I currently have a job as an over-the-phone translator (from home), which pays pennies, but which has some perks: the dress code (none, I am at home), the commute (roughly 1 foot), the hours (flexible) and, on some days, some free time between calls. Like this morning. So I decided to kill some time having fun with Google.
Here is what I did: I began entering some queries to see what Google would suggest based on Google’s query completion algorithm which basically suggests the most often entered queries using the same terms you did. Here are the results – I find them interesting.
First, I entered “I am afraid of”:
Sure looks like racism is still alive and well.
Next, I tried “I hate”:
After this rather say result, I tried something more positive: “I am attracted to:”
Oh boy, we live in one sick society. Then, I decided to see how religions fared with these:
Clearly, militant atheism is also alive and well in this crazy society. The sad thing is that both religions can very much to blame themselves for eliciting such negative feelings from so many people. Pointing fingers are militant atheists just does not explain why their views have become so prevalent.
Then, I was in for a treat. I decided to Google “Hezbollah is”:
Nice!! In a society of mostly very confused people, it is quite fantastic to see that the most common query about Hezbollah is “Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization”. Here the official propaganda seems to have totally failed. This sure made my day!
Lastly, for comparison purposes I entered “Israel is”:
Hilarious, no? We know that Israel is evil and real, but that most people seem to what to know its size is rather interesting, for a country without any official borders. But the one I prefer, is the last one: “Israel is a strong friend of Israel”.
Yeah, that’s about it. No other friends for the last openly racist state on the planet.
Okay – back to work now.
Cheers!
The Saker
PS: try that silly little pastime yourself and let us know if you come across anything interesting or amusing.
these results jive with the daily news bytes that yahoo posts — tiger woods and various oversexed actresses
Nice rendering. What OS do you use?
@Q1: What OS do you use?
GNU/Linux. Debian stable and Debian testing. Xubuntu sometimes.
But I don’t see what is so special about the rendering?
I think the font rendering.
Just in case you don’t know the difference:
http://www.markmclaren.com/wp/swing-font-rendering-still-playing-catch-up/
Ubuntu now uses OSX(Apple)-like font rendering as it is shown in your browser.
@Q1: Ubuntu now uses OSX(Apple)-like font rendering as it is shown in your browser.
Good observation. These screenshots were done with Xubuntu ;-)
I really don’t pay much attention to visual stuff, so I had no idea that Ubuntu was doing something Apple-like (again!).
Thanks for the pointer!
F’ google use ixquick for non big brother tracking. That I’m afraid of Americans might refer to the David Bowie + Nine Inch Nails song with the same name.
I AM afraid of black people.
Honestly, no joke.
“I am attracted to…”
is a very, VERY scary result.
@AmericanGoy:I AM afraid of black people.
ALL of them? Interesting. Why? I am really curious why a skin color would frighten somebody… Or is it that the skin color is a symptom of some other frightening feature?
Cheers!
@VINEYARDSAKER:
Although font rendering is a matter of taste (some even like Microsoft slim fonts better) my eyes enjoy in “normal” as printed on paper fonts – as Ubuntu and Apple use.
Ubuntu started to use it (“Quartz technology”) as soon as Apple patent had expired, I think it was something like 2007.
I really don’t pay much attention to visual stuff, so I had no idea that Ubuntu was doing something Apple-like (again!).
Again? What was already done Apple-like?
@Q1: Again? What was already done Apple-like?
Unity. And its not even Apple like, its bad Apple-wannabe. Generally, I am so pissed at Ubuntu that I switched all my machines to either Debian-testing, or Xubuntu and one to Linux Mint.
I am actually thinking of making a special post here “for geeks” about what I call the “lessons from the Ubuntu fiasco” or why “corporate Linux” should be avoided like the plague. Between Shuttleworth’s statements about Unity being inspired by “smartphones, Apple and Windows”, his attack on Banshee over the Ubuntu store thing, Canonical’s decision to dump GNOME and even X for Wayland, Shuttleworth’s weird ideas on patents, etc. I am really getting sick and tired of putting up with them.
I really loved Ubuntu 10.10, but when I upgraded to 11.04 I literally felt like calling up Canonical to pour a torrent of abuse at them. I did not do it, but I contemplated it for several days. The absolute worst thing is that all these things were decided by Shuttlewoth and his coterie of “specialists” at Canonical, not the Ubuntu community. And boy, do I see people running away now. To Xubuntu, to Crunchbang, to Mint, to Debian, to Aptosid – basically to any community-driven and community-centered distro. And there are good options out there :-)
So all this reminds me of Apple and Steve Jobs as the guru who bestows the Truth upon us, and tells us what we really want, what we really need. Except that Shuttleworth is no Jobs, and Canonical no Apple and, most importantly, GNU/Linux users are not Maccies. So that will fail.
(sigh… takes a deep breath)
Ok, I got off my soapbox now. At least for a while. If I muster enough energy, I might still write my piece on this topic.
Thanks for letting me vent :-)
Cheers!