Just throwing this out there. I really dislike the way news article searches look now on google.
Yo. Drop the Goog entirely.
Don't even say the name anymore, that's how it worms into your head.
Remember, that is how propaganda works.
It's like manually breathing, you don't notice until...you...notice...
It seems the internet is changing for the worse because of what these corporations want you to read, or see, or be concerned about. They omit, censor, and ban stuff based on their own ideals.
It has, for sure, been happening with Goggles, but so many other places are almost forcing people to only see what they want them to...
It's gross and awful awful.
I've used Duck Duck Go nearly exclusively for the better part of a year now. No material difference. I still have to use Google for image searches sometimes because Duck Duck Go only shows a limited number, but I'm glad I ditched it for the most part.
I've not noticed a significant difference in search results, but the benefits are vast. No tracking, no personalized results leading to me getting stuck in a philosophical or political bubble, I'm exposed to a wider range of viewpoints, etc...
If you don't value any of that (which is not me being condescending -- a lot of people genuinely have no reason to care, my girlfriend and close family included), then sticking with Google is the appropriate choice. It is a more feature-rich search engine, and due to its age, has learned how to give more accurate responses to search queries. I also love the built-in calculator, timer, etc. features (several of which are now in DDG, but I digress).
One thing I dislike about algorithms in general; and this applies more to Google than DDG, is the way they erase the past. Ever vaguely remembered a website from years and years ago that you used to love visiting? Chances are, even if it still exists, you will literally never find it again using Google, no matter how descriptive and specific your search terms are. If you google an event from years ago, you will probably get tons of results from recent news articles that briefly mention the event, rather than the source itself.
It's just a mess and I hate it. We're bombarded with "NEW, NEW, NEW!" and the old is forgotten at a much quicker rate than ever before in history. It's dangerous for society.
/rant
I've not noticed a significant difference in search results, but the benefits are vast. No tracking, no personalized results leading to me getting stuck in a philosophical or political bubble, I'm exposed to a wider range of viewpoints, etc...
If you don't value any of that (which is not me being condescending -- a lot of people genuinely have no reason to care, my girlfriend and close family included), then sticking with Google is the appropriate choice. It is a more feature-rich search engine, and due to its age, has learned how to give more accurate responses to search queries. I also love the built-in calculator, timer, etc. features (several of which are now in DDG, but I digress).
One thing I dislike about algorithms in general; and this applies more to Google than DDG, is the way they erase the past. Ever vaguely remembered a website from years and years ago that you used to love visiting? Chances are, even if it still exists, you will literally never find it again using Google, no matter how descriptive and specific your search terms are. If you google an event from years ago, you will probably get tons of results from recent news articles that briefly mention the event, rather than the source itself.
It's just a mess and I hate it. We're bombarded with "NEW, NEW, NEW!" and the old is forgotten at a much quicker rate than ever before in history. It's dangerous for society.
/rant
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It's cool if your using their stuff, just as long as you know what they are doing behind the scenes. You absolutely have to acknowledge the privacy issues and keep it in mind while using it. I don't condone doing anything with them, but for many applications, like for jobs, it can't be avoided. Especially since it is as popular as it is.
Many people who use their stuff are doing so because they make very useful things, but they forget/don't notice what is going on with the dark underbelly of the corporation.
I am not a conspiracy nut, but take Stadia for instance. First of all, I think it is trash, but I also think it is an easy way to log the behaviors of gamers. Everything from their reaction times, style of play, decisions, interests ectect. Why would they care to do so? Data points for AI perhaps, but definitely monetary gain.
Anything that can be put onto a cloud can be exploited, used against your will, stolen, sold, destroyed, or "lost". After a long enough time, your actual play sessions for games can tell a lot about a person in the form of a data set. I promise that a huge amount of data can be taken from a person from just the way they play games.
They don't care at all about the culture, they want the money because of the growing game industry, that they didn't have a hand in before, and the data, where they have had a hand in since they started. Just think of how much info they have from your email...problem with that, is that, it is not too interactive. Email is just a info dump.
BUUUT Email plus Stadia data plus some interests from various other places like youboob can give enough info for an AI to hold a conversation over the phone. They probably will not target you like that at all, but the ability is there and it is a horrible practice to not even let people know about their capabilities. They don't have to because they are a private entity.
It may not be a big deal for most people because they may not see the big picture, it's understandable, they are supposed to be on the side of the consumer, but they are able to sway politics and influence people in shady ways. They are the embodiment of some corporations from Cyberpunk 2020 IRL.
It's not that big of a deal (until it is), but paranoia is a survival trait with corporations the way they are nowadays.
And this seems like a reasonable subject to talk about in a corner of The Forlorn Hope...
{Ed's note: I hope to hell TFH is in 2077, it better be in the MP. I want to see all your lovely faces at some point.}
Privacy concerns dont bother me at all. I'm a pretty boring dude. If they wanna release my set lists, grocery lists, and random notes on life, that's fine. I've assumed for a long time that anything I write online anywhere could conceivably be found one day. If I didn't want someone to find something, I wouldn't put it anywhere online.
And that's exactly what I mean. You know what you put out there, and a knowledgeable person would have a presence like yours, especially if they had things to hide, or just wanted to keep things to themselves, because they understand what Poople can do. They could use data collection to their advantage, as a personal tactic.
The fact that they(Poople) don't let you know of their capabilities is the problem. They just take what they perceive is their own because of your use of the platform. Most people don't realize that yet and are taken advantage of.
If you have nothing to hide it's fine, but it's still infringement on your personal info without your knowledge. The bad thing is that nowadays tech is becoming so intimately attached to our lives that anyone with the knowledge, or power, can change outcomes on a personal level through social engineering.
Any hacker out there will tell you they can easily wreck lives with a few passwords, a stolen phone, or after a successful dumpster dive. Imagine what these corporations can do.
Just keep it all in mind when using their services, because too many people don't.
I switched to DuckDuckGo a month or so ago, and I have to say it's very different. Definitely has drawbacks, such as non-English searches. I usually switch to Google when I'm searching for something in Finnish because it's far superior for that.
Gmail I've been using for over a decade, and I'm not planning on changing that. Would be a gigantic hassle and just not worth it.
Firefox is my browser of choice although it doesn't have the dinosaur game.
Gmail I've been using for over a decade, and I'm not planning on changing that. Would be a gigantic hassle and just not worth it.
Firefox is my browser of choice although it doesn't have the dinosaur game.
Spoiler tags because YouTube videos slow down page loads. Nothing even remotely spoilery about the video.
Went from real talk about privacy issues regarding Ai to Ai is better at the dinogame than everyone else...
I used to do the same thing as the dinogame when I was younger while looking out the window of the car when I went into town with my mom, and on the bus from skool.
My character jumped over ditches, roads, and other debris instead of cactus though.
It did wicked slides, forward spinning jump boosts, and was able to pull off sick combos of floaty flippy jumps that couldn't be replicated by ordinary people.
It was never fun.
I used to do the same thing as the dinogame when I was younger while looking out the window of the car when I went into town with my mom, and on the bus from skool.
My character jumped over ditches, roads, and other debris instead of cactus though.
It did wicked slides, forward spinning jump boosts, and was able to pull off sick combos of floaty flippy jumps that couldn't be replicated by ordinary people.
It was never fun.
Yeah, that's the case for a lot of people. There's nothing wrong with that. I hope you didn't interpret what I said as any form of condescension. I'm just passionate about this nonsense.
I think online privacy is still worth fighting for on a personal level, though. I'm stubborn and idealistic in that way. It may be a lost cause, but I feel like somebody has to try. Not that I'm having some huge impact, but I feel I'm doing my part by supporting the organizations and companies that feel similarly.
Oh, and for the record, I use Gmail. I have other email clients that are better, too, such as Protonmail, but it would be nigh-impossible for me to migrate everything over since every company on the world started using emails as logins (horrendous idea for privacy, but here we are).
I also use Protonmail as a secondary email client, and I do like it. More than Gmail, in some respects.
A significant part of its appeal was the name and the logo, though... and that it was founded in CERN. Science connections!
A significant part of its appeal was the name and the logo, though... and that it was founded in CERN. Science connections!
