I started using my own domain names 20 years or so ago.
I let gandi.net host my mail and from what I know they haven’t been involved in any privacy related scandals.
I use rsync.net for my backups.
I avoid the American internet conglomerates software and services like the plague.
Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
151–160 of 400 posts
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now you know why there are still some people that still take "web3" seriously. It's the only system where you are not at the mercy of some external entity to be always benevolent. Seriously, ENS and Handshake alone should be enough of a reason to silence all of those who keep repeating "but blockchain has no real world applications".
Well you are still at the mercy of whoever's maintaining the network, aka some random-ass people all over the world. Aside from the few main ones, crypto networks are infamously ever changing and you're more likely to register a domain on something that won't even exist in 2 years because it collapsed completely. Maybe Eth is to big to fail now, but maybe it isn't.
anti-fragility, permission to fail, rapid iteration
basically risk isn't controversial, and it rapidly iterates to more and more resilient systems
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nah, just to prove that you can't.
You don't have to drive a car in the suburbs. It just will suck greatly.
Some people are into self flagellation. That’s fine. It’s when they think they’re better than you because of it that it becomes insufferable.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anybody can read my email, it's cleartext after all. ISP, registar, etc. I pay for my email as part of my yearly domain fee: 2 domains (personal and self employed work), 2 registars. I download them over POP3, store them locally in Thunderbird, backup them locally (encrypted disk) and remotely (duplicity, can't even remember, too early in the morning.) This protects me against some attacks, not against everything. Th…
How your registrar can read your email?
They are the ones that also run the SMTP and POP3 / IMAP servers for my domains. Selling a few GB mailbox together with a domain is pretty common.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well this leads to my next question. Community led infrastructure. Why is it not a thing? I think that's social housing in the real world. Why does it not exist for digital services? I know we open source things but nothing is run by a community. A potential outcome is to run email as a community.
How would that contractually work in practice? Can you give an example of what you mean?
I mean it's like any real world thing, potentially non profit. A group of people elected to run public services for everyone else which people pay a fair amount to use. Something that's constantly reviewed, where new members can join and others can move on.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
Given the way Google locks out accounts with no support or appeal I can't think of a worse registrar to use. I use my ISP's email address with my registrar, if they want to keep getting paid each month its in their interests to keep that email address working.
At this point some government entity should provide a way to have an inalienable electronic address. There are strong protections for regular mail, that ensure that mail gets delivered. Cell carriers are required to port numbers. Since email addresses are tied to domain, there should be some usps-like service that allows to have an address, that can be related to a provider of your choosing. And this address is tied…
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Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it known that domain registrars are better than GMail in this regard? Not asking sarcastically, but I had my domain taken over by registrar(not released to public, just registrar took control of it) after few week of notice when auto renew failed to charge my credit card, and my credit card was working fine elsewhere. Also many registrar like Namecheap cancelled subscription for Russian customers during this invas…
Now you know why there are still some people that still take "web3" seriously. It's the only system where you are not at the mercy of some external entity to be always benevolent. Seriously, ENS and Handshake alone should be enough of a reason to silence all of those who keep repeating "but blockchain has no real world applications".
> It's the only system where you are not at the mercy of some external entity to be always benevolent.
Until the owners of the network run away after extracting all the value they can, or they decide to fork it because it’s in their best interest, or they end it because it’s not as profitable as they wanted, or your exchange decides to halt trading so they don’t lose money, or, or, or.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#158Unpopular on HN, but I just don't see a problem with Google having my email, for what they provide me. Almost unlimited uptime, global redundancy, best search experience, storage all for free. I'm ok with the trade off for now.
Its just not worth the hassle.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well you are still at the mercy of whoever's maintaining the network, aka some random-ass people all over the world. Aside from the few main ones, crypto networks are infamously ever changing and you're more likely to register a domain on something that won't even exist in 2 years because it collapsed completely. Maybe Eth is to big to fail now, but maybe it isn't.
anti-fragility, permission to fail, rapid iteration basically risk isn't controversial, and it rapidly iterates to more and more resilient systems
Well it certainly needs another decade or two of iterations before it can replace what we have now, I imagine.
Re: Google has most of my email because it has all of yours (2014)
#160Unpopular on HN, but I just don't see a problem with Google having my email, for what they provide me. Almost unlimited uptime, global redundancy, best search experience, storage all for free. I'm ok with the trade off for now. Its just not worth the hassle.
Here's a hypothetical (although as of right now admittedly VERY unlikely scenario):
It's 2035. Google has continued a worldwide decline with the invention of several highly accurate AI drive search systems deeply integrated into technology. Their video streaming service, which started declinging in the mis 2020s has just closed down following years of losses.
To try and regain its financial footing Alphabet has decided to slimline its offerings, closing several loss making services, including Gmail.
Most users of Gmail have been using it for close to decates, and are only given a couple of months notice that they'll lose their email addresses that they've relied on for thousands of online services, banks, businesses, etc. With no secondary account recovery process, billions of online accounts will become inaccessible for millions of users across the world.
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Sensationalist? Absolutely - but you get the picture. Relying on a free 3rd party email address vs paying ~$10/year for at very least your own domain with free forwarding to a basic free gmail account is worth it.