Google Does Evil
Up to about 2006 or 2007 Google provided an excellent search engine. It then started to prioritize and present more general results even where one searched for very specific information. It became cumbersome to search for and find details. The situation has since further deteriorated.
The Google News search is now completely useless. It delivers the main stream media trash without showing divergent views or opinions. What is the use of a search result page that links to twenty sites with the same slightly rewritten Associated Press story?
Google's algorithms now amount to censorship. Since August it downgrades websites that offer alternative views to the left of the pack. Searches that earlier led to the World Socialist Web Site or to Media Matters no longer show these sites, or show them way down the result pages. Traffic to these sites collapsed.
This week Google announced that it will censor RT.com, the website of the international Russian TV station: Google will ‘de-rank’ RT articles to make them harder to find – Eric Schmidt. Schmidt, the CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet, claims that he is "very strongly not in favor of censorship.” That is a laughable. Intentional downgrading a website that has relevant content IS censorship. Down-ranking means that less people will find and come to the site. Its content will have less viewers. It will be censored out of the public perception.
The original Google algorithm used the number of links to one site as a measure for its relevance. It was reasonable. In 2004 Google's founder proclaimed:
“Our search results are the best we know how to produce. They are unbiased and objective, and we do not accept payment for them or for inclusion or more frequent updating … We believe it is important for everyone to have access to the best information and research, not only to the information people pay for you to see.”
Back then the motto of Google was "Don't be evil". When its new parent company Alphabet was launched that motto was discarded.
Google has become a prime cooperator and contractor for U.S. intelligence services. The private data it collects from it users is fed the dark-site's databases.
But its new evilness is not restricted to data. The company ran a campaign against homeless people near its headquarter in Venice California (video). Google conspired with other tech-giants to keep the wages of its engineers down.
Since its beginning Google had some intimate connections with U.S. intelligence services (Long read: part 1, part 2). The relation is a two way street. Google Earth and its map products were, for example, originally created by U.S. intelligence services. They were given to Google for practically nothing. Google makes profits from advertisements within those products. It is providing special versions back to the intelligence people. One can only speculate how much of its user data comes with those versions.
Google's smartphone operation system Android collects users’ locations even when location services are disabled. There is no technical reason to do such. There is no reasonable explanation from Google why it does so.
Google early on sold out to the Democrats. Eric Schmidt is a Clinton/Obama acolyte. During the Obama administration Goggle's staff had at least 427 meetings at the White House. Emails from the letterbox of Clinton advisor Podesta, published by Wikileaks, show how Schmidt offered to promote Clinton even a year before she launched her campaign. Google paid staff helped her to organize.
Maybe Google was just buying goodwill with the White House to protect itself against the various anti-trust lawsuits it is engulfed in. It will do anything to avoid regulation of its monopolistic position and to protect its highly profitable business.
It is now, like other internet companies, under pressure to support the war party in creating a new Cold War with Russia. The "de-ranking" of RT.com show that it is willing to do so. It is degrading the quality of its product in exchange for political good-will from warmongers.
The best and most benign search engine available now is DuckDuckGo. Its quality is as good as Google's once was.
I recommend to use it as the standard and to avoid Google and its products wherever possible.
It is evil.
Posted by b on November 22, 2017 at 18:02 UTC | Permalink
I now use ysndex for all things political.
Duckduck go is also censored.
A subject I was reserching in 2013 no longer appears in duckduckgo search results.
Two hours of searching using every seach term I could think of produced nothing. On yandex, first search term, first page, third result brought up reference to the Australian court case I was looking for and had previously researched on duckduckgo. On looking into it, I found some changes were made in duckduckgo sometime in 2014.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 22 2017 18:36 utc | 2
Google, Twitter, Facebook -- these companies may never have been entirely neutral and non-partisan in the past, but we now know that they are most certainly not. They may not be wholly enthusiastic about filtering content, but it is clear they are now under great political pressure to do so.
I've been using DuckDuckGo for a couple of years now and it's quite good. It's mainly focussed on English sites (my impression at least) but has less robots that track websites so updates are slightly less frequent. I've tried to shun Google products as much as I can which is not easy (even MoA uses Google's recaptcha). These are:
- Google search engine
- Google analytics/adsense/jquery-libs-hosted-on-google/double click which are included in ALMOST EVERY web page! Included in government, porn, tax, health, gaming, ... sites that track your behaviour as in how many seconds do you read, how long does it take you to scroll the page, from which page did you come, what's you relegion, your sexual preference, your habits... .
- GMail LOL, I'm baffled by the stupidity and ignorance of people of giving their mailbox to a marketing company. I also tend to avoid sending mails to GMail accounts.
- Google Maps (I mainly use www.openstreetmap.org)
- Android on any device (even Linux' running on top of Andriod are unsafe regardles of what idiots claim). Why carry a tracking device that can even be remotely turned on to record your speech and photgraph (front+back camera) the surroundings?!
- Although there is Chrome, some whores at Firefox decided it was a good idea to strongly interweave Google in it. Activate Wireshark once and visit any HTTPS website without the slighest link to Google. Still you will see all your visited web sites are being reported to Google. To disable that particular behaviour (there is other also!) you have to DISABLE, not enable, "Block reported web forgeries" and "Block reported attack sites".
The problem is Wikipedia also has been suffering from the same bias and censership illness as Google. Wikipedia for one can not be consulted for something that's remotely related to politics. Whenever you correct an article or add something very touchy even when there is undesputed evidence from let's say Wikileaks, the Wikipedia gate keepers delete it with a comment like "if it's not in a NYT article, Guardian or other MSM you can't add it".
Posted by: xor | Nov 22 2017 19:11 utc | 4
@2 Peter AU 1: disappointing to hear that but good that I'm aware of that now
Posted by: xor | Nov 22 2017 19:14 utc | 5
For it's (forced?) standing-down position in Syria, DT's foreign policy approach might, when looking at all possible scenarios, receive a "pass." But there are other ways to undermine the opposition to permanent war.
The FCC is looking to overturn or rule against the concept of net neutrality. The MSM is framing this from a "business" standpoint as opposed to a "evil" standpoint. They are saying that comcast, for instance may soon be able to bribe ip subscribers for greater bandwidth usage when visiting media owned by competitors, be it netflix, etc. This, in itself, is extortion considering that most Americans have only one ip offerer in their geographical area.
But the media is missing the point entirely, and I believe that net neutrality will be a thing of the past soon at the behest, despite the democratic/republican theater of squabbles, of the war party in general. Does anyone remember the "proporn" list and b's residence on said smut-list? With net neutrality vanquished, your ip can utilize their preference for terminating your ability to even visit the bar here. Scary.
You might have to start constructing a rudimentary printing press, b, as this lost technology might soon be of dire need to starving artists like yourself.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 22 2017 19:14 utc | 6
I just tried this one and since Russia gets blamed for everything well why not give this site some hits.
Posted by: jo6pac | Nov 22 2017 19:18 utc | 7
@6 addendum
I believe that the recent ruling against the Time-Warner and AT&T merger, while having good optics, might be the counterbalance to said ruling against net neutrality. A convenient patsy. It'll take the heat off.
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 22 2017 19:18 utc | 8
Google’s Eric Schmidt, arbiter of news, has long history with Obama & Clinton
http://world.news.digitaltippingpoint.com/news/googles-eric-schmidt-arbiter-of-news-has-long-history-with-obama-clinton
Google is pure propaganda, deepstate tool. RT / Sputnik is only the beginning in this attack on freedom of speech.
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 22 2017 19:29 utc | 10
Other recommendations:
>> Firefox web browser
They just released a new version, "Firefox Quantum", that is about as fast as Chrome.
Also: use Noscript and Privacy Badger addons
>> Keepass to save passwords. Keep the password database on a thumb drive for added safety.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 19:30 utc | 11
@1 Jeff
Qwant = Bing (Microsoft)
Duck Duck Go and Startpage (if you want Google results) are the way to go.
Posted by: Temporarily Sane | Nov 22 2017 19:33 utc | 12
Thought I had corrected typos @2 before posting...
I had been using yandex browser for most things as I find it better to use than firefox, but a couple of months back found I could not post comments to the likes of MoA, so use firefox for the blogs, with duckduckgo to look up non political stuff like gardening, and yandex for most everything else.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 22 2017 19:36 utc | 13
VPN also.
I dont think we are far off where people will get punished by law for their views and/or blogs like these will get shut down.
That there is already illegal spying by western states on people like us is also on going no doubt about it.
Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 22 2017 19:48 utc | 14
b: Google early on sold out to the Democrats.
Given how the Democratic Party actually blocks change, I consider them to be nothing more than controlled opposition.
There is solid bi-partisan ("establishment") agreement on certain issues (not a complete list):
>> pervasive surveillance ("If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear");>> propaganda (MSM fake news is OK; what YOU say will get close examination);
>> militarism (laud the police/military at every opportunity - these heroes can do no wrong, even when their commanders order them to do so);
>> Israel;
>> corporate welfare and "trickle-down" economics (despite it's having been debunked).
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 19:49 utc | 15
@ Peter AU 1 about DuckDuckGo not being reliable
Thanks for the heads up....sigh
Yes, Google now does evil
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 22 2017 20:13 utc | 16
thanks b.. and to the posters for ideas..
@ 11 jr.. added those add ons to my firefox and all it did was prevent me from posting on moa! might have done more too, but not sure..
Posted by: james | Nov 22 2017 21:17 utc | 17
Please try https://alterlook.org” target=_blank> Alterlook.org and see the difference with the three big corporate search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo!!
It may need some explanation:
DuckDuckGo, SearchX, StartPage, ixquick e.o. are all proxies. They may do a bit additional crawling, to please friendly sources or for other non-transparent reasons, but mostly use the (biassed) search results of the three big corporate ones: Google, Bing (msn) and Yahoo.
Although these three big corporations once might have filled the gap, to use them now after more then 10, 20 years seems rather idiot to me. They don't serve your needs or those of the information producers. In fact they are just parasites who try to exploit others work for their own benefits (profit, influence, power).
Just create the index of your work yourself!!
It is not very difficult for cooperating news and information sites, to create an Index of their content together and give transparent access to it with an index-search widget on each of their websites. The more different sites join, the more commonly known this index will be.
I created this index of 40 information sources in a single week, just to give an example how easy it is. To be honest, it was my personal reaction on the outrages censorship by Google since September this year. The targeted information sites asked their visitors to join the mailing list or news-letter, but that didn't seem the right approach to me. You don't just write articles for those who already visit your website!
The software of this index&search-service is created by the amazing https://yacy.net” target=_blank > YaCy open source community. It’s a German initiative and they are very active in keeping it up-to-date. (Initial purpose was to create free open source software for a personal, distributed P2P search-index)
If internet information sources agree in creating an index together, all they need to do is import their local SOLR index database-file in the central (or distributed) cooperation Index (those who don’t have the SOLR search-index, can use the YaCy crawlers once, as I did, to create it - The publishing date is incorrect in this way), and update it with their daily RSS-feeds.
Be positive: Publishers should take advantage of the outrages behavior of these for-profit services, and create the index of their valuable information together.
Oeps, the link doesn't work.
Try it here please: Alterlook.org
created with the open source software of the YaCy community
james @17
You need to learn how to use Noscript. Noscript gives you INFO ABOUT and CONTROL OF scripts in the tab.
You'll get a capital 'S' in a circle in your toolbar (probably on the upper left - depends on version). Click on that and you'll see what scripts are allowed to run in that tab.
For me (and probably for you) I see scripts from:
moonofalabama.orgstatic.typepad.com
google.com
yui.yahooapis.comTo post on MoA you have to allow the first two. You may also need to allow yui.yahooapis.com also.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 21:41 utc | 20
james @17
You need to learn how to use Noscript. Noscript gives you INFO ABOUT and CONTROL OF scripts in the tab.
You'll get a capital 'S' in a circle in your toolbar (probably on the upper left - depends on version). Click on that and you'll see what scripts are allowed to run in that tab.
For me (and probably for you) I see scripts from:
moonofalabama.orgstatic.typepad.com
google.com
yui.yahooapis.comTo post on MoA you have to allow the first two. You may also need to allow yui.yahooapis.com also.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 21:41 utc | 21
Test: are google.com scripts are required to post to moonofalabama.org?
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 21:45 utc | 22
FYI: google.com scripts are not required for posting to MoA
But they are active if you don't block them.
My guess is that TypePad adds the google.com script.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 21:48 utc | 24
Also note:
The 'Privacy Badger' Add-on to Firefox blocks cookies from being placed by google.com when you visit MoA (I believe Noscript's blocking of google.com accomplishes the same).
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Nov 22 2017 21:52 utc | 25
I think this piece is a promotion for DuckDuckGo search engine. I've done several searches of topics like War in Syria, Crimea, WMD, etc. DDG finds no articles from alternative sources like CounterPunch, The Duran, Strategic Culture, Fort Russ, Consortium News, The Real News, Sputnik, RT, etc. It's all MSM sources. It's a total joke.
Posted by: Elwood Anderson | Nov 22 2017 22:08 utc | 26
Does anyone still doubt that we are seeing the end of "golden age" of the internet? It's been happening incrementally for over a year already, and the crackdown is speeding up. In about one month, our President's FCC Chair will end "net neutrality," which I think we all know means certain sites will become inaccessible/unusable.
What alternatives are people developing? It would seem we need to have it in place before the end of December, or we best be breeding carrier pigeons.
And despite the MSM's in-your-face "bias" and the "leaks" that Google/Facebook were assisting in the coronation of HRC, does anyone still believe that President Trump® is an "outsider" whom the Establishment opposes?
Posted by: Daniel | Nov 22 2017 22:15 utc | 27
Jackrabbot @21,
Unfortunately, yui.yahooapis.com appears to be necessary to enable the Post button. If this goes through, you don't need static.typepad.com to post.
Posted by: Jonathan | Nov 22 2017 22:26 utc | 29
Noscript and Privacy Badger are rather useless. The first blocks all JS by default and you have to manually white list everything. This is so cumbersome you will rather white list everything. Compare it to the silly Windoze security message when you execute an application. Nobody reads that anymore and automatically click YES/OK. I tried out Privacy Badger once but I can't remember what was wrong with it again. I think it only blocks advertisements or something but not what it discribes as "non-intrusive" ads or sites as in those companies who bribe Privacy Badger to have them off their list removed. Adblock Plus before the author started prostiting himself was decent. It allowed blocking sites by pattern so host name, script name, ... whatever you wanted meaning those nasty cookies wouldn't even touch your HD as the spying web sites were never called by your browser. After the author sold himself to mamon he added something similar like "non-intrusive" ad sites of which Google is of course a part. With some tweaking Adblock Plus can be salvaged though. There was also another thing in the add-on where it would call home withouth you knowing, even when you deselected all that see the author had embeded something.
But what's the point of all these add-ons when your browser itself is doing the call homes and reporting on you? Or when your operating system (Windoze, Apple, Android) is reporting your key strokes, habbits, surfing behaviour on you?
Posted by: xor | Nov 22 2017 22:47 utc | 30
1984 was not a prophecy, it was one of a multitude of plans by the Global Deep State for the future. It might be a gentler and kinder world with a soft toe boot, at least in some places, but not only is the news fake pretty much everything people believe is false because our education is fake as well. Heck, even religion and science has been corrupted
Posted by: Pft | Nov 22 2017 22:56 utc | 31
Posted by: xor | Nov 22, 2017 2:11:03 PM | 4
Excellent post.
Google No, No, Fuck NO!
May I share my experience - DuckDuckGo best, and another good search engine StartPage or Ixquick leaves no traces? (Not fully convince both uses Google). Also include extension: Adguard adblocker and Ghostery.
However the downside with Adguard adblocker and Ghostery protection, most sites insist you disarmed before permits entered their sites. Most disturb AMN almasdarnews , I pause Ghostery and Adguard protection.
As for ZeroHedge they allow me to enter fully protected but cannot views Tweets and facebook videos. I switch to Yendex which is marginally protected. Yendex excellent translation. One click that's all needed.
My laptop present O/S WinXP slowly migrating to Win10 with another similar laptop. Main O/S WinXP Opera ver. 36. For bookmarks Opera browser the best but obsolete O/S. To overcome it switch to Yendex latest ver. Yendex suck shitty bookmarks and their Tableau limited no match to Opera's Speed dial.
Not done yet. After each session, cleaned tracks with History data from day one. I use three more utilities. Beclean, CClean and EasyClean. Easy clean cleaned Eudora email client. I never leave email in ISP servers. Never, Never use Gmail or any web browser email.
You think are done..... No. NO there are also fuck window index files .dat or whatever names. The only ways to remove it, format HD and clean installed O/S. Used to do it every few months and getting too troublesome skipping it.
To sum up untidy mess..
Browser extension Adguard and Ghostly
Browsers. Opera and/or Yendex
Utilities - Beclean, CClean (Old Version 4.15.4725) and EasyClean
CClean excellent remove cookies.
OK one more final warning don’t ever touch Google’s pisa for jpg or whatever. The best jpg still Iview. Many moons ago when installed Google’s pisa, that fucking program searches my laptop and collect all data and lump it together with pic and etc. Stunned immediately deleted and cleaned installed all laptops.
Posted by: OJS | Nov 22 2017 23:02 utc | 32
I use google search because it gives me more control of what I am looking for.
Example, suppose I am looking for news that mentions Charles F. Freeman, Jr. In google, I can limit the search to today, this week, this month, etc. I don't seem able to do this on DDG or Qwant, they both just give me endless crap some of which is related to what I am looking for, and some is related to Ray Charles. Yandex refuses my search, says I am some kind of bot or something. Alterlook seems to provide the search parameters I am looking for, so I will give that a try and see what happens.
My personal experience with google has a downside. A neighbor started a business, and advertised with google, and google CHANGED its maps of my neighborhood, removing the name of the road where I live, and bending the named road onto my neighbor's private property. And then the County ditched its own quite accurate maps, and now sends you to google maps! Trying to complain to google is like throwing pennies in the wishing well.
Posted by: mauisurfer | Nov 22 2017 23:13 utc | 33
Furthermore
Alterlook does not cut it either, not for my use anyway.
You cannot control the date of the search as you can in google.
Posted by: mauisurfer | Nov 22 2017 23:20 utc | 34
Posted by: mauisurfer | Nov 22, 2017 6:13:13 PM | 33
If you MUST use Google, try StartPage or IXquick. They uses Google search engine but leave no trails (hopefully).
Posted by: OJS | Nov 22 2017 23:22 utc | 35
Switched to Yandex @ 2 months ago and am pleased with results, but I don't do nearly as many searches as I once did 10+ years ago. If it were up to me, I'd rescind Google's corporate charter and put it out of business.
Posted by: karlof1 | Nov 22 2017 23:41 utc | 36
Thanks b for raising this urgent issue. I predicted this months ago on this forum.
From me the most outrageous proof Google crossing to the dark site was their blatant censorship of the news regarding wars in Libya and Syria, blocking the government SANA site in search results. Then the mask went off, the pretenses were dropped, and the road went downhill including sponsoring the "Arab Spring" bloody revolt in the ME and planning with the Israel operations against Iran from Azerbaijan (Google Ideas group). Now, when the war against Syria is fading away, Google have been removing videos from the terrorists documenting their crimes.
It should not be surprising since Eric Schmidt has been a regular at the Bilderberg meetups.
I advice moving to viable alternatives, because Google handlers will become more desperate soon, when the war drums start beating loudly:
Putin orders Russian companies to be ready for urgent transition to war-time operations
BTW Honestly I couldn't care less about those war mongers, liars and manipulators from MM.
#ProsecuteMediaMatters
One more thing - the stench around Clinton criminal enterprise is not subsiding...
MAJOR Player In Hillary’s INNER CIRCLE ‘Suddenly’ ‘COMMITS SUICIDE,’ LOOK What He Knew
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Nov 22 2017 23:55 utc | 37
@all Kudos for your advice on how to use alternatives to Google, much appreciated.
Posted by: PeacefulProsperity | Nov 23 2017 0:08 utc | 38
Posted by: NemesisCalling | Nov 22, 2017 2:14:32 PM | 6
Can't help but feel bad for US netizens like yourself mate, but the upcoming repeal of Net Neutrality will prove to be a real luck in the guts for the yank economy. Maybe one of the most short sighted moves in living memory, up there with Glass Steagall. Giving ISPs the ability to play netGod will only stunt growth, bringing fair access back to a matter of cash and limiting the potential of it's own population to use the net to get ahead...while citizens of other Net Neutral regions will be able to harness that never ending startup potential.
And that's just the business angle... TPTB must be rubbing their hands with glee at the chance to add a few knobs and levers to the Propaganda toolkit... As you say, goodbye B, goodbye MofA.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Nov 23 2017 0:32 utc | 39
Anyone wanna virtual private network (VPN) It's available free with installed Opera browser above Version 46. Not sure if Opera still support Win7?
Latest Internet news...
Goodbye Skype. China’s internet censorship juggernaut rolls on without its former cyber tsar
http://www.scmp.com/frontpage/international
Posted by: OJS | Nov 23 2017 1:06 utc | 40
The data slurping issue is being discussed on other forums and I found this comment to be the best
Google is the retail arm of the NSA
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 23 2017 2:00 utc | 42
There are a couple tricks for getting around the Google censor, and sometimes DuckDuckGo doesn't do a very good job of searching news sites. For general web searches, I quit using Google right after their last algorithm update - it's become a farce. The top 100 hits on most subjects on Google are corporate media boilerplate - no more obscure academic sites, blogs, etc.
But, to get all the recent RT stories at the Google News homepage, first set the search preferences to "past 24 hours" or "past week" and then enter:
site:rt.com
This gives you the RT news output in the order of stories posted (more or less; try 'past hour' for more recent updates). DuckDuckGo can't do this; their news search engine is a bit weak, but their general search engine is much better than Google. This can be done with any news site Google lists; but a lot of blogs that serve as news sites get blocked out there (like moon of alabama, naked capitalism, etc. etc.)
As far as being tracked, well, clear browser history and settings every time you think of it, but tracking via the NSA fiber optic cable splitters and the various programs like TRAFFICTHIEF that Snowden revealed won't help with that. Firefox with Noscript helps with many issues, but, well, not everyone has a brand new computer, and older equipment is often more vulnerable. Given the amount of time I spend search wikileaks cables for interesting nuggets. . . Whatever.
Also the search engine Ecosia hasn't been so bad. However, the fact is a the corporate media uploads a lot of pages, and so unless you know what to look for, all the search engines will put corporate media high on the list unless you use a few modifiers; for example 'Syria conflict chemical' returns lots of corporate media outlets on all search engines, BUT 'Syria conflict chemical Hersh' should direct to the London Review article, "The Red Line and the Rat Line".
Ecosia has it 5th and DuckDuckGo has it 13th, Google has it 13th too. Take away the "Hersh", however, and Google has nothing but corporate media outlets parroting U.S. state propaganda lines - in its general search. That's typical for Google these days - bottom of the barrel.
Posted by: nonsense factory | Nov 23 2017 2:37 utc | 43
Google, as mentioned above, is one of several enterprises that exploits humanity by gathering, processing and gating information. Copyright and patent laws, created from thin air can make those who benefit from them extremely profitable. Copyrights and patents are like the land grants kings and queens used to make to their Aristocrats: copyrights and patents empower a few to deny competition from everyone else.
Protected from competition privately-held, publicly-financed corporations and entities can become very wealthy and extremely powerful. Using government to exploit human existence has always been profitable! Exploiters position themselves between the human trillions/HERE/and the national puppets, called leaders, who direct the distribution of the wealth of the several nations. These middle-entity players became powerful because the kings, queens, or lawmakers make the laws that make the entities profitable.
Government funded education institution research (high technology) has been transformed from public open-access property (OAP) to privately-owned property (POPcbl) (the health care, pharmaceutical, and communications industry profits are derived from POPcbl monopolies which allow to exploit (charge unchallenged prices and force everything to be, exclusive to the POPcbl owner, as in by prescription only) so that massive profits result). Laws convert public property to private property because government is designed to protect the rich, so it protects owner's monopoly rights in property against all members of the public: copyrights and patents are laws that automatically convert public into private.
POPcbL (converted by law) gave birth to the technology-based-monopolistic enterprise). Intelligence gathering and controlled service-gated pay for access to information became a profit center which generated an extremely profitable set of businesses, because without competition, the monopoly holder can extort any price for access to information.
As middle men between governed/heregovernor; the patent and copyright monopolies manipulated the political divide (Internet, media, publishing, education, etc.) but now private monopoly power profits have become the business of government and the business of government has become making sure the monopoly in private property is powerful enough to assure the dominance of privately owned profit making empires.
Posted by: fudmier | Nov 23 2017 3:07 utc | 44
Finding a search engine that maintains the internet as the information highway is the main thing to look at. Tracking, spying ect? If big brother wants to know what is on your computer and cannot get that information any other way, he will simply come and take the computer.
Run a free antivirus, an addblocker or whatever, find a good search engine and accept that the internet is a public space and all the big brothers wandering around in cyberworld see what you are doing.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 23 2017 3:21 utc | 45
My laptop has gotten really slow lately. I think I'm going to put a piece of tape on the camera while I'm taking a shower, YIKES!!!
Posted by: Fernando Arauxo | Nov 23 2017 3:25 utc | 46
Thanks, Jeff (comment #1 here) for Qwant! I've now tested it against google, duckduckgo, and yandex, and find it to be the best. I shall probably switch from google as the default to qwant as the default.
And thank you bernhard, for being the great journalist that you are!
Posted by: Eric Zuesse | Nov 23 2017 3:50 utc | 47
The Internet has never been unwatched. Despite what you think.
Cookies are not required to uniquely identify you. You have been assigned multiple, cross referenced tokens.
There are elements of technology that can be used in your favor, but they require both a high degree of technical understanding and a desire to sacrifice certain amenities.
Few of us are special enough to attract the attention of governments and I venture to say that no one writing comments on a public blog is in any real danger of meaningful compromise from the ruling class or their armies of thugs.
Black men in cars are at much. much higher risk of bad outcomes than paranoid policy wonks.
Oh, yea, code is so incredibly poorly written you really should assume your ass is already on a platter and either just enjoy the crap fest for what it is or try to get off the grid.
Posted by: Mr. Unpopular | Nov 23 2017 3:51 utc | 48
US Contracting Tech Firms for Revolutions.
google was a NSA brainchild, enuff said.
'the US State Department, Department of Defense, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors are all funding technology companies and NGOs (amusingly referred to as "human rights groups") who are providing protesters across the Middle East and North Africa with means to facilitate their online activities including circumventing cyber-security measures employed by target nations.
The US is apparently prepared to spend at least $30 million of taxpayers' money to facilitate this overseas meddling.
Hillary Clinton,
'I am sure there are certain folks in the governments of these places that would prefer we didn't fund these technologies - just as they would prefer we don't advocate for human rights in general -
but it's our long-standing policy to advocate for Internet freedom."
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/03/us-contracting-tech-firms-for.html
Posted by: denk | Nov 23 2017 4:04 utc | 49
46
A comment back up the thread metioned a few cleaners. CCleaner is a good one. Free. Run that to clean out some junk. Also look up running programs on your computure and shut down whatever you dont need or don't want. Will work wonders. Big brother doesn't slow things down much if he is poking around in there.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 23 2017 4:12 utc | 50
google is the vanguard of clinton's tech armies.
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/02/googles-revolution-factory.html
Posted by: denk | Nov 23 2017 4:42 utc | 51
Duck, duck go is allied with google as is ixquick.
Yandex browser and search engine are terrific.
Regardless, I often delete my history to the beginning of time.
When my Norton expires I'm going to Kaspersky; trying to purge anything US origin.
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 5:41 utc | 52
Addendum: My yandex mail has never gotten spam; or even junk mail.
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 5:43 utc | 53
V. Arnold 52
Norton is bad news. Used to be difficult to get rid of entirely but a simple uninstall and a computer cleanup seems to work now. Free avast keeps all the amateurs out and is light on the system.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 23 2017 5:50 utc | 54
Peter AU 1 | Nov 23, 2017 12:50:38 AM | 54
Yes, I'm aware of Norton, no problem.
Avast is free, yes; but I don't think its near as good as Kaspersky.
I live in S.E. Asia; lots of stuff going on. So far so good...
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 6:04 utc | 55
1 and 47
The spelling seems to be Qwant.
Will be trying it on firefox.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 23 2017 6:06 utc | 56
Hmm, read this;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant
It uses Bing; I wouldn't trust it.
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 6:37 utc | 57
For those with an Android (google) phone; wrap it in aluminum foil if you don't want to be tracked. Fold the edges; there can be no gaps.
Just to note; having done that, you'll not be able to send or receive calls.
It's a faraday cage on the cheap...
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 6:48 utc | 58
@55&@58 Where in SE Asia, Tinfoilhatistan? Lol.. sorry couldnt resist..
Posted by: Lozion | Nov 23 2017 7:00 utc | 59
Quant is a proxy (meta-search) service for BING (Microsoft MSN). I don't see much different between the search results of the big ones (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and these proxies ( DuckDuckGo, IxQuick, Startpage, SearchX, Quant, e.o)
Please try the test index-server https://alterlook.org”> Alterlook.org to see how valuable a real search index for alternative news and information can be. (More about it: see comment 18 )
Imho, creating a collective index together is the only way for publishers to counter the censorship by corporate owned search engines.
The proxies (meta-search engines) might then show their integrity and include those collective created search indexes in their search results.
Jesus Christ...
Facebook does evil! Look at this!
Facebook create special taskforce ‘Russia portal’ to help safeguard western democracy
https://jackpineradicals.com/boards/topic/facebook-opens-special-russia-portal-to-help-safeguard-us-democracy/
Posted by: test | Nov 23 2017 7:18 utc | 62
59 & 60
Good one; although I don't worry it here; my phone is not in my name.
In the boonies; not a westerner to be scene. ;-)
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 7:47 utc | 63
V. Arnold | Nov 23, 2017 2:47:47 AM | 63
seen damnit!
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 8:15 utc | 64
DuckDuckGo is made by an Israeli company (or Israel related). I would take their claims of being neutral with a lot of salt.
Posted by: Tod | Nov 23 2017 8:35 utc | 65
A. Imo
54 & 55
If you plan to continue using Avast and Piriform software, do take note:
Avast collects and shares user data with third parties, as stated in the Privacy Policy (not unique to Avast, other "free" antivirus like AVG have this clause). The internet security component of their antivirus is able to tap into private, HTTPS encrypted connections - unfettered access to all browsing records, even banking details. They claim the collected data is "anonymized" and you can turn the feature off, but we've seen too much to the contrary in today's tech industry to trust any corporation by their word alone. (This is where Open Source trumps - the truth is laid out in the source code, provided you can read it.)
CCleaner and Defragger are excellent utilities but unfortunately the company that makes them, Piriform, was bought by Avast earlier this year - and it was found that versions of CCleaner released in August and September contained a sophisticated backdoor virus that sat dormant, ready to execute programs from a control server.
Technical details: http://blog.talosintelligence.com/2017/09/avast-distributes-malware.html
The whole debacle was absolutely suspicious:
- Avast being an antivirus company did not discover it for nearly two months and had to be informed about it by security experts.
- The files were verified and signed by Avast using their Symantec certificate, meaning they had not been tampered by a third party OR the third party had access to the company certificate OR Symantec was compromised.
- The virus did not cause any known incidents. It might have been spread wide and far for later use, or as a way to get into targeted computers.
- There was no post facto investigation to identify the perpetrators nor any in-depth inquiry in the media. It leaves little to the imagination as to whom they may be.
I can only recommend products that are farthest found from the source of all this nonsense and catches state-sponsored virus developers in the act.
---
DuckDuckGo was started by a certain Gabiel Weinberg, whose earlier enterprise (Names Database) dabbled in the trade of collecting personal data for profit. The servers are also run in the US on Amazon infrastructure. Good enough reasons to stay away. (And to clarify a common myth, the !bang operators do nothing for privacy! They send you directly to google/third party servers!)
Posted by: P.Imo | Nov 23 2017 10:15 utc | 66
P.Imo | Nov 23, 2017 5:15:41 AM | 66
Not sure why you included me in that post. No problem though...
I'll not use Avast, CCCleaner, or any other "free" (nothing is free) software from the I-net.
I've stopped using anything from the US, except bloody Windows 10.
I just can't find an operating system I'm confident I can actually use.
If you know of one, I'm open to information; but in the end; I keep my own council...
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 23 2017 12:25 utc | 67
The problems discussed here have to do a lot with how the PC is booted. UEFI boot seems to keep
backdoors open for malware. See here:
https://schd.ws/hosted_files/osseu17/84/Replace%20UEFI%20with%20Linux.pdfith%20Linux.pdf
So I hope that the opensource community will soon replace it with a transparent opensoure booting system.
Posted by: Hausmeister | Nov 23 2017 12:52 utc | 68
This is old news but for some not I guess... How to turn off the Windows 10 keylogger enabled by default
Windows 10 has quite a few red flags when it comes to its privacy settings, ... Amongst the most concerning of the settings is one that may or may not be a keylogger - "Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future".
You should try one of the Linux distro's like Debian, Fedora, ... . Avoid Ubuntu at all cost! They also sold out many years ago.
Why I’m Leaving Ubuntu for Debian
Only, sadly, Ubuntu’s interface includes sending your search terms to an undefined list of companies, every time, without the option to opt-in. Privacy is clearly not on the top of their priority list.
@48 Mr. Unpopular That's true. The problem isn't always you, me or others who are doing an effort to protect our data but others. Dilma Rouseff is the perfect example yet she's not unique and most politicians behave that way. She knew the US was spying on her, that they were able to records every conversation she made near her smartphone. Instead of acting and cleansing her security and intelligence services she did nothing. She got eliminated by that very means years later when voice recordings were made public making way for the even more corrupt Temer.
In novell 1984 the telescreens would dictate you what to do and they would (or might) record every discussion. In 2017 this can be said of any smart phone device (doesn't need to be yours), your car, smart TV ... that can be set to speaker remotely and record everything you say and do. Even in 1984 it was easier to have a conversation outside the reach of the telescreens. Not that you (a mere prole) are of any interest but the people in power or those that are supposed to represent your interests are.
The joint concerted efforts of those US tech companies and the NSA is to subject whole countries to whims of a tiny US elite.
Posted by: xor | Nov 23 2017 14:26 utc | 69
V Arnold, the one time I have had a few issues was when in China connected to internet through hotel wifi.
Other than that, my only issue is to find a search engine that has not been tweeked for political correctness. Hard to find one that simply brings up "closest match" Yandex seems good in that regard, though I would guess it has been tweeked in some ways.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | Nov 23 2017 15:22 utc | 70
The evil from Google is not falling far from the tree
The US voted against UN resolution condemning Nazism
Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 23 2017 15:54 utc | 71
Could google's liaison with government be in the hands of one Jared Cohen? Member of council on foreign relations, google ideas, jigsaw
Past advisor to C Rice, H Clinton state departments. Promoted opposition to Iran government 2009, and Assad Government presently
Posted by: Flyod | Nov 23 2017 17:46 utc | 72
Typical search today, Dominique Strauss Khan (person, pol figure, World Finance, scandals, Intl. etc.)
Wiki - wiki - wiki - guardian - telegraph - forbes - bbc - daily mail - ny times - time - daily mail - rfi.fr - new yorker - independent (UK news) - Gala (gossip celeb magazine) - Gala bis - Mme Figaro (rightwing F womens glossy about DSK new wife) - sudouest (new wife) - purepeople (sex gossip).
(results all in Eng. are clearly adjusted to my geo. location / lang. use / sex.)
DuckDuckGo
Many links are the same, not all. Wiki - ny times - guardian - wiki - telegraph - biography com - forbes - IMF (looking at goog. results one could never guess that DSK had been head of the IMF!) - guardian - daily mail (about a secret love child, not the same link as goog) - cnn - bbc - nyt - daily mail - nyt daily news - usa today (a relevant article, DSK was aquitted of ‘aggravated pimping’) - nydailynews (about that court case - if scurrilous with ‘orgies’) - twitter, his - book reference e. jay - wiki commons - imdb - economist - news from UPI - cnn - facebook
—> more varied, brings up several points obscured in Goog.
BING
first lists an ad for Amazon in German (>my geo loc.) then asks in tiny print if I want results only for DSK. So one first has to confirm, to shunt some ads away. Then wiki - wiki - nytimes - guardian - spiegel (in german) - welt.de (in german) - bbc - twitter - twitter bis - facebook - twitter ter - bbc (DSK acquitted in F) - IMF (finally!) - telegraph (sex gossip) - guardian (sofitel maid paid off, case settled) - orion (gives astrological charts) - daily mail -
Better than goog, not much different from DDG besides the geo location thing. (Some articles on the net claim that DDG uses Bing.)
YANDEX (eng.)
wiki - the daily beast - academic.ru profile and biog - book ref. e. jay. - daily mail (putin says DSK victim of conspiracy) - tumblr.com (in french) - wiki commons - imbd - wn.com (?) - whowhatwhy - metapedia - isgp studies quoting daily mail - nypost - everythingexplainedtoday bio - euronews (general, bio) - you tube (one appearance) - ethnicelebs (another bio) - astrotheme - salon, “was dsk set up?” - aljazzera
Better than goog, perhaps adjusted to what one might expect be ‘the russian pov.’
Crystal clear that all the info, all the news, established facts about one person, etc. (as it appears on the intertubes) is controlled by the Anglo MSM and by Wiki (in eng.) The search engines merely make a stab at listing ‘varied sources’ or ‘articles’ and rely very heavily on wikipedia and offer piece-meal slanted, stereotyped, factlets and fluff. (While loading with ads etc.) Goog is maybe more ‘evil’ but one could also argue it just panders to an Anglo audience.
btw - the first time i tried a popular search on DDG (Hello Kitty bags) i got sponsered content 5 hours later for to buy such.
Try it - compare some topic on diff. searh engines.
Posted by: Noirette | Nov 23 2017 18:28 utc | 73
Talking about evil US companies, the Ritz-Carlton has nothing to say in being now a brand for luxury 21st c. gulags
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ritz-Carlton_Hotel_Company
Posted by: Mina | Nov 23 2017 19:13 utc | 74
Posted by: xor | Nov 23, 2017 9:26:13 AM | 69
A very decent Linux distribution is this:
It is Debian based, easy to handle even for a beginner and has a very friendly English-speaking developer and support forum. That would be the choice for people who want to use safe OpenSource tools. It is free, ofcourse.
Posted by: Hausmeister | Nov 23 2017 19:44 utc | 75
Peter AU 1 | Nov 23, 2017 10:22:57 AM | 70
Given that it is .ru, gives it some insulation from pc, I should think.
Posted by: V. Arnold | Nov 24 2017 3:43 utc | 76
we're already well aware that Google itself was largely created by the CIA
(with helping hand from others, such as the NSA, telecoms industry etc)
(How the CIA made Google:
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-google-e836451a959e)
this must be one of the few times Government has created a top-notch, indispensible business such as Google.
and now our creation is in the process of going all-out to destroy itself (although,of course, only through the best of intentions ).
"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy." (Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, 1786.)
Posted by: chris m | Nov 24 2017 14:54 utc | 77
Throttling thought--how to know?
Net neutrality and the drive to censor the internet
by Andre Damon, Nov. 25, 2017
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/11/25/pers-n25.html
This is the best news/editorial I've seen on these connected topics, and there have been many recently. Andre Damon is a, if not the, point man detailing the current assault on the basis of human freedom--knowledge.
The mass mediation of information is the most important element of this era's epistemological crisis. The strongest tyranny is of thought; and the thought tyrants are perfecting their already pervasive tools, to the delight of their financiers and by means of elected/appointed "servants of the people."
Posted by: Bob Beal | Nov 25 2017 17:08 utc | 79
Evil is something different. Google found out that they can't trust algorithms. They have to do relevance by hand. And if it is done by hand it is censoring.
It started with "google bombs". They did not get completely rid of it and you still can trick Google. From what I hear, links farms are still in business.
It is back to link lists and blog rolls I suppose. The danger there, like in facebook, is that you find yourself in an echo chamber, people repeating facts again and again according to their world view.
How about going to the pub and talk to someone?
Posted by: somebody | Nov 25 2017 18:04 utc | 80
Hard to find any company that makes a living from the internet, that isn't doing "evil" (unethical, self-serving, treating others as a means to a desired end).
If you have a web site, (you too, b) you have the option of editing your robot.txt file to allow google's access to the site or to deny it access.
Fact is, if you're allowing evil to crawl your web site, you're a hypocrite. I know you do b, because you're ranked #1 for the terms moon alabama.
If you are going to trash someone else while doing business with them, don't cry to me, argentina!
Posted by: JSonofa | Nov 27 2017 20:49 utc | 81
Tried bing, quant, ducukduck ... for work, have to say sadly they all suck compared to google results
Posted by: Balladin | Nov 29 2017 7:58 utc | 82
Dear Facebook, Google: Seattle would like you to share your election ad records for local races, as required by city law. Thanks!
Posted by: ScandalMgr | Dec 14 2017 15:31 utc | 83
The comments to this entry are closed.
I use Quant as search engine, and avoid Google as much as possible.
Posted by: Jeff | Nov 22 2017 18:07 utc | 1