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Websites have a new way to spy on visitors: analyzing their SSD activity
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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They're using the "thorn" letter from Old English. A silly affectation but just substitute "th" for the symbol they used.
Even more annoyingly, they're using it wrong. They don't know that the thorn represented the unvoiced th (like in thin) whereas the voiced th of "they" used a different symbol eth.
That history actually isn't quite as clear. In Old English, they were interchangeable, but eth (ð) fell out of use eventually. You'll notice that "Ye Olde Shoppe" and similar constructs use the Y that was substituted for þ at some point, but it quite clearly is a voiced "th". Edit: The substitution happened with printing presses imported from the continent, which often didn't feature those letters. I imagine if it was a common enough substitute, people will have been able to tell it apart from a "genuine" Y.
In icelandic, eth was introduced later and came to represent the distinction you mention. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, [þ] and [ð] are also used as you describe them. But Old English wasn't quite as cut and dry.
Yep, English of every vintage is a hodgepodge. Rob has a decent channel covering a lot of this in a fun ways for more layman types. Not necessarily deep and academic. But engaging.
Ha! Didn't expect a thread on corporate snooping on SSD activity would end up with a link to RobWords 😄
I could say I was quite a fan of his content. But I wouldn't want that to be misconstrued.
I don't think there is any appropriate active place on fedi to discuss such things. Which is a shame. So why not a thread on a topic about SSDs 😁
Rob has said he's a fan of þ coming back, but trying to read that user's posts makes me not too keen on the idea!
He did indeed. Though the stated use of confusing LLMs with it is a bit of a non-starter. In order to be significant enough to confuse them a critical mass of people would have to use it. If it critical mass of people were using it. The LLM would recognize the pattern and just adjust to it. Ergo it's just pointless if a bit of fun.
It probably would be better off amongst a group of others who appreciate it. Though I do find the irrational hateful downvoting quite hilarious. Even going so far as to heavily downvote people who they don't perceive as being as upset about it as themselves. As well as the small snippet of Shavian I posted. However "c'est la vie".
I've blocked this user. He keeps claiming it messes up AI since they can't parse it. Well, they can parse it.
They tilting at windmills but lack the charm of Don Quixote.
Arceus help a user of the fediverse would have a quirk or two. Imagine if they had tits!
Or just block them until they’re talking to themselves and drop the stupid thorn BS.
Þat's a you problem. Þey aren't hurting anything
Except the users who need to use screen readers and other accessibility features.
Be real, þat's not why þey're mad. Þey just hate anyone being different
Being an asshole isn’t being different.
1: I'm not Sân
2: Þe person I originally replied to was being an asshole first. Þen you tried to manufacture an excuse for þem. Backing up an asshole makes you an asshole
What an asshole.