#answer engine optimisation

[robsonpharmacymedia]

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO): Boosting Visibility for UK Pharmacies

[ayeforscotland]

What is Dataflow? Part 3: Doing the Practical

Apologies for the delay in getting this next section up - past few weeks have been super busy and then, hilariously, I was ill last week.

Read Part 1 here.

Read Part 2 here.

In Part 2 I wrote about how important diagrams have been throughout history. Understanding the 'big picture' has been important for every triumph of engineering. From bridges to skyscrapers to oil rigs and wind turbines, all of these have had diagrams backed by international standards which enabled them to be built.

The digital world hasn't quite managed that yet. In the other posts I've tried to drill home the point that modern digital businesses are often extremely siloed, communication and documentation isn't there and there is a lack of a common language between 'Business' and 'IT'.

This lack of understanding means organisations do not understand how data flows through their business and their supply chain.

It's the understanding of dataflow that's important here because it enables organisations to focus on optimising, securing and maintaining flows across an organisation rather than siloed teams patching things up where they can and not understand the upstream and downstream impact on the business.

Method and Layers

Going to preface this by saying that this may come across as complete common sense, and to some extent you'll be completely correct!

This is an example of how to create a very basic dataflow. But I will first start with understanding all of the People, Processes and Technology that I use to post on Tumblr.

So I start with six layers:

Ownership

Business Process

Application

System

Hardware

Infrastructure

What is important to remember here is that you do not have to be a specialist in every single layer.

A Business Analyst will feel much more at home in the Business Process Layer, while an Infrastructure Manager will be much more knowledgeable about the Infrastructure layer.

The important thing is that this Business & IT Diagram allows them to communicate more efficiently.

Let's Build a Dataflow!

In this example - There's an 'AyeforScotland' Element (the rectangle!) at the top. I'm the owner of everything below that element. The black lines are 'connections' representing the connectivity between the different elements.

Following the example, I'm responsible for' managing my blog 'Blog Management' which breaks down into smaller processes: Draft posts, schedule posts, answer anon abuse, and reblog shitposts.

Coming down to the Application Layer (red) - You can see that I draft and schedule posts using Tumblr Desktop and I'm using Firefox Web Browser for that.

But for answering anon abuse and reblogging shitposts, I'm using the Tumblr App.

In the Systems layer you can see I'm using Windows 11 on my PC (Hardware) and I'm using iOS on my iPhone.

Both my PC and iPhone connect to my BT Router.

And that's it for this Business & IT Diagram. I've shown clearly how I'm responsible for the processes and how I use the technology to perform those processes. I don't necessarily need to show everything on a single diagram because it would lose clarity.

This next Business & IT Diagram is much smaller, and establishes the relationships and dependencies on Tumblr to provide the service. And that's because we're complying with the laws and rules of a methodology.

In this diagram (probably need to zoom in to see it) I'm at the top left as 'AyeforScotland' and my 'BT Router' is spatially below me. Following the rules and laws of the method, that maintains the relationship that I have with the BT Router, I own it.

But I don't own the small 'Internet' that's next to it horizontally. I've simplified the concept of the internet for this example.

There's also two owners - 'Automattic' which owns and operates 'Tumblr' below it, with Tumblr being responsible for the 'Provision of Tumblr Services'.

Now naturally 'provision of Tumblr services' will break out into loads of sub-processes. Tumblr could map out their entire organisation (and if they need a hand, they can DM me!) But for this dataflow it's not really required.

Now both diagrams above are not dataflows. But close your eyes for a second and you can visualise what they are.

But because we've created our two diagrams, we understand the connectivity and using the software we can create the dataflow.

Now again, this is very basic. But when you put things into a dataflow context, you can put this down in front of a wide range of people from different business disciplines and they can start to optimise how the business works.

Here's a much larger Dataflow example, that you won't be able to read because it exceeds A0 printing size, but it should convey the scale.

If any of the connections or elements fail along this dataflow - The dataflow stops.

This costs organisations time and/or money.

So understanding dataflows allows IT people to articulate to business people "Hi boss, if this server goes down it will bring down this dataflow and cost the business $10,000 an hour" - Suddenly it's in a language they understand.

It helps with strategic decision-making, it helps with communication, it helps document how things *actually* work as opposed to how people think they work, and once you switch to thinking in terms of 'dataflow' it's hard to stop.

Conclusion

I can't wait to answer all the questions on the back of this.

Also one area I didn't go into is that each of the elements (rectangles) can also hold data (Financial data, Technical Specs, Risk & Cybersecurity metrics, Governance documentation etc).

It's also really easy to get started with it. You can start in any of the layers based on your area of work.

[thedwarrowscholar]

Hello! For scholars/scribes or everyday use, which writing system would be used, Cirth or Tengwar? The Dwarves adopt Cirth for their stone carving, but I would imagine that writing exclusively in cirth would put a lot of strain on writing instruments and, well, wrists because of how stiff and angular it is. IRL, cursive scripts are developed to write faster. In the film, the book of Mazarbul starts off in cirth but the last line is a messy cursive (poor Ori...). Do you have any thoughts?

Well met!

A question that touches not only on Tolkien’s linguistic worldbuilding but also on the real-world evolution of writing systems. You're absolutely right to point out the physical practicality of cursive scripts—and how that likely applied even in Middle-earth.

🪓 Cirth: A Script Born of Stone

The Cirth (runes) were initially devised by the Elves—most notably Daeron of Doriath—but the Dwarves adopted and refined them into Angerthas Moria, and later Angerthas Erebor, adapting the system for their own use.

Cirth was ideally suited for engraving in stone, wood, and metal. Its angular and straight-lined forms made it easy to carve with chisels—much like early real-world runes such as Futhark. And indeed, this seems to have been its primary intended function, at least originally.

But when applied to ink and parchment, Cirth presents obvious limitations:

Angularity = slower strokes

Frequent pen lifts = reduced efficiency

Hard on wrists during long writing sessions

✍️ Why Cursive Scripts Exist (Even in Middle-earth)

Historically, cursive scripts developed because they’re faster and more efficient to write. The word cursive itself comes from Medieval Latin cursivus, meaning “running”—derived from currere (“to run, hasten”). These scripts allow the writing tool to stay in contact with the surface, reducing effort and increasing speed.

Tolkien’s world, while fantastical, remains grounded in practical realities. The Dwarves were master craftsmen, engineers, merchants, and, at times, scholars. We know that they did not limit themselves to a chisel-optimised script for all writing contexts—especially not for ink.

📚 The Book of Mazarbul: A Key Piece of Evidence

Your mention of the Book of Mazarbul is absolutely on point—and yes, it offers a direct answer.

This chronicle, written by Balin’s folk in Khazad-dûm, includes multiple scripts:

Cirth of Moria and Cirth of Dale

Tengwar of the later Westron mode (which uses full vowel signs)

Gandalf identifies one page as being written in a “large bold hand using an Elvish script,” and Gimli confirms it as Ori’s. Most of the final page is in runes, but the very last line—“they are coming”—is scrawled in Tengwar.

Facsimile of page II

What does this show?

Dwarves—at least those literate and especially the scholarly, like Ori—did use Tengwar, especially when writing quickly or when Cirth became impractical.

This was likely not an isolated case. It reflects a layered literacy among Dwarves, especially those in leadership, scribal, or administrative roles.

🔤 Tengwar vs. Cirth: Cultural Identity vs. Practicality

Tengwar was an Elvish invention, and the Dwarves never adopted it culturally (unlike Cirth that suited engraving better). But that doesn’t mean they rejected it entirely. Much like a medieval monk might write in Latin while speaking another tongue at home, Dwarves used Tengwar functionally—when the moment demanded it.

So what likely happened was this:

Cirth remained the culturally Dwarven script (with the Moria variant used when writing Khuzdul)—employed in inscriptions, tombs, weapon etchings, and formal records.

Tengwar, particularly the Westron mode, was known to educated Dwarves and used for efficiency, likely especially in:

Letters

Journals

Merchant ledgers

Emergency or field writing

Facsimile of page III

🧾 Was There a Dwarven Cursive?

Tolkien never describes a “Dwarven cursive” variant of Cirth—but based on real-world linguistics and in-world logic, it’s possible one existed.

At the very least, a more fluid, ink-friendly variant of Cirth may have been used for day-to-day notes. But even so, the fact remains: Ori chooses Tengwar in a pinch, not cursive Cirth. That tells us that, if a Dwarven cursive did exist, it wasn't the go-to form—at least not when time was short and clarity was vital.

In short: the Dwarves were too practical not to use—or even develop—more efficient ways to write. Whether they did so by streamlining Cirth, or by using Tengwar when needed, they had options—and likely used them all.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Cirth was their script of identity—literally engraved into the stone, wood and iron that surrounded them.

Tengwar was a tool of practicality—adopted when writing had to move as fast as the moment demanded.

Tolkien shows us just enough (especially through Ori and the Book of Mazarbul) to draw this conclusion with confidence.

Ever at your service, The Dwarrow Scholar

[canmom]

choosing the treasure that eats you

the gods in narrative podcast The Silt Verses cover an enormous variety of motifs and subjects - and indeed, we are told how new gods are invented all the time, researched and tested by the government, competing to be the patron of companies and individuals, broken down and dumped when they're no longer needed. but they are all unified by two things: they all demand human sacrifices ('a god must feed' as Carpenter puts it in the opening episode) and they all inflict dramatic body-horror transformations (a process known as 'hallowing'), associated with their theme.

nevertheless, the idea of not following a god seems to be pretty alien to the people of this world. and you don't really get much choice: if, as in episode 7, your advertising company's restructuring decides that the weakest performers need to be sacrificed to their new 'sponsor', you don't get to opt out, it's in your contract and no doubt the police will catch you if you run. we see over and over how the gods (and their chief devotees) pick out the vulnerable, drive their believers to spiral down into life-defining obsession - by stringing them along with vague promises of some kind of final answer or fulfilment, then turn away and discard them as soon as they've served their purpose.

it is a very, very productive theme, and the writers have a gift for furnishing it with evocative words and nasty details so it doesn't get stale. so of course I reflect on the metaphor.

in nier automata, the childlike machine lifeforms search for purpose in a world that doesn't seem to offer any. the answers they find are their 'treasures': small, seemingly insignificant objects which individual machines devote themselves to protecting.

for example, one machine may devote itself to cultivating a flower (as in the second episode of the anime), or looking after a broken doll (as in the story of pathetic failmachine Plato 1728 seen in the DLC/the Deserving of Life single by Amazarashi). other sidequests lead you to encounter machines who obsess over fighting, or travelling fast (easy challenges to implement in a game engine).

the machines' behaviour seems inexplicable and even random to others, but the pointlessness is kind of the point: somewhere the chain of 'why' has to terminate. i choose this one.

sometimes i think about 'art' in the sense of a set of behaviours exhibited by humans. i don't have any interest in demarcating art vs non-art, just to understand what this phenomenon is, why it should be so compelling.

one definition that keeps sticking around in here, despite it not really working, is that 'art' is a word for the thing we devote ourselves for no other reason. you could spend your time drawing, but equally you could spend it speed cubing. we are obsessively optimising creatures so, presented with a defined scope of an activity - something like the rules of a game - we refine our skills within it, pushing the bar further and further, changing the rules as we go to keep it interesting. the art forms that stick around tend to be the ones that continue to be productive and evolve. but it's all, in a sense, pointless - and that's why it's the most important thing, because it's done for itself, not in service of some other goal.

this is not actually a good description of the thing it claims to describe. many things we celebrate as 'art' are done for extrinsic, not intrinsic motivations, like commissioned paintings. indeed, far from being purely intrinsically motivated, there are many extrinsic functions that the various activities we call 'art' perform: communication, entertainment, distraction, a tool to reason with, a safe zone to explore emotions, ideological propaganda, historical memory.

nevertheless, the idea of a thing done for its own sake, defying justification, continues to compel somehow.

art does not escape the logic of sacrifice. if you sacrifice your time, your health, your social connections in pursuit of your art - why, does that not prove the art is more important than your time, your health, your friendships? there's a romance in the narrative about burning up in pursuit of something 'great' - and if you want to undercut that narrative, you likely claim that the object is not particularly worth the effort. it's just videogames. it's just cartoons.

the slogan of The Silt Verses is the sarcastic line of Carpenter (originally her friend Vaughan, part of episode 7's corporate hecatomb): "you get to choose the thing that eats you". a very succinct statement! don't we, indeed.

not that sacrifice is always for some abstract intrinsic goal. in the story, the feeding is often done in exchange for some straightforward, material advantage - and in a sense that is the same in our world, with the threshold adjusted so you have to sacrifice a certain amount to just stay alive.

here's a calculation, because i'm fond of numbers: if you start working full-time at, say, age 21 (a conservative assumption, most people start earlier) up until the UK retirement age of 66 (currently, set to rise), working 40 hours a week (conservative, but then again most people don't actually work the hours they're paid for), the current price of a full human life is 114,793 hours to the gods of capital - pick your fave. if you sleep eight hours a night, the god of sleep gets 160,710 during that same period. harder to fit parameters on the demands of the gods of food, cleaning, caring for others, travelling to and fro, and 'being too tired to do much of anything', which certainly have their own demands.

that leaves you with a certain number to use for your own arbitrary ends. in theory, you get to choose what will eat those ones. in practice? a unified will? consistent intentions? ya joking mate. how many hours go to the god of 'responding to the thing in front of me', known by its sacred name, Aydeeaitchdee?

i used to feel jealous of people, some of them my friends, who seem to have some kind of unique vision, some sort of captivating identity to the creations that they express. the 'spark' that makes that special. i wondered - still wonder - if i will finally find my spark, a reason i'm here, a unique contribution i'm poised to make to the world, the value over replacement - the thing that all this mess was building towards all along, the thing that will make all the efforts so far feel less faltering and haphazard. but why should there be such a thing? if one day i live long enough to, by chance, find something that feels like it's an answer, it's just a retroactive reframing of the chaos - because that's what brains do. convince someone they made a decision they didn't, and they will justify it to you.

there is a song by Sassafrass, an incredibly nerdy a capella band who otherwise largely sing about norse mythology, called 'somebody will'. when i first heard this song i honestly kind of hated it (you can probably find that post if you dig hard enough). it felt like a tragic cope: facing the blatant reality that you will never be an astronaut as you (apparently) desire, to insist on narrativising your life as being part of the great project space colonisation - even if it's so remote as clerking a funding organisation or working at a scifi bookstore or attending a convention (it's from quite a specific milieu), you can claim to be one of the 'sailors' helping to 'conquer' that 'ocean'. i hated it, because why should the space program be all that? somebody will walk on mars someday - so fucking what? what then? job's a good 'un, everybody? is that really worth sacrificing shit ('sacrifice something i don't have for something i won't have') for, here and now? surely your life is about more than putting 'somebody' on Mars one day?

but considering it again today - i mean it might as well be the space program as anything else, right. you need a direction to move in. it doesn't matter what the direction, as long as it keeps you moving. change is life and stillness is death, don't you know. perhaps you drag others along with you and you get a current flowing that way for a while, until the energy driving it runs out, or it runs up against the overpressure around an as-yet uneroded bank. so we all move around and the dynamics of it all, invisible to us, build a delta, which becomes a rock, and against that flows another river one day, grinding down the rock to move it to another delta, all by the nearly-random movements of the water molecules. shit i think i lost the thread of the metaphor and now i'm just talking about geophysics

it seems... almost laughably tedious to be circling this existential drain still. in my milieu: douglas adams cracked his joke about 'the ultimate question of life the universe and everything' 30 years earlier in 1977. randall munroe uploaded 'i'll get the super soaker' in 2007. but navel-gazing has been a joke for much longer, surely at least as long as there have been people to question what the point is.

funny how it always comes back to water metaphors.

[dubaiwebsitedesignss]

What Is The Difference Between Web Development & Web Design?

In today’s world, we experience the growing popularity of eCommerce businesses. Web designing and web development are two major sectors for making a difference in eCommerce businesses. But they work together for publishing a website successfully. But what’s the difference between a web designers in Dubai and a web developer?

Directly speaking, web designers design and developers code. But this is a simplified answer. Knowing these two things superficially will not clear your doubt but increase them. Let us delve deep into the concepts, roles and differentiation between web development and website design Abu Dhabi.

What Is Meant By Web Design?

A web design encompasses everything within the oeuvre of a website’s visual aesthetics and utility. This might include colour, theme, layout, scheme, the flow of information and anything related to the visual features that can impact the website user experience.

With the word web design, you can expect all the exterior decorations, including images and layout that one can view on their mobile or laptop screen. This doesn’t concern anything with the hidden mechanism beneath the attractive surface of a website. Some web design tools used by web designers in Dubai which differentiate themselves from web development are as follows:

● Graphic design

● UI designs

● Logo design

● Layout

● Topography

● UX design

● Wireframes and storyboards

● Colour palettes

And anything that can potentially escalate the website’s visual aesthetics. Creating an unparalleled yet straightforward website design Abu Dhabi can fetch you more conversion rates. It can also gift you brand loyalty which is the key to a successful eCommerce business.

What Is Meant By Web Development?

While web design concerns itself with all a website’s visual and exterior factors, web development focuses on the interior and the code. Web developers’ task is to govern all the codes that make a website work. The entire web development programme can be divided into two categories: front and back.

The front end deals with the code determining how the website will show the designs mocked by a designer. While the back end deals entirely with managing the data within the database. Along with it forwarding the data to the front end for display. Some web development tools used by a website design company in Dubai are:

● Javascript/HTML/CSS Preprocessors

● Template design for web

● GitHub and Git

● On-site search engine optimisation

● Frameworks as in Ember, ReactJS or Angular JS

● Programming languages on the server side, including PHP, Python, Java, C#

● Web development frameworks on the server side, including Ruby on Rails, Symfony, .NET

● Database management systems including MySQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL

Web Designers vs. Web Developers- Differences

You must have become acquainted with the idea of how id web design is different from web development. Some significant points will highlight the job differentiation between web developers and designers.

Generally, Coding Is Not A Cup Of Tea For Web Designers:

Don’t ever ask any web designers in Dubai about their coding knowledge. They merely know anything about coding. All they are concerned about is escalating a website’s visual aspects, making them more eyes catchy.

For this, they might use a visual editor like photoshop to develop images or animation tools and an app prototyping tool such as InVision Studio for designing layouts for the website. And all of these don’t require any coding knowledge.

Web Developers Do Not Work On Visual Assets:

Web developers add functionality to a website with their coding skills. This includes the translation of the designer’s mockups and wireframes into code using Javascript, HTML or CSS. While visual assets are entirely created by designers, developer use codes to implement those colour schemes, fonts and layouts into the web page.

Hiring A Web Developer Is Expensive:

Web developers are more expensive to hire simply because of the demand and supply ratio. Web designers are readily available as their job is much simpler. Their job doesn’t require the learning of coding. Coding is undoubtedly a highly sought-after skill that everyone can’t entertain.

Final Thoughts:

So if you look forward to creating a website, you might become confused. This is because you don’t know whether to opt for a web designer or a developer. Well, to create a website, technically, both are required. So you need to search for a website design company that will offer both services and ensure healthy growth for your business.

[govindhtech]

Pegasus 1.2: High-Performance Video Language Model

Pegasus 1.2 revolutionises long-form video AI with high accuracy and low latency. Scalable video querying is supported by this commercial tool.

TwelveLabs and Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced that Amazon Bedrock will soon provide Marengo and Pegasus, TwelveLabs' cutting-edge multimodal foundation models. Amazon Bedrock, a managed service, lets developers access top AI models from leading organisations via a single API. With seamless access to TwelveLabs' comprehensive video comprehension capabilities, developers and companies can revolutionise how they search for, assess, and derive insights from video content using AWS's security, privacy, and performance. TwelveLabs models were initially offered by AWS.

Introducing Pegasus 1.2

Unlike many academic contexts, real-world video applications face two challenges:

Real-world videos might be seconds or hours lengthy.

Proper temporal understanding is needed.

TwelveLabs is announcing Pegasus 1.2, a substantial industry-grade video language model upgrade, to meet commercial demands. Pegasus 1.2 interprets long films at cutting-edge levels. With low latency, low cost, and best-in-class accuracy, model can handle hour-long videos. Their embedded storage ingeniously caches movies, making it faster and cheaper to query the same film repeatedly.

Pegasus 1.2 is a cutting-edge technology that delivers corporate value through its intelligent, focused system architecture and excels in production-grade video processing pipelines.

Superior video language model for extended videos

Business requires handling long films, yet processing time and time-to-value are important concerns. As input films increase longer, a standard video processing/inference system cannot handle orders of magnitude more frames, making it unsuitable for general adoption and commercial use. A commercial system must also answer input prompts and enquiries accurately across larger time periods.

Latency

To evaluate Pegasus 1.2's speed, it compares time-to-first-token (TTFT) for 3–60-minute videos utilising frontier model APIs GPT-4o and Gemini 1.5 Pro. Pegasus 1.2 consistently displays time-to-first-token latency for films up to 15 minutes and responds faster to lengthier material because to its video-focused model design and optimised inference engine.

Performance

Pegasus 1.2 is compared to frontier model APIs using VideoMME-Long, a subset of Video-MME that contains films longer than 30 minutes. Pegasus 1.2 excels above all flagship APIs, displaying cutting-edge performance.

Pricing

Cost Pegasus 1.2 provides best-in-class commercial video processing at low cost. TwelveLabs focusses on long videos and accurate temporal information rather than everything. Its highly optimised system performs well at a competitive price with a focused approach.

Better still, system can generate many video-to-text without costing much. Pegasus 1.2 produces rich video embeddings from indexed movies and saves them in the database for future API queries, allowing clients to build continually at little cost. Google Gemini 1.5 Pro's cache cost is $4.5 per hour of storage, or 1 million tokens, which is around the token count for an hour of video. However, integrated storage costs $0.09 per video hour per month, x36,000 less. Concept benefits customers with large video archives that need to understand everything cheaply.

Model Overview & Limitations

Architecture

Pegasus 1.2's encoder-decoder architecture for video understanding includes a video encoder, tokeniser, and big language model. Though efficient, its design allows for full textual and visual data analysis.

These pieces provide a cohesive system that can understand long-term contextual information and fine-grained specifics. It architecture illustrates that tiny models may interpret video by making careful design decisions and solving fundamental multimodal processing difficulties creatively.

Restrictions

Safety and bias

Pegasus 1.2 contains safety protections, but like any AI model, it might produce objectionable or hazardous material without enough oversight and control. Video foundation model safety and ethics are being studied. It will provide a complete assessment and ethics report after more testing and input.

Hallucinations

Occasionally, Pegasus 1.2 may produce incorrect findings. Despite advances since Pegasus 1.1 to reduce hallucinations, users should be aware of this constraint, especially for precise and factual tasks.

[spankingtheatre]

Do you think that with so much technological advance, Artificial Intelligence will be able to benefit us?

What an interesting question.

Personally, I'm positive on the future benefits of AI. It is a technology for exploring possibility spaces, and that means better engineering and better medicine. It will automate mundane and unsatisfying tasks, and hopefully put an end to the bullshit jobs of busywork.

That doesn't mean everyone is on the verge of retiring to live a life of luxurious leisure. We need essential challenges and purpose in our lives, and work is important for our continuing personal growth.

I think the fear many have about AI is actually anxiety about how our modern technological society actually functions. There is very little kindness evident, it seems everything is optimised, with people being ranked and sorted into strivers and skivers. AI will benefit those with capital, and reduce the value of labour, and that risks widening existing inequalities.

Keep in mind that what we call AI is not some godlike super-intelligence, it's more like an exceptionally efficient question and answer system. It's how human beings opt to use this technology that will ultimately determine if it's beneficial to humanity.

One thing I will mention though, is I deliberately don't use AI for any of my stories. I strongly believe that creative art comes from lived experiences. No AI has ever spanked a bare bottom, or felt the myriad delights of having sex. But I have. My lifetime of kinky experiences is the essence I pour into everything I write. I hope that shines through.

Any AI can copy my style, but they'll only be able to create an underwhelming pastiche. No AI will ever replicate how I see the world, or generate anything like the unique spark of my own sexuality.

[wedesignblog]

5 Essential SEO Tips to Boost Your Website's Visibility!

Hey, digital marketers! Ready to enhance your website’s search engine ranking? Here are five powerful SEO tips to help you climb those search results in no time:

Keyword Research is Key: Start with thorough keyword research to identify what your audience is searching for. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to find relevant keywords and incorporate them naturally into your content.

Optimize Your Content: Make sure your content is high-quality and answers users' queries. Use headers, bullet points, and images to break up text and enhance readability. Don't forget to include your target keywords in titles, meta descriptions, and alt tags!

Mobile-Friendly Design: With more users browsing on mobile, ensure your website is responsive and easy to navigate on all devices. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in search rankings, so don’t miss out!

Build Quality Backlinks: Focus on earning backlinks from reputable sites in your industry. Guest blogging, partnerships, and creating shareable content can help you gain those valuable links and improve your domain authority.

Monitor and Adjust: SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is an ongoing process! Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track your performance. Regularly analyze your data and adjust your strategies to stay ahead of the curve.

💬 What SEO strategies have you found most effective? Let’s share tips below! Or Visit Our Web Design Blog

[robsonpharmacymedia]

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO): Enhancing Visibility for UK Pharmacies

[mtpenguinmonster]

I think I found the most unintentionally funny website

So there's this website called https://exponentiations.com/

It's a website that's designed to show up in search engines when you search for an exponent, amidst the bible verses.

I decided to check it out, mainly out of curiosity. It begins with a table of contents.

I'm not sure why a table of contents is necessary for a question that can be answered with five digits. But then it's clear that this site is written to pad its own length.

The first section is the Calculator, with a like button and a tweet link bigger than the result. (Interestingly, they use the word tweet for this link, but refer to X in the sidebar)

In several rounds of redundancy, repeating the question, and saying the same thing repeatedly, we eventually get to the answer, restated.

The next section is complete nonsense. At first I thought this was AI-generated, but I later found evidence against this.

This is just more redundancy. I think the redundancy is just there for search engine optimisation.

Then there's this conclusion and self-promotion. Inexplicably, the conclusion uses scientific notation.

[hollow-keys]

In my entirely uneducated layperson opinion, what I think happened with these hilariously suable google AI results was google saw all these posts about how their search engine is shit unless you put reddit on the end of your question, and instead of, I don't know, fixing anything, they decided to make their AI trawl reddit to give a quick answer at the top but because those things are fucking non sentient algorithms that cannot distinguish between shitpost and genuine advice it all gets churned into the same mixer so you just get shitposts at the top of the search results. Much search engine optimisation indeed.

[blubberquark]

Wish List For A Game Profiler

I want a profiler for game development. No existing profiler currently collects the data I need. No existing profiler displays it in the format I want. No existing profiler filters and aggregates profiling data for games specifically.

I want to know what makes my game lag. Sure, I also care about certain operations taking longer than usual, or about inefficient resource usage in the worker thread. The most important question that no current profiler answers is: In the frames that currently do lag, what is the critical path that makes them take too long? Which function should I optimise first to reduce lag the most?

I know that, with the right profiler, these questions could be answered automatically.

Hybrid Sampling Profiler

My dream profiler would be a hybrid sampling/instrumenting design. It would be a sampling profiler like Austin (https://github.com/P403n1x87/austin), but a handful of key functions would be instrumented in addition to the sampling: Displaying a new frame/waiting for vsync, reading inputs, draw calls to the GPU, spawning threads, opening files and sockets, and similar operations should always be tracked. Even if displaying a frame is not a heavy operation, it is still important to measure exactly when it happens, if not how long it takes. If a draw call returns right away, and the real work on the GPU begins immediately, it’s still useful to know when the GPU started working. Without knowing exactly when inputs are read, and when a frame is displayed, it is difficult to know if a frame is lagging. Especially when those operations are fast, they are likely to be missed by a sampling debugger.

Tracking Other Resources

It would be a good idea to collect CPU core utilisation, GPU utilisation, and memory allocation/usage as well. What does it mean when one thread spends all of its time in that function? Is it idling? Is it busy-waiting? Is it waiting for another thread? Which one?

It would also be nice to know if a thread is waiting for IO. This is probably a “heavy” operation and would slow the game down.

There are many different vendor-specific tools for GPU debugging, some old ones that worked well for OpenGL but are no longer developed, open-source tools that require source code changes in your game, and the newest ones directly from GPU manufacturers that only support DirectX 12 or Vulkan, but no OpenGL or graphics card that was built before 2018. It would probably be better to err on the side of collecting less data and supporting more hardware and graphics APIs.

The profiler should collect enough data to answer questions like: Why is my game lagging even though the CPU is utilised at 60% and the GPU is utilised at 30%? During that function call in the main thread, was the GPU doing something, and were the other cores idling?

Engine/Framework/Scripting Aware

The profiler knows which samples/stack frames are inside gameplay or engine code, native or interpreted code, project-specific or third-party code.

In my experience, it’s not particularly useful to know that the code spent 50% of the time in ceval.c, or 40% of the time in SDL_LowerBlit, but that’s the level of granularity provided by many profilers.

Instead, the profiler should record interpreted code, and allow the game to set a hint if the game is in turn interpreting code. For example, if there is a dialogue engine, that engine could set a global “interpreting dialogue” flag and a “current conversation file and line” variable based on source maps, and the profiler would record those, instead of stopping at the dialogue interpreter-loop function.

Of course, this feature requires some cooperation from the game engine or scripting language.

Catching Common Performance Mistakes

With a hybrid sampling/instrumenting profiler that knows about frames or game state update steps, it is possible to instrument many or most “heavy“ functions. Maybe this functionality should be turned off by default. If most “heavy functions“, for example “parsing a TTF file to create a font object“, are instrumented, the profiler can automatically highlight a mistake when the programmer loads a font from disk during every frame, a hundred frames in a row.

This would not be part of the sampling stage, but part of the visualisation/analysis stage.

Filtering for User Experience

If the profiler knows how long a frame takes, and how much time is spent waiting during each frame, we can safely disregard those frames that complete quickly, with some time to spare. The frames that concern us are those that lag, or those that are dropped. For example, imagine a game spends 30% of its CPU time on culling, and 10% on collision detection. You would think to optimise the culling. What if the collision detection takes 1 ms during most frames, culling always takes 8 ms, but whenever the player fires a bullet, the collision detection causes a lag spike. The time spent on culling is not the problem here.

This would probably not be part of the sampling stage, but part of the visualisation/analysis stage. Still, you could use this information to discard “fast enough“ frames and re-use the memory, and only focus on keeping profiling information from the worst cases.

Aggregating By Code Paths

This is easier when you don’t use an engine, but it can probably also be done if the profiler is “engine-aware”. It would require some per-engine custom code though. Instead of saying “The game spent 30% of the time doing vector addition“, or smarter “The game spent 10% of the frames that lagged most in the MobAIRebuildMesh function“, I want the game to distinguish between game states like “inventory menu“, “spell targeting (first person)“ or “switching to adjacent area“. If the game does not use a data-driven engine, but multiple hand-written game loops, these states can easily be distinguished (but perhaps not labelled) by comparing call stacks: Different states with different game loops call the code to update the screen from different places – and different code paths could have completely different performance characteristics, so it makes sense to evaluate them separately.

Because the hypothetical hybrid profiler instruments key functions, enough call stack information to distinguish different code paths is usually available, and the profiler might be able to automatically distinguish between the loading screen, the main menu, and the game world, without any need for the code to give hints to the profiler.

This could also help to keep the memory usage of the profiler down without discarding too much interesting information, by only keeping the 100 worst frames per code path. This way, the profiler can collect performance data on the gameplay without running out of RAM during the loading screen.

In a data-driven engine like Unity, I’d expect everything to happen all the time, on the same, well-optimised code path. But this is not a wish list for a Unity profiler. This is a wish list for a profiler for your own custom game engine, glue code, and dialogue trees.

All I need is a profiler that is a little smarter, that is aware of SDL, OpenGL, Vulkan, and YarnSpinner or Ink. Ideally, I would need somebody else to write it for me.

[syedgaffar]

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Modifying Digital Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has appeared as a game-changer in digital marketing. AI-powered tools and techniques are revolutionising the way how businesses interact with customers and prospects, offering unprecedented insights into customer behaviour and preferences. One of the key areas where AI is making a significant impact is in the field of customer engagement. 

One of the key benefits of AI in digital marketing is its ability to process large amounts of data quickly and accurately. This allows businesses to obtain insights into customer habits, preferences, and interests and use this information to create more personalised marketing campaigns. For example, AI can analyse customer data from social media platforms, emails, and other sources to identify patterns and trends and use this information to create targeted advertising campaigns. 

AI-powered tools can also help businesses maximise their marketing campaigns by automating tasks such as A/B testing, content creation, and lead generation. This frees marketers to focus on further strategic tasks, such as developing creative campaigns and building customer relationships. 

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming progressively popular, providing businesses with 24/7 customer support and assistance. These AI-powered tools can link with customers in real-time, answering questions, providing information, and even completing transactions. This allows businesses to provide a more personalised and responsive customer experience while reducing the workload on customer service teams. Another area where AI is transforming digital marketing is in the field of data analytics.

AI-powered tools can analyse vast amounts of client data and provide the perception of customer behaviour and preferences. This information can be used to customise marketing messages, target specific customer segments, and predict customer behaviour. AI is also playing an essential role in improving the effectiveness of digital advertising.

AI-powered tools can examine customer data and identify the most effective channels and formats for advertising messages. This information can be used to maximise ad campaigns and improve their ROI. Overall, AI is helping businesses to create more effective, personalised, and engaging digital marketing campaigns. It enables them to better understand customer behaviour and preferences and modify their marketing messages accordingly. As AI technology evolves, it will likely become a progressively important tool in the digital marketing arsenal. AI also transforms search engine optimisation (SEO) by allowing businesses to optimise their content for voice search. 

With the increasing number of voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, businesses must ensure their content is optimised for voice search queries. AI can help businesses create content optimised for natural language searches, enabling them to rank higher in voice search results. 

Finally, AI is helping businesses to identify and target new audiences. By analysing data from social media platforms and other sources, AI can identify potential customers likely to be interested in a particular product or service. This enables businesses to create targeted advertising campaigns that are more likely to result in conversions. In conclusion, AI is revolutionising digital marketing by allowing businesses to create more personalised, targeted, and effective campaigns. AI transforms how businesses approach marketing from data analysis and optimisation to chatbots and voice search. As AI technology evolves continuously, it would be interesting to see how it becomes an increasingly important tool in the digital marketing arsenal.

[fouadwastaken]

What is you’re favorite programming language!!!!!

FEELING THAT THIS IS ANNI!

They are all very versatile and cool and to each one their own usages! But personally if I had to pick one it'd be either Rust (One I am intending to learn) or C++ (one that I am a bit more used to!)

I am not very much of a webdev guy (even if I have to know it for job offers in general , it pays damn well.....) I prefer to focus on more mathematic intensive applications of computer science! especially one of the fields I want to go into would be game developement , and I think there is a lot to do there in terms of optimisation of data flow and physics engine computations! Basically what I want to do is to make reaaally big games run on as small of a computer as possible! and to do this nothing but good old c language! C# in particular , but it's not my favorite because I have not grown yet too used to it but it's still useful ! Still don't give as much manipulation of memory as C++

Another reason C is my favorite language is that most programable controllers use it! so kinda have to know it a bit and it makes it even cooler!

Rust does the same thing as C++ but a bit better! However it's less popular for programable controllers and stuff of the likes!

As for python , it is cool but as I said. Aiming to make stuff as smooth and fast running as possible python doesn't exactly cut it!

Also frankly once a quantum programation language is available it might be by favorite! It's not out there yet , but hey if i'm really lucky I might work with the team that will make it! Quantum computing is one of the subjects I want to have my phD in!

Hope this answers the question!

[angelincris]

The Importance of Digital Marketing: Simplified Insights

Digital marketing has emerged as a game-changer in the business world, revolutionising how companies engage with their customers. In this simplified guide.

we’ll dive into the importance of digital marketing, focusing on its unique aspects:

1. Precise Targeting: Digital marketing enables businesses to precisely target their marketing efforts. Picture a virtual magnifying glass that helps you zoom in on your ideal customers. Be it age, location, interests, or online behaviour, digital marketing allows you to connect with the right people at the right moment.

2. Cost-Efficient Strategies: Traditional advertising methods, such as billboards and TV ads, often come with hefty price tags. Digital marketing offers cost-effective alternatives. Using tools like pay-per-click advertising, you only pay when someone genuinely shows interest in your offering. This efficiency ensures your budget is used wisely.

3. Instant Connection: In the digital world, communication is lightning-fast. Businesses can engage with their audience in real time through social media, chatbots, and email. This immediate connection nurtures relationships, addresses concerns, and builds trust.

5. Measurable Impact: Digital marketing’s unique power lies in its ability to track and measure results. You can see precisely how your campaigns are performing, from website traffic to conversion rates. This data-driven approach empowers you to make informed decisions and refine your strategies for better outcomes.

6. Diverse Engagement Channels: Digital marketing offers a range of channels for connecting with your audience. From social media platforms to email marketing, content creation, and search engine optimisation, you can select the channels that align with your goals and audience preferences.

7. Flexibility and adaptability: In the ever-evolving digital landscape, adaptability is paramount. Digital marketing strategies can be adjusted swiftly. If something isn’t working, you can pivot quickly, saving both time and resources.

8. Level Playing Field: Digital marketing levels the playing field, enabling small businesses to compete with industry giants. With a well-crafted online presence and strategic marketing, even startups can make a significant impact.

9. Personalisation at Scale: Imagine customising your marketing messages for every individual in your audience. With digital marketing, this isn’t just a dream but a practical reality. Personalisation enhances customer experiences, increasing the chances of conversions and loyalty.

10. Future-Proofing: As the world becomes increasingly digital, businesses that embrace digital marketing will future-proof themselves. Adapting to digital trends and technologies ensures long-term relevance and success.

In conclusion, the significance of digital marketing lies in its ability to connect businesses with their audience in a precise, cost-effective, and measurable manner. It empowers businesses of all sizes to compete on a global scale, foster real-time connections, and adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape. In today’s digital age, digital marketing is not just important — it’s essential for growth and sustainability.

If you want to learn more about digital marketing, I highly recommend the Digital Marketing course at ACTE Technologies because they offer certifications and job placement opportunities. Experienced teachers can help you learn better. You can find these services both online and offline. Take things step by step and consider enrolling in a course if you’re interested.

I hope I answered your question successfully. If not, feel free to mention it in the comments area. I believe I still have much to learn. If you feel that my response has been helpful, make sure to follow me on Quora and give it an upvote to encourage me to upload more content about digital marketing. Thank you for spending your valuable time and upvotes here. Have a great day.