Dark web and other unrelated items...
Apr. 16th, 2022 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatTired. Been tired all weekend and not getting much done. Had intended to get together with Wales this weekend, since I'm taking a four day weekend (but alas, she's not) and neither of us felt like doing anything or going on the subways.
The subways are screwed up all weekend long due to track work, and it's been a difficult week - with the commute. Long-ass waits, among other things.
Currently baking a quiche. The recipe is rather simple. I buy the excellent Wholly Organic Gluten Free Crust from the health food store, it comes with two pre-made crusts. (I don't bother trying to make my own - gluten free crusts are notoriously difficult to make - they crumble if made poorly.) Whip up three eggs, half-n-half and almond/coconut milk, shred white low fat cheddar with a touch of Gruyere. Chop up fresh spinach leaf. Dice and cook some bacon (usually in the microwave). Season the milk/egg mixture with pepper, granulated garlic, parsley, onion, and paprika. Fill in the pre-baked pie shell with spinach, bacon, cheese, and egg mixture. Spinach first or it will float to the top. Weighted down with cheese and bacon bits.
Pre-bake pie shell - 10 minutes covered, five uncovered at 400 degrees. Bake quiche at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
See? Easy.
I decided to do it - because I can have it for dinner tonight and brunch tomorrow. I'm not making pancakes, trying to lower my sugar intake being diabetic and all.
**
Wales is annoyed with me because I'm not into texting. I'm annoyed at her because I can't call her without it going to voice mail. She's incredibly high maintenance, and her texts border on trollish - in short she pisses me off with her texts (today I considered ignoring them forever). The woman sucks at writing, and has no understanding of tone.
Sigh.
What I want - is to go away with a friend to a nice place in the Hamptons or upstate, drink ice tea, chat, and watch the world go by. And I'm not going to get that. It's making me grouchy.
**
Finished five episodes of the Julia Miniseries on HBO, got one left.
It was good. I found it comforting for the most part - although I found myself relating to the folks around Julia more than Julia herself. I felt especially sorry for her friend Avais and Alison (the female producer of her show - who came up with the brilliant idea to do it, and to sell it to other PBS affiliates, but got zero credit for it). The series gets across how undercut women are in society - and unless you have money, class, and the opportunities thrown at you that Julia did - you are kind of lost in the shuffle. None of the women in the series - are quite as lucky. But Julia also had a strong gregarious personality, a lightness of spirit, and genuine warmth and kindness - plus she was humble.
John Updike who makes a cameo does not come out well, nor does the senior editor of his publishing house who turns her nose up at the best-selling cookbook, pushing instead Updike's Rabbit Run which is up for the National Book Award. (I have to admit I do not like Updike, not that I read the Julia Child cookbooks, although my mother had them (whose didn't?)). I am not a fan of the upper crust White writers, Jewish or Wasp - Updike, Roth, et al bored me. Although I will admit that I didn't mind Cheever. Cheever's short stories were interesting.) The series gets across how hard editors worked on manuscripts back then. They don't, now. In fact - now it's mainly abut acquiring them and selling the subrights. A good line and copy editor is hard to find. It's why so many writers do beta testing with fans online, or send out Arcs, or hire the freelance editors. Also a line editor, a good one, can cost anywher from $1-$5 per line of manuscript, in some cases they charge by word count or page count. I spent $2,000 -$3,000 on line editors - when I published. People don't realize that.
And many published writers (the B and C list, not the A list) have to pay for their own editors. It's not fair - since writers like King and Scalzi can afford it. But our society isn't really fair about anything, if you think about it.
Knowing all this - causes writers block at times and makes me want to give up on my dream. I feel as if the deck is stacked against me. I haven't given up. Far from it. But there are times that I feel I haven't fought hard enough - the world constantly makes me doubt myself.
**
Got curious last night, and hunted down information on the notorious dark net and deep web - resulting in information that I could use for the book I revising.
The gist? It's the un-indexed or unregulated internet. The Deep Web is basically all our emails, financial information, etc that is password protected and protected. When you go on a password protected site - you are on the deep web. This is to a degree the deep web - if I flock this post.
You can't find stuff on the deep web via google.
The Dark Net, is the layer beyond that - which is information that has not been indexed, you aren't supposed to know about, and is unregulated. It's where all the illicit activities take place. Or the internet's version of the black market or underground market. Basically anybody can put whatever they so desire on it.
It's not illegal or necessarily dangerous to surf either. Although not exactly easy either. It's kind of impossible to surf the deep web - since everything is encrypted.
The Dark web on the other hand is kind of dangerous to surf - and the folks who venture onto it - usually do it with all sorts of protections in place. You don't just go do it. That could lead to someone hacking into your computer or worse. To enter the Dark Web - you need to use a Tor Browser, have a VPN installed, and usually a separate computer or burner laptop, or burner phone. It's dangerous. There's crazy nasty people on it. And the FBI, NSA, etc are wandering about hunting for illegal activities. Because on the dark net? You can literally buy or sell anything. And we all know what monsters some humans can become when the brakes come off. Regulations are a good thing.
<
There are a lot of folks who go on the dark net - to get information on human rights transgressions, censored news from dangerous places around the globe, and terrorist activities. Investigative journalists use it.
But it's not place to go to satisfy one's morbid curiosity. There's some really ugly and nasty stuff on it. So if you do venture on - it warns you to be careful and not click on any old link.
It was fascinating to read about it - particularly on Quora. (I wouldn't go on it of course - and I can't via Google anyhow. I've learned to stay away from such things. But knowing where the danger lies - makes it easier to avoid it.)
Deep Net vs. Dark Web what is the difference
The terms “deep web” and “dark web” are commonly used interchangeably. Although this is accurate in terms of the underlying technology, there is a slight difference. The deep web refers to non-indexed webpages as a whole, while dark web refers more specifically to the parts of the deep web where you can engage in illicit activities.
And another link on how to access it safely... 8 Steps on accessing the Dark Web Safely.
The dark web, or dark net, is a small part of the deep web that is kept hidden on purpose. Websites and data on the dark web do typically require a special tool to access.
The type of site most commonly associated with the dark web are marketplaces where illicit goods such as narcotics, firearms, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold. The darkest corners are used to hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography.
More than that, though, the dark web contains content and data that can be accessed with anonymity. It could be a blog, forum, chat room, or private gaming server.
The beauty of the dark net is anonymity. No one knows who anyone else is in the real world, so long as they take the necessary precautions. Users’ identities are safe from the prying eyes of governments and corporations.
The dark web and Tor are often used by journalists and whistleblowers to exchange sensitive information, including Edward Snowden himself. The Ashley Madison data dump, for instance, was posted to a site only accessible to Tor users.
Last night I read a discussion group on it - and it was disturbing, was on Quora, and I've not found it again. Okay, I found it - although it doesn't appear to be the same one.. What is the Deep Dark Web and How Do You Access it?
Alot of it is urban legend, apparently. Because this guy kind of debunks some of it:
Tech writer, Tor/I2P/Freenet/Zeronet user
Answered Aug 7, 2018
Originally Answered: How do you access the dark or deep web, and what is on there?
Oh look, it’s my favorite question again! I tend to get a bit technical when I write these, but bear with me (wink).
As Robert Jones said above, the “deep web” is technically web content that is unindexed by standard search engines. The problem is that people conflated the terms “deep web” and “dark web” around the time that the Silk Road marketplace was shut down, in 2013, and tend to use them interchangeably.
The “dark web” refers to content built on “darknets,” meaning that it’s meant to be anonymous, and is often (but not always) used for illegal activity, like selling narcotics or sharing stolen financial information.
In a metaphorical sense, think of the web like a virtual library. If this library has a search function, the “deep web” would be “books” that aren’t available to the search function. In a more literal sense, these would be things like the confidential details of your banking site, your email inbox, or content behind a paywall (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Red).
The dark web, then, requires special software, such as Tor.The Tor Browser (above) has two main functions - to keep you anonymous while browsing the “clearnet” (the opposite of “darknet”), and also to host and browse “.onion sites,” which are what people often think of when they say “dark web.” As to what’s on these sites, like I said above, some of it is illegal activity, but there are also chat rooms, forums, and even gaming sites. It all depends on what you’re looking for, really.
No offense to Mr. Jones there, but the part of his answer that was inaccurate was that the “deep web” is divided into “layers.” This is one of the enduring myths about the deep/dark web. Again, around the time of the Silk Road debacle, someone created a (mis)infographic claiming that the deep web had “levels,” and that the deeper you went, the more disturbing things you would find:
There are no “levels,” just different networks. Beyond Tor, you have I2P, Freenet, ZeroNet, GNUnet, anoNet, and others. Each of these uses different methods for anonymity, and have different purposes.
Nonetheless, for the most part, the content on them has been greatly blown out of proportion (unless the experts want to jump in and correct me here). There is some awful stuff, like child pornography and animal abuse, but there is far less of that than there used to be, since law enforcement’s gotten involved.
I understand that it’s exciting to think that there’s something “undiscovered” on the internet, but it is all human-made, so someone has found it at some point.
Then there's this guy...
John Doe. Th.D. Geek. Nerd. Koine Greek scholar. World's top 500 IQ.
Updated Apr 30, 2017
What are the most disturbing sites on the "dark web"?
There are those who are saying the “dark web” is relatively harmless but that causes me to question whether they’ve ever been to the “dark web” at all.
I’ve been to the “dark web” to investigate what was there hoping to find sources for real news - the stuff they censor and don’t publish in mainstream media in order to see the true story of what is going on, such as in Syria, North Korea, China, or Iran for example. There are some news and information dark sites that are useful. But the “dark web” is dark for a reason - it’s a great place for anonymity (unless of course Edward Snowden is right that the NSA cracked Tor encryption), but also a place for crime. People set up a website on the dark web if they are either extremely paranoid about their web habits being tracked, or if they are doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
Even on the regular worldwide web (which you are using right now to visit Quora, or check your email, or go on Facebook and other websites) you can easily use Google, Bing, or Yahoo to find disturbing stuff like websites with death videos, all of IS’s videos, porn of all kinds, and even websites that will discreetly offer drugs. So if you think that the worldwide web is bad then you are definitely not prepared for the “dark web” because the dark web is vastly different. There’s nobody on the dark web who will complain about your dark site, and even if they didn’t like what you had there’s nobody regulating the dark web or keeping you from seeing anything anybody wants to put there. There is no dark web overseer to prevent a person putting anything they wanted on their dark site.
The dark web is primarily (I’d guess about 80% to 90%) made up of dark sites that cannot pass muster on either the worldwide or the deep web because they include, support, display, or encourage something criminal. These include but are not limited to cannibal sites, human and animal torture for pay sites (meaning “For x Bitcoin we will torture and skin a live puppy on live video for you” or “For x Bitcoin we’ll kidnap a hooker then rape and torture her according to your request and wishes” and other horrible stuff like that), murder for hire sites (“For x Bitcoin we’ll kill xyz”), bestiality (humans having sex with animals), hacked data including live and active credit card numbers, home addresses with names, and email addresses with passwords, disturbingly HUGE numbers of pedophilia and child trafficking sites (including kidnapping instructions), drug sites for every drug on the planet in quantities from one pill to kilos, illegal weapons including land mines and missiles, and anything else vile that you can imagine.
There isn’t a universal “Google” for the dark web; you can’t just go there and perform a search and then get a list of sites. Instead you need to know the links in advance. Links to these places are not always easy to get, and many links are only available through people or groups who share them privately to those they already know, or will place them on the “deep web” where you also need instructions and directions in order to find them, and this is intentional. If you are living in a country like North Korea where you would be executed for criticizing the government then the last thing you’d want is for North Korean officials to find out about your dark site and actively find ways to identify you (some regimes are notorious for having officials who go to the dark web information forums and faking their identity then befriending people and putting together loose pieces of information to track down critics of their governments. Hopefully that sort of thing won’t be happening in America any time soon).
A lot of dark web sites are active for only a short time, probably out of paranoia, so you might for instance get a link with the thought to visit it only to find that the site no longer exists and there’s no forwarding to a new address. The whole point of the dark web is to be able to surf it and operate on it without the knowledge of anybody who has the ability to spy on you, as a result there simply can’t be a universal search engine for the dark web - no Google of the dark sites - that will give you an exhaustive listing of every dark web site out there. People on there don’t want to be found by anybody except those who have a reason to be there.
You might, for instance, find a few links on the worldwide web or on the deep web or through a person you’ve come in contact with and then on that dark website there are further links for other dark websites, and those lead to dark sites with more links, which lead to a site with even more links, and so on and so on, and you go deeper and darker the further along you go. (There’s even a place known as the “shadow web” which is even darker than the dark web and you do not get in there without paying with Bitcoin, and only through the direction of highly secure and reputable known contacts - in other words, there’s a place even worse than the dark web).
Personally, the “dark web” is not a place I visit often, but when I do it’s only for news and information on things that I believe are socially, ethically, and morally important (such as human rights, freedom, liberty, or things that can help people survive in a war zone, etc…). However there are an increasing number of people who are putting up regular hum-drum sites on the dark web simply because they do not like NSA spying, or fear that the worldwide web will be further restricted, etc… Unfortunately, there is also a practice that I’ve both heard frequently from others, and have actually experienced myself, where someone shares dark web links claiming that it’s for a discussion forum or a news site but it ends up leading to something disgusting. A couple years ago I had gotten a link that I was told was a forum providing information about human rights abuses and secret executions in mainland China, but it ended up being a bestiality site with a picture on the home page of a donkey ejaculating in a guy’s mouth. Needless to say I was not happy by being tricked in such an utterly gross way. I say this to point out that even though there are redeeming and important parts of the dark web, yet there’s something about the dark web that brings out the worst in a lot of people. That is not something I enjoy or indulge in and I’m sure if you are a sensitive, caring, aware human being with even the least amount of empathy you would come to the same conclusion: the dark web is NOT a place to root around and randomly surf in. The perceived anonymity of the worldwide web is enough to turn some nice people into mean and cruel trolls online, or in comment sections like on YouTube and so on. But the trusted anonymity of the dark web is enough to bring out the darkness of the human soul.
Let me also offer you a preachy but important caution: if you have it in your mind to visit the dark web in order to fulfill a dark lust - don’t do it. As I said before there are reports that the NSA, using the insanely powerful supercomputers at their disposal, had successfully cracked Tor’s encryption a couple years ago and are able to secretly monitor who is visiting any Tor website - in other words you are not truly anonymous. There are dark sites that, for example, offer drugs for sale. The biggest dark site drug source called Silk Road was discovered and shut down by the FBI a couple years ago. Think before you act. For example think logically about what would happen if you were to purchase illegal drugs on a dark website simply because you trusted that the person running the site was just some random schmuck in his basement. Well, in order to receive them you have to pick them up somewhere you’ve both agreed upon, or have them delivered somewhere that they know about. Right there is the weak spot because you’ve practically written “guilty” on your face and put yourself in a situation of being caught. Don’t assume you’re anonymous and can commit criminal acts with impunity. As the saying goes, “Karma can be a bitch” and it’s true. The Biblical concept is even clearer: you shall reap what you sow. If you visit a dark site that presents illegal and/or criminal material, or you engage in something on there which harms an helpless child, a kidnapped adult, or an innocent animal you WILL be found out some day, some how, some way; or the same vile thing will happen to you, a friend, or a family member and wake you up to reality. Don’t go to the dark web to satisfy dark and gross urges or break the law. Put yourself in other people’s shoes, and show empathy, don’t give in to darkness. Imagine yourself a victim, and imagine how the victims feel - their fear, their confusion, their pain.
The bottom line here is that the dark web definitely is useful and is an important resource for sharing important information in countries with censorship or government intrusion where freedom, liberty, and human rights are absent, or where there are civil wars where the true facts are hard to get in or out - about 10% to 20% of dark websites are useful, just, and justifiable - but every human vice is available on the dark web - the darkest most vile human desires, interests, or curiosities are there. Therefore, I’d urge you to stay away unless you are legitimately looking for censored news or information that is helpful and productive which allows you to further the cause of liberty, freedom, human rights, and end suffering.
So there you have it - no one agrees on anything - including the Dark Net.
Although I thought this was funny...
If we watch videos on the dark web or the deep web, what happens?
Depends on what type. Chances are:
You get arrested on a large assortment of charges
You get scarred for life
you get addicted and empty your wallet and life
Just don’t. Any and all of the above can happen in any order. Stay away.
[As if you can't find disturbing shit on youtube, netflix, hulu, streaming and the regular internet? You have to go hunting further? People are sick little bunnies...aren't they?]
and this is just scary...
Have you ever gone to the dark web? If so, why, and what did you see?
Originally Answered: Have you ever been to the deep web? If so, why, and what did you see?
You might have heard this proverb ,”Curiosity kills the cat” That’s exactly what happened.
“ 5 Things you should never Google” , a YouTube video by _____ made me unconsciously click on it and one of the things listed was Dark Web (not to be confused with Deep web which consists of your everyday websites say Amazon,Netflix etc.)
So , I read the requisite details , downloaded Tor Browser and then there is this thing called “Hidden wiki” which is the access to this gory. So following are the things that I encountered:
* There are hundreds of pages dedicated to drugs like : UK weed, Weed heaven, Brain Magic etc. All the purchasing is done by only Bitcoin.
* A wonderful (just joking) bizarre website showcasing ammunitions ranging from AK-47 to grenades .
* Something called “Onion Browser, Clearnet” with a catchphrase “Access to the inaccessible”
* Some rare books , underground tunnel pathways to enter some important buildings, Wikileaks submission.
* Hiring Hitmans, recipes on how to cook human meat, small girls wearing hijabs ( semi-naked) and suicide videos.
* Hundreds of websites for buying US, UK citizenship .All requires Bitcoins.
* Then there was this page where it was “claimed” that it contained nudes of Kardashians, VS models and tonnes of Z listers who apparently haven’t shown enough of their bodies ! .
* Websites containing videos of animal abuse in all unimaginable ways. I was too scared as to what might I encounter, so I didn’t visit it.
* Hiring of high class escorts in US, UK, Canada.
* Worst of them bunch of pages dedicated to imbecile pedophiles, mutilation, abusing dead bodies etc.Basically I couldn’t muster the courage to read further.
Plot twist: Just as I was about to close the browser, deep down filled with disgust and had given up on humanity, a new page with a “html extension “HELLOTHEREKOUL.htm,” (my last name ) loaded on its own with the message :
'we see you.’
No quotes, all lowercase. About 15 seconds later the server dropped.
In short? Don't go to the dark web. Instead, go hiking in a park or buy a book.
[Note - I'm not a registered user of Quora, nor signed in. Just got taken there googling a topic on Google. But I'm wary of the site. But it is also a highly ranked question and answer site - apparently better than Reddit. God there's a lot of social media marketing platforms out there.]
***
Finished The Thing About Pam - which is disturbing, mainly because it's the most realistic depiction that I've seen of a midwestern criminal trial. I've seen quite a few - in person - when I was going to law school and volunteering in the Public Defender's Office. I hate to say this - but people are really like that. Why do you think Trump got elected?
Pam Hupp - I've met people just like her in various legal venues. And my second cousin married someone like that - my Grandmother used to drag me to events that they were at, stating if she had to go, so did I. They'd bring these jello marshmellow salads that made me ill just looking at them. Some were creamy. This was in the 1990s. Early 90s. Before I moved to NY, and prior to law school.
Renee Z does a fantastic job of bringing her to life. You forget the actress and just see Pam. Also Leo D is great in the role of Joel S. The whole thing is rather well done. I was impressed.
It's not easy to watch though - if you know how accurate it actually is. Kind of depressing actually. The Julia miniseries is a nice palate cleanser.
***
It's cold again - the heat has come back on. Apparently it finally got cold enough to come back on - along with rain. And the doggie is running about and barking above me - clearly excited about something. It's quiet now - except for my gargling drain in the kitchen.
The subways are screwed up all weekend long due to track work, and it's been a difficult week - with the commute. Long-ass waits, among other things.
Currently baking a quiche. The recipe is rather simple. I buy the excellent Wholly Organic Gluten Free Crust from the health food store, it comes with two pre-made crusts. (I don't bother trying to make my own - gluten free crusts are notoriously difficult to make - they crumble if made poorly.) Whip up three eggs, half-n-half and almond/coconut milk, shred white low fat cheddar with a touch of Gruyere. Chop up fresh spinach leaf. Dice and cook some bacon (usually in the microwave). Season the milk/egg mixture with pepper, granulated garlic, parsley, onion, and paprika. Fill in the pre-baked pie shell with spinach, bacon, cheese, and egg mixture. Spinach first or it will float to the top. Weighted down with cheese and bacon bits.
Pre-bake pie shell - 10 minutes covered, five uncovered at 400 degrees. Bake quiche at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
See? Easy.
I decided to do it - because I can have it for dinner tonight and brunch tomorrow. I'm not making pancakes, trying to lower my sugar intake being diabetic and all.
**
Wales is annoyed with me because I'm not into texting. I'm annoyed at her because I can't call her without it going to voice mail. She's incredibly high maintenance, and her texts border on trollish - in short she pisses me off with her texts (today I considered ignoring them forever). The woman sucks at writing, and has no understanding of tone.
Sigh.
What I want - is to go away with a friend to a nice place in the Hamptons or upstate, drink ice tea, chat, and watch the world go by. And I'm not going to get that. It's making me grouchy.
**
Finished five episodes of the Julia Miniseries on HBO, got one left.
It was good. I found it comforting for the most part - although I found myself relating to the folks around Julia more than Julia herself. I felt especially sorry for her friend Avais and Alison (the female producer of her show - who came up with the brilliant idea to do it, and to sell it to other PBS affiliates, but got zero credit for it). The series gets across how undercut women are in society - and unless you have money, class, and the opportunities thrown at you that Julia did - you are kind of lost in the shuffle. None of the women in the series - are quite as lucky. But Julia also had a strong gregarious personality, a lightness of spirit, and genuine warmth and kindness - plus she was humble.
John Updike who makes a cameo does not come out well, nor does the senior editor of his publishing house who turns her nose up at the best-selling cookbook, pushing instead Updike's Rabbit Run which is up for the National Book Award. (I have to admit I do not like Updike, not that I read the Julia Child cookbooks, although my mother had them (whose didn't?)). I am not a fan of the upper crust White writers, Jewish or Wasp - Updike, Roth, et al bored me. Although I will admit that I didn't mind Cheever. Cheever's short stories were interesting.) The series gets across how hard editors worked on manuscripts back then. They don't, now. In fact - now it's mainly abut acquiring them and selling the subrights. A good line and copy editor is hard to find. It's why so many writers do beta testing with fans online, or send out Arcs, or hire the freelance editors. Also a line editor, a good one, can cost anywher from $1-$5 per line of manuscript, in some cases they charge by word count or page count. I spent $2,000 -$3,000 on line editors - when I published. People don't realize that.
And many published writers (the B and C list, not the A list) have to pay for their own editors. It's not fair - since writers like King and Scalzi can afford it. But our society isn't really fair about anything, if you think about it.
Knowing all this - causes writers block at times and makes me want to give up on my dream. I feel as if the deck is stacked against me. I haven't given up. Far from it. But there are times that I feel I haven't fought hard enough - the world constantly makes me doubt myself.
**
Got curious last night, and hunted down information on the notorious dark net and deep web - resulting in information that I could use for the book I revising.
The gist? It's the un-indexed or unregulated internet. The Deep Web is basically all our emails, financial information, etc that is password protected and protected. When you go on a password protected site - you are on the deep web. This is to a degree the deep web - if I flock this post.
You can't find stuff on the deep web via google.
The Dark Net, is the layer beyond that - which is information that has not been indexed, you aren't supposed to know about, and is unregulated. It's where all the illicit activities take place. Or the internet's version of the black market or underground market. Basically anybody can put whatever they so desire on it.
It's not illegal or necessarily dangerous to surf either. Although not exactly easy either. It's kind of impossible to surf the deep web - since everything is encrypted.
The Dark web on the other hand is kind of dangerous to surf - and the folks who venture onto it - usually do it with all sorts of protections in place. You don't just go do it. That could lead to someone hacking into your computer or worse. To enter the Dark Web - you need to use a Tor Browser, have a VPN installed, and usually a separate computer or burner laptop, or burner phone. It's dangerous. There's crazy nasty people on it. And the FBI, NSA, etc are wandering about hunting for illegal activities. Because on the dark net? You can literally buy or sell anything. And we all know what monsters some humans can become when the brakes come off. Regulations are a good thing.
<
There are a lot of folks who go on the dark net - to get information on human rights transgressions, censored news from dangerous places around the globe, and terrorist activities. Investigative journalists use it.
But it's not place to go to satisfy one's morbid curiosity. There's some really ugly and nasty stuff on it. So if you do venture on - it warns you to be careful and not click on any old link.
It was fascinating to read about it - particularly on Quora. (I wouldn't go on it of course - and I can't via Google anyhow. I've learned to stay away from such things. But knowing where the danger lies - makes it easier to avoid it.)
Deep Net vs. Dark Web what is the difference
The terms “deep web” and “dark web” are commonly used interchangeably. Although this is accurate in terms of the underlying technology, there is a slight difference. The deep web refers to non-indexed webpages as a whole, while dark web refers more specifically to the parts of the deep web where you can engage in illicit activities.
And another link on how to access it safely... 8 Steps on accessing the Dark Web Safely.
The dark web, or dark net, is a small part of the deep web that is kept hidden on purpose. Websites and data on the dark web do typically require a special tool to access.
The type of site most commonly associated with the dark web are marketplaces where illicit goods such as narcotics, firearms, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold. The darkest corners are used to hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography.
More than that, though, the dark web contains content and data that can be accessed with anonymity. It could be a blog, forum, chat room, or private gaming server.
The beauty of the dark net is anonymity. No one knows who anyone else is in the real world, so long as they take the necessary precautions. Users’ identities are safe from the prying eyes of governments and corporations.
The dark web and Tor are often used by journalists and whistleblowers to exchange sensitive information, including Edward Snowden himself. The Ashley Madison data dump, for instance, was posted to a site only accessible to Tor users.
Last night I read a discussion group on it - and it was disturbing, was on Quora, and I've not found it again. Okay, I found it - although it doesn't appear to be the same one.. What is the Deep Dark Web and How Do You Access it?
Alot of it is urban legend, apparently. Because this guy kind of debunks some of it:
Tech writer, Tor/I2P/Freenet/Zeronet user
Answered Aug 7, 2018
Originally Answered: How do you access the dark or deep web, and what is on there?
Oh look, it’s my favorite question again! I tend to get a bit technical when I write these, but bear with me (wink).
As Robert Jones said above, the “deep web” is technically web content that is unindexed by standard search engines. The problem is that people conflated the terms “deep web” and “dark web” around the time that the Silk Road marketplace was shut down, in 2013, and tend to use them interchangeably.
The “dark web” refers to content built on “darknets,” meaning that it’s meant to be anonymous, and is often (but not always) used for illegal activity, like selling narcotics or sharing stolen financial information.
In a metaphorical sense, think of the web like a virtual library. If this library has a search function, the “deep web” would be “books” that aren’t available to the search function. In a more literal sense, these would be things like the confidential details of your banking site, your email inbox, or content behind a paywall (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Red).
The dark web, then, requires special software, such as Tor.The Tor Browser (above) has two main functions - to keep you anonymous while browsing the “clearnet” (the opposite of “darknet”), and also to host and browse “.onion sites,” which are what people often think of when they say “dark web.” As to what’s on these sites, like I said above, some of it is illegal activity, but there are also chat rooms, forums, and even gaming sites. It all depends on what you’re looking for, really.
No offense to Mr. Jones there, but the part of his answer that was inaccurate was that the “deep web” is divided into “layers.” This is one of the enduring myths about the deep/dark web. Again, around the time of the Silk Road debacle, someone created a (mis)infographic claiming that the deep web had “levels,” and that the deeper you went, the more disturbing things you would find:
There are no “levels,” just different networks. Beyond Tor, you have I2P, Freenet, ZeroNet, GNUnet, anoNet, and others. Each of these uses different methods for anonymity, and have different purposes.
Nonetheless, for the most part, the content on them has been greatly blown out of proportion (unless the experts want to jump in and correct me here). There is some awful stuff, like child pornography and animal abuse, but there is far less of that than there used to be, since law enforcement’s gotten involved.
I understand that it’s exciting to think that there’s something “undiscovered” on the internet, but it is all human-made, so someone has found it at some point.
Then there's this guy...
John Doe. Th.D. Geek. Nerd. Koine Greek scholar. World's top 500 IQ.
Updated Apr 30, 2017
What are the most disturbing sites on the "dark web"?
There are those who are saying the “dark web” is relatively harmless but that causes me to question whether they’ve ever been to the “dark web” at all.
I’ve been to the “dark web” to investigate what was there hoping to find sources for real news - the stuff they censor and don’t publish in mainstream media in order to see the true story of what is going on, such as in Syria, North Korea, China, or Iran for example. There are some news and information dark sites that are useful. But the “dark web” is dark for a reason - it’s a great place for anonymity (unless of course Edward Snowden is right that the NSA cracked Tor encryption), but also a place for crime. People set up a website on the dark web if they are either extremely paranoid about their web habits being tracked, or if they are doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
Even on the regular worldwide web (which you are using right now to visit Quora, or check your email, or go on Facebook and other websites) you can easily use Google, Bing, or Yahoo to find disturbing stuff like websites with death videos, all of IS’s videos, porn of all kinds, and even websites that will discreetly offer drugs. So if you think that the worldwide web is bad then you are definitely not prepared for the “dark web” because the dark web is vastly different. There’s nobody on the dark web who will complain about your dark site, and even if they didn’t like what you had there’s nobody regulating the dark web or keeping you from seeing anything anybody wants to put there. There is no dark web overseer to prevent a person putting anything they wanted on their dark site.
The dark web is primarily (I’d guess about 80% to 90%) made up of dark sites that cannot pass muster on either the worldwide or the deep web because they include, support, display, or encourage something criminal. These include but are not limited to cannibal sites, human and animal torture for pay sites (meaning “For x Bitcoin we will torture and skin a live puppy on live video for you” or “For x Bitcoin we’ll kidnap a hooker then rape and torture her according to your request and wishes” and other horrible stuff like that), murder for hire sites (“For x Bitcoin we’ll kill xyz”), bestiality (humans having sex with animals), hacked data including live and active credit card numbers, home addresses with names, and email addresses with passwords, disturbingly HUGE numbers of pedophilia and child trafficking sites (including kidnapping instructions), drug sites for every drug on the planet in quantities from one pill to kilos, illegal weapons including land mines and missiles, and anything else vile that you can imagine.
There isn’t a universal “Google” for the dark web; you can’t just go there and perform a search and then get a list of sites. Instead you need to know the links in advance. Links to these places are not always easy to get, and many links are only available through people or groups who share them privately to those they already know, or will place them on the “deep web” where you also need instructions and directions in order to find them, and this is intentional. If you are living in a country like North Korea where you would be executed for criticizing the government then the last thing you’d want is for North Korean officials to find out about your dark site and actively find ways to identify you (some regimes are notorious for having officials who go to the dark web information forums and faking their identity then befriending people and putting together loose pieces of information to track down critics of their governments. Hopefully that sort of thing won’t be happening in America any time soon).
A lot of dark web sites are active for only a short time, probably out of paranoia, so you might for instance get a link with the thought to visit it only to find that the site no longer exists and there’s no forwarding to a new address. The whole point of the dark web is to be able to surf it and operate on it without the knowledge of anybody who has the ability to spy on you, as a result there simply can’t be a universal search engine for the dark web - no Google of the dark sites - that will give you an exhaustive listing of every dark web site out there. People on there don’t want to be found by anybody except those who have a reason to be there.
You might, for instance, find a few links on the worldwide web or on the deep web or through a person you’ve come in contact with and then on that dark website there are further links for other dark websites, and those lead to dark sites with more links, which lead to a site with even more links, and so on and so on, and you go deeper and darker the further along you go. (There’s even a place known as the “shadow web” which is even darker than the dark web and you do not get in there without paying with Bitcoin, and only through the direction of highly secure and reputable known contacts - in other words, there’s a place even worse than the dark web).
Personally, the “dark web” is not a place I visit often, but when I do it’s only for news and information on things that I believe are socially, ethically, and morally important (such as human rights, freedom, liberty, or things that can help people survive in a war zone, etc…). However there are an increasing number of people who are putting up regular hum-drum sites on the dark web simply because they do not like NSA spying, or fear that the worldwide web will be further restricted, etc… Unfortunately, there is also a practice that I’ve both heard frequently from others, and have actually experienced myself, where someone shares dark web links claiming that it’s for a discussion forum or a news site but it ends up leading to something disgusting. A couple years ago I had gotten a link that I was told was a forum providing information about human rights abuses and secret executions in mainland China, but it ended up being a bestiality site with a picture on the home page of a donkey ejaculating in a guy’s mouth. Needless to say I was not happy by being tricked in such an utterly gross way. I say this to point out that even though there are redeeming and important parts of the dark web, yet there’s something about the dark web that brings out the worst in a lot of people. That is not something I enjoy or indulge in and I’m sure if you are a sensitive, caring, aware human being with even the least amount of empathy you would come to the same conclusion: the dark web is NOT a place to root around and randomly surf in. The perceived anonymity of the worldwide web is enough to turn some nice people into mean and cruel trolls online, or in comment sections like on YouTube and so on. But the trusted anonymity of the dark web is enough to bring out the darkness of the human soul.
Let me also offer you a preachy but important caution: if you have it in your mind to visit the dark web in order to fulfill a dark lust - don’t do it. As I said before there are reports that the NSA, using the insanely powerful supercomputers at their disposal, had successfully cracked Tor’s encryption a couple years ago and are able to secretly monitor who is visiting any Tor website - in other words you are not truly anonymous. There are dark sites that, for example, offer drugs for sale. The biggest dark site drug source called Silk Road was discovered and shut down by the FBI a couple years ago. Think before you act. For example think logically about what would happen if you were to purchase illegal drugs on a dark website simply because you trusted that the person running the site was just some random schmuck in his basement. Well, in order to receive them you have to pick them up somewhere you’ve both agreed upon, or have them delivered somewhere that they know about. Right there is the weak spot because you’ve practically written “guilty” on your face and put yourself in a situation of being caught. Don’t assume you’re anonymous and can commit criminal acts with impunity. As the saying goes, “Karma can be a bitch” and it’s true. The Biblical concept is even clearer: you shall reap what you sow. If you visit a dark site that presents illegal and/or criminal material, or you engage in something on there which harms an helpless child, a kidnapped adult, or an innocent animal you WILL be found out some day, some how, some way; or the same vile thing will happen to you, a friend, or a family member and wake you up to reality. Don’t go to the dark web to satisfy dark and gross urges or break the law. Put yourself in other people’s shoes, and show empathy, don’t give in to darkness. Imagine yourself a victim, and imagine how the victims feel - their fear, their confusion, their pain.
The bottom line here is that the dark web definitely is useful and is an important resource for sharing important information in countries with censorship or government intrusion where freedom, liberty, and human rights are absent, or where there are civil wars where the true facts are hard to get in or out - about 10% to 20% of dark websites are useful, just, and justifiable - but every human vice is available on the dark web - the darkest most vile human desires, interests, or curiosities are there. Therefore, I’d urge you to stay away unless you are legitimately looking for censored news or information that is helpful and productive which allows you to further the cause of liberty, freedom, human rights, and end suffering.
So there you have it - no one agrees on anything - including the Dark Net.
Although I thought this was funny...
If we watch videos on the dark web or the deep web, what happens?
Depends on what type. Chances are:
You get arrested on a large assortment of charges
You get scarred for life
you get addicted and empty your wallet and life
Just don’t. Any and all of the above can happen in any order. Stay away.
[As if you can't find disturbing shit on youtube, netflix, hulu, streaming and the regular internet? You have to go hunting further? People are sick little bunnies...aren't they?]
and this is just scary...
Have you ever gone to the dark web? If so, why, and what did you see?
Originally Answered: Have you ever been to the deep web? If so, why, and what did you see?
You might have heard this proverb ,”Curiosity kills the cat” That’s exactly what happened.
“ 5 Things you should never Google” , a YouTube video by _____ made me unconsciously click on it and one of the things listed was Dark Web (not to be confused with Deep web which consists of your everyday websites say Amazon,Netflix etc.)
So , I read the requisite details , downloaded Tor Browser and then there is this thing called “Hidden wiki” which is the access to this gory. So following are the things that I encountered:
* There are hundreds of pages dedicated to drugs like : UK weed, Weed heaven, Brain Magic etc. All the purchasing is done by only Bitcoin.
* A wonderful (just joking) bizarre website showcasing ammunitions ranging from AK-47 to grenades .
* Something called “Onion Browser, Clearnet” with a catchphrase “Access to the inaccessible”
* Some rare books , underground tunnel pathways to enter some important buildings, Wikileaks submission.
* Hiring Hitmans, recipes on how to cook human meat, small girls wearing hijabs ( semi-naked) and suicide videos.
* Hundreds of websites for buying US, UK citizenship .All requires Bitcoins.
* Then there was this page where it was “claimed” that it contained nudes of Kardashians, VS models and tonnes of Z listers who apparently haven’t shown enough of their bodies ! .
* Websites containing videos of animal abuse in all unimaginable ways. I was too scared as to what might I encounter, so I didn’t visit it.
* Hiring of high class escorts in US, UK, Canada.
* Worst of them bunch of pages dedicated to imbecile pedophiles, mutilation, abusing dead bodies etc.Basically I couldn’t muster the courage to read further.
Plot twist: Just as I was about to close the browser, deep down filled with disgust and had given up on humanity, a new page with a “html extension “HELLOTHEREKOUL.htm,” (my last name ) loaded on its own with the message :
'we see you.’
No quotes, all lowercase. About 15 seconds later the server dropped.
In short? Don't go to the dark web. Instead, go hiking in a park or buy a book.
[Note - I'm not a registered user of Quora, nor signed in. Just got taken there googling a topic on Google. But I'm wary of the site. But it is also a highly ranked question and answer site - apparently better than Reddit. God there's a lot of social media marketing platforms out there.]
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Finished The Thing About Pam - which is disturbing, mainly because it's the most realistic depiction that I've seen of a midwestern criminal trial. I've seen quite a few - in person - when I was going to law school and volunteering in the Public Defender's Office. I hate to say this - but people are really like that. Why do you think Trump got elected?
Pam Hupp - I've met people just like her in various legal venues. And my second cousin married someone like that - my Grandmother used to drag me to events that they were at, stating if she had to go, so did I. They'd bring these jello marshmellow salads that made me ill just looking at them. Some were creamy. This was in the 1990s. Early 90s. Before I moved to NY, and prior to law school.
Renee Z does a fantastic job of bringing her to life. You forget the actress and just see Pam. Also Leo D is great in the role of Joel S. The whole thing is rather well done. I was impressed.
It's not easy to watch though - if you know how accurate it actually is. Kind of depressing actually. The Julia miniseries is a nice palate cleanser.
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It's cold again - the heat has come back on. Apparently it finally got cold enough to come back on - along with rain. And the doggie is running about and barking above me - clearly excited about something. It's quiet now - except for my gargling drain in the kitchen.