Bonum Certa Men Certa

With Google News (as RSS Feeds) Out of My Life I'm Finally 100% Google-Free

Google Goolag or gulag

Summary: We've spent this weekend ungoogling the Web site; Google (or "Gulag"/"Goolag" as we mockingly call it) is not a friend of civil society and its "news" services are increasingly just a filter (censorship) full of misinformation, outright spam (due to neglect or loss of commercial incentive to tackle the issue) with little or no value to us; they're designed for spying and optimised for "engagement" by provocation, just like social control media

THINGS are about to change a little. Today I dumped Google from my life entirely (Google News over RSS was the last remaining thing) and we as a site aren't going to use it anymore. We've made contingencies and have bypassed some perceived dependencies. The main downside is, we won't be able to carry on with our weekly rebuttals to UPC misinformation/disinformation; that's OK in a sense because we've made a point for a number of months. Prior to it we made several ~3-hour-long video demonstrating how appalling Google News became in the signal-to-noise ratio sense.



The trade-off (dumping Google) or the compromise (no more highly extensive search) is worth making. Google gradually imperiled its own dis-services, including YouTube. Just ask so-called 'creators' in YouTube how they feel about recent changes.

"Just like that, without prior planning, today (12/6/22) is the day I deleted everything Google-connected from my life. Everything."Throughout the day today we've tested the safety nets, so to speak, just to ensure we can still see updates from sites that are important (and not via Google's sieve/filter). Not a monumental task as Google News over RSS was the last of it all... it was a gradual departure.

It's kind of funny, isn't it? Just like that, without prior planning, today (12/6/22) is the day I deleted everything Google-connected from my life. Everything.

"Not a monumental task as Google News over RSS was the last of it all... it was a gradual departure."Some people typically ask, "so what to use for search?"

Well, searx.be is a currently-functioning instance. Don't use DuckDuckGo or Startpage. They're the opposite of what they claim to be.

How's life without anything "Google"?

So far, so good.

First impression, with Google News entirely eliminated: less FUD, fewer false positives, more time to actually research and find on-topic stuff that's not secretly funded by Microsoft (or by advertising contracts for proprietary junk).

Google will have no editorial impact, either directly or indirectly. We have nearly 1,000 RSS feeds to follow now.

When Google says "don't be evil" think of Kim Jong-un speaking of a Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It's a proactive defence mechanism -- calling yourself the opposite of what you really are. Google does not just help autocracies. It is itself an autocracy.

Hang on... Gulag is determining your 'truth score'



Recent Techrights' Posts

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
 
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025