Search the Community

Yes. They have that much power.

According to CNBC, Google is forming a web3 team that will build back-end services for developers operating blockchain applications. Amit Zavery, Vice President of Google Cloud, reportedly informed his team in an email on Friday that the goal is to make the Google Cloud platform the first choice for Web3 developers while not being involved in the cryptocurrency wave directly. His email as reported by CNBC read, “While the world is still early in its embrace of Web3, it is a market that is already demonstrating tremendous potential with many customers asking us to increase our support for Web3 and Crypto-related technologies.” https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/145519/google-is-building-a-web3-focused-team/

Why do Android phones mysteriously exchange 260MB a month with Google via cellular data when they're not even in use? https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/14/google_android_data_allowance/

Google rescinded offers for more than 2,000 people who had agreed to work as contractors or temps, The New York Times reported Friday. Last month, CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged to employees that hiring and investments would slow as the coronavirus pandemic created uncertainty for businesses across industries. Google’s reported decision to rescind offers from contractors and temp workers once again draws attention to a vast portion of the company’s workforce that does not enjoy the same benefits and protections of its full-time employees. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/google-said-to-rescind-job-offers-for-thousands-of-contractors-temps.html

Many websites, including this one, as well as newspaper rooms that might have existed "pre-google" stealing their content reported on Coronavirus "rumors" in China and were warning the world. Since mainly Google (and Facebook) have become the source of what's important for people to know in the 2010-2020 era they have a certain "editorial" responsibility that I think many are missing. The Press of yesteryear were also our "watchmen" calling out warnings and alerting the masses. Through years of stealing content from the press and fewer and fewer actually reading news articles or subscribing to journalists a whole new generation has no "Press".... just corporate owned PR departments. They killed any possible profit from investigative journalism long ago. Now the skeleton corporate "Press" crew can only be seen if they "Pay to Play" with Google. (and Facebook) Imagine for a moment if a "Boston Globe" sounded the alarm to a listening audience that China was covering up a plague to a world of 1988. Politicians would have been pressured to react and secure borders etc. The WHO would have been held accountable. People would have known that a President defunded the Pandemic protection from the CDC etc... Evidently somebody in 2020 didn't pay Google enough. And since I won't pay them to "promote this post"... this very important message probably will not be seen by most people. Welcome to the new Internet completely owned by Google and Facebook. Would you say their "AI" editorialism of selecting what they think is relevant for your searches and news distribution worked? Or was your search "flawed"? p.s.- Don't even get me started how people get their news on Facebook.

Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware and software products except those covered by open source licenses, a source has told Reuters. The news is a blow to the Chinese technology company that the US government has sought to blacklist around the world. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/19/google-huawei-trump-blacklist-report

Of course, I don't really believe this in the slightest. But I thought I would put it out here just to raise some interest in the actual meaning of Gog and Magog. I looked on Google and could not find any places where anyone had made the connection yet between GOOGLE and GOG. This surprised me, because in Hebrew the verse at Ezekiel 38:2 actually says the following in the Masoretic text: See it here: https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/eze/38/2/t_conc_840002 בֶּן־אָדָם שִׂים פָּנֶיךָ אֶל־גֹּוג אֶרֶץ הַמָּגֹוג נְשִׂיא רֹאשׁ מֶשֶׁךְ וְתֻבָל וְהִנָּבֵא עָלָֽיו׃ אֶל־גֹּוג means when transliterated EL-GOG. But the O between the two G's is actually a 'vav' which when used as a vowel (as it is here) is not just used for O, but also for U, pronounced OO. Therefore: אֶל־גֹּוג can also be transliterated as EL-GOOG. Transliterated left to right as it appears on paper, this is אֶל־גֹּוג or GOOG-LE. Quite a coincidence for a word that has a curious prophetic meaning in Scripture, and a word that is so ubiquitous on the Internet that it transcends translation. It is a trademark, a mark of that wild, beastly thing we call the Internet. Of course, that particular "wild beast" connection has already been done:

We're building an artificial intelligence-powered dystopia, one click at a time, says techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci. In an eye-opening talk, she details how the same algorithms companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon use to get you to click on ads are also used to organize your access to political and social information. And the machines aren't even the real threat. What we need to understand is how the powerful might use AI to control us -- and what we can do in response.

via .ORGWorld News

via .ORGWorld News

Google will stop its long-standing practice of scanning the contents of individual Gmail users for advertising purposes, the company announced in a blog post today. The practice, something Google has done nearly since the launch of its email service, allows the company to digest the contents of email messages and use them to deliver targeted ads within Gmail itself. Google is trying to convince more businesses to use its cloud services Users are allowed to opt out, and Google also reserves the practice only for personal Gmail users and not those of corporate accounts. However, the practice has made it difficult for Google to find and retain corporate clients for its cloud services business, according to Diane Greene, Google’s cloud division head, who spoke with the Financial Times. This is due to general confusion over Google’s business tactics and an overall apprehension to trust the company with sensitive data, the report says. “G Suite’s Gmail is already not used as input for ads personalization, and Google has decided to follow suit later this year in our free consumer Gmail service,” Green wrote in today’s blog post. “Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change. This decision brings Gmail ads in line with how we personalize ads for other Google products.” Read more: https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/-google-will-stop-scanning-your-gmail-me/f-b016f22017%2Ftheverge.com

via .ORGWorld News

Google did a quick search to see what a $550 million investment in Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com would return. The results? A less than 1% stake in China's second biggest e-commerce player (behind Alibaba). A massive network of warehouses and delivery ops. A chance to work with JD.com to tackle online retail across the globe. But as Google eyes e-commerce (and Amazon)... ...it's also looking to win favor with China. Since China banned Google's search engine in 2010, Google's built offices in the country, opened AI research facilities, and sent Sundar Pichai over to wine and dine lawmakers. But so far, China's remained query intolerant. Best case scenario: Google slides into three markets (U.S., Europe, and SE Asia) using JD.com's incredible capacity to fulfill up to 200,000 orders in one day...from one facility...with only four human workers...Then? China changes its mind about Google search.

I've read elsewhere that Bing is getting more market share. Do you think this will end badly for Google?

via TheWorldNewsOrgWorld News

Why Google is in hot water (again) Â

via TheWorldNewsOrgWorld News

0:17 / 01:49 Facebook already tailors its feed of news, sports scores and viral videos to show you what you want. Now Google is going to do it too. In a classic case of Silicon Valley "Anything you can do I can do better," the search giant on Wednesday updated its free Google app for iPhones and Android phones with a feed that uses artificial intelligence to show you things like news stories or movie trailers. Google is expanding the features in its search app's news feed. The feed itself isn't new -- Google introduced a basic version of it in December that shows you content you might be interested in, based on your Google searches. But on Wednesday, Google expanded the feed to include "follow" buttons so you can keep tabs on different public figures, like President Donald Trump, artists like Kendrick Lamar, or TV shows like "Game of Thrones." Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-tries-to-out-facebook-facebook-with-its-own-news-feed/

A handful of apps are no longer supported on the Apple Watch, according to a report by Apple Insider. Major apps like Google Maps, Amazon, and eBay appear to have quietly abandoned the Apple Watch App Store, without giving a heads-up or providing any explanation to users. AI reports that Google pulled support for its Maps app on watchOS a few weeks ago, while recent updates to the Amazon and eBay apps no longer reference support for the Apple Watch. Other affected apps include Target (the main one, not its coupon app Cartwheel) and TripAdvisor. A TripAdvisor thread dating back to February questioned the changes, but users said they emailed technical support and received no response. Continue reading