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zip1 commented on Show HN: YouTube Full Text Search – Search all of a channel from the commandline   github.com/NotJoeMartinez... · Posted by u/notjoemartinez
derefr · 3 years ago
I love that a third party is stepping up here, but it's incomprehensible to me that Google doesn't do this themselves. They're a search company, and they own YouTube. The YouTube data — including the subtitle files — is already sitting there on their servers; they don't have to scrape it, they just have to index it. What are they even doing?

Fun thing to try: do a Google search with "site:youtube.com" in it. You get basically nothing, no matter what keywords you use. It seems that Google actually entirely ignores/excludes YouTube from their regular HTML indexing, and instead only relies on the YouTube backend to actively push content into (a special, separate part of) the search index. Which gets you "results from YouTube" and "video search" — but doesn't get you the ability to search youtube videos pages qua web pages. (Consider: you can find a post in a Reddit comment thread on Google. Can you find a post in a YouTube video comments section on Google?)

Heck, when I first heard about YouTube's autogenerated captions, my first thought was "oh, so this is Google building deep indexing of video through audio transcription, because they can't trust externally-provided subtitles, right?" But it's been 10 years, and I couldn't have been more wrong.

zip1 · 3 years ago
It's quite intriguing that Google doesn't offer full-text search capabilities for YouTube, considering its position as a leading search company. However, I think there are several reasons for this, some of which may not be immediately apparent.

Firstly, if Google did offer this feature, it would likely be targeted by Search Engine Optimization (SEO) exploits. In essence, any time a new search parameter is introduced, there's a risk of it being manipulated to prioritize certain content—especially by those interested in gaming the system for increased visibility or monetary gain. If YouTube's search feature were to be plagued by such spamming, it could severely degrade the user experience and lead to Google having to strip it away. While not a guarantee, it's a probable outcome given the history of SEO misuse.

Secondly, YouTube's primary focus is on its recommendation algorithm rather than search functionality. With billions of videos hosted, the key goal is to keep users engaged by serving up content they're likely to enjoy, thereby increasing view times and ad revenue. The search feature, while useful, is not as integral to this objective. Further, offering full-text search could provide yet another avenue to manipulate the algorithm, which YouTube surely wants to avoid.

Finally, implementing and maintaining such a feature would require substantial resources. It would necessitate hiring teams of high-salaried employees to moderate and ensure fair use of the feature, adding considerable operational costs. Considering these factors, it seems that Google has made a strategic decision to avoid this feature for now.

That said, the fact that third-party solutions are emerging, such as the one shared here, shows that there's a demand for full-text search capabilities. It also underscores the potential that these solutions have when unencumbered by the constraints faced by a tech giant like Google. This provides a fascinating insight into the dynamic relationship between third-party developers and tech corporations and the way they can complement each other.

zip1 commented on Intimate portraits of a hospital Covid unit from a photojournalist-turned-nurse   npr.org/sections/health-s... · Posted by u/tzs
zip1 · 4 years ago
I love what this nurse is doing. Something that doesn’t come through is how loud the air purifiers are in make-shift negative pressure rooms. The smell of incontinence. Foggy face shields and sweaty isolation gowns.
zip1 commented on Ask HN: How did you correct your sleep patterns?    · Posted by u/behnamoh
zip1 · 4 years ago
Personally, the same advice to manage depression applies to managing better sleep: exercise, engage in body/mind-healthy habits. My bed room has all the tricks too: LED lights taped over, black out curtains, a Home Assistant automation for simulating sunrise with Hue bulbs. It has been a challenge.

Secondly, no caffeine after noon time on a work night.

When I started my first job, I went to the doctor for a sleep aid, he prescribed trazodone 100mg. I was anxious about falling asleep and being well rested for work. I used it for a couple of weeks and it helped me get on track. I did not like the side effects of drowsiness in the AM so I stopped, even when I took a half-dose. I am now getting good sleep for the past half-year because I adhere to good habits, not because I'm cured. I think it will always be a challenge, so it's a matter of being disciplined

zip1 commented on Open-source photo gallery with cloud backup and end-to-end encryption   stingle.org/... · Posted by u/wh33zle
blfr · 5 years ago
Is there something like this but self-hosted? Data encrypted on the client with a good client for Android (and maybe Linux), simple sharing feature for selected items.

Free/Libre Google Photos, basically.

zip1 · 5 years ago
I use a non-free self hosted app called PhotoStructure https://photostructure.com/. It is currently in beta and I hope to see it grow in features in the future, mainly sharing. It feels a lot like Google Photos or Apple Photos. What I like is it presents all of my photos (which I took with my mirrorless camera) in a neat presentation with a random sample––I’ve re-discovered so many memories this way.
zip1 commented on Google Maps is filled with false business addresses pretending to be nearby   wsj.com/articles/google-m... · Posted by u/JumpCrisscross
lifeisstillgood · 7 years ago
This seems like one of those problems that can be solved realtively easily with crowd-sourcing. A kind of "verified purchase' but in real life. Open your Google Maps app while standing in the law firm's offices - and click 'yes I can see them' Maybe a photo.

Tie it perhaps to a UUID sent to the business owner (similar to adding a UUID to your DNS TXT record)

And even the reverse is possible, I could vouch that there is no law firm at this location - if I owned the building I probably would want to ensure that it only had registered businesses there.

zip1 · 7 years ago
In the Google Maps app there is a button that lets you confirm/check-in your visit at a business. Also, you can confirm visits in the Timeline feature.

I don't know why those features are there or what Google is using the information for, but it seems like it could be used to verify businesses by crowd-sourcing.

u/zip1

KarmaCake day10July 31, 2018View Original