my tinfoil hat fish conspiracy.

[CT_]

I've been reading a lot of care articles, especially for plants recently trying to figure out what can go best in which tank and I've come across quite a few weird articles.

 

They all are topical and convey information but many have very similar phrasing and often the same odd mistakes.  Like one article I was reading recommended letting the roots of a submersed plant "dry" between waterings.  Others have more subtle mistakes but are repeated between different websites.   They also almost never have by lines which most authors would want unless all the content on the site is by one person.

 

Are we living in an age now where aquarium articles are just generated by computers and filled with affiliate links to make passive money?

[modified lung]

Lots of copy paste on the internet

[lefty o]

use aluminum foil instead.  a lot of articles, wikipedia, etc are just something someone mumbled, that gets repeated over and over. at least here on the forum, if i say something that is bulldung, someone can step in and say so, and there remains a record of it. that way someone comes along down the road can see for themselves that what i said is likely no good, vs. there just being a paragraph of just wrong info with no counterpoint.

[Streetwise]

Please report any spam on this forum.

[Guppysnail]

I always ask myself…is it realistic this individual writing 100s of care guides has kept this many hundreds of types of fish and plants they are authoring advice on. I doubt it especially since some of them are relatively young. Cory is the only exception and he has kept more fish and plants than most. 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 4/18/2022 at 8:22 PM, Streetwise said:

Please report any spam on this forum.

I think it's funny this followed @lefty o's comment.  Are you saying I should report his comments as spam?  'Cuz I'll do it!  🤣

On 4/18/2022 at 7:46 PM, CT_ said:

Are we living in an age now where aquarium articles are just generated by computers and filled with affiliate links to make passive money?

There is a lot of copied content, and a lot of programmed content that updates itself on the net these days.  Apparently a bunch of the web pages that pop up when you search for "reviews of _______" are just crawlers that update the highest rated products on Amazon, the current year, and then offer affiliate links so they get some $$$ if you buy a product from their link. 

Same thing goes for a lot of copied content.  I mean in a era where major news outlets don't even seem to hire copy editors how can we expect rando websites not to lift content from each other?  Perhaps we should just aim for the original content to be better so that when it is propagated across the people aren't letting their aquarium plant roots go dry between waterings. 

"Time to drain the aquarium so the plants' roots can dry"

"What about the fish?  Should we take them out?"

"Nah, it'll be fine."

[gardenman]

"I mean in a era where major news outlets don't even seem to hire copy editors how can we expect rando websites not to lift content from each other?"

The lack of copy editors drives me nuts. Simple mistakes slip through all the time and irk me. There are so many writing assistants these days in Grammarly, and those built-into other software, that you really need to try hard to make a mistake that something doesn't catch. Do they just ignore all the visual clues that something's wrong and hit "Publish"? Ugh!

[Widgets]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:37 AM, gardenman said:

Do they just ignore all the visual clues that something's wrong and hit "Publish"? Ugh!

Copy, paste, publish. Who has time for reading and writing? If they take the time to proofread and pay attention to the automated writing assistant hints, they would also need to take the time to be creative and possibly generate some new content. Too much work!

[gardenman]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:51 AM, Widgets said:

Copy, paste, publish. Who has time for reading and writing? If they take the time to proofread and pay attention to the automated writing assistant hints, they would also need to take the time to be creative and possibly generate some new content. Too much work!

I've self-published fifteen novels/stories so far and I proofread things to death. I use multiple writing assistants to help catch obvious mistakes and try my best to prevent things slipping through. Then I'll pick up a national publication and find ten mistakes on the first page. It just drives me nuts. 

[drewzero1]

There are a lot of sites that make a business of churning out "articles" that appear convincing enough to search engines like Google, but that don't pass the sniff test for a human reader. A lot of the content is automatically generated or paraphrased (and I use the word loosely here) from legitimate sites either by bots or non-native speakers.

I was searching for information on different kinds of sausages and this came up. I'm a bit worried some space aliens are sharing recipes to "bring a different kind of feel to the humans."

[Wrencher_Scott]

On 4/18/2022 at 5:46 PM, CT_ said:

 

 

Are we living in an age now where aquarium articles are just generated by computers and filled with affiliate links to make passive money?

There is zero doubt about that. 

[Odd Duck]

I’ve also run into tons of copy/paste articles.  Anything I find with that immediately makes me move along and ignore whatever info they have.  Even if there is good info buried in the article, I can no longer trust ANY of the info in that article.  So it’s all just so much internet garbage at that point.

[Widgets]

I am not sure what is worse: running into identical copy/paste content, or finding completely contradictory content.

[lefty o]

On 4/19/2022 at 6:42 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I think it's funny this followed @lefty o's comment.  Are you saying I should report his comments as spam?  'Cuz I'll do it!  🤣

There is a lot of copied content, and a lot of programmed content that updates itself on the net these days.  Apparently a bunch of the web pages that pop up when you search for "reviews of _______" are just crawlers that update the highest rated products on Amazon, the current year, and then offer affiliate links so they get some $$$ if you buy a product from their link. 

Same thing goes for a lot of copied content.  I mean in a era where major news outlets don't even seem to hire copy editors how can we expect rando websites not to lift content from each other?  Perhaps we should just aim for the original content to be better so that when it is propagated across the people aren't letting their aquarium plant roots go dry between waterings. 

"Time to drain the aquarium so the plants' roots can dry"

"What about the fish?  Should we take them out?"

"Nah, it'll be fine."

gonna have to wrap your spam in aluminum foil!😈

[Biotope Biologist]

On 4/19/2022 at 9:10 AM, Widgets said:

I am not sure what is worse: running into identical copy/paste content, or finding completely contradictory content.

Both! 😋

 

There is a site that copy/pastes fishbase.org that a handful of people reference here. I mean if you're going to plagiarize do it right as my Salish Sea professor always said. It also drove her nuts that people plagiarized her content without giving any credit. She is more than happy to share her research... As most of us are.

 

So does this mean we are all tinfoil hat wearers or?

[drewzero1]

@Biotope Biologist Out of curiosity, what's the name of the offending site? I'll add it to my avoid list.

[modified lung]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:57 AM, drewzero1 said:

There are a lot of sites that make a business of churning out "articles" that appear convincing enough to search engines like Google, but that don't pass the sniff test for a human reader. A lot of the content is automatically generated or paraphrased (and I use the word loosely here) from legitimate sites either by bots or non-native speakers.

I was searching for information on different kinds of sausages and this came up. I'm a bit worried some space aliens are sharing recipes to "bring a different kind of feel to the humans."

"Humans love great foods... I mean we love great food. The sausages bring a different feel to humans ...I mean us humans ...I mean us. Humans ...I mean sausages are so sweet and come in a variety of flavors."

[Biotope Biologist]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:17 AM, drewzero1 said:

@Biotope Biologist Out of curiosity, what's the name of the offending site? I'll add it to my avoid list.

I probably could have phrased it better but if you’re going to copy/paste fishbase.org is a good place to do it from. There are actually a number of offending sites. I do the old professor trick of copying a phrase from fishbase and pasting it in the search bar of google with quotes and it’ll tell me all the publications that didn’t bother changing the wording. 
 

I think it best I not name them though as they have proven to be helpful resources for many on these forums. And I doubt shaming them will make them magically start writing as we are taught in school.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 4/19/2022 at 11:37 AM, lefty o said:

gonna have to wrap your spam in aluminum foil!

Sounds delicious!  When should I pop by for dinner?  🤪

[ndfi78]

mmm, fried spam... so delicious! 

[CT_]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:37 AM, gardenman said:

The lack of copy editors drives me nuts. Simple mistakes slip through all the time and irk me. There are so many writing assistants these days in Grammarly, and those built-into other software, that you really need to try hard to make a mistake that something doesn't catch. Do they just ignore all the visual clues that something's wrong and hit "Publish"? Ugh!

Careful what you wish for though.  Grammarly is genius IMO.  They, scan everything you write and get to use that human language to train AIs.  The AIs are getting pretty good at writing like high school senior's essays*.  I think @drewzero1's screen shot exemplifies that.

 

 

* I kind of assume that's the biggest grammarly user, since I totally would have used it for high school English had it existed.  But, now that I'm an adult I break the rules, for better or worse, when I need to.  I also get English wrong all the time because I still never learned better 😬

[Cory]

Here is a version I made for you guys on the fly. AI copyrighting is all the rage in advertising over the past year.

 

I wrote the first paragraph, then used AI to do the rest.  Here is a 4 minute video of how I did it and it works. https://www.loom.com/share/f176419120d04095accf74d404f77330

Aquarium plants are relatively simple. Make sure you have a good light that puts out a plant growing spectrum. Pair this with fertilizers such as Easy Green Liquid and Root tabs. Then wait as your plants convert and grow into a lush aquarium.

Red aquarium plants bring energy to the tank and add a splash of color to the water. They’re also great for mixing up the look of your aquarium. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best red aquarium plants, along with some tips for growing them in your tank.

This can take some time, so be patient. Don’t let your plants run out of oxygen either. For the best results, set up a system where the roots can breath through an air pump. This will increase the health and growth of your aquarium plants.

In time, they’ll add life to your tank and provide a home to all sorts of beautiful fish and creatures. From tiny anemones to large corydoras, plants are the life blood of an aquarium. They keep your tank clean and provide the ecosystem that fish need to live and thrive. To learn more, check out our complete guide to aquarium plants.

[DaveO]

Kind of humorous. 

[CT_]

On 4/19/2022 at 3:05 PM, Cory said:

Here is a version I made for you guys on the fly. AI copyrighting is all the rage in advertising over the past year.

OMG this is hilarious and sad at the same time.  Thanks Cory!

[modified lung]

On 4/19/2022 at 3:05 PM, Cory said:

Here is a version I made for you guys on the fly. AI copyrighting is all the rage in advertising over the past year.

AI starts talking about aquarium plants then transitions to aquaponics and back without warning because of the ADD.