Zhach

@zhach
5 Followers
20 Following
109 Posts
A Pragmatic Supporter for the News Ecosystem, Independent Journalists, and the Reduction of Misinformation
Homepagezhach.me
Blogzhach.news
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ZhachJan 26

Optimizing purely for "time-on-app" is lazy engineering. Platforms need to design for "mindful disengagement"—building friction points that break the addiction loop. Measure success by user utility, not just dopamine hits.

Full argument: https://zhach.news/cost-of-a-quick-scroll/

Short-Form Content and the Social Cost of a Quick Scroll

If this technology is so influential to everyone, the responsibility must extend beyond the user. The platforms themselves (the people behind the app) must rethink how they work.

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachJan 19
Sending a network request for every single query is burning money. I looked at how using Bloom Filters can lead to a 96% reduction in network overhead. You trade a tiny fraction of certainty for massive scale. This is the math that keeps high-traffic platforms from melting down. https://zhach.news/save-money-with-big-data-part-3/
How to Save Money with Big Data: Finding Matches (Part 3)

The power of a probabilistic approach is clear: in an age of petabyte-scale data, the right approximation is often the only possible solution. How has the ability to get a "good enough" answer in real-time changed the way you approach software architecture or data analysis?

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachJan 12
I used to believe a newsroom required a massive budget, but 1 reporter plus 4 specific tools now equals a fully functional bureau. This efficiency stack turns a solo beat into a sustainable business without the corporate overhead. I mapped the exact toolkit here: https://zhach.news/independent-reporters-playbook/
The Independent Reporter's Playbook: How to Thrive in the New News Ecosystem

If you're an independent journalist ready to carve out your niche and build a loyal following, here is a playbook for supporting yourself in this new ecosystem.

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachJan 5
We cannot fully automate fact-checking. AI models still fail at context (sarcasm, intent, nuance). I view these tools strictly as a "supportive system" rather than a replacement. The machine processes the noise; the human makes the final judgment. That is the only responsible way to build this. https://zhach.news/the-ai-editor-1/
The AI Editor: How to Automate Fact-Checking? (Part 1)

This is where the cross between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and journalism becomes not just interesting, but essential. We have to stop thinking of AI as a replacement and start seeing it as an accelerator for the truth.

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachDec 29

We often call them "freelancers." We should call them "founders." The new ecosystem rewards the specialist who builds a direct relationship with their niche. When you own the tech stack, no algorithm gets between you and the truth.

https://zhach.news/independent-reporters-playbook/ #IndependentJournalism

ZhachDec 22

Journalists often spend hours verifying a single claim. An automated pipeline can execute evidence retrieval across thousands of databases in seconds. We are trading hours of manual searching for minutes of high-level judgment. Scale the research, not the writer.

https://zhach.news/the-ai-editor-1/ #journalism #factchecking

ZhachDec 15

The industry obsession with "perfect data" is wasteful. Storing 800TB of user logs when a few GB of estimates tells the same story is bad engineering. Probabilistic data structures like Count-Min Sketch aren't shortcuts. They are how we build sustainable systems at scale.

https://zhach.news/counting-things/ #GreenTech #EngineeringEfficiency

How to Save Money with Big Data: Counting Things (Part 2)

So originally, 10,000,000 videos would have cost us 800 TB or $80,000. With the HLL and all the videos, we only need to store 80 MB, which ranges from $10 to $50.

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachDec 15

Just wrote the final articles of the year for https://zhach.news

They will all come out before the new years, but I’m gonna take a break for the month of January. Relax and be with family. Then more blogs starting February. Thanks everyone!

Zhach's News & Views

Let's make News better! Thoughts, stories, and ideas related to journalism, AI, and personal growth

Zhach's News & Views
ZhachDec 8

We often view "needing support" as a flaw of the junior employee. But the confident senior who assumes they know the scope needs just as much management. Support isn't just for the struggling. It's for the sprinting. Finding the "sweet spot" on the spectrum is how we scale teams.

https://zhach.news/confidence-check-in/ #growth #teambuilding

ZhachDec 6

Great read on content moderation. Generative AI, Live-streaming terrorism, on-demand radicalism, balancing first amendment rights and safety online. I like the “demote but keep on platform” route, but what do you think?

https://time.com/7326940/america-must-regulate-social-media/