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Our working hypothesis is:

Google is evil (and becoming more so).

NOTE: We are not saying Google is evil.

As we said, this is a hypothesis, which Google defines as: “A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.”

So, if you want to make sure Google isn’t evil (or if it is, it doesn’t become more so) then someone (not us) should not look for supporting evidence that it is good but rather even the smallest limited evidence that it is evil.

Then someone (not us) might want to see if the evidence supports the hypothesis. If there is enough evidence then someone (not us) might elevate the hypothesis to a thesis, which Google defines as: a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

If someone (not us) wants to do something about the thesis that Google is evil and becoming more so, then they might want to make an indictment, which Google defines as: a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime.

Then  someone (not us) might want to prosecute the indictment, where prosecute is defined by Google as: continue with (a course of action) with a view to its completion.

In short, if the hypothesis ‘Google is evil (and becoming more so)’ is to be proven false then you must look for evidence that it is evil and then not find any. This requires vigilance and work, not faith. Google can be good today and become evil tomorrow while we aren’t looking. Or, perhaps they are so amazingly evil that they are keeping the evidence from you.

PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS STORY IF IT IS THE FIRST TIME YOU’RE VISING THIS SITE.

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Index

This site is implemented in WordPress. Posts are shown in reverse chronological order. Here we have an index of the major postings that you can browse in order if you are new to the site and need to get up to speed quickly.

URGENT ANNOUNCEMENTS — Occasional announcements that require immediate attention.

Resources — Tools, such as those found at hypothes.is, that can help you join the discussion.

Questions — Questions for discussion.

Plot — The story of GoogleBeLessEvil.com is an evolving one that you can have a part in shaping. Like all good stories, there is a theme and a plot that will reveal themselves over time. On this page you’ll find our best guess of where we are going, who is taking us there and why.

First Story — Go here to begin at the beginning and follow the story in chronological order..

Warning: THIS IS NOT A GAME.

Although you can treat this like a game, and we certainly hope you have fun as you investigate the question of whether Google is Evil, the question is very serious one — not just for users of Google but for the future of humanity.

That is why this question is best left to our young people to address. They have the time, they don’t have vested interests in the answer yet, and they know they will suffer the most if the grownups mess things up for them.

 

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Resources

You may participate in this discussion using any open annotation tools you like. However, our preferred tools are found at hypothes.is. There you will learn how to view public annotations, make your own and create “channels” that can be accessed only if you know a secret URL.

Educators who wish to use hypothes.is in their classes can find lots of resources here: https://web.hypothes.is/education/. Be warned, however, that as with so many thing, academics have a habit of making things no fun. You might consider just letting your students know about this website and then check back with them in a month or so and let them report to you what they’ve learned.

If you know of additional resources that others should know about, then annotate these three words with a description of what you suggest.

Annotate these three words if you have suggestions about how this site can be improved that you want to share with the world. Go to the feedback page if you want to submit your suggestions privately.

 

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Questions

Here are some questions worth discussing.

Please discuss them by annotating each of the questions.

  • What character traits do “good” people have.
  • What character traits do “evil” people have.
  • Is everyone either “good” or “evil” or are some people neither good nor evil but merely “nice.”
  • Can something other than a person be “good” or “evil.”Continue reading “Questions”
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Plot

More than 100 years ago Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson learned the secret of eternal life. This explains how they were able to fight crimes and pursue justice for more than a century without seeming to age.

By 1982 people had stopped caring about learning the truth. Without consulting clients, Holmes transformed himself into a hedge fund manager making rich people richer, and Dr. Watson became a speech writer for many of the world’s most influential people.

They assumed new identities and for three decades they lived separate lives as they became wealthy beyond measure. However, they began to age rapidly and in the fall of 2015 Holmes rented 221b Baker Street where he hoped to live out his final days. They reunited just as Holmes was about to apply the “seven percent solution” to his problems. But then a cryptic message arrived that sent the pair on their final adventure as they try to save the world.

Now their time is running out. You can get up to speed by reading The Case of the Worthless Newspapers: Calling All Irregulars, by Len Bakerloo, which is available for 99 cents on Amazon here and for free on Unglue.t here.

Watson gets a funny Christmas call.

Dear reader:

Any ideas?

Holmes

On 2019-12-25 12:27, watson@???.com wrote:

My Dear Holmes,
>
>Today at precisely Noon I received a telephone call. As I usually do, I answered the phone by saying, “Dr. Watson speaking.”
>
>A woman said, “I have a great knock-knock joke… Start it off.”
>
> I said, “OK. Knock-knock.”
>
> She said, “Who’s there?”
>
>I didn’t know what to do next, so I said, “Who is this?”
>
>She said, “I asked you first. Who’s there?”
>
>I said, “I told you when I answered the phone. This is Dr. John H. Watson. Who are you?”
>
>She said, “But you said, ‘knock-knock’ and so I said, ‘who’s there’ and now it is your turn. What do you say?
>
>I was furious. I said, ‘Ass.’
>
>After a pause, she said, “Ass who?
>
>I said, “You are an ass, that’s who.”
>
>She said, “You don’t have a clue, do you?”
>
>I was loosing my temper “Who is this?”
>
>She laughed, “You didn’t have a clue. But now you do.”
>
>Then she hung up.
>
>Holmes, what do you make of this?
>
>As always,
>
>Your friend, John.

Now Holmes gets a mysterious message…

Dr. Watson,

Eight minutes after posting a story about the various mysterious messages you received, I got this message in response to a story I’d published under a pseudonym elsewhere.

Name: Herminia H.
Email: jerry.???@gmail.com
Say something: GENERICS
Time: December 21, 2019 at 5:08 pm
IP Address: 164.132.51.91

Clearly someone is trying to tell us that they have been following us. But as far as I can tell, they have only one tool at their disposal: They know how to fill in a WordPress contact form with a phony name and email address. Although it is possible there is more than one person involved, I doubt it. I’m betting it is one person using a vpn and proxy servers to access us from various places around the world.

Let’s give them a challenge. Are they smart enough to figure out how to create multiple Hypothes.is accounts and use it to annotate our stories. If they want to prove they are the people who contacted us then they could annotate our stories with corrections to the messages they sent us. Both you and I abbreviated last names and capitalized the words they sent us, but what we received was in mixed case. If they correct that then we know they have joined the game. Otherwise, let’s just ignore them.

Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct

Apparently, now it is OK for Google to be Evil.

See reporting here: Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct

Google says they are now committed to “doing the ‘right thing,’ which, presumably, gives them an out if a case can be made that the “right thing” to do is to be evil.

Please annotate the following questions with thoughts and supporting evidence.

  • If you are inside Google, have you noticed a change?
  • What things might Google want to do that might be considered evil and yet still “the right thing?”
  • Has the Wikipedia entry on “Don’t be Evil” been updated to incorporate this change? (If not, can someone do that?)
  • Will Google be updating their S-1 Prospectus filed with the S. E. C. to reflect this change in mission? In the meantime, is there someone out there who can annotate the existing prospectus to reflect this change?
  • What other things are we failing to see about Google’s change in rhetoric?

 

Watson gets mysterious messages and Holmes responds.

My Dear Dr. Watson,

I notice the following:

– “MULTI-CHANNELLED” is misspelled.
– The names of the people are unusual, and yet a Google search for the names yields what appear to be real people.
– None of email addresses seem like ones that would be chosen by the people named.
– Many of the email addresses are associated with spam attacks. For example, the email associated with Maria G. is listed as being used in a Spam attack on December 15. See: https://cleantalk.org/blacklists/spam-ip?date=2019-12-15&page=1

And yet, my dear Watson, it is with great sadness that (as you know) I have let my detective skills atrophy in the years since we left the business in the early 1980’s. That is why I am posting your email and my response to GoogleBeLessEvil.com. Let us see what comes of it. My guess is that if there is a connection then the people involved will contact us via other means.

Yours truly,

Holmes

P. S. I have abbreviated the names and obscured part of the email addresses. The parties involved will recognize themselves, but we don’t want our followers to harass them if they are legitimate. The IP addresses are as you have reported them to me.

On 2019-12-20 08:19, watson@???.com wrote:
> My Dear Holmes,
>
> After you launched GoogleBeLessEvil.com, I began receiving mysterious
> messages on my blog where I’ve been documenting your adventures. They
> are unlike any I’ve received before. I’ve highlighted the messages received in CAPS. I
> wonder what you make of them.
>
>    Name: Dasia M.
>    Email: ncbdc???@gmail.com
>    Say something (anything): EYEBALLS
>    Time: December 8, 2019 at 3:07 pm
>    IP Address: 27.122.59.86
>
>    Name: Ignacio W.
>    Email: billieg???@hotmail.com
>    Say something (anything): MULTI-CHANNELLEDContinue reading “Watson gets mysterious messages and Holmes responds.”

The Game is Afoot — Are we under attack immediately after we’ve launched?

Here is the message we received when we created our first post 4:25 P. M. on December 6, 2019.

 

At 9:58 P. M. that very same evening we got three mysterious submissions in a row, none of which contain any text.

If you are reading this, please annotate the following questions with your thoughts:

  • How did someone find us so quickly?
  • Where are they from?
  • What can be their intentions?
  • What other questions are we failing to ask?

For more evidence, continue reading this story…Continue reading “The Game is Afoot — Are we under attack immediately after we’ve launched?”