Reddit is Dropping AMP


Whoops - looks like some of the changes we were planning got out of the bag a bit early - yes, the change to compact and i.reddit.com is part of this project. We also intend to deprecate the amp platform this year. We are making these changes in an effort to streamline the experience and reduce the number of ways you can access Reddit on the web. This is part of our broader effort to simplify reddit talked about earlier this month. The changes that happened today to i.reddit.com and compact, and the ones coming to amp do not impact old.reddit.

As part of its continuing quest to alienate all its long-time users provide a better user experience to everyone, Reddit recently announced a slew of changes. Buried in amongst all the hullabaloo from whinging ungrateful brats thoughtful comments from people with justifiable concerns, was this snippet from a Reddit employee: An Improved Web Experience - […]

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Who is the author "JC Shakespeare"?


Screenshot of Google Scholar results. Shakespeare has, apparently, written about law, technology, wine, and an article in German.

Knowledge graphs are tricky beasts to create. Trying to extract semantic metadata from documents is a gargantuan task. Mix them together and you have a recipe for disaster. While yak-shaving for my MSc, I found an interesting looking research paper authored by one JC Shakespeare. As you can probably tell from that snippet, there is […]

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Failing at reporting Android bugs


Android logo.

I try to write good bug reports, I really do. I fill out templates when asked. I try to include reproducible proof of the bug. I'll even give a screenshot or screen recording to prove I'm not making things up. If I'm familiar enough with the programming language, I'll also attempt to say roughly where […]

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Google's AI Doesn't Understand Restaurant Menus


Chicken Tika Massala listed for £1,990.

In the glorious future, every website will be chock-full of semantic metadata. Restaurants won't have a 50MB PDF explaining the chef's vision for organic cuisine - instead, they'll have little scraps of data on the HTML page like: "hasMenuItem":{ "@type":"MenuItem", "name":"Dodo In A Bun", "description":"The legendary extinct bird cooked in tomato sauce, served in a […]

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There's no way to report spam on Google Drive


Recently, I've been getting a lot of spam notifications from Google Drive. Here's a sample: The notifications come direct to my Android phone via the Drive app - they don't appear in my Gmail spam folder. There is no way to report the abuse. If I go to the list of notification in the Android […]

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What's the lowest positive integer for which there are no Google search results?


Google search page showing no results.

I found this rather humorous Tweet in which a computer issued a cheque for £2,324,252,080,110: Gareth Hughes@gh230277Thank you for our compensation payment @Northpowergrid for the several days we were without power following #stormarwen Before I bank the cheque however, are you 100% certain you can afford this? #trillionpounds pic.x.com/z5mnc2nxl1❤️ 51,914💬 2,191♻️ 011:52 - Sat 12 […]

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How to migrate Google For Your Domain to normal Gmail


The Gmail icon.

Google has decided to fuck over its early adopters. Way back in 2006, Google announced Google Apps for Your Domain. Basically it was Gmail - but you could use your own domain. No more example@gmail.com now you could be me@example.com. Hurrah! At the time, they said: organizations that sign up during the beta period will […]

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Responsible Disclosure: Chrome security bug let tabs draw over each other ($1k bounty)


The Google Logo.

Chrome for Android had a flaw which let one tab draw over another - even if the tabs were on completely different domains. A determined attacker might have been able to abuse this to convince a user to download and installed a spoofed app. See Chrome Bug #1242315 for details. Demo Here's a video of […]

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What does Google think the minimum wage is?


Graph showing the rise in minimum wage in Euros.

There's been several long threads recently on Google's crappy info-box. Google doesn't want you to leave the Google page, so Google slurps information up and presents you an answer on the Google homepage. Here's what it typically looks like. OK, that's kinda useful. Search for a thing and get the info without clicking through. But […]

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Porn Spam on Google Maps


Screenshot of Loch Ness on Google Maps.

User Generated Content is great, innit? As a company, I want users to submit photos, so I don't have to do any content curation. Moderation? Nah mate, stick some AI on there to filter out anything offensive and we're golden. *sigh* James Whatley (inactive)@WhatleydudeSurprised Loch Ness isn't trending tbqh.❤️ 8💬 0♻️ 021:36 - Sat 07 […]

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