281–290 of 308 posts
I just can't see running the Facebook app. Facebook on the desktop, sure, but why on a phone? Other than checking in once a day or so to see what my friends are doing, Facebook has nothing I want. I don't use Gmail. I have a Google account, but it's only used for updating browser add-ons. Last login was over a year ago. Mail comes from a IMAP server. Android's standard mail client does IMAP just fine. All my desktops…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, some ISPs have in their contracts a free custom mail and webserver for every customer (for example, mine does). This obviously diversifies the options quite a bit.
Having my email or webserver tied to my ISP seems terrible. What happens if I want to switch?
But you can just move it to any other hoster.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the moment the left is more of a threat, but this shouldn't really be a left-right comparison. A better way of framing it is authoritarian-libertarian. Some authority is useful, but too much is highly corrupting. Currently a section of the left is rather authoritarian and dogmatic. In the past the same has been true of the right.
>At the moment the left is more of a threat Nazis are literally holding rallies in downtown Charlottesville with torches and yelling kill jews. One just ran over people counter-demonstrating in the streets. But yea it's the left who are a threat. We have a president who refuses to condemn white nationalism. He has repeatedly issued calls to violence and wants to rough up journalists. But yes, it is the left who are e…
You're observing a response to authoritarianism on the left. We can expect increased conflict between ideologues on both sides of the political spectrum.
Personally, I think Google is just as terrifying, possibly more. As an example, just take a fairly normal life situation like going out for dinner with some friends, and think about how much of it goes "through" Google: --- One of your friends sends an email to 6 others, to ask if everyone's free for dinner on Friday. 5 of the 7 people involved use gmail or a google apps address. You've never heard of the restaurant…
What exactly is scary in that scenario? So Google knows that you went somewhere and who your friends are. I don't see a problem. The actually bad thing would be something like - you watch alt-right YouTube videos, and Google doesn't hire you because of that if you apply for a job. But even that isn't remotely close to the totalitarian government level of oppression, where you get executed for disagreeing with the par…
The actually bad thing is everybody acts like a) they are, and b) they can't and won't ever change.
Chances are, you are not important, and nobody is looking out to make sure they don't crush you.
In this scenario, you are the bug on the interstate which hits a car windshield. "Oh but the humans aren't out to get you, look at this big open space they made for us, what's so bad if the car knows where you are?".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been trying to use DDG for the last 6 months. Ultimately I'd say 40% of my queries I now just force google with '!g' instead. I was quite bullish on it 6 months ago, but must admit that after 6 months, anything complex I !g straightaway.
This is taking "but it's so convenient to give up my privacy!" to a new level. Now it's "but if I don't give up my privacy can't micro-optimize my life!"? For framework configuration questions just search Stack(Overflow|Exchange) directly. For local results append the name of your city.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about using google in an incognito tab?
When you open the incognito tab it is clearly stated that incognito only stops information from being saved locally.
If you open an incognito window for all your searches, do not signin and close it right after, search engine will not associate your searches with you.
This is not enough to protect you from an evil company or government, but will affect which ads are presented to you, your search results, and should prevent your name from being associated with those searches should that search company date be compromised.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> However, if you're able to leave or cut your usage, they extend no influence whatsoever. My friends often upload pictures of me, tagged with GPS coordinates and user; And even though most have stopped tagging me (as I have asked), Facebook often does offer them to tag me, which means that Facebook has enough pictures of me to identify me in random pictures (even though I never uploaded a single one myself). Google…
When you upload photos to Facebook as part of an album, my experience is it doesn't even ask: it just goes ahead and tags people it recognizes, and it even sends them a push notification that you did that even before you click "save" on the album (it even attempts to live synchronize the text you are typing as the album description, which is insane).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can go a long way to blocking a lot of these by using some alternatives: * Using DuckDuckGo ( https://duckduckgo.com/ ). It is really decent and has good desktop and mobile integration. * Using a browser like Brave ( https://www.brave.com/ ) that blocks trackers etc. Android app is superb. * Using a Maps replacement like OSM ( https://www.openstreetmap.org ) on desktop and OsmAnd on mobile ( https://play.google.c…
I've been trying to use DDG for the last 6 months. Ultimately I'd say 40% of my queries I now just force google with '!g' instead. I was quite bullish on it 6 months ago, but must admit that after 6 months, anything complex I !g straightaway.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The conclusion I've come to regarding Google is that you just have to accept it for now. The services that they provide are so above and beyond anything from any other provider that to not use them puts you at a great disadvantage. Google search is an order of magnitude above the competition. There is no serious alternative to Google maps. The level of integration that Google Calendar has with practically everything…
> There is no serious alternative to Google maps. On an extended road trip last month I used both Google maps and Apple maps and found them roughly equivalent.