Notes for July 10, 2026

Publishers Are Preparing to Opt Out of Google Search via AdWeek

Who even uses Google anymore? There are so many good alternatives. Kagi, obviously, but even DuckDuckGo is pretty good these days. The models it uses for its AI assistant are more accurate than Google, or if you absolutely hate it you can easily disable it. Or if you're not a fan of either of those, there's the EU-based Uruky.

I remember how obnoxiously important it was to optimize your website for Google back in the 2000's and 2010's, but we're not living in that world anymore. Fuck em.

SEO slop is out, AI slop is in 😵‍💫

Fan-favorite Taco Bell items affected by ‘explosive diarrhea’ parasite in US via Dexerto

Taco Bell has been causing explosive diarrhea since 1962 but suddenly it's national news 🤨

McConnell Bolts Upright in Terror as JD Vance Enters Hospital Room via The Borowitz Report

“Get that bastard away from me!” the Kentucky lawmaker shrieked.

Before you get your hopes up: yes, it's satire.

Columbus one of the country’s most bed bug-infested cities, Orkin says; 5 other Ohio cities in top 50 via 614Now

Everyone knows bedbugs are the secret ingredient for the "scarlet" in OSU's scarlet and grey. I say that as a Buckeye, with love.

It's pretty early in the day still; most of these links are from last night. I'm back at work today, so I'll be focusing on more productive things like vaping in the bathroom and playing Nintendo games... but mostly trying to manifest no one walking through that fucking door and making me do stuff.

👾 What I'm playing:

I've been into the Castlevania Dominus Collection lately. Tried playing the original arcade version of Haunted Castle but I was ready to rip my hair out after five minutes so I switched to the much more forgiving remastered version and finished it in about a half an hour.

Pretty hyped that Konami is FINALLY working on an all new title in the series: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse.

💿 What I'm listening to:

Converge is still heavily in rotation, right now Hum of Hurt is getting the most playtime. Listening to a lot of nostalgic MySpace screamo bands too, like I Set My Friends on Fire, Scary Kids Scaring Kids and of course a little Hawthorne Heights.