[bignatslover]

Every now and then we hear of this secret vast world know as The Dark Web.  Some descriptions make it sound quite vast, as though everything we know as the traditional internet is a mere tip-of-the-iceberg and sitting deep beneath is this seething massive behemoth known as The Dark Web, accessed by the rather cryptic sounding TOR, which I understand to be an abbreviation for The Onion Router.

Is there a one of you who dives into this enigmatic Dark Web?  And if so, is it some lively alternate world full of endless dionysian joy, or is it just a cold empty bunch of servers?

[solvegas]

Sounds like what astrophysicists call " Dark matter " which contains most of the universe's mass but so far they can't see it. Otherwise their theories don't work. Perhaps the onion router is part of The Onion parody site. Who knows. 

[Palomine]

I've installed Linux Tails which includes/uses the TOR browser for security/anonymity purposes and noodled around, but since I'm not in the market for illegal drugs (or hitmen, or slaves or whatever the heck else can be found on the dark web) I didn't really see much or do anything of note.

Though I've seen graphics (usually featuring cross sections of icebergs) that suggest the visible 'net only comprises as little as 4% of what's online (with the rest being on the deep/dark web) I'm honestly not sure I believe that. Though I'm sure it's very useful for those who use it, I can't imagine (atm) that the illicit/unseen part of the net is nearly as big/active as the regular 'net, since the regular net surely includes the vast majority of all mainstream commerce, social networking and adult content.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong.

[lucaxyz2]

I've installed Linux Tails which includes/uses the TOR browser for security/anonymity purposes and noodled around, but since I'm not in the market for illegal drugs (or hitmen, or slaves or whatever the heck else can be found on the dark web) I didn't really see much or do anything of note.

Though I've seen graphics (usually featuring cross sections of icebergs) that suggest the visible 'net only comprises as little as 4% of what's online (with the rest being on the deep/dark web) I'm honestly not sure I believe that. Though I'm sure it's very useful for those who use it, I can't imagine (atm) that the illicit/unseen part of the net is nearly as big/active as the regular 'net, since the regular net surely includes the vast majority of all mainstream commerce, social networking and adult content.

But hey, maybe I'm wrong.

I agree with you pal. that said shall there ever be someone here admitting having used tor for "dark" purposes?

[SwitcherX]

The Dark Web is just sites that aren't indexed by Google, Bing, and whoever else.  That includes the TOR network.  TOR can be a lot of fun, *IF* you know what you want and where to get it.  If you just randomly click links, eventually you'll find kiddie porn or something bad.  Three's a wikipedia article i want to link to, but i don't know if I can.

[rtpoe]

If you HAVE to actually go into the Dark Net for something, all right-thinking people would be better off not knowing you.

[SwitcherX]

It's not all drugs sites and ch1ld pornography.  For instance, there used to be a site that had every ROM image that Mame could emulate.  It was the only place that had them all.

[Palomine]

The Dark Web is just sites that aren't indexed by Google, Bing, and whoever else.  That includes the TOR network.  TOR can be a lot of fun, *IF* you know what you want and where to get it.  If you just randomly click links, eventually you'll find kiddie porn or something bad.  Three's a wikipedia article i want to link to, but i don't know if I can.

Not to argue semantics, but it seems a bit of a stretch to classify every single page not/yet indexed by search engines as part of the dark/deep web, no? By that definition, the vast majority of the BEA is part of the dark web, since (excepting the forum) the pages that require a paysite login to view (and thus be indexed) far outnumber the open-to-the-public sections.

[bignatslover]

I've seen graphics (usually featuring cross sections of icebergs) that suggest the visible 'net only comprises as little as 4% of what's online (with the rest being on the deep/dark web) I'm honestly not sure I believe that.

Agreed.  It would be as if someone told me that 1000 feet below the city I reside in, a fuller and much larger version of that city exists, filled with even more people than the above-ground city.  While theoretically possible, it would seem highly, highly improbable.

Not to argue semantics, but it seems a bit of a stretch to classify every single page not/yet indexed by search engines as part of the dark/deep web, no?

Cursory explanations I have seen like to define the Dark Web that way, so he is quoting something that has been put out there.  But it does seem to be a misleading description, as that would mean the client files on my company's intranet which can be accessed online by work-at-home staff are now suddenly part of *shudder* [cue dramatic music] The Dark Web.

There used to be a site that had every ROM image that Mame could emulate.  It was the only place that had them all.

I do love me some MAME ROMS.  So, has someone tried to index the sites of the Dark Web?  If there is no Google of the Dark Web, is there a version of The Internet Yellow Pages (a 1994 throwback)?