Internet Health Searches (Page 2): And they will own everything! You will own nothing!

HOHIMER

jerryc41 wrote:

I don't search for anything subversive, but selling everyone's information is a clever way to make money. In the future, there will be only Google, Apple, and Disney.

And they will own everything! You will own nothing!

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

rlv567 wrote:

I wholeheartedly wish that MANY more people understood and believed these truths, which you have so well stated!!! Unfortunately, the Kool-Aid (nefarious plans) has completely ruined their vision/thought processes! Only time will tell whether it is too late for us to survive; history is not on our side!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

Thanks for your kind words, Loren...sadly, too few people are are of these realities and that has led us to an era of what Josef Stalin called "useful idiots":
In political jargon, a useful idiot is a term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders. The term was originally used during the Cold War to describe non-communists regarded as susceptible to communist propaganda and manipulation.

I recall reading a book on computer security a while back by Bruce Schneier (a well respected expert on the topic) in which he wrote that according to the fellow who once headed the East German Stasi the maximum number of citizens the secret police could spy on simultaneously during the cold war was 27, where of course nowadays almost everyone carries a bugged device in their pockets. Now add to that the capacity of big data systems (and A.I. coming up) to parse and analyze written and spoken words, and you have the dram of every totalitarian who ever lived - complete knowledge over their people. Of course, this is what has led to the extreme polarization of western society - with everyone "sure" of what they know without realizing how they are being manipulated and controlled.

LLC Loc: Ontario, Canada

f8lee wrote:

Some will say "I don't care if they keep track of my every movement and purchase - I'm not doing anything wrong!" - but that belies a fundamental ignorance of the fact that it is those in power who decide "what is wrong".

Here is funny thing about that...

The file below contains article from NY Times. I attached PDF of the article. Sometimes you cannot read the page without paying...

Original article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Attached file:
(Download)

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Please be extremely careful. While this is an interesting Chit Chat thread, I would hate for it to be dragged up the stairs to The Attic.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

f8lee wrote:

... Just think of those 22,000 Denver power customers who discovered, when they had a heat wave the other week and the utility was concerned about power, that they could not lower their "smart" thermostats below 82 or something because the utility company overrode and took control of those same thermostats.

A challenge, to be sure, but not insurmountable.

On the farm I built an insulated room to store vegetables. I bought a large air conditioner on sale. When I started it up I found that it was programmed so it wouldn't cool below 65F. I wanted 50F.

Easy peasy. The temperature is measured by a thermal bulb that is located just behind the intake air filter. I got a resistor, hooked it up to the power through a thermostat and wired it onto the temperature sensor on the air conditioner. So the resistor would heat the sensor and make it think that the air was over 65F. At 50F the resistor would turn off and that would turn off the air conditioner.

I chose 50F because by experimental means I determined that trying to cool below that would cause the air conditioner to freeze up. It's not designed to work at low temperatures, but it would work at 50F. And that was sufficient to store the vegetables for the stand. (Also, tomatoes stored below 50F ripen verrrrrrrry slowly).

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

You make some valid and rather scary points. I don’t know if I want to dismantle my computer but I am more scared of it now than the bogey man.
I never gave it a major thought but it is very interesting now.

See…Jerry…..You just freaked out a bunch of old codgers like my self.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

DirtFarmer wrote:

A challenge, to be sure, but not insurmountable. ... (show quote)

Fascinating - but I daresay today's tech is a mite more difficult to "shade tree mechanic" than yesteryear's...perhaps you could dismantle a Nest thermostat and figure out how to cheat it or over-ride the main office's over-rides, and then sell it to folks who are caught unawares! You'll make a mint!

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Scruples wrote:

You make some valid and rather scary points. I don’t know if I want to dismantle my computer but I am more scared of it now than the bogey man.
I never gave it a major thought but it is very interesting now.

See…Jerry…..You just freaked out a bunch of old codgers like my self.

Well, spread the word - too many people are too completely oblivious to what is going on around them.

You might want to watch the Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma" (in fact, I recall Jerry actually mentioned it a while back) - it will give you some insight on that tech.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

f8lee wrote:

Fascinating - but I daresay today's tech is a mite more difficult to "shade tree mechanic" than yesteryear's...perhaps you could dismantle a Nest thermostat and figure out how to cheat it or over-ride the main office's over-rides, and then sell it to folks who are caught unawares! You'll make a mint!

I’m sure you can still buy a dumb thermostat. I had a couple that I used in my greenhouse.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

DirtFarmer wrote:

I’m sure you can still buy a dumb thermostat. I had a couple that I used in my greenhouse.

Not the point, sir. The point is that big tech is persuading far too many people with the lure of "convenience" who find themselves caught up in things they could not have imagined. The fine folks who bought that marvelous smart thermostat (with the added bonus of a $25 discount to their monthly electric bill!) had no idea what they were getting into. Siri/Alexa listening to your every word; someone, somewhere, will be able to review what has been said and use it to a)sell you soap or b) denote you as a terrorist or whatever.

Western society is like the frog in the parable where it sits in a pot of water that is slowly heated up until it becomes soup.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

duped by mistake

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

You make some valid and rather scary points. I don’t know if I want to dismantle my computer but I am more scared of it now than the bogey man.
I never gave it a major thought but it is very interesting now.

See…Jerry…..You just freaked out a bunch of old codgers like my self.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Scruples wrote:

Some companies have a malevolent nature...

That's a typo, right? You meant to say either, "Companies have a malevolent nature..." or "Some companies don't have a malevolent nature..." but that would be a silly statement.

fantom Loc: Colorado

jerryc41 wrote:

"Google stores our health-related internet searches."

They know what conditions you're inquiring about, and they can sell that information to insurance companies or anyone else who wants it.

Of course, that is how advertisers know which ads/popups/news etc. to send to you.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fantom wrote:

Of course, that is how advertisers know which ads/popups/news etc. to send to you.