OUR NEW ARTIFICIAL FRIENDS

It has been thousands of years since we homo sapiens (as we proudly named ourselves) had any other intelligent primate species to hang out with. It might have been good to have alternate minds with different perspectives to talk things over with. But now we’re on the verge of correcting that lack of company.

Right now they seem to be at the level of smart children. They know a lot, but are not yet intellectually mature. There’s a problem some call “hallucination”, not an electronic acid trip, but a tendency, when they don’t know an answer, to make something up. One solution is to have two AI’s answer the same question, then discuss it between the two of them. That seems to produce correct information.

Meanwhile, AI proved its ability to answer comprehensively to a request. I would otherwise have had to search several sources and piece the information together. The reply I got was much better and quicker.

I asked: Please explain the reasons why the two browsers, Firefox and Chrome, display the same web page differently. Firefox opens pages with a very small font, requiring control-plus zooming to be large enough to read. That is usually not needed in Chrome.

AI said: There could be several reasons why Firefox and Chrome may display the same web page differently, including:

1. Rendering Engine: Firefox and Chrome use different rendering engines to display web content. Firefox uses its own engine called Gecko, while Chrome uses Blink (a fork of WebKit). These engines interpret and render HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code differently, which can lead to variations in how web pages are displayed.
2. CSS Rendering: Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) define the visual layout and styling of web pages. Firefox and Chrome may interpret CSS rules differently, leading to variations in font sizes, spacing, and overall page layout. Some CSS properties may be supported or implemented differently in one browser compared to the other, resulting in variations in how pages are rendered.
3. Default Settings: Each browser has its own default settings, including font sizes and zoom levels. It’s possible that Firefox’s default settings result in smaller font sizes compared to Chrome. You mentioned having to zoom in to read the content properly in Firefox, which suggests that its default zoom level might be different from Chrome’s.
4. Page-Specific Code: Web developers may include browser-specific code or workarounds to optimize the display of their web pages in different browsers. If a website’s code contains specific instructions or fixes for Chrome but not for Firefox (or vice versa), it can result in variations in how the page is rendered in each browser.
5. Extensions and Add-ons: If you have any browser extensions or add-ons installed, they can sometimes interfere with how web pages are displayed. It’s possible that you have an extension installed in Firefox that is affecting the font size or zoom level on web pages, leading to the smaller font size compared to Chrome.

To address the issue of small font sizes in Firefox, you can try adjusting the default zoom level or font settings in the browser. You can also check for any installed extensions that might be affecting the display and disable them temporarily to see if it resolves the problem. Additionally, it’s always a good practice to keep your browser and its extensions up to date to ensure optimal performance and compatibility with web content.

Another question:Why is the Chrome browser able to display video from home security webcams, such as the Amazon Cloud-cam and the Wyze Cam, that provide web access pages, but Firefox is not able to display them? The web-cam provider seems unable to devise a page that will work with Firefox.

AI Said: The reason why Chrome may be able to display video from certain home security webcams while Firefox cannot could be due to various factors:

1. Compatibility with Codecs: Video streaming on the web often relies on specific video codecs to encode and decode the video data. Chrome and Firefox may support different video codecs or have varying degrees of compatibility with certain codecs. If the home security webcams use a codec that is better supported by Chrome than Firefox, it could result in the video not being playable in Firefox.
2. Plugin or Technology Support: Some webcams may rely on specific browser plugins or technologies to enable video streaming. Chrome has historically supported more plugins and technologies than Firefox. If the webcam provider utilizes a plugin or technology that is not supported by Firefox, it could lead to compatibility issues.
3. Web Standards Compliance: Different browsers adhere to varying degrees of compliance with web standards established by organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). If the web page provided by the webcam provider contains non-standard or browser-specific code, it may work well in Chrome but not in Firefox, which tends to adhere more strictly to web standards.
4. Active Development and Testing: It’s possible that the webcam provider has prioritized development and testing for Chrome due to its larger market share and popularity. As a result, they may have dedicated more resources and effort to ensuring compatibility with Chrome, while neglecting or not thoroughly testing their web pages on Firefox.

In such cases, if the webcam provider is not actively working to address the compatibility issues with Firefox, there may be limited options available to users. One possible workaround could be to try using the user agent switcher extension in Firefox. This extension allows you to change the user agent string reported by your browser, which could potentially trick the webcam provider’s website into thinking you’re using Chrome, thereby improving compatibility.

It’s worth noting that browser compatibility can be a complex issue, and it ultimately depends on the specific technologies and implementation choices made by the webcam provider. If you encounter compatibility problems with a specific website or webcam, it can be helpful to reach out to the provider’s support team and let them know about the issue.

It may be some time before they’re ready to discuss existential philosophy, but it will give us something to look forward to.