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De-Googleify Internet

degooglisons-internet.org

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Re: De-Googleify Internet

#91

Post by zeven7 »

glimajr wrote: post #56
kazagistar wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You certainly did have to learn to use google, you just don't remember it, or remember it selectively. I frequently come across people who ask questions which seem simple to google for, but when they try ask google, they do so incompetently and get bad answers or no answers, because they fundamentally don't get keywords, how other uses of words can override your intended meaning, or how to clarify by adding further p…

I feel like nowadays you can just Google "how do I change my oil" or "why do spiders make webs" and I pretty much always get something good. It seems to me as if you can just ask Google the way you would a normal person. I know that wasn't always the case, but I'm curious what specifically you feel like you need to learn about using Google today.

My wife does this. It drives me crazy; I'm thinking "That's not how you search! You should just type 'changing oil'." But she gets the results she's looking for anyway so she doesn't listen.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#92

Post by LoSboccacc »

progval wrote: post #59
LoSboccacc wrote: post #24

This is just a lame advertisement attempt, and it's not even decentralized, the advertiser controls all the published alternatives and links thereof I'll stick linking people to http://alternativeto.net - thank you very much

alternativeto is great if you are looking for a software. degooglisons-internet.org is a non-profit that aims at hosting software for people who do not have the skill to host it themselves.

which completely defies the points they're making against google. all the cloud business runs on trust, and giving all data to newcomers doesn't sound a good plan.

I can reliably find my emails from ten years ago in Google and there is no end in sight. this other service runs on donations and expects me to believe they'll have comparable lifetime?

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#93

Post by superkuh »

brilliantcode wrote: post #85

It's unlikely to happen as the vast majority of the public simply does not care . There is a deep technological disconnect. The only way to de-google-ify is to bring about mesh network that runs on our mobile devices or volunteer run nodes. Maybe you need to take the Skytrain to a remote part of the city to access specific information because there are no nodes there yet. The centralized infrastructure created betwee…

As more and more ISP implement data caps and prioritize only some traffic mesh nets and other p2p software will soon become infeasible for most users. Already with Comcast putting a 1 TB cap on my data (up+down) I'm feeling the pressure to shut down my Bitcoin full node and I've stopped contributing bandwidth to I2P.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#94

Post by darrmit »

nvk wrote: post #3

Just talking about search alternative; DuckDuckGo is my default search engine for over 2 years. It's incredibly good, the only caveat is you need to re-learn how to search. The same way you "changed yourself" initially for google.

I've been using DuckDuckGo for about the same time frame and have had a similar experience. At first it was painful, but at this point it's extremely rare that I can't find what I'm looking for in one search with DDG.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#95

Post by praneshp »

eikenberry wrote: post #47
eterm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except google didn't need learning, in fact that's part of what made it so much more powerful, they early on dropped support for AND and OR and other boolean keywords which other search engines required to get good results. In fact one of google's early "hidden" successful features was using implicit AND not implicit OR, which had been the de-facto on other search engines, so searching for "gold plates" on other sear…

Teaching a child to use Google will show you that there is indeed quite a learning curve. It is not intuitive how you evaluate your results and refine your search to get good results.

That's possibly just inexperience on the child's part

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#96

Post by divbit »

ssully wrote: post #69
myowncrapulence wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even read the post? This is about avoiding tracking. And yes, signing up for accounts can be grueling. Try making a google account without submitting a blood sample.

A blood sample? The only fields they ask for that might be too much for someone is a phone number and prior email, and neither is required to make an account. I take my privacy very seriously and understand a lot of the apprehension about Google's tracking, but I think you are being a little ridiculous.

You "can" sign up for gmail without a phone number (iirc it's fairly difficult, and you need to do something like use a fresh install of an android device or something to trigger the right sequence of dialogues). However if you try to use that account outside of the device, they will soon (within a couple of logins) ask you for a phone number for "security purposes," - the dialogue says something like "there is something suspicious about this login" at which point your account is linked to whatever other accounts have your phone number (unless you have an unlimited supply of burner phones). - Note that I am remembering this from when I tried specifically to create an unlinked gmail account around nov 2015-jan 2016 (I used a formatted nexus 7 to do it), so things may have changed, maybe details are slightly off from memory.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#97

Post by hackalaugh »

ryandrake wrote: post #77
StevePerkins wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wat? It's been years since I created my "real" Google account, so I just created "fakeasdlkvjasklfvjasdkljfgasdf@gmail.com" out of curiosity. It literally took 20 seconds, with a fake name and birthday. There are form fields for your phone number and alternate email address, but you can leave them blank.

bugmenot.com still works. Although an even better solution would be a browser plugin or add-on that, with one click, creates and logs in via a fake account populated with fake, throwaway info, changing every time you visit the site. Don't just avoid tracking, poison it. I'd help fund that kickstarter.

potentially related, Marlinspike's Google Sharing: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/googlesharing-a...

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#98

Post by KirinDave »

syphilis2 wrote: post #49
Ajedi32 wrote: post #27

> These services track us everywhere, while claiming to give us a better “user experience”. That's kind of the problem though; they usually _do_ offer a better user experience. If we want users to start using open source software rather than walled garden solutions from large companies, we're going to have to start building open source solutions which offer a comparable user experience to proprietary ones from large…

I believe this is true. But I also have found that sometimes the user experience is diminished when not "logged in" to encourage people to create accounts. Pinterest has a box that slowly covers up more of the screen as you scroll drown. Facebook has a login prompt box that stays at the bottom of the screen and occasionally expands as a reminder. Quora prevents internal redirects to new pages. With enough know-how th…

Right, but the simple truth is: people do it. They don't mind doing it.

Especially when the alternative is terrible user experience. The vast majority of tools named when these conversations come up are demonstrably worse from a UX perspective.

Free software does not get a pass on UX because it is free. There are many reasons why that is, but we have to recognize it is true.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#99

Post by KirinDave »

pierre_d528 wrote: post #81
Ajedi32 wrote: post #27

> These services track us everywhere, while claiming to give us a better “user experience”. That's kind of the problem though; they usually _do_ offer a better user experience. If we want users to start using open source software rather than walled garden solutions from large companies, we're going to have to start building open source solutions which offer a comparable user experience to proprietary ones from large…

Well, Alan Kay and a couple of friends built an entire system in 2.8MB in 1998[1]. It is 2016 and "large companies" are still overrated. People who think we cannot do better are ignorant and probably overrated. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUud1gcbS9k

I don't want to think or speculate. I want to see people do better and then we can congratulate people.

Not before.

Do better and people will recognize it. That's the best part of this industry.

Re: De-Googleify Internet

#100

Post by tikl1 »

LoSboccacc wrote: post #92
progval wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

alternativeto is great if you are looking for a software. degooglisons-internet.org is a non-profit that aims at hosting software for people who do not have the skill to host it themselves.

which completely defies the points they're making against google. all the cloud business runs on trust, and giving all data to newcomers doesn't sound a good plan. I can reliably find my emails from ten years ago in Google and there is no end in sight. this other service runs on donations and expects me to believe they'll have comparable lifetime?

Not sure about them in particular but usually those initiatives also glorify open standards and the fact that even if the company disapear in 10 years, they will allow you to walk away with all your data in standard formats allowing you to continue your journey with another provider that uses this standard. Which is not obvious with some major companies using their own data models. (although I've heard of some bankrupting companies that made efforts to let users backup their datas before the end).
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