Lucky Bitch Radio with Wanda Wisdom

I’d say that in the world of search-engine-evil-weevils… Google is the least.

Google won some princess points by going “*blink blink* NO, you can’t have that data!” to the US federal government.

Also, in the end… Google is an advertizing corporation selling a product. China went to Google and bid on a product tailored to the advertizements and searches they wanted… and Google gave them exactly that. While I understand you would rather Google said: “hell no, you suck China!” the stockholders would have been very upset if Google chose to opt-out of the fastest-growing economy in the world because they didn’t like their politics (sort of like when Google took a stock hit for shunning the Fed).

And besides… Google can be hacked in a variety of interesting ways (what is the first website you get if you type “santorum” into google.com?)… and they might “morally” write ineffective screening software (what happens when a Chinese citizen person enters “llama, Dalai” instead?).

But seeing as you have already relegated any counterarguments to “corporate bullshit”

Darling,

I certainly don’t think your counter is corporate bullshit. Frankly, I just feel somehow let down by Google. I’m not likely to run from them screaming, but I do think as their customer, I have a right to call them to account for their actions. Nonetheless, I do thank you for sharing your thoughts! We need more of it here in the comments!

Kisses,

Wanda

thank you for the thank yous Wanda i’m so glad you like them.

Very interesting podcast! I think the comments about your decsions to cease useage of some products contrasts so poignantly against the movement made by the juggernaught companies that supply them. Very ‘David and Goliath’ (I mean that without a hint of cynicism) and, ultimately, very revealing in terms of the nature of individuals who turn to blogging and podcasting as a form of art or communication.
Very thought provoking!

Have you taken a look at the type of information that Microsoft and Yahoo gave up?

Assuming that information you query for, using ANY search engine, is confidential, or that what you do online is confidential is really a fallacy.

Check out the very interesting discussion below about what MS actually gave the DOJ.

http://bokardo.com/archives/microsoft-didnt-give-user-data-to-doj-in-privacy-case-podcast/

Hi there Wanda,

I’m happy your are going on that track, fighting corporate evil guys who don’t respect human rights.
But I wonder, why did you start caring about poor chinese ppl get massacred only when google started their google.cn site with censorship, or yahoo giving information about that poor guy.
I mean, that shit (violating human rights) has been going on for like ages. Yet, we buy nikes and toys that are made there, and (non)directly that’s supporting the crazy twisted fucks at the Party.
I ask myself why are we giving it so much attention, is it because its a hot item now because it concerns Internet and email?
We could have started this rejectment a long while ago.

Greetings,

Lesman

Meh.

People have ideals and morals and thoughts on how the world should be run. Companies have ideals and morals and thoughts on how the world should be run.

Never the twain shall meet…. and if they pretend to… it’s a marketing gimmick.

If people started getting picky about companies doing something they thought was morally shady… than nobody would ever buy anything from anybody.

wanda, thank you for a very thought-provoking program. i’m so glad you’re voicing your opinion on this.

xm

i have to say how proud of you i am that you are taking this stance on Yahoo! i’ve had issues with yahoo (like yourself) for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

Hey Wanda (and everybody):

Yeah, I know, I’m massively behind. For Safari users who’d like to use a different search engine in the built-in search field (which defaults to Google), try AcidSearch, which modifies the built in search field in lots of ways, and adds additional search engines for you:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15495

AcidSearch is freeware, and I’m neither the developer or benefitting in any particular way. I just think it’s handy.

As for the rest of the issue: I’ve cancelled my Gmail and Yahoo accounts today.