Getting Cured of the Jews, Plus AIDS’ Role in the Spanish Civil War
By Dan Friedman September 3, 2009
Technology is the answer to everything, right? But can you cure yourself of Jews with alcohol and salt?
Netbase’s healthbase is a search engine that looks through all the words on the web and finds symptoms, diagnoses and treatments for all the illnesses, syndromes, and sicknesses you might ever hear of. At least that’s what it says on the label. In the event — and someone in their human department must be getting a sharp talking to — there were a few glitches.
As Leena Rao asks on Tech Crunch, “is it a semantic engine or an anti-semitic search engine?” Because “when you type in a search for “AIDS,” one of the listed causes of the disease is ‘Jew.’” Ooops.
But it seems to be a more general snafu with the sort of equal opportunity foolishness at which inadequately attended computers excel — Leena Rao again: “If you look at the pros of AIDS (yes, it thinks here are pros to having AIDS), it comically lists the ‘Spanish Civil War.’”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
