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jimnyc
01-26-2021, 06:15 PM
For many reasons this one grabbed my attention when I saw the headline.

As far as "searching" for content is concerned, here are alternatives, some better than others, and all more private than G.

DuckDuckGo
Bing
Ecosia
Yahoo
Qwant
Swisscows
Search Encrypt
StartPage
Yandex
Gibiru
Disconnect
Dogpile
Searchscene
Onesearch

And then Browsers themselves. I've been testing a bunch and so far I can recommend these:

Brave Browser
Epic
Opera and using their VPN service
Vivaldi, which also has a lot of other features

Don't use Gmail, Mydrive, Google Play, Google Photos or Google Images, Google Calendar... many are default on Android.

Instead of Google Maps, use Waze on your phone & on PC a good one is Mapquest.

I always encourage folks to use the email that comes with their ISP and not Gmail. But if you prefer online (which you could do with regular too), there is Proton Mail or Mailfence.

Instead of Youtube, there is Rumble, D.tube, Bitchute, Brighteon

And more....

---

How To Stop Using Google Search On Your Computer And Phone

Data scientists say Google can shift elections based on what it shows people. Refusing to use Google for search is an easy tweak everyone can and should do now.

Google controls what the vast majority of the world finds on the internet. Being put at the top of the Google results for search is not only immensely lucrative, it is also almost mind-bogglingly powerful in global affairs.

Since 2016, according to multiple reports, Google’s algorithm has been increasingly manipulated to bury and elevate specific information, especially politically charged information. This appears to have strong effects on what people believe and therefore how they vote and respond to polls that inform what politicians do with their power.

A 2018 Wall Street Journal investigation concluded, “The internet giant uses blacklists, algorithm tweaks and an army of contractors to shape what you see.” It reported, among other things:

More than 100 interviews and the Journal’s own testing of Google’s search results reveal:


Google made algorithmic changes to its search results that favor big businesses over smaller ones, and in at least one case made changes on behalf of a major advertiser, eBay Inc., contrary to its public position that it never takes that type of action. The company also boosts some major websites, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

…Despite publicly denying doing so, Google keeps blacklists to remove certain sites or prevent others from surfacing in certain types of results…


In 2016, American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology psychologist Robert Epstein published research showing Google hid negative information about Hillary Clinton. The self-described center-left researcher has also published research showing that hiding information like this influences election results. He testified before the Senate in 2019 about this subject.

The “search engine manipulation effect (SEME)” Epstein has studied, he told Congress, ” is one of the most powerful forms of influence ever discovered in the behavioral sciences, and it is especially dangerous because it is invisible to people – ‘subliminal,; in effect. It leaves people thinking they have made up their own minds, which is very much an illusion… Bottom line: biased search results can easily produce shifts in the opinions and voting preference of undecided voters by 20 percent or more – up to 80 percent in some demographic groups.”

Further, he testified, “A growing body of evidence suggests that Google employees deliberately engineer ephemeral experiences to change people’s thinking.” The appendix of his testimony notes “The methodology of SEME experiments adheres to the highest standards of research in the social and behavioral sciences. All experiments are randomized, controlled, double-blind,
and counterbalanced.”

Due to his research, Epstein was interviewed in the 2020 election cycle by Tucker Carlson and Fox News’s “The Five.” A search on YouTube, which Google owns, of the phrase “robert epstein tucker carlson” surfaced their interview at item No. 9 in the results, four or five scrolls down the list, after eight other videos containing either Tucker or Epstein but not both together.

It is very simple to fix this problem of Google tampering with your thinking: Stop using Google’s search engine and start using something else.

A major reason Google remains dominant is that 90 percent of the world uses them for search, so they have more data than any other competitor to make their results better. So the more you use an alternative search engine, the more data you are sharing with competitors to Google to help them improve.

Google controls a lot of things besides search, and essentially all of its major competitors in most domains use their tech power in similar anticompetitive ways. So, for example, I used to have an Android cell phone. Google owns Android. The only other major option for a cell phone is an iPhone. Apple, which of course owns iPhone, also helps the National Security Agency surveil Americans without warrants and has taken anti-conservative actions such as banning the Parler app from its app store.

Right now there’s not a really good solution to the problem of Google and Apple controlling essentially all of the U.S. smartphone market. But there is a really good and easy solution to Google controlling what you see when you search, and having an extremely detailed user profile on you from amassing all your data from using its products: Use Brave for your browser on all your screens (phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.).

Brave will not only get you away from Google’s Chrome browser that your phone uses if you have an Android (Google) system, it will also get you using the search engine DuckDuckGo instead of Google.

Brave is run by Mozilla founder Brendan Eich, who was kicked out of his own tech company for contributing a small amount to a California campaign to recognize male-female marriage as the only one that matters to society (because it’s the only one that organically generates children). Eich is a free speech advocate, and therefore Brave has a reputation for offering far better privacy than the browsers used as data vacuums by bigs like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

DuckDuckGo is a search engine also explicitly committed to not manipulating results. The more we all use these two services, the better their results get and the more they reflect what unmanipulated searches show people want to actually find. To use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine, all you have to do is install and use Brave, and every time you type a search into the browser bar it automatically uses DuckDuckGo to get your results. If you’ve been using Google for search, you might be surprised at how different the DuckDuckGo results can look.

To get Brave, just go to your app store and search for “brave browser,” or head over to Brave.com on your device. Here’s what it looks like to start on Brave.com (I’m using…Brave…as my browser in the below picture.) I’ve circled the “Download” button with a giant red oval. Just click that and follow the prompts.

Rest - https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/25/how-to-stop-using-google-search-on-your-computer-and-phone/

MtnBiker
01-26-2021, 06:55 PM
Thanks Jim, great info. I have been using the Brave browser and DuckDuckGo for a while now. The Brave browser uses a different protocol and seems to be quicker. My ISP doesn’t have email service, just fiber internet. So will be checking out Proton mail.

jimnyc
01-26-2021, 07:07 PM
Thanks Jim, great info. I have been using the Brave browser and DuckDuckGo for a while now. The Brave browser uses a different protocol and seems to be quicker. My ISP doesn’t have email service, just fiber internet. So will be checking out Proton mail.

The 4 I listed are all quite easy to install - but then it's a matter of getting used to all the feel of them and the settings. I like them all, for different reasons.

No default accounts from from your ISP? That sucks.

But yeah, Proton is very secure with double authentication and all of their encryption. Fencemail sounds good too:

https://i.imgur.com/82WfqHm.png

revelarts
01-26-2021, 07:51 PM
For many reasons this one grabbed my attention when I saw the headline.

As far as "searching" for content is concerned, here are alternatives, some better than others, and all more private than G.

DuckDuckGo
Bing
Ecosia
Yahoo
Qwant
Swisscows
Search Encrypt
StartPage
Yandex
Gibiru
Disconnect
Dogpile
Searchscene
Onesearch

And then Browsers themselves. I've been testing a bunch and so far I can recommend these:

Brave Browser
Epic
Opera and using their VPN service
Vivaldi, which also has a lot of other features

Don't use Gmail, Mydrive, Google Play, Google Photos or Google Images, Google Calendar... many are default on Android.

Instead of Google Maps, use Waze on your phone & on PC a good one is Mapquest.

I always encourage folks to use the email that comes with their ISP and not Gmail. But if you prefer online (which you could do with regular too), there is Proton Mail or Mailfence.

Instead of Youtube, there is Rumble, D.tube, Bitchute, Brighteon

And more....

---

How To Stop Using Google Search On Your Computer And Phone

Data scientists say Google can shift elections based on what it shows people. Refusing to use Google for search is an easy tweak everyone can and should do now.

Google controls what the vast majority of the world finds on the internet. Being put at the top of the Google results for search is not only immensely lucrative, it is also almost mind-bogglingly powerful in global affairs.

Since 2016, according to multiple reports, Google’s algorithm has been increasingly manipulated to bury and elevate specific information, especially politically charged information. This appears to have strong effects on what people believe and therefore how they vote and respond to polls that inform what politicians do with their power.

A 2018 Wall Street Journal investigation concluded, “The internet giant uses blacklists, algorithm tweaks and an army of contractors to shape what you see.” It reported, among other things:

More than 100 interviews and the Journal’s own testing of Google’s search results reveal:


Google made algorithmic changes to its search results that favor big businesses over smaller ones, and in at least one case made changes on behalf of a major advertiser, eBay Inc., contrary to its public position that it never takes that type of action. The company also boosts some major websites, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
…Despite publicly denying doing so, Google keeps blacklists to remove certain sites or prevent others from surfacing in certain types of results…


In 2016, American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology psychologist Robert Epstein published research showing Google hid negative information about Hillary Clinton. The self-described center-left researcher has also published research showing that hiding information like this influences election results. He testified before the Senate in 2019 about this subject.

The “search engine manipulation effect (SEME)” Epstein has studied, he told Congress, ” is one of the most powerful forms of influence ever discovered in the behavioral sciences, and it is especially dangerous because it is invisible to people – ‘subliminal,; in effect. It leaves people thinking they have made up their own minds, which is very much an illusion… Bottom line: biased search results can easily produce shifts in the opinions and voting preference of undecided voters by 20 percent or more – up to 80 percent in some demographic groups.”

Further, he testified, “A growing body of evidence suggests that Google employees deliberately engineer ephemeral experiences to change people’s thinking.” The appendix of his testimony notes “The methodology of SEME experiments adheres to the highest standards of research in the social and behavioral sciences. All experiments are randomized, controlled, double-blind,
and counterbalanced.”

Due to his research, Epstein was interviewed in the 2020 election cycle by Tucker Carlson and Fox News’s “The Five.” A search on YouTube, which Google owns, of the phrase “robert epstein tucker carlson” surfaced their interview at item No. 9 in the results, four or five scrolls down the list, after eight other videos containing either Tucker or Epstein but not both together.

It is very simple to fix this problem of Google tampering with your thinking: Stop using Google’s search engine and start using something else.

A major reason Google remains dominant is that 90 percent of the world uses them for search, so they have more data than any other competitor to make their results better. So the more you use an alternative search engine, the more data you are sharing with competitors to Google to help them improve.

Google controls a lot of things besides search, and essentially all of its major competitors in most domains use their tech power in similar anticompetitive ways. So, for example, I used to have an Android cell phone. Google owns Android. The only other major option for a cell phone is an iPhone. Apple, which of course owns iPhone, also helps the National Security Agency surveil Americans without warrants and has taken anti-conservative actions such as banning the Parler app from its app store.

Right now there’s not a really good solution to the problem of Google and Apple controlling essentially all of the U.S. smartphone market. But there is a really good and easy solution to Google controlling what you see when you search, and having an extremely detailed user profile on you from amassing all your data from using its products: Use Brave for your browser on all your screens (phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc.).

Brave will not only get you away from Google’s Chrome browser that your phone uses if you have an Android (Google) system, it will also get you using the search engine DuckDuckGo instead of Google.

Brave is run by Mozilla founder Brendan Eich, who was kicked out of his own tech company for contributing a small amount to a California campaign to recognize male-female marriage as the only one that matters to society (because it’s the only one that organically generates children). Eich is a free speech advocate, and therefore Brave has a reputation for offering far better privacy than the browsers used as data vacuums by bigs like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

DuckDuckGo is a search engine also explicitly committed to not manipulating results. The more we all use these two services, the better their results get and the more they reflect what unmanipulated searches show people want to actually find. To use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine, all you have to do is install and use Brave, and every time you type a search into the browser bar it automatically uses DuckDuckGo to get your results. If you’ve been using Google for search, you might be surprised at how different the DuckDuckGo results can look.

To get Brave, just go to your app store and search for “brave browser,” or head over to Brave.com on your device. Here’s what it looks like to start on Brave.com (I’m using…Brave…as my browser in the below picture.) I’ve circled the “Download” button with a giant red oval. Just click that and follow the prompts.

Rest - https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/25/how-to-stop-using-google-search-on-your-computer-and-phone/

Yeesss.
thank you.


I've been using startpage as well as duckduckgo for years for searches. they don't track you or your searches either and allow some anonymous limited access to most websites.
Also the Firefox browser is my default. they don't track you either. (didn't Know they kicked out the owner.)
I use Opera and Vivaldi browsers as well from time to time.
I like Opera a lot. But Vivaldi is a bit buggy, at least on my mac. But i'll have to check into Brave.

jimnyc
01-26-2021, 07:54 PM
Yeesss.
thank you.


I've been using startpage well as duckduckgo for years for searches. they don't track you or your searches either and allow some anonymous limited access to most websites.
Also the Firefox browser is my default. they don't track you either. (didn't Know they kicked out the owner.)
I use Opera and Vivaldi browsers as well from time to time.
I like Opera a lot. But Vivaldi is a bit buggy, at least on my mac. But i'll have to check into Brave.

Try some of the others in addition to DDG. 3 or 4 of them minimum were "privacy search engines".

SassyLady
01-26-2021, 11:02 PM
Try some of the others in addition to DDG. 3 or 4 of them minimum were "privacy search engines".

Have you tried Dissenter yet. I'd like to use GAB and their browser is Dissenter.

Gunny
01-27-2021, 10:17 AM
Have you tried Dissenter yet. I'd like to use GAB and their browser is Dissenter.I like the name already :)

KarlMarx
01-29-2021, 06:57 AM
I’ve been using DuckDuckGo for about 2 weeks.

No problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gunny
01-29-2021, 08:50 AM
Getting the crap off my PC might just require Jimbob holding my hand and walking me through it. Not so sure about the cell. Google appears to be in every orifice.

Speaking of ... of course this is a "conspiracy theory" but fact remains either my cell has an issue with Parler or the Big Brother in my cell does. Every time I have downloaded the app it manages to screw up and turn into a bad gateway. Maybe it's Parler? I have had zero issues with any other software/app. I take that back. I gave up trying to load up OAN couple years ago.

Must be me :rolleyes:

jimnyc
01-29-2021, 03:04 PM
Getting the crap off my PC might just require Jimbob holding my hand and walking me through it. Not so sure about the cell. Google appears to be in every orifice.

Speaking of ... of course this is a "conspiracy theory" but fact remains either my cell has an issue with Parler or the Big Brother in my cell does. Every time I have downloaded the app it manages to screw up and turn into a bad gateway. Maybe it's Parler? I have had zero issues with any other software/app. I take that back. I gave up trying to load up OAN couple years ago.

Must be me :rolleyes:

Just let me know when! You can download "Anydesk" for free, which allows me to connect to your machine remotely and safely. And you must allow for it - in other words, not like me or anyone else could just connect. It allows me to connect remotely and take over the mouse and keyboard, this way I don't go nuts trying to walk people through issues without seeing what is in front of me!!

Most things you can do yourself though. Just a matter of switching software and also switching some habits of where you go online so as not to allow them in another way - via their search engine and other utilities and software they offer.

Outside using Chrome, or going to Google's search engine, Gmail, Maps... There are private and secure alternatives that don't invade your life.

And umm..... not sure you missed it, but Amazon shut Parler down like a month ago!! They are working to get back up and running somewhere else, but for now they are DOA.

SassyLady
01-29-2021, 06:40 PM
Getting the crap off my PC might just require Jimbob holding my hand and walking me through it. Not so sure about the cell. Google appears to be in every orifice.

Speaking of ... of course this is a "conspiracy theory" but fact remains either my cell has an issue with Parler or the Big Brother in my cell does. Every time I have downloaded the app it manages to screw up and turn into a bad gateway. Maybe it's Parler? I have had zero issues with any other software/app. I take that back. I gave up trying to load up OAN couple years ago.

Must be me :rolleyes:

GAB is better and more freedom of speech than Parler. Plus GAB can't be shut down by someone like Amazon. They have their own servers.

Gunny
01-30-2021, 07:08 PM
Just let me know when! You can download "Anydesk" for free, which allows me to connect to your machine remotely and safely. And you must allow for it - in other words, not like me or anyone else could just connect. It allows me to connect remotely and take over the mouse and keyboard, this way I don't go nuts trying to walk people through issues without seeing what is in front of me!!

Most things you can do yourself though. Just a matter of switching software and also switching some habits of where you go online so as not to allow them in another way - via their search engine and other utilities and software they offer.

Outside using Chrome, or going to Google's search engine, Gmail, Maps... There are private and secure alternatives that don't invade your life.

And umm..... not sure you missed it, but Amazon shut Parler down like a month ago!! They are working to get back up and running somewhere else, but for now they are DOA.


GAB is better and more freedom of speech than Parler. Plus GAB can't be shut down by someone like Amazon. They have their own servers.Thanks. I'll get with you jimnyc. You know I have to erase all the nude pics of all those women I supposedly have first :laugh:

Speaking Amazon ... I'm about done with them as well. They're convenient, but mostly cheap Chinese junk. Getting to where it's from is as important as what I'm wanting to buy anymore. I already have to pay the Occupied Bureaucracy of the US for no return onmy investment.