text": "DuckDuckGo has been slowly rolling out AI \u201cfeatures,\u201d and now they\u2019ve decided to triple down on them.\n\nSo now for me they\u2019re DuckDuckGone.\n\nI\u2019m using Startpage for now. The search results are Okay. Not as good as DDG\u2019s were, but, sigh.",
"html": "<p>DuckDuckGo has been slowly rolling out AI \u201cfeatures,\u201d and now they\u2019ve decided to <a href=\"https://spreadprivacy.com/ai-feature-upgrade/\">triple down on them</a>.</p><p>So now for me they\u2019re DuckDuckGone.</p><p>I\u2019m using <a href=\"https://startpage.com/\">Startpage</a> for now. The search results are Okay. Not as good as DDG\u2019s were, but, sigh.</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44130509",
"_source": "2778"
}
I will never forgive the tech industry for what it has done to the world I was brought up into as a technologist.
I was literally raised by a programmer. My dad was a Unix guy long before I ever knew what Unix is. No joke, I’d heard of SGML before I’d heard of HTML. To this day I don’t consider myself much of a Vim whiz, but the reason I even know how to use it is because I first cut my teeth on Vi. I supposed if my dad had been into Emacs, I would have learned that instead!
I had already been a computer user—and budding programmer myself—for literally a decade before I even encountered the #OpenWeb on top of this newfangled thing called the Internet. I like to joke I was already using a computer when I was 2 years old. I’m not sure if that’s strictly speaking true, but close enough!
I say all this because you deserve the preamble to my pricipal statement: as someone in their 40s who’s been a hard-core computer nerd for nearly that long, I find the end result of the now vast corporations in control of said computer field to be deplorable, ghastly, boneheaded, ludicrous, and fucking absurd.
I can barely even stomach anything Apple is churning out these days, and they’re one of the least disagreeable firms if you can believe it.
This isn’t “old man yells at cloud”. Because the truth is, there’s actually tons of awesome technology being worked on and demonstrated every day. And the Web itself is a marvel of engineering, better now than it’s ever been and capable of oh so much.
So if there’s so much good tech available, how come there is so much bad tech thrown in our faces at the exact same time? We can all offer some plausible answers to that question, but in the end it doesn’t matter much. This is the world we now live in. Oodles of good tech, surrounded and nearly infected by a veritable flood of very bad tech.
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250306/i-will-never-forgive-the-tech-industry",
"published": "2025-03-06T19:36:34-08:00",
"content": {
"html": "<p>I will <em>never forgive</em> the tech industry for what it has done to the world I was brought up into as a technologist.</p>\n\n<p><strong>I was literally raised by a programmer.</strong> My dad was a Unix guy long before I ever knew what Unix is. No joke, I\u2019d heard of <strong>SGML</strong> before I\u2019d heard of <strong>HTML</strong>. To this day I don\u2019t consider myself much of a Vim whiz, but the reason I even know how to use it is because I first cut my teeth on Vi. I supposed if my dad had been into Emacs, I would have learned that instead!</p>\n\n<p>I had already been a computer user\u2014and budding programmer myself\u2014for literally a decade before I even encountered the <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/openweb\">#OpenWeb</a> on top of this newfangled thing called the Internet. I like to joke I was already using a computer when I was 2 years old. I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s strictly speaking true, but <em>close enough!</em></p>\n\n<p>I say all this because you deserve the preamble to my pricipal statement: as someone in their 40s <em>who\u2019s been a hard-core computer nerd for nearly that long</em>, I find the end result of the now vast corporations in control of said computer field to be <strong>deplorable</strong>, <strong>ghastly</strong>, <strong>boneheaded</strong>, <strong>ludicrous</strong>, and <strong>fucking absurd</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I can barely even stomach anything Apple is churning out these days, and they\u2019re one of the <em>least</em> disagreeable firms if you can believe it.</p>\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t \u201cold man yells at cloud\u201d. Because the truth is, there\u2019s actually <em>tons</em> of <strong>awesome technology</strong> being worked on and demonstrated every day. And the Web itself is a marvel of engineering, better now than it\u2019s ever been and capable of oh so much.</p>\n\n<p>So if there\u2019s so much <strong>good tech</strong> available, how come there is so much <strong>bad tech</strong> thrown in our faces at the exact same time? We can all offer some plausible answers to that question, but in the end it doesn\u2019t matter much. <strong>This is the world we now live in.</strong> Oodles of good tech, surrounded and nearly infected by a veritable flood of <em>very bad tech</em>.</p>\n\n<p>And I nearly can\u2019t stand it. \u2639\ufe0f</p>",
"text": "I will never forgive the tech industry for what it has done to the world I was brought up into as a technologist.\n\nI was literally raised by a programmer. My dad was a Unix guy long before I ever knew what Unix is. No joke, I\u2019d heard of SGML before I\u2019d heard of HTML. To this day I don\u2019t consider myself much of a Vim whiz, but the reason I even know how to use it is because I first cut my teeth on Vi. I supposed if my dad had been into Emacs, I would have learned that instead!\n\nI had already been a computer user\u2014and budding programmer myself\u2014for literally a decade before I even encountered the #OpenWeb on top of this newfangled thing called the Internet. I like to joke I was already using a computer when I was 2 years old. I\u2019m not sure if that\u2019s strictly speaking true, but close enough!\n\nI say all this because you deserve the preamble to my pricipal statement: as someone in their 40s who\u2019s been a hard-core computer nerd for nearly that long, I find the end result of the now vast corporations in control of said computer field to be deplorable, ghastly, boneheaded, ludicrous, and fucking absurd.\n\nI can barely even stomach anything Apple is churning out these days, and they\u2019re one of the least disagreeable firms if you can believe it.\n\nThis isn\u2019t \u201cold man yells at cloud\u201d. Because the truth is, there\u2019s actually tons of awesome technology being worked on and demonstrated every day. And the Web itself is a marvel of engineering, better now than it\u2019s ever been and capable of oh so much.\n\nSo if there\u2019s so much good tech available, how come there is so much bad tech thrown in our faces at the exact same time? We can all offer some plausible answers to that question, but in the end it doesn\u2019t matter much. This is the world we now live in. Oodles of good tech, surrounded and nearly infected by a veritable flood of very bad tech.\n\nAnd I nearly can\u2019t stand it. \u2639\ufe0f"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "44118630",
"_source": "2783"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250305/who-has-the-agency",
"published": "2025-03-05T20:16:40-08:00",
"content": {
"html": "<blockquote>\n <h2><a href=\"https://peertube.dair-institute.org/w/nhZ4aDsAQ7z5giGKFcC9yS\"></a></h2>\n\n <p>In the weeks since January 20, the US information ecosystem has been unraveling fast. (We\u2019re looking at you Denali, Gulf of Mexico, and every holiday celebrating people of color and queer people that used to be on Google Calendar.) As the country\u2019s unelected South African tech billionaire continues to run previously secure government data through highly questionable LLMs, academic librarian Raina Bloom joins Emily and Alex for a talk about how we organize knowledge, and what happens when generative AI degrades or poison the systems that keep us all accurately \u2013 and contextually \u2013 informed.</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been wanting to link to an episode of <em>Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000</em> for some time now, and <strong>this one seemed particularly noteworthy</strong> as the hosts and their lively guest really dove down deep into questions of fact-finding, truth-telling, and what it means to have legitimate authority as a conveyer of educational and informative information.</p>\n\n<p>Why are the Big Tech companies behind today\u2019s <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/generativeai\">#generativeAI</a> chatbots ascribing \u201cagency\u201d to technologies which cannot and will not ever posses such an attribute? And why do people credulously consider these \u201csynthetic text extruders\u201d (to use a phrase often heard on the show) to be conveying anything resembling a point of view wholly separate from the providers of such services?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Well worth the watch</strong> (<a href=\"https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/16735740-the-war-on-knowledge-with-raina-bloom-2025-02-24\">or the listen if you so prefer</a>).</p>",
"text": "In the weeks since January 20, the US information ecosystem has been unraveling fast. (We\u2019re looking at you Denali, Gulf of Mexico, and every holiday celebrating people of color and queer people that used to be on Google Calendar.) As the country\u2019s unelected South African tech billionaire continues to run previously secure government data through highly questionable LLMs, academic librarian Raina Bloom joins Emily and Alex for a talk about how we organize knowledge, and what happens when generative AI degrades or poison the systems that keep us all accurately \u2013 and contextually \u2013 informed.\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve been wanting to link to an episode of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 for some time now, and this one seemed particularly noteworthy as the hosts and their lively guest really dove down deep into questions of fact-finding, truth-telling, and what it means to have legitimate authority as a conveyer of educational and informative information.\n\nWhy are the Big Tech companies behind today\u2019s #generativeAI chatbots ascribing \u201cagency\u201d to technologies which cannot and will not ever posses such an attribute? And why do people credulously consider these \u201csynthetic text extruders\u201d (to use a phrase often heard on the show) to be conveying anything resembling a point of view wholly separate from the providers of such services?\n\nWell worth the watch (or the listen if you so prefer)."
},
"name": "Link: Agents: Uh, Who Actually Has the Agency?",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "44109367",
"_source": "2783"
}
