SPCR

I used to hunt the web constantly for new and inspiring information, user reviews, and scientific knowledge. It is the basic purpose of my having and maintaining a computer. Recently, most of what I find is strapped to a commercial entity either pretending to be a user site, or simply BS with no scientific standards.

Stupid commercials drove me away from TV stupidity. Now I see more of the same junk growing on the web. Is it me, or am I seeing an insidious growth of manipulated commercialism on a traditional knowledge-based form?

There's a lot of junk out there. But also a vast wealth of information. Just yesterday I marveled at what information is available through YouTube channels for example. I was watching a lecture series on programming micro controllers and was thinking how lucky I am to have this resource available to me at essentially no personal cost.

FYI: 80% of the new member 1st posts are blatant and subtle attempts to push your eyeballs to another site for sales and/or malicious reasons. So, I'm a bit jaded on the issue.

Be glad we moderate

Yeah, there's a lot of crap out there. A lot of sites I go to bemoan ad blockers and ask you to disable for their site. I get that. Ads = site revenue. But, it's also on them to not run crappy/invasive ads. If the ad distracts from the content on the site (blinky/moving/auto start streaming) I'm more likely to not come back or re-enable ad block.

I am very glad of moderators--thank you, Steve--and happy that I can post an off topic subject. My previous posts were focussed on a new computer build and I'm thankful that SPCR was available to guide that build. 8/9 years and going strong. Be proud!

Granted, there is important and educational subject matter on the web. However, I still fall back on my public library for the meat of the meal. Call me old fashioned. And, paranoid. Books can disappear too, but it's harder to manipulate the information they contain.

Maybe, Google Search is censuring my hunts for information?

I'm working for a gaming company called Apknite. I'm just an intern, so I have to learn so much on anywhere. But if you want something valuable, it will charge you. If there's something free, it's total bullshit. I'm just stuck in this situation.

I am convinced. Google Search sends me only to commercial sites, when I look for images.

And.... Interesting. There are no Tumbler nor Google managed sites in my results.....

hbm wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 18, 2019 8:59 am

I used to hunt the web constantly for new and inspiring information, user reviews, and scientific knowledge. It is the basic purpose of my having and maintaining a computer. Recently, most of what I find is strapped to a commercial entity either pretending to be a user site, or simply BS with no scientific standards.

Stupid commercials drove me away from TV stupidity. Now I see more of the same junk growing on the web. Is it me, or am I seeing an insidious growth of manipulated commercialism on a traditional knowledge-based form?

a lot of sites, profiles and channels are just clickbaits. of course there are valuable sites too. it seems like you dont know where to look at. Try to find some sites related to what you like (if theres such thing) you might be shocked how valuable content they may have

No, profit drives the internet, in the USA specifically. Value serves the merchants, not the viewers. The rebuilt regulations of the Trump reign assure this. SPCR is a light from another era that valued performance over profit.

I agree with the futility in broad "hunting" for information.
What does work is to have one or a few trusted reviewers and keep an eye out on what news they present. Then, if you find something interesting, you can try to find other opinions on the same product.

It's true that profit drives the Internet, but not all of it. Unless you only visit social media, Instagram and other stuff instead of actually useful websites that are made by people for people of course. Just search better.

Anyone have a good filter that removes commercial BS from the web search to open up original research, review content? People have suggested Duck Duck Go, but that one is too aggressive for how I search and store. And, it leaves the crap, Google is better refined.

I'd ask for a fake news filter, also, but simple extractive assessment can clear up most garbage.