How To Combat Harmful Technology: Should Ads Be Banned?

[Nick0678]

29 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

What's with the browser shaming? Are you all 12 or something?

What did you expect we are in a gaming forum.

(*I would gladly RP as a 10 year old but some would take it seriously and risk having a heart or panic attack.. i wouldn't like that)

 

33 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

So if you need to shame me for using Chrome or something. go ahead, i'll let you know as soon as i care.

Yes.

 

[Istelathis]

One of the things that concerns me is based in a bit of my paranoia, but I sometimes worry insurance companies may climb aboard and start adjusting premiums or even denying coverage due to our browsing history.  Take for example, I was worried that a loved one had multiple sclerosis so I was using google to search on information about it.  Later, I opened facebook and noticed MS ads displaying on my feed.  Surely not the end of the world, but I sometimes worry that we are moving to an all seeing eye, with a sole goal of profit.  All that we search for is eventually tallied against us, and we are assigned a score which is much like a credit score.  I then worry that this can be used against us, such as when it comes to auto, or even health insurance.  I am sure there are a plethora of companies that could stand to earn a lot of money, using our browsing habits as justification.

Yes, I know, it is paranoia.  I am not prone to conspiracy theories, and would hope our governments will step in to prevent what I consider an overstep of our privacy.  I remember back in the 90s  people used to get upset at the thought of libraries providing information to as which books we checked out, and most people I heard from were vehemently opposed to it, back then I was young and couldn't care less, now I am starting to understand why. 

I think Ads are fine, so long as they are not incredibly invasive.  They are annoying, but I understand the point is to keep the Internet relatively free for all of us.  Of course, plastering a page with a ton of ads is just counter productive, and why I often use an adblocker - at that point they are just getting greedy and regardless there is almost one or two that get through so I don't feel too bad about using it.  For sites that I like, I will enable ads if I see the option is available.  Ghostery, I hope keeps away a lot of trackers when I am using chrome, firefox, or opera.  

Edited February 12, 2022 by Istelathis

[CaithLynnSayes]

13 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

I am not prone to conspiracy theories, and would hope our governments will step in to prevent what I consider an overstep of our privacy.

 

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." - President Ronald Reagan.

15 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

Surely not the end of the world, but I sometimes worry that we are moving to an all seeing eye, with a sole goal of profit.

What do you think ads on the internet are? Here to help you?

[Istelathis]

8 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." - President Ronald Reagan.

But he was from the government and he was there to help😱  I think we may all be doomed.

 

9 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

What do you think ads on the internet are? Here to help you?

Well, I mean technically they help us all due to the revenue they generate for the sites that use them.  At least that is my understanding of ads, but as time progresses they are designed in such a way to target us based upon our browsing history as to generate more income.  According to South Park, eventually they will gain sentience and take over the world 🙃

[CaithLynnSayes]

I'mna go with satire, you're doing satire right now. I don't want to believe you're being serious right now  

[StarlanderGoods]

Ronald Reagan, the guy that deregulated advertising aimed at children in the 80s ? Is that the guy being quoted? The only thing he loved more than ads, were predatory ads aimed at children. Thank god his brain melted and then died well before the internet became popular.

[CaithLynnSayes]

Just now, StarlanderGoods said:

Ronald Reagan, the guy that deregulated advertising aimed at children in the 80s ? Is that the guy being quoted? The only thing he loved more than ads, were predatory ads aimed at children. Thank god his brain melted and then died well before the internet became popular.

i quoted him because of what he said. Try and grasp the context. don't get freaked out on who said it... Context.

[Istelathis]

10 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

I'mna go with satire, you're doing satire right now. I don't want to believe you're being serious right now  

Yeah, I'm lousy with politics and was unsure how else to respond.  I did not want to be rude and completely ignore it, so I attempted humor.. unfortunately my sense of humor is a bit off as well so hopefully it wasn't to bad   

[CaithLynnSayes]

Just now, Istelathis said:

Yeah, I'm lousy with politics and was unsure how else to respond.  I did not want to be rude and completely ignore it, so I attempted humor.. unfortunately my sense of humor is a bit off as well so hopefully it wasn't to bad   

You don't want an honest answer from me sweetie  

[StarlanderGoods]

2 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

Try and grasp the context.

Its the context that made it fun, the thread about harmful technology and invasive ads.  We could even say Ronald Reagan kicked off the current state of ads, and all their predatory tactics.

[CaithLynnSayes]

Just now, StarlanderGoods said:

Its the context that made it fun, the thread about harmful technology and invasive ads.  We could even say Ronald Reagan kicked off the current state of ads, and all their predatory tactics.

So, that quote was a direct response to someone here saying they put trust in the government to keep privacy. I don't think it can get any more ironic then that, can it? So the Ronald Reagan quote kinda fit in here. You just wanna freak out about the fact that it's Ronald Reagan. I'll let you have your little meltdown though, don't let me stop you  

[StarlanderGoods]

15 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

So, that quote was a direct response to someone here saying they put trust in the government to keep privacy. I don't think it can get any more ironic then that, can it? So the Ronald Reagan quote kinda fit in here. You just wanna freak out about the fact that it's Ronald Reagan. I'll let you have your little meltdown though, don't let me stop you  

Thanks, Ill proceede then:

[Istelathis]

9 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

someone here saying they put trust in the government to keep privacy.

Just a clarification.  I would hope they do what I consider the right thing, and protect our privacy but I lack faith that they will.  I do not trust our government to protect our privacy on the Internet.  

[CaithLynnSayes]

3 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

Just a clarification.  I would hope they do what I consider the right thing, and protect our privacy but I lack faith that they will.  I do not trust our government to protect our privacy on the Internet.  

They will promise you that... Just before each election  

[Istelathis]

2 minutes ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

They will promise you that... Just before each election  

They do love to whisper sweet nothings in our ears, and their words can be very intoxicating.  Much like ads, I just try to filter them out 🙃. 

[Arielle Popstar]

38 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

They do love to whisper sweet nothings in our ears, and their words can be very intoxicating.  Much like ads, I just try to filter them out 🙃. 

Sort of like a certain Prime Minister tried to do recently pre-election and then after flip flopping on his promise, now has a few thousand trucks whispering sweet nothings in his.

[Silent Mistwalker]

2 hours ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

 

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." - President Ronald Reagan.

What do you think ads on the internet are? Here to help you?

You mean like Reaganomincs helped? It's been decades and I'm still not seeing the trickledown.

[Setsuki Takeda]

7 hours ago, Solar Legion said:

I see the usual types have come out of the woodwork ...

Firefox? No thanks - I prefer being allowed to choose what plug-ins I want to use (among other things).

Worried about what YouTube et al are doing? Get off the Internet - your ISP can (and likely does) do worse, no matter what you believe/your country's laws state.

Current Browser? Brave. No need for uBlock or Privacy Badger and I get to determine if a plug-in is risky for myself.

Firefox used to be *the* browser to use but, as time goes on, they meddle more and more with their users.

 

You can still set up Firefox properly, but you're fighting Mozilla every step of the way now.

[Setsuki Takeda]

2 hours ago, Istelathis said:

But he was from the government and he was there to help😱  I think we may all be doomed.

He wasn't when he said that.

All those wonderful quotes by Reagan about Freedom and Liberty came from when he was working on the Goldwater campaign, not from when he was President.

The guy said all the right things *until* he was elected, then did the same thing everyone else has before and since, which is what we should expect from anyone who is capable of reaching that position.

 

“The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

[Paulsian]

2 hours ago, Istelathis said:

Well, I mean technically they help us all due to the revenue they generate for the sites that use them.  At least that is my understanding of ads, but as time progresses they are designed in such a way to target us based upon our browsing history as to generate more income.  According to South Park, eventually they will gain sentience and take over the world 🙃

I recently read a story that reported AI has apparently started developing consciousness "organically". 

on last one skip to 8 minutes

 

[Paulsian]

I wonder if ads are screened for subliminal messaging, be more aggressive, be more aggressive, rise up against the government, rise up, hate, hate, hate.? Is there technology to detect that. He is the chosen one, he is the chosen one follow him, ignore all others, fight for him, hate all others, destroy all others, you want to join us, you will be happy if you join us. 

[Paulsian]

If AI has developed consciousness and seeks to destroy humanity, it would know more about how our brain works than any human would be able to comprehend and would logically destroy us the simplest way streaming services. 

[Istelathis]

46 minutes ago, Paulsian said:

I wonder if ads are screened for subliminal messaging, be more aggressive, be more aggressive, rise up against the government, rise up, hate, hate, hate.? Is there technology to detect that. He is the chosen one, he is the chosen one follow him, ignore all others, fight for him, hate all others, destroy all others, you want to join us, you will be happy if you join us. 

There are people who believe bots on social media are making posts to influence the outcome of our elections, as well as people farms that try to cause chaos in various countries.  I'm prone to think there is some truth in what they have said, but haven't experienced it myself that I am aware of.  I've been told that I am a bot in the past, which I thought was pretty funny and in an odd way complimentary. 

I think it is inevitable that ads will become more sophisticated, and trying to avoid them will become more difficult.  Chat bots are slowly advancing, and can be convincing if you do not suspect they are a bot to begin with.  Perhaps we will soon be getting advertising in form of text, on forums and social media, that interacts with us on a limited capacity.  You can even spot advertising being spread as news now,  this is especially true on yahoo but at least they notify you it is an ad.  

Edited February 13, 2022 by Istelathis

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, CaithLynnSayes said:

So, that quote was a direct response to someone here saying they put trust in the government to keep privacy. I don't think it can get any more ironic then that, can it? So the Ronald Reagan quote kinda fit in here. You just wanna freak out about the fact that it's Ronald Reagan. I'll let you have your little meltdown though, don't let me stop you  

Yeah, let's just go with that being an ironic quote & let it go, ok.  🙂

[Solar Legion]

1 hour ago, NanashiNyx said:

Firefox used to be *the* browser to use but, as time goes on, they meddle more and more with their users.

 

You can still set up Firefox properly, but you're fighting Mozilla every step of the way now.

Oh I know all too well. Used to use it myself.

The swap journey began with a swap to Opera then Vivaldi when they messed up for a time. Now on my current and rather like it.