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OnHub

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Re: OnHub

#591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, come on. Just connect your Google router to your Google fiber connection and connect to it with your smartphone or laptop running a Google operating system and Google browser. Visit your Google home page (using Google's DNS servers, of course) to read your Google Mail, or perhaps catch up on the news with Google News, or use Google+ to see what your friends are up to, or get a little work done on Google Docs. Sho…

Spot on. I don't get it. It's become so obvious and people still seem to categorically refuse to admit the elephant in the room and to act upon it. It's as if everybody was in some kind of unbreakable state of permanent cognitive paralysis.

How do you propose the common person act upon it?

Don't get a Google Router. Okay.

Don't use Google Fiber. Well, shucks - there's not a lot of 1,000 megabit ISPs in my area.

Don't use a Chromebook. Okay. What virus scanner should I install, then? And where should I store my data for backup? And didn't we hear that Microsoft tried to have Windows 10 phone home every damn keystroke or something?

Google browser. Fair enough, Firefox is decent.

Google DNS. Fair enough, unless I have Google Fiber. Then it's kinda weird to not pair them.

Google Mail. Something that looks like GMail has all of the problems of Google Mail. Is Microsoft really a better solution in your mind?

Google News. Come now, the problem of monopoly in news existed long before Google News did. I'd rather people also use Google News than JUST CNN, MSNBC, or shudder, the other one.

Google+. Right, because Facebook is so much better at respecting users.

Google Docs. Again, is Microsoft really better? Or Microsoft + Dropbox?

Google Search. What, I should use Bing?

AdSense and Analytics. Not really my choice, is it?

I genuinely ask this question. What do you think the common person could or should do, that would be better for them?

What, the Apple computer, Apple router, Apple browser, Apple Mail, and Siri?

Re: OnHub

#592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I highly doubt they added a Google account requirement to improve ad targeting." I find that a highly optimistic statement given advertising is pretty much Google's only significantly profitable product and is supporting the entire conglomerate.

It doesn't seem very plausible that Google made OnHub just to sell lots of them at the $200 price point. I think the official stance on this will be that they want to make the internet work better and be easier to setup. I do think that's plausible. Plus, unless Google can snoop into HTTPS connections, how would this help them with ad targeting? (since HTTP will be phased out within the next few years)

Haven't the NSA revelations of the past few years driven home the fact that metadata is extraordinarily valuable and informative?

Re: OnHub

#593

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I highly doubt they added a Google account requirement to improve ad targeting." I find that a highly optimistic statement given advertising is pretty much Google's only significantly profitable product and is supporting the entire conglomerate.

It doesn't seem very plausible that Google made OnHub just to sell lots of them at the $200 price point. I think the official stance on this will be that they want to make the internet work better and be easier to setup. I do think that's plausible. Plus, unless Google can snoop into HTTPS connections, how would this help them with ad targeting? (since HTTP will be phased out within the next few years)

> unless Google can snoop into HTTPS connections, how would this help them with ad targeting

Hostname from TLS SNI is also useful for AD targeting.

Re: OnHub

#594
post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. I don't get it. It's become so obvious and people still seem to categorically refuse to admit the elephant in the room and to act upon it. It's as if everybody was in some kind of unbreakable state of permanent cognitive paralysis.

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Here's the most technical crowd on the planet and people are obsessed with Gmail as if it was impossible to get email to work by any other means. Furthermore, I will never understand why people would use Gmail, if there's IMAP and hundreds of email clients to choose from. Same is true for Google Reader, that apparently caused a lot of buzz when it went away. Never understood…

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot.

Ditching GMail changes nothing about your privacy situation.

An E-Mail is a postcard. Sending a postcard via DHL instead of USPS doesn't make it any more confidential, even if you happen to be the owner of DHL.

Re: OnHub

#595

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd trust the Google device more simply because Google is better at software. With hardware companies like Asus you get routers full of terrible, insecure software. http://www.securityweek.com/asus-routers-plagued-command-exe... Although I'm sure you're using DD-WRT or something...

Even software from Google sometimes has security holes: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/08/google-pushes-update... Here's more... granted, these aren't all vulnerabilities that Google is responsible for, but many are: http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-1224/...

But Google will fix the security flaws automatically. You have to compare this device to the typical home router, which is NEVER updated. And even if you do run an Open Source firmware, you have to make sure it's kept up to date.

Re: OnHub

#596
post #539
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time a company has tried to do open wifi sharing there's been a lot of kickback. Mostly because it's opt out instead of opt in but that's put a big damper on anyone doing similar things.

What I really want to see is an 'opt-in' service that allows you to use other peoples' networks if you opt-in to sharing your's. It should be extremely easy to opt-in, and a message should be displayed asking you to opt-in when you try to sign in to someone else's network. Also, the guest network traffic needs to be sent over a vpn, so you are not responsible for it / don't have to deal with people torrenting, etc on…

That's the problem they need to solve, opt-in and making it easy and visible enough to get enough people to enable it to make it actually useful.

A VPN or similar system to make sure you're not getting accused of things their free wifi is being used for too is a good idea. Not sure if anyone has done that yet in the various implementations.

Re: OnHub

#597
post #594
post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Here's the most technical crowd on the planet and people are obsessed with Gmail as if it was impossible to get email to work by any other means. Furthermore, I will never understand why people would use Gmail, if there's IMAP and hundreds of email clients to choose from. Same is true for Google Reader, that apparently caused a lot of buzz when it went away. Never understood…

And still, the HN crowd uses Gmail a lot. Ditching GMail changes nothing about your privacy situation. An E-Mail is a postcard. Sending a postcard via DHL instead of USPS doesn't make it any more confidential, even if you happen to be the owner of DHL.

You're not wrong, but you're not right either.

Disregarding the (slow) advancements of E-Mail encryption (DANE), and the fact that's desireable that no one company has your data. The big point is that it's fair to assume that everybody has access to your mails while in transit, but using gmail Google has access to all your mails at rest.

Re: OnHub

#598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given I suggested a free solution it doesn't really require much trust. But hey, go keep trusting the people who already screwed you.

You're going off the deep end now.

I'm uncertain how a factual statement is going off the deep end but okay.

1) You want to fix a shitty TP-Link product with another TP-Link product.

2) How is that not that?

Re: OnHub

#599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd trust the Google device more simply because Google is better at software. With hardware companies like Asus you get routers full of terrible, insecure software. http://www.securityweek.com/asus-routers-plagued-command-exe... Although I'm sure you're using DD-WRT or something...

Even software from Google sometimes has security holes: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/08/google-pushes-update... Here's more... granted, these aren't all vulnerabilities that Google is responsible for, but many are: http://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-1224/...

Please don't bundle Android and the rest of Google software. They are two different teams with two different philosophies, and one team doesn't like to have it's reputation hit by the other teams faults.

Remember Android wasn't originally designed by Google, and many of it's security design decisions and culture were inherited.

Re: OnHub

#600

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. I don't get it. It's become so obvious and people still seem to categorically refuse to admit the elephant in the room and to act upon it. It's as if everybody was in some kind of unbreakable state of permanent cognitive paralysis.

How do you propose the common person act upon it? Don't get a Google Router. Okay. Don't use Google Fiber. Well, shucks - there's not a lot of 1,000 megabit ISPs in my area. Don't use a Chromebook. Okay. What virus scanner should I install, then? And where should I store my data for backup? And didn't we hear that Microsoft tried to have Windows 10 phone home every damn keystroke or something? Google browser. Fair en…

Firefox may be a decent browser, but unfortunatly Mozilla has given in when it comes to adopting data kraken integration and has embedded software that can make Firefox en par with Chrome et al in the future.

No more good guys, I am afraid. Mozilla profited greatly from being spread by hackers initially, but now they no longer qualify for being supported.

No source here, I am on a crappy notebook, on the move.

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