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Don’t Mess with The Google

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241–250 of 504 posts

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#241
Most people are missing the important piece here: The terms of service is preventing you of doing whatever you want with a physical product you bought.

The F!. You bought the phone with full retail price. You didn't break any laws (as far as I understand it). Why does Google has a say on what you can do with "your" phone.

2018: You can't sell your phone (as a used phone).

2020: Google Drone picks up user phone from his apartment as he is banned from Google.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#242
post #170

First post, might as well be a cautionary tale. My father, a pretty old programmer by anyone's standards, regularly warns me of this sort of thing. He was pretty much shafted by CompuServe many years ago on a miniscule scale compared to what is possible now. He lives his life in what I previously described as a paranoid bubble of data control. Until I inevitably burned myself with Google. I have no idea what happened…

> Now using a cheap Nokia 106, POP3 box with gandi.net

+1 for gandi.net - they are great.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#243
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll repeat what I said in my prior comment on this thread: We need a massive class action lawsuit against these companies ASAP. Google should not be allowed to cut someone off from all products without, at the very least, a reasonable period of time during which data is available in useful export formats, email still functions 100% so one can transition important accounts that use it, etc. Consumers are getting hurt…

While I don't disagree, and I'm not sure if this applies specifically to Google in this case, but as a general trend oftentimes users sign their class action rights away in the EULA by way of an arbitration clause.[0] This, in and of itself, is also IMO a huge abuse of power. But it's perfectly legal and only serves to further entrench the power of the monopolists. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitration_clause

This clause will be null and void in most EU jurisdictions. So maybe from this side of the pond?

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#244
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equating "life more difficult" with "destroying apartments" is silly.

Equating "copy of my data" with "my housing situation" is even more silly. Google isn't TAKING anything from you by locking the account, they are simply destroying what should be one of many COPIES of your data.

Sorry, but you misread that, the housing situation comes into play by way of gmail also being a mailing receipt address and key for many locks.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#245
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also stalk you on... I mean, we read the same tech news sites you do. (I'm on third line ticket duty right now, so if you have something significantly more complex than RTFM, or an actual bug, you'll probably be talking to me this week) The most common cause of getting locked out other than you abusing your fastmail account is having your credentials stolen and used for spam/fraud, which is why we recommend 2 fact…

Awesome - I moved across to fastmail a couple of days ago. I've been using a custom domain for email for awhile (josephg.com), merged with a gmail account. I'm very happy I set that up because moving to fastmail was a cinch - there's no forwarding to do, just a few DNS records to reconfigure. And with a custom domain I'll have that email address for life, no matter what happens to fastmail. My gmail account (josephg@…

> My gmail account (josephg@) gets a tremendous amount of email for other people.

Same with my josephb@. It's amazing how many companies start sending personal identifiable information to a random email address without validating it.

Doctors, real estate, universities, banks and the list goes on.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#246
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait until they get into the thought police business for some real interesting situations. All jokes aside, for those who remember, it's pretty amazing what Microsoft got punished for ( bundling a browser with the OS, with no other restrictions) compared to what Apple and Google get away with.

Bundling a browser with the OS that had 98% of all user share at the time. neither Apple not Google come anywhere close to that market domination with their iOS or Android systems. Also the case was much more broad that just the browser it was for software that runs on the OS. Antitrust is not just about what a company does but mainly about what other alternatives are out there. In Microsoft's case there were no othe…

I accept Microsoft followed many predatory and anti-competitive practices. They were a nightmare and deserved a good anti-trust kicking.

But hammering them for bundling a browser was just plain stupid. If they didn't bundle a browser, how would people download a competing browser? You'd have had to get hold of a browser on CD somewhere and install it manually just to use the internet. How would that have been an improvement for consumers? It was a misconceived, user-hostile decision.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#247
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also stalk you on... I mean, we read the same tech news sites you do. (I'm on third line ticket duty right now, so if you have something significantly more complex than RTFM, or an actual bug, you'll probably be talking to me this week) The most common cause of getting locked out other than you abusing your fastmail account is having your credentials stolen and used for spam/fraud, which is why we recommend 2 fact…

Will Fastmail have CDN? I'm currently in Vietnam and latency to Fastmail isn't good (250ms RTT), as I connect to server that's located in US. While my home's internet service might be worse, so I hope Fastmail servers are closer.

Based in AU I'm further away than that by latency. As a fastmail web interface or mobile app user I don't notice the latency.

CDN for unique items like mail probably doesn't offer tons of gain for the additional complexity.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#248
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also stalk you on... I mean, we read the same tech news sites you do. (I'm on third line ticket duty right now, so if you have something significantly more complex than RTFM, or an actual bug, you'll probably be talking to me this week) The most common cause of getting locked out other than you abusing your fastmail account is having your credentials stolen and used for spam/fraud, which is why we recommend 2 fact…

Previously I've been hesitant to disuse Gmail, but now I'm 100% confident to actually transition to Fastmail. And I'll take Fastmail in consideration for my company usage too (we're a smb).

You should, it's awesome :)

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#249

Rule Zero: Never rely on a URL that you don't control. Use your own domain name for your e-mail addresses. Use your own domain name for canonical links to content. If you control the URLs, you do not depend on any one provider. Rule One: If you only have one copy, you have no copies. It is an act of faith to assume that a Youtube video or a file in Google Drive will remain available, just as it's an act of faith to a…

And do you ever control an URL? No, you don't. So the only way to satisfy Rule Zero is by never engaging in any URL-related activity.

Re: Don’t Mess with The Google

#250
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also stalk you on... I mean, we read the same tech news sites you do. (I'm on third line ticket duty right now, so if you have something significantly more complex than RTFM, or an actual bug, you'll probably be talking to me this week) The most common cause of getting locked out other than you abusing your fastmail account is having your credentials stolen and used for spam/fraud, which is why we recommend 2 fact…

Awesome - I moved across to fastmail a couple of days ago. I've been using a custom domain for email for awhile (josephg.com), merged with a gmail account. I'm very happy I set that up because moving to fastmail was a cinch - there's no forwarding to do, just a few DNS records to reconfigure. And with a custom domain I'll have that email address for life, no matter what happens to fastmail. My gmail account (josephg@…

The only thing that has put me off Fastmail very recently, and indeed I moved to another provider (Runbox), is the loss of their Family plans.

Requiring three accounts now for instance would cost $150 a year minimum for the size I would have needed and unfortunately because I needed to rearrange my old grandfathered plan to re-organise accounts I'd have lost my previous plan.

Basically, Fastmail is good (very good), and you can still do admin type stuff by creating your master account first and creating your 'users' under it, but do look around if you are price conscious.

NOTE - I know you can't please everyone and that doesn't detract from the fact Fastmail was extremely stable, fast and had excellent customer support so don't take this as a 'Fastmail is bad' type post, because it isn't. Just look around and make sure you're getting the rid price/value for your needs.

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