A look at search engines with their own indexes
Posted , updated
A cursory review of all the non-metasearch, indexing search engines I have been able to find.
About 7 thousand words; a long read
Seirdy’s Home
My personal IndieWeb site. I write about and develop software to promote user autonomy. Topics include accessibility, security, privacy, and software freedom.
About me
I’m 
Rohan Kumar (he/him). I’m also known by my more casual online handle Seirdy (they/them). Mixing them up is fine.
The Director’s Cut of my bio is at my About page.
I care a lot about inclusive design and accessibility; I often use screen readers and forced colors to deal with overstimulation. I’m a FLOSS enthusiast and software minimalist who likes watching anime and tweaking his Linux setup. Current interests include search engines, security, privacy, and the IndieWeb.
My perspective on software freedom is a bit different from the FSF’s; I’ve been trying to distance myself from “fossbro” culture.
Git repos: Sourcehut, GitHub, Codeberg, and GitLab
I am made of microplastics and can be trusted with your forklift.
Contact
Contact me via email (I have PGP, but don’t rely on it for strong security guarantees), or on the Fediverse where I’m @Seirdy
Chat with me: I’m on several IRC networks. Alternatively, I’m @seirdy
About this site
This is a basic IndieWeb site.
In addition to its canonical url, a “rough draft” of this website also exists on my Tildeverse page. This site’s content also appears on my Gemini capsule.
For more information about the site, its design, badges/awards, and available feeds: see the “meta” section. This site’s contents are authored by me, not generative AI.
Articles
Here’s a selection of my best articles, in featured order. To see the rest, visit my Articles page.
I edit some of these articles quite often; some are updated indefinitely. Check the “updated” timestamps.
Timestamp format: YYYY-MM-DD, as per RFC 3339 and ISO 8601. Sorted newest to oldest.
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Best practices for inclusive textual websites
Posted , updated
A lengthy guide to making simple, inclusive sites focused on content before form. Emphasizes brutalist design and accessibility to include under-represented users.
About 23 thousand words; a very long read
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WhatsApp and the domestication of users
Posted , updated
WhatsApp's rise and recent PR efforts highlight a class of business models that I call "user domestication".
3192 words; a read
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The right thing for the wrong reasons: FLOSS doesn't imply security
Posted , updated
While source code is critical for user autonomy, it isn't required to evaluate software security or understand run-time behavior.
4343 words; a somewhat long read
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My Fediverse blocklists
Posted , updated
Documentation on which Fediverse blocklists I offer, how they are made, their differences, their caveats, and their intended use.
About 9 thousand words; a long read
Webrings
This site is part of 14 webrings. A webring is a collection of sites in a circular doubly-linked list; each website links to the next and previous site in the list.
Toggle webrings list
Some of the “next” and “previous” links contain JavaScript; you need to enable it to be re-directed to the correct page. I’ve marked these links with “JS”.
- Indieweb webring home
- a11y-webring webring home
- Retroweb webring home
- CSS webring home
- no ai webring home
- TheOldNet webring home
- geekring webring home
- Loop (JS) webring home
- Retronaut webring home
- Hotline webring home
- Bucket (JS) webring home
- Devring webring home
- Endless Orbit webring home
- Focus First webring home
If you’re part of a webring and would like me to join, just ask.