I do think that the impasse we (collectively) find ourselves at is a
fundamental aspect of the human condition:
We will (often) take convenience and familiarity over safe or healthy.
Our consumer economy has shaped itself around this simple fact. Even
"don't be Evil" Google seems to have slid down into a trough of relative
evil... maybe we can blame the NSA for using there inordinately large
carrots and sticks on them (disgusting image noted, possibly
subliminally intended, but not overtly).
I have to admit to being intimidated by the array of alternatives...
Like Glen (implied?), I find Google so easy/familiar, that anything else
sucks by definition. I get whigged on the rare occasion when I search
up with my iPhone and get Yahoo search as a default... I"m sure it is
fine, but I still feel cheated and vaguely untrusting that there is a
better option. And as Glen refined, search by time range is a useful
option in Google Advanced Search.
I'm glad to see that the "little guy" is standing up... and I feel like
a fool to be wishing for this kind of resistance while failing to step
up and do my part by even "using" it, much less adding to the code
base. But I think the numbers are on our side. Not unlike that of an
arms (literal or between pharma and biota, or ...) race. Just when we
think we are winning we get a surprise.
That in mind, I'm looking forward to Stephanie Forrest's talks at the
SFI Ulam series on Sept 10,11,12.
http://www.santafe.edu/news/item/ulam-lectures-forrest-announce/
Note however, (no dismissal of Stephanie's work nor her personal
character), that she is a State Department Fellow and her work has been
funded by the DoD and other US Gov't for some time (as much of Academia
is naturally) so we should not have any illusions that the NSA and
others are not unaware nor poorly advised regarding the phenomena in
question.
- Steve
On 8/30/13 9:25 AM, glen wrote:
Marcus G. Daniels wrote at 08/29/2013 09:20 PM:
While I don't own an Android phone, and I have disdain for telephones
(and other sorts of interruptions), I'd use up all my unused minutes
all just to fill up their disk space.
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/RedPhone
Very cool. I won't have anyone to call, since nobody loves me. But
I'll use it ... maybe I can call myself when I buy a new phone! And
while I'm empathetic to your disdain for phones, you can't possibly be
saying you dislike slick, powerful, palm-sized computational devices.
Especially with apps like these:
https://www.wuala.com/gepr/public/Screenshot_2013-08-30-08-17-01.png
https://www.wuala.com/gepr/public/Screenshot_2013-08-30-08-17-29.png
https://www.wuala.com/gepr/public/Screenshot_2013-08-30-08-19-11.png
Re: prism-break - I've been trying to use DuckDuckGo for quite a long
time. I just can't break the google habit, though. I've tried to
split my searches between ddg, yahoo, and alpha. But the "search
tools" feature on google is what keeps me coming back.
E.g. I saw _news_ of a recently published article on the relationship
between low gut biome genetic diversity and obesity. But like so much
"news", they don't go into any depth and don't properly cite their
sources. So, I tried using ddg to find the new articles. The top
results were decent, journal articles from 2011 and such. But in the
end, I used google, set the search for the past week, and sure enough,
up it pops.
I know it's bad form to ask for advice. So, I'll stop just short and
say that if anyone _does_ have advice for how to use ddg (or even
yahoo for yog's sake) to better effect, I'd be grateful.
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