EEDA Newsletter Vol 5, Res 13: Circumventing Google's AI Responses & Pride Month Resources
This is a public issue of Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice. Feel free to share it!
Hi friends! What a week! As I write this, it’s only Wednesday and I’m on three podcasts this week: our own EEDA Pod, the usual All the Books, and for the first time, The Best Advice Show! There’s also a new header on the homepage of this newsletter, TheInfophile.com, where you now have easier access to some of my most useful and referenced newsletter issues under the link to “Greatest Hits.” If there’s a link that’s not there that you think should be, let me know.
Reminder: We have a Patreon for folks who want to support our podcast and we are working on rolling out perks to paid subscribers. We’ve added a tier for folks who want to support both the podcast and subscribe to this newsletter at a discounted rate. You’ll also get access to a couple of the paid benefits we already have on offer and future benefits tbd.
In this week's EEDA Pod episode, “Some Coming Out Advice for Pride Month,” we offer some coming out advice for folks who are queer and haven’t yet shared it (and want to). We share some of our own coming out process including things that went a little sideways.
You can find our show, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Meanwhile, we saw this sign/business the other day and I am still trying to wrap my head around it:
For the new subscribers, this newsletter alternates issues between free resource roundups and paid essays. This week is a free resource week so let’s get to it!
Resource 1: LGBTQIA+ Resources from the Library of Congress
It’s still Pride Month and even though Pride marches have been happening for 54 years, there are many people who don’t know why we do this. There are plenty of resources out there for people to find and I find the resources from the Library of Congress to be especially educational. Here are some links from the Library of Congress (LOC):
LGBTQ Resources available from the LOC
Audio and Visual LGBTQ Resources available from the LOC
Resource 2: How to explore your gender identity as an adult via NPR's Life Kit
This was a lovely listen and it has an accompanying comic, both accessible here. While this is geared toward trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive folks, I think that examining your own gender is an important exercise for everyone. If you are cisgender, that is, when you were born the doctor took a look at your genitals and declared you a boy or a girl and now as an adult you’re reading this and you agree with that doctor’s assessment, take some time to think about why. What makes you your gender and how do you feel about that? You don’t have to share this with anyone, it’s an introspective exercise just for you.
Resource 3: How to circumvent Google AI responses
Okay, there’s nothing for me to link here just a really fucking great tip that I learned from Tara Calishain of Research Buzz. Most of you may know that Google is giving AI responses when you use Google to do a web search. Sometimes these responses are good enough and sometimes they’re telling people to eat glue and rocks. Personally, as a librarian and information professional, I find these AI responses annoying at best and dangerous at worst but Tara had posted something brilliant online the other day:
In google, after your query aka search phrase type the following (without quotation marks but make sure you have the hyphen): “-nobodyaskedyou”. It will give you search results without the mediocre AI response.
I’ve used it multiple times. Will it work forever? Probably not. But as of writing this, it’s still working.
Recent & Current Reads
Inclusion of a book in this section is not necessarily a recommendation and these books won’t necessarily be added to my Bookshop.
Recently Read:
Dancing on My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy by Simon Wu
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (out 8/6)
Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
Magic Enuff: Poems by Tara M. Stringfellow
Looking for a Sign by Susie Dumond
The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions by Michael Norton
Currently Reading:
Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary by Major Griffin-Gracy and edited by Toshio Meronek
What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World by Prentis Hemphill
Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook: A Cookbook by Sohla El-Waylly and a forward by Samin Nosrat
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele & John Joseph Adams (Yes, I am still working on this. I got through one particular story and it thoroughly creeped me out so I’ve set it aside)
That’s it for this week! You can shop many books I’ve mentioned in this newsletter at my affiliate shop, The Infophile’s Bookshop, and support independent bookstores. In fact, any Bookshop, Amazon, or Etsy links in this newsletter are affiliate links so if you shop through those, it helps support my work. Or you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi, Paypal, or Venmo.
If you want to send me some snail mail, you can find me at P.O. Box 21481, Oakland, CA 94620-1481.
You can find our podcast, Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever else you get your podcasts.