YSK: if you dont have Kagi, the next best thing is to search DDG with date range set before 2012 (ish)
Since the internet is now slop, ive been doing this with almost any search, and its sooooo good. Kagi is better, but this is free. I was getting so pissed off with how slopified search has become for everything.
Car repairs, gaming console questions, home repair, recipes, anything like that is SO much better with date range set to around before 2013 ish.
Unless you need the most up to date news, this is a great method. Only downside is remembering to change my search setting every time !
32 replies
Yeah... when you are searching for solutions to linux stuff, looking too back in time can bite you because "that is not used anymore"
but good tip! Thanks
Guys, have you heard of this thing called Bitcoin? You can get a bunch of them for like $3, worth a try to see what happens!
Maybe we could use Bitcoin to buy pizza? I'm sure we won't regret it in 10 years!
Mined 0.5 BTC in 2012. Purchased a TTRPG rulebook worth $40. I never played that TTRPG.
I try not to think about it.
But, how much is the rulebook worth now?
Less!
You can never regret pizza.
We were fucking hungry.
Pretty sure it will go down to under 1$ so I would wait tbh
Yeah if you need up to date os info, this wont help haha
Yeah, but for that there's your distro forum no?
Kinda hard to find info on anything created or changed since 2012 if you do this...
Another is to use ublacklist (if you aren’t already using ublock origin for some inexplicable reason) and add in AI/SEO slop blacklists. They will be filtered out of search.
Oh, and use the wiki redirect extension.
It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a massive improvement for when the information you need is pretty recent.
Also, FYI the Kagi browser is great.
What is a good AI slop blacklist, if you could point me to one :)
https://github.com/laylavish/uBlockOrigin-HUGE-AI-Blocklist?tab=readme-ov-file
Thank you!
I really do like Orion. I just wish Linux binaries were easy to download.
On desktop Linux, between Helium (relatively new and lightweight, comes with full UBO), Cromite (more hardcore antifingerprinting), and Firefox, I’m quite satisfied.
Fuck kagi, they pay russian yandex. Use Searxng
don't they also pay homophobic brave?
I actually don't know about that
It's really frustrating that everyone is shitty.
Host your own searxng instance on an old pi. Setup Tailscale or other so you can use it away from home.
Just in case anyone isn't aware, another way to prevent AI nonsense while using DDG is to use the alternative url:
https://noai.duckduckgo.com/
Thanks for this.
Im using the app but this made me look into the settings and disable all AI features.
This reminds me that I need to give Kagi a try. Even DDG is getting worse because the internet itself is getting worse.
Kagi user here, I think it’s great and definitely worth its price.
Use searxng
I don't know. Most search engines are ignoring like 50% of my search terms. A date range won't fix that.
Google respects "before:2012" for now at least.
The slop is real and, frankly, hard to read and at the same time a very convenient format for an article. I wouldn't go that far as outright rejecting them, as it's like shooting the messenger. I care more about the message. In practice, I have the reflexive urge to scroll to the Conclusion portion to check if the "slop" resource is worth reading. Don't have the time to read the entirety of all articles.
My default search engine is a Searx instance with specific settings. It's a pain to configure, so that gets saved as a bookmark.
Edit: Bookmarkable URL for OP's suggestion: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%25s&df=1970-01-02..2011-12-31
I've been using Qwant, it's been great. Ecosia is good though.