Daniel Quinn
Shantell PowellThe internet is so fucked. I just looked up how/when to tap birch trees for sap, and the article I found talked about how tapping birches is where maple syrup comes from.
This AI slop is like microplastic. It's polluting everything.
@iveyline@Shanmonster Try AI free DuckDuckGo. No AI slop. Just the Internet as it used to be.
Scotty@Iveyline @Shanmonster I use Duck Duck Go sometimes and it's terrible
M.S. Bellows, Jr.@scozmos @Iveyline @Shanmonster Yeah, I've made it my go-to for most searches but it only provides decent results if the search is ridiculously simple. I'm trying Kagi now.
@msbellows @scozmos @Shanmonster I must have a look. I have tried Qwant but only because it's not Google and not US based.
@Iveyline it's what I used.
Petra van Cronenburg@Iveyline Unfortunately they are also full of AI because they can't effectively filter it. And it's based on Bing ... not so good ...
@NatureMC @Shanmonster What about Qwant?
@Iveyline @Shanmonster Yes, we have alternatives. @Qwant and @ecosia are building together a #EuropeanAlternative to Google.
@NatureMC @Iveyline @[email protected] @[email protected] I just tried Qwant and it's puking up AI-generated results.
@Shanmonster You can easily deactivate it in the settings (at the top right) @Iveyline
@Shanmonster @NatureMC Thanks for that. I tried it because it isn't US based.
@Iveyline ... and as I said, you can desactivate the AI.
Nicolás Alvarez@Iveyline @Shanmonster No AI slop as part of the search engine, but it still takes you to websites that happen to be AI slop.
@nicolas17 @Iveyline that's a constant problem
James Tweedie@Shanmonster Wikipedia (at present) is your friend.
They are keeping things human. Hopefully they can keep doing this but will their human contributors be able to recognise the slop from the Advanced Idiocy machines in future?
They are keeping things human. Hopefully they can keep doing this but will their human contributors be able to recognise the slop from the Advanced Idiocy machines in future?
@MyricaGale At least they have control mechanisms and are aware of the problem.
@Shanmonster I search a lot about nature/science, so my tip is to start with Wikipedia and build bookmarks with real human platforms where you know, it's no slop.
Probably you won't find exact dates because it depends on the region and the weather.
Finding humans who do it in your region, can help.
Short version: Yes, internet search is fucked. The good internet is still there but becomes more and more invisible.
Probably you won't find exact dates because it depends on the region and the weather.
Finding humans who do it in your region, can help.
Short version: Yes, internet search is fucked. The good internet is still there but becomes more and more invisible.
@Shanmonster Just a PS because I live in a region where they collect it: The best time is after the winter frosts when the sap is going up by the first warmer days. And they stop collecting it when the buds open to a small green: then the tree neeeds the sap for itself.
That's a purely human information by farmers.
That's a purely human information by farmers.
@NatureMC I figured it would be when the sap first begins to run. My dad used to run a maple line in the 70s. I was just looking it up because I'm writing a story set in the spring, and I wanted to doublecheck that that was too late to tap birches.
@Shanmonster Ah! Birches have a different sap/weather behaviour than maples. So the link that @natematias has provided here, could be helpful for you: https://blogs.cornell.edu/cornellmaple/about-birch-syrup/
J. Nathan Matias 🦣@Shanmonster Sorry to hear that. Cornell University's Maple Program has a guide for beginners here. We have two research forests, a podcast, video guides, and education programs for anyone who wants to learn first-hand at our spot in the Adirondacks, both for backyard production and larger-scale operations
@natematias Maples are not birches ... 🤫 😎 But the website is fine!
Very true! I shared it in case Shantell was still looking for information on tapping maples.
Fun fact: I do have a bottle of birch syrup- Cornell's Uhlein forest has been tapping them as part of a project to explore and grow the market in the US. It's good on salads and grilled/baked fish!
@natematias Great! The cultural differences are astonishing. In my region (eastern France) as in eastern Europe, we don't heat it for syrup. We drink the fresh sap as a medicine (and it tastes like one). You can buy it in the supermarket but have to keep it refrigerated. It doesn't keep long.
People here believe that the important ingrediences for this "spring detox" get lost by heating. And we stop collecting it when the tree begins to open buds: a way of reciprocity to let keep the tree its
@natematias energy.
BTW, website's like that of Cornell's is what I recommended with the collection of knowledge here: https://mastodon.online/@NatureMC/116606607684536511
I often work with such bookmarks instead of Google.
Sundew@Shanmonster "Information pollution" - I'll be using that phrase a lot I think!
TormodOh dear…
We all know what comes out of birches: nice white latex.
AI will be the end of knowledge.
@airwhale @Shanmonster Okay but my pancakes usually come out pretty rubbery anyway so maybe rubber syrup on top would be a good thing?
\u1f0a1@Shanmonster Wait, are you saying that wasn't maple syrup, coming out of those birch trees? 🙃
gemlog@Shanmonster We don't have any native maples in my area, only decorative ones. We have lots of birch though and birch syrup does show up in our farmers market.
But it costs a mint.
40 litres sap for 1 litre of syrup from Eastern Maples.
60 litres sap to make 1 litre of syrup from a Birch.
All the birch syrup I've ever had was watery - they didn't go far enough I guess.
I just looked that up for you, but, really, I thought it was even more. Like 80L for the birch.
But it costs a mint.
40 litres sap for 1 litre of syrup from Eastern Maples.
60 litres sap to make 1 litre of syrup from a Birch.
All the birch syrup I've ever had was watery - they didn't go far enough I guess.
I just looked that up for you, but, really, I thought it was even more. Like 80L for the birch.