Google is Everywhere

According to Scroogle,

“Google is asking webmasters who use AdSense,  to update their privacy policy and warn of Google’s new tracking system.

[The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. When users visit an AdSense publisher’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help AdSense publishers better serve and manage the ads on their site(s) and across the web.]

If you see any big sites with AdSense (“Ads by Google” — JavaScript required) that have not updated their policy by Google’s 2009-04-08 deadline,

[The posted privacy policy should include the following information about Google and the DoubleClick DART cookie:

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.
• Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.]

email that site’s owner. If they ignore you, scroogle@lavabit.com wants the URL of that site.   We plan to compile a list !

We might ask Google to pull these AdSense accounts if the list gets long enough. If that doesn’t work, some privacy activists may decide to complain to the FTC.“

More information:    Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4 Link5

Fear not soldiers there is ccleaner, a fantastical tool that will annihilate cookies and a whole lot more.

I like my privacy.

-Cara

The Grid

An update on my life…

I’ve decided to get off the grid. This begins with eliminating the million email accounts I have, Google ones for various jobs, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. The fafillion social networks, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc I am a member of. I don’t want to be LinkedIn. We’ll see what I keep.

I have a bigger plan, but for now I am going to disconnect from this web 2.0 world.

Big Brother is watching, stop preforming.

-Cara

Some More Scroogle

I saw a hipster on the subway tonight, sporting a puma bag while wearing his black satin jacket with “Google” emblazoned on one of his sleeves.

Are people so easily distracted?

-Cara

Just Another Reason I Can’t Stand Google

I find it strange when I talk to people about my distaste for Big Brother google, most just give me that look…like my insanity is a charming character trait and my conspiracies are if nothing else adorable. Really, only my friend Tony feels my true distaste for this “search engine” mutation, him and a few other super nerds. People even come to agree with me, but more of their concerns are, “what will happen to my g-mail account, google earth, google chrome…” I mean are you for real… read a book…watch a good movie…wake up…

Here’s a little story for you,

“Google Earth has proven useful for a plethora of things—finding your house from space, checking out islands in the Pacific Ocean, and now, finding massive fields of weed. At least that’s what happened in Switzerland, when Swiss police managed to come across a “large marijuana plantation” while using Google’s popular software.

(We’ll pause while fans of Mary Jane fire up Google Earth.)

Swiss police say that the marijuana field was discovered in Thurgau sometime last year while they were investigating a suspected drug ring. Officers were apparently trying to use Google Earth to locate the exact address of two farmers they suspected of being involved in the ring, and came across the two-acre-large plantation hidden in a field of corn in the process. “It was an interesting chance discovery,” Zurich police’s specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner told the Associated Press. No kidding.

The investigation had already yielded the seizure of 1.2 tons of hash and the arrest of 16 people. The criminal investigation targeting the 16 suspects (which we presume to include the two farmers) is scheduled to wrap up in February, and Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay said that she plans to ask for prison sentences for all involved.

The police didn’t acknowledge whether they did anything to the field they found, but we think it’s safe to say that it will probably soon disappear from Google Earth if it hasn’t already.”

Thanks to TrippyApps for pointing this fascinating story of how google is a front for the Illuminati’s  New World Order [A conspiracy in which powerful and secretive groups (the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group and other shadowy cabals) are plotting to rule mankind with a single world government. Many historical events are said to have been engineered by these groups with one goal – the New World Order (NWO). The groups use political finance, social engineering, mind control, and fear-based propaganda to achieve their aims. Signs of the NWO are said to be the pyramid on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, inset, strange and disturbing murals at Denver International Airport, pictured, and pentagrams in city plans. International organizations such as the World Bank, the IMF, the European Union, the United Nations, and NATO are listed as founding organizations of the New World Order. ] . Do a google search for “The Illuminati and the New World Order” and you will find web sites talking about the Illuminati’s deceptive plans in a way that is almost ridiculous, with google ads all over their sites. Ha. There is no truth of the Illuminati on the web (except here… ;] ). The American education system is dumbing the children of our society for the coming of the New World Order. The Euro is the beginning of the end of individualism, that and boy bands. Home school your kids with friends.  Read books, turn off the TV, open your eyes…

Fight back and think.

-Cara

Scroogle the New and Less Evil Google

I noticed a new referrer link on my blog tonight (scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi) and I thought, why does that sound so familiar, so I hit up scroogle.org. And who did I discover, but my old friends from Google Watch (I have written about these guys in other blogs and have been a supporter for a long time.)

Google is creepy and possibly evil; might I recommend you to stay off their chat and search engine?

Scroogle.org states and I agree, “Not only does Google scrape much of the web, but they keep records of who searches for what. If information about your searching is accessible by cookie ID or by your IP address, it is subject to subpoena. This is a violation of your privacy. Someday Google’s data retention practices will be regulated, because Google is too arrogant to do the right thing voluntarily. In the meantime, you should not be leaving your fingerprints in Google’s databases.”

Here is a link to how Scroogle’s SSL option protects your privacy.

So you can use Scroogle.org to search the internet and here is a cool option for a chat service that will not keep your chats indefinitely, that I use. They are Zoho Chat. They have a bunch of other features you can check out at their site. I use their Chat and their Project’s application, which is also cool and can be found at Zoho.com. I found this site after I refused to get on Google to chat, so thanks to Zoho everyone can chat Google free!

Google is not cool.

-Cara

The Last Day of Women’s History Month

I started out this entry looking for search engines whose search results are solely female owned and operated web sites. You know sometimes you just want to support a sista. The sites I found were super ugly and overrun with Google ads and such. I don’t even want to give you the links to any of these sites, as they are super disheartening. Here is one link to see for yourself. This site is called Femina and no it does not make me proud to be a woman.

Ironically, Yahoo just got started their Womecentric site Shine today. I went to it and it is much more aesthetically pleasing then Femina and the like, but it is not about empowering or powerful women, it is just about targeting the female consumer base who love to buy their Procter & Gamble Crest White Strips [It seems Crest White Strips are their main advertiser, P&G who makes the Crest line refuses to stop testing its products on animals, despite the fact that these tests are not required by any law, and despite the fact that more reliable and humane alternatives do exist.].

This site is not about women supporting women, with their top story of the day being, “Lingerie hunt: Fancy panties that don’t cost $80 (for a piece of string )”. LOL. This is not a serious issue any woman is facing. I know I must sound like a crank, and I don’t think inherently there is anything wrong with nice lingerie, but when you have a voice that can reach so many people like Yahoo does, is this what we, as women, should be discussing? Instead, maybe we should discuss all the female genital mutilation that is going on in the world? Women globally are being mutilated against their will, so yes, I think it is socially irresponsible to have your main story be about g-strings, but maybe I am the minority [I do not really believe I am the minority. I believe more women do care, but people are told…sorry, this is another topic for another time…I have A.D.D.].

I guess again it is left up to us who want better, to create better. My next project [in line behind two other secret projects soon to be released into the world] will be the greatest Female Search Engine ever!!! I will make the commitment to use only truly sustainable advertisers if need be, but if that is not possible, I will do it for free out of love for my sistas and the brothers who support them.

Take back the night!

-Cara

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Reason 45 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

The 18th century philosopher Jeremy Bentham challenged the world about animals with his famous quandary: “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”. Curiously, science is every day discovering that in fact animals do all three: reason, communicate, and suffer. The differences between animals and humans are being blurred with every revelation. Man’s closest relatives share over 98 percent of our DNA, and all animals, including man, are related by a common ancestor. Today’s question must now be, can we humans use our known capacity for logic, communication, and empathy to take animals off our plates?