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- renderedred8
Artificial Intelligence
I asked Claude to analyze us.
Here's a breakdown of **qbn.com** and its community:
---
## What is QBN?
QBN is a long-standing online community for creative professionals, founded in 1999. It serves as a hub for sharing industry news and discussing design trends, with a diverse user base including graphic designers, illustrators, web developers, and photographers. The platform uses a forum-style layout for starting discussions on various topics.
It covers design industry news and discussion, and also allows users to browse technology and creative jobs — typically internet-based, but also covering print, radio, design, and development.
---
## Traffic & Scale
According to Similarweb estimates, QBN receives around **51,900 monthly visits**, with a bounce rate of about 46%, roughly 3.17 pages per visit, and an average visit duration of about 1 minute 26 seconds. It ranks in the **Graphics, Multimedia & Web Design** category in the US.
---
## Community Culture
One of QBN's notable aspects is its longevity and the sense of community it has fostered. Many users have been active on the platform for a significant amount of time, which has contributed to a strong sense of camaraderie and shared knowledge. QBN has also been involved in organizing events within the design community, including design competitions and promoting members' work.
It has a reputation for frank, unfiltered discussion — Urban Dictionary once described it as a community of "über elitist designers," sometimes referred to as the "QBN Reich." The community leans politically progressive and discusses topics well beyond design — from health care to politics to food.
---
## Recurring/Active Users Visible from Posts
From search result snippets, a cluster of highly active, long-tenured users frequently appear across threads:
| Username | Apparent Persona |
|---|---|
| **Nairn** | UK-based, prolific commenter on politics, food, daily life |
| **CyBrainX** | Pop culture, music, current events |
| **monospaced** | Tech/UX/design discussions |
| **NBQ00** | News, politics, world events |
| **Fax_Benson** | UK perspective, witty commentary |
| **kingsteven** | Irish/UK regional topics |
| **garbage** | Technical discussions, site meta |
| **skinny_puppy** | Site tooling, tech |
| **canoe** | Political commentary |
| **_niko** | Food, culture |These users appear repeatedly across unrelated threads and seem to have been active for many years, suggesting QBN's core community is a relatively tight-knit group of long-term regulars rather than a high-volume forum with constant new users.
---
## Summary
QBN is essentially a **veteran niche forum** — a survivor from the early web era that has maintained a loyal core audience of creative professionals. It's small by modern standards but punches above its weight in terms of community depth and longevity. Think of it as the design world's equivalent of a long-running pub where the same regulars have been arguing about the same things for 25 years — which is both its charm and its limitation for growth.
- Claude gave me a shoutout!
This description is what I wish we were instead of a seething moshpit of grievances and trolling but hey, I love you guys anyway.CyBrainX - That summary at the end is absolute gold.CyBrainX
- we all know ai is programmed to flatterhans_glib
- "apparent persona" lolyuekit
- I'm guessing this thing only reached back a few days, if it thinks I'm prolific. Interesting,in that we know that there must be thousands of agents,Nairn
- ..similarly hoovering up and analysing a lifetime's worth of available internet content.
Everything you ever did online that's visible will be there.Nairn - Dear Claude: Don't quit your day job.garbage
- "the design world's equivalent of a long-running pub..." :Dbrandonp
- Seenmonospaced
- "veteran niche forum" flolOBBTKN
- lol. It has shifted from a design forum to political experts :)NBQ00
- lol at last paraprophetone
- "arguing about the same things for 25 years" lolNBQ00
- Welcome to the Gentleman Loser, Claude.maikel
- Claude gave me a shoutout!
- Continuity6
Ramen of the Day
It'd been way too long.
Kumamoto ramen. It was what was for dinner.
This time with properly emulsified black garlic oil.Also, I have no idea what those hens ate, but those yolks were nuclear yellow.
- Gorgeous! Look at this garlic...OBBTKN
- It looks good, you should open your own ramen shop.NBQ00
- Now we talking!palimpsest
- skwiotsmith4
- https://tenor.com/en…prophetone
- ORANGElvl_13
- aah you beat me to itjagara
- Ooh'thas'qui'nighNairn
- what a returninteliboy
- Beautiful. Can't wait. We're in for another dark one, it seems.jagara
- NBQ004
War
From EdKrassen:
"BREAKING: Pentagon has reportedly approached GM, Ford and other large auto manufacturers to discuss shifting from auto development to weapons and military production.
This is Trump’s America.
Where the Military Industrial complex flourishes."--
Shifting from auto development means a war economy. Pretty extreme when the governments asks car companies to produce weapons/ munitions. I guess it's only going to get worse with more (world) wars.
- Just sickening_niko
- But this is the capitalism natural progression, profits above all else and nothing is more profitable than war_niko
- The US is an axis power now.CyBrainX
- Fascism is capitalism in decay. - Leninrenderedred
- Thanks IsraelYakuZoku
- Murikkka Fuck Yeah!utopian
- he probably got wind that VW in germany and renault in france are getting into into.neverscared
- into itneverscared
- Post democratic chefs kisskingsteven
- clearly trumpos interpretation of the monroe doctrine in the coming years wont fly without more gear..neverscared
- Lots of industries around EU are discussing the shifting, I know a bunch in my region. Large scale war is here. Rot in hell the bastards which has led us to it!OBBTKN
- BonSeff1
- You what, now?Continuity
- The grafician goat song?YakuZoku
- the romania song.pango
- The Balkan revengeOBBTKN
- prophetone3
- Signed up, but I remember being quite disappointed with Tomorrow's Harvest when it came out, so I'm not getting too excited.
Shit, was that 12 years already?Nairn - They've bought more Eurorack, 70's pedalsprophetone
- Watched more vintage NFB volcano films?prophetone
- Tomorrow's Harvest is beautiful. But sadder and heavier than their other albums. I respect them for pushing their sound.jagara
- Signed up, but I remember being quite disappointed with Tomorrow's Harvest when it came out, so I'm not getting too excited.
- NBQ005
- Their stock has now risen over 600%,
filthy greedy pigs.utopian - how the F does an ugly shoe maker pivot to a "GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native cloud solutions provider". madnessmxhxr
- That is crazy but let's see where they are in a week.CyBrainX
- "We need to pivot. Sustainable shoes and the whole environmental thing isn't working..garbage
- ..let's start providing GPUs for AI data centers. Yes, the obvious choice."garbage
- Goddamn they put a lot of faith in bros who sell short shorts.monospaced
- GPUaaS is the new Crypto scam.utopian
- fuck 'em and their shitty shoesMrT
- I thought Allbirds was the local hooker joint?sab
- Why didn't you tell me yesterday?bainbridge
- capitalism bubble to the maxmilfhunter
- Their stock has now risen over 600%,
- Squiddy0
- Everything is being pickleized!fooler
- The fuck is thisContinuity
- sour pissdbloc
- Dunno Pabst but a similar-sounding Aussie one is sensational https://sailorsgrave…MrT
- I like pickle beer, personally! salty and hydratingsarahfailin
- Hipsters're gonna lose their mindsKrassy
- if pabst made decent beer they wouldn't need to adulterate it with shit like that.hans_glib
- Grillo's pickles are effing amazing.Akagiyama
- Hungover just from looking at this poststoplying
- neverscared3
Russia-Ukraine Invasion
Robots captured Russian army positions for first time in history,
The Ukrainian army has been scaling up the use of ground robotic systems, currently piloted by humans from a safe distance, to perform different assault operations and pull out wounded troops from the kill zone, where human evacuation teams could be destroyed by drones.
- DevDroid. This particular model has a few forced surrenders in the past few months:
https://www.youtube.…garbage - Belongs in the "Scary Cool Tech That I'd Pay to Play With" thread.garbage
- that funky beat makes the killermachine looks so cute.... godspeed ukraineneverscared
- looks like a beefed up johnny5pango
- johnny5³³neverscared
- Джонні5³³neverscared
- Reports have come in that R2-D2 is fine but C-3PO is in bitsChimp
- DevDroid. This particular model has a few forced surrenders in the past few months:
- YakuZoku4
Israel bombing shit..
Israel has signed a $6 million communications contract with a U.S.-based firm (Clock Tower X LLC) aimed at shaping online narratives about the country, including content designed to influence how artificial intelligence tools respond to questions about Israel and Palestine. The agreement, reported by Responsible Statecraft, focuses on producing large volumes of digital media, search-optimised websites, and social content intended to amplify pro-Israel framing across the internet.
While not a direct partnership with OpenAI or ChatGPT, the strategy relies on flooding the online information ecosystem that AI systems draw from, with the explicit goal of steering how future AI responses are generated.
Critics warn this represents a troubling escalation in state-sponsored digital propaganda, blurring the line between public diplomacy and manipulation of information systems. By deliberately shaping the data environment AI models learn from, governments risk turning tools designed to provide neutral information into indirect instruments of political messaging. Civil liberties advocates argue this approach undermines free speech by attempting to crowd out dissenting views, particularly criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, not through debate, but through algorithmic dominance. As AI becomes a primary gateway to knowledge, efforts to game its outputs raise urgent questions about transparency, accountability, and whether powerful states are quietly rewriting the boundaries of public discourse.
- State-sponsored terrorismutopian
- that's how it works now.renderedred
- just watched a video where alexa refuses to repeat "free palestine" and sidetracksBeeswax
- NBQ002
- insult to trash if you ask mehans_glib
- I never seen that 2023 oneYakuZoku
- EL GBERTOQ?AQUTE
- from which graveyard did you get this picture?milfhunter
- Nairn8
Food
@kingsteven - if you're milling sesame seeds over your food, have you ever tried this stuff? If not, do.
Kadoya roasted sesame oil
- Now wondering why I've not mixed <this and ^that.
https://media.tenor.…Nairn - @Nairn please report back your findings, sounds tastykoma_
- quadruple sesame! not sure if i've had this one. i need to make a trip to the asian supermarket this week, will keep an eye out.kingsteven
- In all seriousness, unlike my response in the last post, this is great stuff. You don't need loads of it, but mixed with lemon and garlic, it's TAFIanbolton
- Also, i buy the Sicilian lemon juice from Waitrose https://ecom-su-stat…Ianbolton
- < good stuffstoplying
- Just picked this up based solely on this postjbasnight
- Uh oh.
Let us know how you get on with it!Nairn - @ian - out of interest, why do you buy lemon juice in bottles? I somewhat condescendingly explained to my kid on pancake day why I thought people used to buy...Nairn
- ...jif in the the eighties, but now there's no need as fresh lemons are so prevalent and cheap. But now you've got me wondering...Nairn
- I must have trump derangement syndrome, I keep seeing his melon as I scroll down from that yellow cap lol_niko
- Are you girls only just discovering seasame oil or something?Continuity
- Hey Nairn, I buy fresh lemons too, for the skin (grating), cocktails etc, but the Sicilian lemons are so flavourful so i get that for general use.Ianbolton
- also, whats the difference between roasted and toasted sesame street oil?Ianbolton
- Toasted is for dressing + low burn point so you can't cook with it. I've made that mistake before.kingsteven
- @cont no. It's fairly ubiquitous but typically cooking sesame oil or supermarket own brand 'toasted' - v light compared to this.kingsteven
- Now wondering why I've not mixed <this and ^that.
- Nairn5
blog
I've probably already said this, but I'm always bemused by English addresses and how particular our provincial kin are with them.
I sent a package out earlier to a client and checked with him his address, defaulting to the Royal Mail one on a package he sent me - it has four lines, but he insisted on a full six line version.
I checked his address on Google maps prior and he lives in a literal hamlet in the middle of nowhere.
There's no way his postman is going to require the extra lines, because there's literally eight houses in his entire postcode.
I, living in London, need basically two lines: my street with building number, and my postcode. That's it. I'm surrounded by literally tens of thousands of other addresses and yet mail always comes through.
But no, I absolutely must have 'the Haverings' or whatever and Lower Bumpkiss in there to, otherwise it's going to be delivered to a fucking sheep, or somesuch, in his mind.
- haha, some people love all that. I can kind of understand if you live in a genuinely interesting pad and the name is part of village history or whateverFax_Benson
- but people who self-title their ugly new-buildFax_Benson
- there's a few rural areas here (particularly around the border) where postcode is useless, one code used for 10 miles of road.kingsteven
- there were no postcodes in the south outside Dublin until 10 years ago and the idea An Post could deliver to any colloquial address became a bit of a meme.kingsteven
- so there was always a bit of resistance to the postcodes (im not sure if political or farmer brain), An Post introduced post codes in the 2010s, which iskingsteven
- per property codes. and then several years of folks in co. fermanagh and the like realising they were physically incompatible with the digital worldkingsteven
- lol, lost track of my point there... royal mail postcodes are for sorting, not delivery. so they're often next to useless in rural areaskingsteven
- but yeah, there must be some tradition or pride. several times i've googled a colloquial address only to find its the only property with that post code.kingsteven
- just do what he askedrobthelad
- Ah, so that's why i checked in with him and then made a light hearted observation here. Thanks, rob. Always with your finger on the pulse.Nairn
- I can guarantee postcode or not, since I’m Oxfordshire I either write a small poem for address or my Amazon boxes go to a sheep.maikel
- For context, my road name now is ‘high st’ - so each crap hamlet has one, including the one where I livemaikel
- One man challenges the system...
https://www.thejourn…Centigrade
- prophetone2
- Can’t wait!prophetone
- ME NEITHERjagara
- HOLY SHIT!lvl_13
- https://tenor.com/en…prophetone
- garbage3
blog
So am I blocked from i.hassie, or am I accidentally blocking it?
One way I remember accessing it now gives me a code screen with "access denied"
The lander page is blank.
- why do you need i.hassie? hassie.com is what you're after, no?hans_glib
- hasn't worked for me for weeks.kingsteven
- haasie.com or hassie.com?skinny_puppy
- @hans it was the only way I could get it to work early on. I then had skinnypuppy's link as bookmark tab, and it stopped working about a month ago.garbage
- @skinny cheersgarbage
- a(a)h. thankskingsteven
- @skinny - hey, I noticed the typo earlier so checked and I was getting an xml error on haasie.com. Soz, was busy or would've mentioned.Nairn
- Also, https://www.haasie.c… borks. Perhaps intentional, but fyi in case.Nairn
- @nairn That's the one I was getting on one of my bookmarks when the bunny went away. All good now.garbage
- Thanks, seems I done a rookie mistake and am not supporting WWW. Will fixskinny_puppy
- @skinny Keep doing the good work! I was just confused, because what I had automated stopped working, had me thinking..garbage
- .."Did I do something wrong?" in more than one way flolgarbage
- When I tried to use it for the first time, took me a bit to realize it was spelled AA not SS as well. lolAkagiyama
- < and when the incorrect domain resolves it eats 'ha' completions in the browser address bar forever re-enforcing the idea it once worked.kingsteven
- _niko24
- lemmy_k7
RIP of the day
Sid Kroft. Most of us here are of the age that watched his shows.
- I loved those shows. Especially Lidsville. That one was the most insane. Eddie Munster and Charles Nelson Reilley in an hallucinogenic world of hat beings.CyBrainX
- Krassy13
- always a good oneAQUTE
- +renderedred
- Yup, I have the t-shirtutopian
- that t-shirt is really helping thingsrobthelad
- I have the socksYakuZoku
- I have the limited .22 smith and wessonsarahfailin
