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"How do I fix some odd setting in Windows, Mac, whatever" 2007: results include documentation, a couple forums, if you're unlucky there's a potentially malware

"How do I fix some odd setting in Windows, Mac, whatever" 2007: results include documentation, a couple forums, if you're unlucky there's a potentially malware tool that's discovered people need to fix this. 2012: results include Reddit and Stack Exchange, documentation has disappeared, forums have opened that are full of "support specialists" telling you to reset your windows install. 2023: top results are just blogspam pushing malware tools and the above-mentioned useless support forums. It's hard to know if Microsoft and Apple even know what their software does. Thankfully Linux-related searches are still useful.

andrewstuart 4y ago
Today, ChatGPT gives you an instant step by step guide which may or may not be correct but will likely get you there.
- pcrh 4y ago
  User: How do I fix large pdf files? ChatGPT: delete system32
  - MikusR 4y ago
    Had to finally register there to check. This was the answer. "There are a few things you can try to fix large PDF files: Compress the PDF: You can use online or offline tools to compress the PDF file. This will reduce the file size and make it easier to work with. Some popular tools for compressing PDFs include Adobe Acrobat, Smallpdf, and PDF Compressor. Remove unnecessary elements: If the PDF file contains images, graphics, or other non-essential elements, you can try removing them. This can significantly reduce the file size. You can use Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editing tools to do this. Split the PDF: If the PDF file contains multiple pages, you can split it into smaller files. This can be done using Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editing tools. Optimize PDF: Many PDF viewers have the option to optimize PDF files. This may include reducing the quality of images or fonts to reduce the file size. You can try using the built-in optimization tools in Adobe Acrobat or other PDF viewers. Use a different file format: If the PDF file is still too large, you may consider using a different file format, such as JPG or PNG for images, or DOCX or RTF for text. This may not always be possible, but it can be a good alternative if the PDF file is causing too many issues. "
    - pcrh 4y ago
      Thanks for doing that! It isn't very helpful, though. Adobe has a method of compressing pdf files that is quite effective while retaining the quality of images, etc, e.g. 50 MB to 3 MB, so you can now email it. However you can only use the free version a few times before it wants all your data as well as the data of your first born. I'm too stingy to pay Adobe... I haven't (yet) found free pdf compression that doesn't mangle images... (would be glad to try any that HN might suggest!).
      - zamadatix 4y ago
        Asking it "What is the best open source software to do option 1" it's first suggestion is Ghostscript, which is actually what I use. It can walk you through installing it and describing how to change the quality of the compression. Or if you prefer the old fashioned way you can just read about it yourself here https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/gs10.0.0/VectorDevices.html#controls-and-features-specific-to-postscript-and-pdf-input https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/gs10.0.0/VectorDevices... the settings are modeled around what Adobe does and names them. I've never really messed with any GUI options though.
  - moffkalast 4y ago
    You no longer have any broken large pdf files, ergo the problem is solved.
    - throwaway742 4y ago
      Technically they are still there.
- mike_hearn 4y ago
  For the last five technical questions I asked ChatGPT every single one yielded an answer that was either wrong or uselessly vague :( I've now given up. You have to cross-check everything against Google anyway so why not just skip straight to that point.
moffkalast 4y ago
> forums have opened that are full of "support specialists" telling you to reset your windows install God this is such a pet peeve, those stupid Microsoft forums especially where the customer reps spend 80% of the comment apologizing and wishing a good day and suggest fuck all. They ought to just pull the plug on the site and let reddit handle their support for free.
- thefourthchime 4y ago
  Apple's official support website is the same. 100% useless feedback from the "Support Specialist". Yet it always shows up at the top of the search result.
- paleotrope 4y ago
  Most of that support is free. It's some weird universe where Microsoft gives out fake credentials (forum badges and crap) to people that don't know what they are doing. These poor people in India and other places are spamming tons of useless "fixes" for internet cred.
- IAmNotACellist 4y ago
  Hello moffkalast, I'm Kevin from the Microsoft Customer Support Team. I'm sorry to hear you're having a problem with Windows 10 support forums today. We're here to help and would like to get this problem resolved for you! I understand that the issue you're currently facing is that "Microsoft forums where the customer reps spend 80% of the comment apologizing" are appearing on your Windows 10 forum search results? Oftentimes unwanted ads or other unexpected configuration changes are caused by unintended software being installed on your computer, or from other errors. Please try the following steps to resolve your issue: 1. Log into your computer. Click on the Start Menu and click Shutdown. Then click reboot. Allow any pending updates to install. If this doesn't work, you can try the following solutions: 1. Log into your computer and click the Start Menu 2. Type "update" into the Search Bar and click Windows Updates 3. Click "check for updates now" and follow the instructions to install any pending updates. If this still doesn't resolve your situation, you can check the following KBs for further help: KB: 324829 - Restore from a System Restore Point KB: 293111 - Update Windows Defender KB: 299024 - Check for Errors using Windows Network Troubleshooter I hope this has helped resolved your problem today. Sincerely, Kevin
izacus 4y ago
You missed the expertsexchange era when they spammed all of Google ^^
- xnx 4y ago
  expertsexchange is on of my favorite ambiguous site names
  - moffkalast 4y ago
    Well you wouldn't want any amateurs doing that for sure.
    - nicoburns 4y ago
      Amateurs can be experts! Amateur just means non-professional
      - monsieurbanana 4y ago
        Oh that's cool, didn't knew that amateur surgeons were a thing :)
        nicoburns 4y ago
        You may also be interested in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon "The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbers, who, possessing razors and coordination indispensable to their trade, were called upon for numerous tasks ranging from cutting hair to amputating limbs."
        moffkalast 4y ago
        How barberic.
worrycue 4y ago
Am I the only one still searching Google primarily though keywords/phrases (and the exclusion of keywords/phrases)? I don't see much degradation in Google's results.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  You're not the only one. If you ask one of those people complaining here to share the query they use, it becomes very quickly very apparent that Google doesn't have a problem at all.
- flenserboy 4y ago
  I keep trying, but the result quality continues to degrade. Most such searches either return nothing, one or two links, or a host of spam. Google is useless except for business phone numbers and hours they are open.
tacker2000 4y ago
Apple forums are also quite bad. Every suggestion is to reset SMC and thats it. The Stack overflow / stack exchange websites are often the only ones where you get useful answers when having any sort of problems regarding the user facing part of the OS. (And also for anything else to be honest. I think 30% of my questions on google are answered by stack exchange websites)
- mike_hearn 4y ago
  Apple's dev forums are actually useful but only because of the mind-bending efforts of superhuman Quinn "The Eskimo!", who appears to have been at Apple since forever, is an actual programmer, gives real answers with meaty information and can even look things up in the source code for you. I've lost track of how often I've needed to learn something obscure about Apple's platforms and ended up at a thread where Quinn gives an answer. I've also filed a DTS incident in the past asking a seriously obscure question I wasn't even meant to ask (to do with their code signing system), and got a detailed and correct response back from Quinn+colleagues very quickly. It was by far the best support experience I ever had from a tech firm. Quinn, if you're out there reading this, I really hope Apple has a succession plan in place for when you take a well deserved retirement!
ajsnigrutin 4y ago
> Thankfully Linux-related searches are still useful. Kinda... but it then gets broken by the developers of the distros. Static ip on raspberrypi? Sure... /etc/network/interfaces! Nope, not anymore, it's dhcpcd.conf now. It took literally a year for the "new way" to get on top of google search results.
- ilyt 4y ago
  /etc/network/interfaces works just fine tho but yeah, the stuff where "right thing to do" changes often can be hard to find. Also "simple stuff" brings more "not really right way but kinda sorta works" answers
- _fat_santa 4y ago
  See I understand that, with Microsoft and Apple support you would get a response along the lines of: "I see you are trying to find the Static IP of your Raspberry Pi, a static IP is a .....<long paragraph describing static ips>. You also have a raspberry pi which is....<long paragraph describing raspberry pi's>. Given all of that I think you should really start by resetting your Raspberry Pi and ensure that your Windows license is up to date.
marcosdumay 4y ago
> Thankfully Linux-related searches are still useful. Mostly if you add an specific distro on your terms. It doesn't have to be your distro, just one that cares about what you are searching. If you just ask for "how do I do X in linux", you will get plenty of spam and a few wrong answers here or there.

andrewstuart 4y ago

Today, ChatGPT gives you an instant step by step guide which may or may not be correct but will likely get you there.

pcrh 4y ago
User: How do I fix large pdf files? ChatGPT: delete system32
- MikusR 4y ago
  Had to finally register there to check. This was the answer. "There are a few things you can try to fix large PDF files: Compress the PDF: You can use online or offline tools to compress the PDF file. This will reduce the file size and make it easier to work with. Some popular tools for compressing PDFs include Adobe Acrobat, Smallpdf, and PDF Compressor. Remove unnecessary elements: If the PDF file contains images, graphics, or other non-essential elements, you can try removing them. This can significantly reduce the file size. You can use Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editing tools to do this. Split the PDF: If the PDF file contains multiple pages, you can split it into smaller files. This can be done using Adobe Acrobat or other PDF editing tools. Optimize PDF: Many PDF viewers have the option to optimize PDF files. This may include reducing the quality of images or fonts to reduce the file size. You can try using the built-in optimization tools in Adobe Acrobat or other PDF viewers. Use a different file format: If the PDF file is still too large, you may consider using a different file format, such as JPG or PNG for images, or DOCX or RTF for text. This may not always be possible, but it can be a good alternative if the PDF file is causing too many issues. "
  - pcrh 4y ago
    Thanks for doing that! It isn't very helpful, though. Adobe has a method of compressing pdf files that is quite effective while retaining the quality of images, etc, e.g. 50 MB to 3 MB, so you can now email it. However you can only use the free version a few times before it wants all your data as well as the data of your first born. I'm too stingy to pay Adobe... I haven't (yet) found free pdf compression that doesn't mangle images... (would be glad to try any that HN might suggest!).
    - zamadatix 4y ago
      Asking it "What is the best open source software to do option 1" it's first suggestion is Ghostscript, which is actually what I use. It can walk you through installing it and describing how to change the quality of the compression. Or if you prefer the old fashioned way you can just read about it yourself here https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/gs10.0.0/VectorDevices.html#controls-and-features-specific-to-postscript-and-pdf-input https://ghostscript.readthedocs.io/en/gs10.0.0/VectorDevices... the settings are modeled around what Adobe does and names them. I've never really messed with any GUI options though.
- moffkalast 4y ago
  You no longer have any broken large pdf files, ergo the problem is solved.
  - throwaway742 4y ago
    Technically they are still there.
mike_hearn 4y ago
For the last five technical questions I asked ChatGPT every single one yielded an answer that was either wrong or uselessly vague :( I've now given up. You have to cross-check everything against Google anyway so why not just skip straight to that point.

moffkalast 4y ago

> forums have opened that are full of "support specialists" telling you to reset your windows install God this is such a pet peeve, those stupid Microsoft forums especially where the customer reps spend 80% of the comment apologizing and wishing a good day and suggest fuck all. They ought to just pull the plug on the site and let reddit handle their support for free.

thefourthchime 4y ago
Apple's official support website is the same. 100% useless feedback from the "Support Specialist". Yet it always shows up at the top of the search result.
paleotrope 4y ago
Most of that support is free. It's some weird universe where Microsoft gives out fake credentials (forum badges and crap) to people that don't know what they are doing. These poor people in India and other places are spamming tons of useless "fixes" for internet cred.
IAmNotACellist 4y ago
Hello moffkalast, I'm Kevin from the Microsoft Customer Support Team. I'm sorry to hear you're having a problem with Windows 10 support forums today. We're here to help and would like to get this problem resolved for you! I understand that the issue you're currently facing is that "Microsoft forums where the customer reps spend 80% of the comment apologizing" are appearing on your Windows 10 forum search results? Oftentimes unwanted ads or other unexpected configuration changes are caused by unintended software being installed on your computer, or from other errors. Please try the following steps to resolve your issue: 1. Log into your computer. Click on the Start Menu and click Shutdown. Then click reboot. Allow any pending updates to install. If this doesn't work, you can try the following solutions: 1. Log into your computer and click the Start Menu 2. Type "update" into the Search Bar and click Windows Updates 3. Click "check for updates now" and follow the instructions to install any pending updates. If this still doesn't resolve your situation, you can check the following KBs for further help: KB: 324829 - Restore from a System Restore Point KB: 293111 - Update Windows Defender KB: 299024 - Check for Errors using Windows Network Troubleshooter I hope this has helped resolved your problem today. Sincerely, Kevin

izacus 4y ago

You missed the expertsexchange era when they spammed all of Google ^^

xnx 4y ago
expertsexchange is on of my favorite ambiguous site names
- moffkalast 4y ago
  Well you wouldn't want any amateurs doing that for sure.
  - nicoburns 4y ago
    Amateurs can be experts! Amateur just means non-professional
    - monsieurbanana 4y ago
      Oh that's cool, didn't knew that amateur surgeons were a thing :)
      - nicoburns 4y ago
        You may also be interested in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_surgeon "The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbers, who, possessing razors and coordination indispensable to their trade, were called upon for numerous tasks ranging from cutting hair to amputating limbs."
        moffkalast 4y ago
        How barberic.

worrycue 4y ago

Am I the only one still searching Google primarily though keywords/phrases (and the exclusion of keywords/phrases)? I don't see much degradation in Google's results.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
You're not the only one. If you ask one of those people complaining here to share the query they use, it becomes very quickly very apparent that Google doesn't have a problem at all.
flenserboy 4y ago
I keep trying, but the result quality continues to degrade. Most such searches either return nothing, one or two links, or a host of spam. Google is useless except for business phone numbers and hours they are open.

tacker2000 4y ago

Apple forums are also quite bad. Every suggestion is to reset SMC and thats it. The Stack overflow / stack exchange websites are often the only ones where you get useful answers when having any sort of problems regarding the user facing part of the OS. (And also for anything else to be honest. I think 30% of my questions on google are answered by stack exchange websites)

mike_hearn 4y ago
Apple's dev forums are actually useful but only because of the mind-bending efforts of superhuman Quinn "The Eskimo!", who appears to have been at Apple since forever, is an actual programmer, gives real answers with meaty information and can even look things up in the source code for you. I've lost track of how often I've needed to learn something obscure about Apple's platforms and ended up at a thread where Quinn gives an answer. I've also filed a DTS incident in the past asking a seriously obscure question I wasn't even meant to ask (to do with their code signing system), and got a detailed and correct response back from Quinn+colleagues very quickly. It was by far the best support experience I ever had from a tech firm. Quinn, if you're out there reading this, I really hope Apple has a succession plan in place for when you take a well deserved retirement!

ajsnigrutin 4y ago

> Thankfully Linux-related searches are still useful. Kinda... but it then gets broken by the developers of the distros. Static ip on raspberrypi? Sure... /etc/network/interfaces! Nope, not anymore, it's dhcpcd.conf now. It took literally a year for the "new way" to get on top of google search results.

ilyt 4y ago
/etc/network/interfaces works just fine tho but yeah, the stuff where "right thing to do" changes often can be hard to find. Also "simple stuff" brings more "not really right way but kinda sorta works" answers
_fat_santa 4y ago
See I understand that, with Microsoft and Apple support you would get a response along the lines of: "I see you are trying to find the Static IP of your Raspberry Pi, a static IP is a .....<long paragraph describing static ips>. You also have a raspberry pi which is....<long paragraph describing raspberry pi's>. Given all of that I think you should really start by resetting your Raspberry Pi and ensure that your Windows license is up to date.

marcosdumay 4y ago

> Thankfully Linux-related searches are still useful. Mostly if you add an specific distro on your terms. It doesn't have to be your distro, just one that cares about what you are searching. If you just ask for "how do I do X in linux", you will get plenty of spam and a few wrong answers here or there.