Google and why it sucks.

I don't know as much about that as their ability to gather, garner and store information about individuals, then sell it to the government and/or the highest bidder. I use MetaCrawler, which in turn uses Google, Lycos and all of the other search engines to do its work for you.

This is why, man:
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Any more questions?

I personally don;t like Google. It's all about hype IMO. The simple fact that their stock price has always been off the chart and yet they really have not been all that successful at generating real revenue irritates the shit out of me. Hype hype hype! Then there is all that social networking shit that I have no time for either. I am far more old school in my orientation.

There are any number of search engine more appropriate for real academic research. Metacrawler is one that does a fair job but check around and see what fits your needs closer and boils the topic down for you.

Google. Simple and effective. Don't use them if you don't like it.

Wow, I love google.. it's my search engine of choice. I use it every day several times a day. Sometimes the info they provide isn't always the best- You might have to look to the 2nd page but I always get what I need.

What other search engine do you like?

I will try meta crawler. I dont know of any other search engines actually except the yahoo search oh and ask

The beauty of MetaCrawler, one of the first search engines, is that it displays results from ALL search engines from the searches with the most hits (most likely) in descending order to the searches with the least hits (least likely).

You're more abt to find what to find what you are looking for.

http://www.metacrawler.com/

I've always wanted to start using Metacrawler instead of Google, trouble is that Google has so many other features that along with the search engine make it a much more attractive application.

I'm talking about stuff like Gmail (it's all I use for email nowadays), Google maps, the Calendar, etc..

You can still use those without having to go through Google.

I really like the Google Calendar myself. MF is right you can use all those features and still use Metacrawler for searches. Especially now with tabbed browsing. you can set up your "Home" page to be several tabs with different sites.

The thing that I don't like about Google is how it collects personal information. Google hasn't quite come right out and stated what they intend to use it for, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of under the table agreement already in place with the government over their saved and cached information. Its how they roll. And you might also be noticing that you may be going through Google before entering a website of your choice.

I refuse to use them at all costs.

I know, but like I said Google search is always there anyway. Even Firefox has Google as its default search engine!

About the data collection, I guess their main use is to use it for advertising. But God only knows what else they can use all that data for. It's kind of scary when you think about it.

I hear Bro - those nasty capitalist pigs want to generate some revenue for providing all those free services! but then maybe they just want to get their "Fair Share" - do you think?

If you are using the internet, know that whatever site you are using is tracking your activities. It's just part of the magic box. If you are not going to use a site because they are tracking you, shut your computer down, go buy a REALLY big magnet and and start degaussing.

Great advice Boan!

That is absolutely right, i also feels so that google is also a classic case of excessive commercialization. They have forgot their USP of providing accurate information rather than giving information about their adword clients.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the use of personal tracking for advertising. As long as it stops there though.

I just think it's f-ed up that some Joe from thousands of miles away, who has or will never meet me, can know things about me that even my closest relatives/friends don't know.

(That made me sound like a perv or something.)

And so do you, Boan. Start degaussing.....

JoeConti wrote:

You had me wondering there!

I'm not the one bitching about it. I don't particularly like it but I understand that if I am going to make use of others property, I must do it at their discretion.

But, you admit you don't like it? But also admit your choices are limited, especially when using Firefox.

Nope, you may not be bitching about it......

I admit my choices are limited to the following;
1) Accept that people are going to track my actions on the internet.
2) Stay the hell off the internet.

It's ABSOLUTELY simple!

I agree. But, considering that they cache information like this is skirting privacy law. There is the same issue with health organizations. If you ask most Americans, they do NOT like this type of activity. The results of said process's is not a good one, even though the Obama admin wants to justify it that way. The push for a national database continues, unimpeded.

And, I, for one, do not like it and will not settle for it. I will not simply shrug my shoulders and say c'est la vie.

It's going to come down to this: You want the perks of modern living, you are going to have to sell your selfhood to have access. Pure and simple. Sounds almost 'mark of the beast'-ish, but I don't go for that. It's definitely Brave New World-ish, though. The haves and the have-nots. Pretty soon, the line will be drawn in indelible tattoo-ink across the population of the New World Order. Yay us!
You see, it starts with caching marketing data, but then that database exists, it's out there and one day, an authoritarian administration's legal counsel decides that people who buy Guns&Ammo are security risks and the public outrage at the incarceration and torture of said folks is worth the security gained by the aristocracy of the new World Government. A few well-placed security squads and the public outrage is as quiet as a mouse (at least from where the elite are living.) Slippery slope, my friends...

It boils down to two choices made freely - as in nobody is holding a gun to your head.
1. Choose to use and pay the price
2. Choose not to use and don't pay the price

Pretty basic actually. There is always the alternative of going to a library and looking it up manually or use one of their computers and nobody really knows who the fuck you are!

It is all about personal choices and then accepting your responsibility for making them!

Funny you worded that the way you did. Databases are always out there whether by your choosing or not. Your guns and ammo statement for example. They have to keep a list of people that have subscriptions. Nearly every grocery store lists every item you purchased. While your name may not be on the receipt, it is linked to your credit card. Paid cash? Every receipt has a time stamped on it, along with the surveillance cameras, they can see who made the purchase. So unless you are going to find a cave somewhere and grow your own food, it's a part of the world. Being watchful and wary of the government trying to get it's grubby hands on this information is where we should be vigilante.

Most people never think about it, but Boanerges is correct; unless you live in a cave and never go anywhere the majority of our movements can be tracked (online and offline) every single day.

Use a cell phone?..you can be tracked

Go to the bank, the grocery store, the corner deli?...you can be tracked

Drive through a major (and in more and more cases even minor) intersection?..you can be tracked

Log onto the internet?... You can be tracked (and trying to bypass this by using a library is useless since every Library I know of requires your Library card number to log into their systems).

Attempting to avoid this truth would be like trying to count all of the individual grains of sand on Long Beach Island (NJ). What matters is that people be watchful and wary about how the information is being used and willing and ready to speak up and take action when/if it is used to infringe upon our rights.

You are correct as far as the library is concerned - but yet I was able to get a card without any identification and registered as some guy I doubt even exists!
There is always a way to beat the system! just think a bit and be knowledgeable about what the safe guards are. imagine if I were a terrorists or real criminal!

Thing is though, that unless you do something wrong or illegal, nobody is going to go through the trouble of tracking you via CCTV/Credit card transactions/Mobile phone calls/Etc.. That data is always out there but never really collected to be used for anything except perhaps a police investigation.

That's the difference with the internet. It allows companies to collect information about individuals which otherwise wouldn't be accessible.

I doubt people would accept it if someone one day sets up a company to collect information about people's conversations, purchases, movements and hobbies. So why should it be ok on the net?

Slippery slope... One day, all information will be centralised and then watch out, dude. It will be rendezvous above the shop in the proletarian part of town for you, until... BAM!

People do that now. Bonus Cards, Rewards cards, VIP cards are all to collect information on your purchases and reroute them to suppliers so they can target you. Coupons that come in the mail? They were sent because of your purchases. With the person's consent.

JoeConti wrote:

I don't know about your country but here in the U.S. there in fact a system that does track this behavioral activity. And yes even on the internet it takes place, that is what tracking cookies are all about.

When we go to a grocery store all transactions are in fact tracked, if you use a personal check, credit or debit card then they have your identification to attach to your product purchases. We also have now accepted the use of store club cards for a discount on all purchases, so even if you pay cash they are able to track you. That information is then in turn sold to suppliers to use in their marketing efforts. Have you ever received a product coupon in the mail for a product you use or perhaps a competitive product? See how well this process works! It is called target marketing.

The sale of this information to various suppliers is big business and generates a substantial revenue stream for the store. In many cases this revenue is equal to or greater than the small revenue margins on actual retail product sales.

I worked on the development of these systems in the 80s. The next phase will be the introduction of the ID or RF chips embedded in product labels etc. Walk into a store and the label say in your shirt or underwear will be read and associated to a consumer database which contains your name and personal data. You will be tracked from the moment you enter a store all the way through to the cash register where your purchases will be added to the database!

This is not science fiction but in fact is already implemented to varying degrees already! All U.S. passports are currently being issued with RF technology implemented, many states now issue drivers licenses with it as well. I also believe that the EU countries also are using this technology.

It really is a "Brave New World".

I don't feel comfortable at all knowing that VISA or Mastercard or whoever collects my data and sells it to marketing firms without letting me know, but then again I probably agree to it when I signed on the dotted line of their user agreement... So much for reading the fine print.

Yup, I got mine done last January since my country was included in the US Visa Waiver program, but I needed to get a Biometric passport to be eligible for entry without a Visa.

I wonder what sort of data is stored on the chips embedded in those passports, and just how secure is the encryption placed on the data?

The encryption is pretty lame and the data can be scanned by anyone who takes the time to set up a reader. I am not sure exactly what data is stored most likely all that you provide on the passport application and then any governmental info they decided as being appropriate! Most likely any criminal history would be included, drivers lic. info (tickets etc). You can actually disable the chip pretty easily by running it through an electromagnet or smashing it with a hammer! But then expect to be singled out as you enter through customs for closer scrutiny. It isn't worth the hassle IMO.

Oh definitely, I'm sure I'd get arrested or at least detained for a while if I turned up at airport customs with a bashed up biometric passport when I really have nothing to hide. It's just the fact that I have no clue as to what is stored on the chip that I don't like.

Legislation in recent years has been eating away at our privacy with the ever so convenient excuse of "national security", helped in no small part by the threat of terrorism in recent years.

That's probably why most people accept it.

But really, what the hell can you do to stop such things? Go out and hold a protest? Hunger strike? (forget it)

I personally like google. It is an effective search engine from which we can gather almost all kind of information.

I'm very cautious of them and very skeptical, especially since they bought Doubleclick.  Anyway as much as I dislike Microsoft it's good to see them thumping in at Google with their "Bing", competition is a good thing. 

just don't click on their ads, it gives them power

Google is my alltime favorite, i think now the coustemer support have also increased.

Google is now the world's top rankings, the second rank is by Microsoft..

I agree that Google keeps track of every step we choose...

Are you from moon searching for water there and searching for solace. Being in America and asking about commercialization, is like asking a igloo what is up at Antartica. Not convinced, dump it. But, ultimately without anything better, will come back. check out.