Mary Beth Writes

We watched the Nova special about Jeff Bezos and Amazon this week.  Boy, there’s a way to be depressed at our old white men elected officials who are totally NOT up to the challenges of the society in which we live.

 Len sat next to Bezos at a business event in 1997. They talked about my frugality newsletter. Apparently his wealth didn’t rub off on Len and our frugality didn’t rub off on him.

The documentary illustrated and explained how Bezos made most of his incredible wealth.  The most innovative thing he and his team did was gather, save, store, and then sell back to others – information about us.

He and his team were among the first to track what we bought, when we bought it, where we were when we bought it. They invented computer programs to record our shopping patterns and purchases.  Then when other businesses wanted to sell more toothpaste or washing machines or action figures or dog food – those companies would pay Amazon to buy our information.

You’ve noticed it yourself. Ask about heart attack symptoms, suddenly you are getting ads and coupons for statins and supplements. Look at underwear on Amazon, suddenly Facebook is telling the world that you like a certain brand of bra. 

We all know this. It’s our privacy - collected, collated, bought and sold - that is making millionaires into billionaires.

Yet how do we live our lives without using the internet? It’s possible, but I don’t want to live without access to information or the convenience to order in two minutes items that would take me two hours to shop for. 

And then I thought - what if we OVERLOAD the algorithm? What if we start spinning what’s real and what’s true with what’s ridiculous?

Usually I use as my search engine “Duck Duck Go.”  It’s free. Download it from apps; use it when you want to look up anything. Duck Duck Go doesn’t store info. The ads one receives while perusing the internet via Duck Duck Go will pertain to whatever you are looking up RIGHT THEN. 

But, as we all know, Google comes built into our phones.  Google, like Amazon, like Facebook, DOES save all our searches … that is how they figure out what we are interested in and how to sell that info to others.

So instead of hiding away from Google – I am now looking up wacky things on Google several times per day. Flights to Hong Kong. Size 13, triple wide Stiletto heels. Sock monkeys.

Am I going to Hong Kong? Nope.  Are my feet that big and will I ever wear a high-heeled shoe again? Nope. But now that info is out there in the algorithms.  Everyday, for a minute here or there, I am looking up things I am not seriously interested in. 

This morning Len was ordering toothbrush heads when he called from the other room, “Why are we buying a $500 security system and a sock monkey?”  

Our lives and our privacy have been put up for sale. They are ways to make that invasion collapse with fierce whimsicality.

You do your part and I will do mine.

 

…..

Len and I talked. This is what he wrote:

If you use the browser "Chrome," you know that everything you do on the Internet is saved to your computer, and, in addition, websites that you visit are able to recognize you, so they know if you are a new visitor or whether you've visited them before. 

 You can disable this part of Chrome, that is, you can keep Chrome from saving information about you in cookies.  It also keeps websites from knowing who you are when you visit.  It's called "Incognito Window," and it's easy to turn on or off.  It doesn't delete any of the information that you've already saved to your computer or screw up anything else about your computer and it's simple to use.

 1) Open Chrome.  It doesn't matter what page you're on (you can be on the Google page or Mary Beth's home page or anywhere).

2) On a PC, hit "Ctrl-Shift-n" (That's the control key, at the lower left, either shift key, and the lower-case letter "n").  Mac: Press ⌘ + Shift + n.

3) The black screen that opens is the incognito window.  Anything you enter won't be saved to your computer and the website won't know who you are.

 Note:  If you go to a site, like Facebook, that requires a login, it won't work unless you manually enter that login (in which case, the website will then know who you are).  But Google will work and most websites will work.

Comments

It makes my head ache ——- jeez
Leonard's picture

Facebook quizzes are an even more insidious way of letting big companies steal our private information. It's what was behind much of the 2016 skullduggery, and it's continuing today. There is a good article about it from the ACLU here: https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/quiz-what-do-facebook-quizzes-know-about-you

lov'n your subversive side; )

Thanks for the information about overloading Google. I plan to search extensively for Russian brides, underwater gas lines and perhaps land for sale in the Ukraine. Great idea.
Mary Beth's picture

Laughed out loud! Also laughed this afternoon when FB showed me ads for sock monkeys. It's working....

I looked up bras for Macaws, The elephant in the room. and How to milk e grasshopper... I'm going to enjoy doing this every so often and I don't use Amazon because I'm still willing to take the time to physically shop... I watched that program also and the insanity of it all freaked me out,..
Mary Beth's picture

Milk a grasshopper --- with a low stool...

Viva the resistance! :D Patricia/Fl

This artist used salt -- and knowing that you're not supposed to cross a dotted line with a solid line next to it (like a no-passing zone) -- to trap robots. https://vimeo.com/208642358
Mary Beth's picture

This is weird and funny!

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Len’s Birthday

11/30/2023

Last week I mentioned that Monday of this week would be Len’s birthday. A friend remarked to me ever so kindly later that day, “I thought his birthday was the 30th?”

It is. Len’s birthday is the 30th. This same friend has commented to me, over the years, about how much I remember.

Covid Diary #1350 Thanksgiving

11/22/2023

Today is 1350 days since the that March Friday in 2020 when we all went into quarantine.

Today is 60 years since JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. I remember that day, so does Len, so do many of you. Here’s a scary truth. We are as far today from that day – as that day was from the Wright brother’s first flight at Kitty Hawk on Dec 17, 1903.

Quarantine Diary #1349 Sci-Fi & Prophecy

11/21/2023

We both took Covid tests this morning and both of us still have pink lines. I asked the internet what this means and it says I might be pregnant.

I have a call into my doctor’s office to discuss. I feel so much better that if I didn’t know I have Covid, I wouldn’t know it. I’ve been sicker than this after too much pie.

Covid Diary #1347

11/19/2023

A few of you might realize yesterday we were 1345 days since March 13, 2020, and today we’re at 1347. Yup, I used a different calculator. Just a fun reminder that precision depends as much on asking the right question as doing perfect math.

I’m in day #4 of having Covid. No more chills. I have a fever of 100.4 which is more impressive than the 100.2 that Len achieved on his Day #4.  I’m taking various OTC meds and I keep track of them in my phone’s notes because, wow, it’s so easy to have no memory of the last time one took something. I’m good. Enough.

Covid Diary #1345

11/18/2023

I thought I was done with the Covid Diary but guess what? Len and I caught Covid this week! Actually, Covid caught us. We have continued to wear masks in stores, library, meetings, and our church so we will never know for sure where Len encountered Covid. And since I got it four days later, I guess we know where I got it…

My New Substack for Short Stories

11/11/2023

Let’s call this “Old Dog Versus New Tricks.” Does it feel to you as if I’ve been extra quiet these past months? It does to me. One big reason is that I’ve been figuring out Substack.

Here’s the deal: In addition to this blog, I’ve been writing more creative fiction. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I’m finally taking it seriously. I’m not giving up this website, but substack is going to let me concentrate on short stories and other stand-alone pieces.

What’s Substack?

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