If you are an Android user, in this situation you also lose access to all the apps that you bought from Google Play. Many developers only release their software through Google's app store, and for paid apps you cannot make backup copies of the APK, at least if your device isn't rooted, which it isn't for most users. If you are an Android dev, please also make your app available through other stores.
Dumped by Google
101–110 of 201 posts
Re: Dumped by Google
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a need to decentralize email, social networking, cloud storage etc. FreedomBox is a step in the right direction. So is Diaspora Project.
There is already an effort underway to decentralize email. It's called SMTP and works really well. I think they started it sometime in the 80s?
One of the problems that's recentralized mail is spam.
Because of spam senders, especially spam originating from residential and dial-up IPs (well, mostly residential now), many large email providers use blacklists (literally: DUL -- dial-up lists) to block SMTP access from IPs within a known residential range. Many also work to whitelist specific lists of known legitimate email providers.
May enterprise IT organizations require explicit whitelisting of domains from which email is sent. I kid you not. And many of these organizations apparently have never heard of SPF/DKIM.
A third level of resource are reputation-based services. Cisco's Ironport / Senderbase is among one of the better of these (it indicates both good and bad reputations, as opposed to simple blacklisting or whitelisting, as well as volume variations from a given IP and "neighborhood" reputations of nearby IP addresses.
The result is that it can be painful to try getting your mail delivered through to large email service providers. I've had the most significant issues with Yahoo and Aol, though others are at times problematic. This affects both individuals trying to configure small residential servers and businesses / enterprises.
Ideally tools such as SPF and DKIM help, but at best these indicate that a given IP address is included in a policy framework or that header integrity is assured -- there's still no basis for assuming that a given email message is or isn't spam. Getting SPF and DKIM properly configured can also involve hoop-jumping, especially for non-technical users.
Re: Dumped by Google
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is already an effort underway to decentralize email. It's called SMTP and works really well. I think they started it sometime in the 80s?
But it was again re-centralized in late 90s with the advent of hotmail and all. What I wanted to say was, we need to re-decentralize it.
No, it wasn't. Extra layers were added to it for people that didn't value being a peer, and didn't mind being a client.
You should be a peer.
Re: Dumped by Google
#104The most interesting part was the reason he believes the account was suspended. He was working on a spreadsheet containing usernames and passwords. If that's really the case, it means some automated system scans not only your email, but documents you work on, for things like password lists, and right away assumes you're up to no good, killing your account. Scary.
Sounds like a really wild accusation to me. Is their anything to back this up besides their speculation?
That's a good point, but then there is the question of trust. 2 years ago, I would not have believed it. Now, I am not sure. Google has done many things I consider fishy and unethical so I am more likely to believe allegations against them.
But the reality is that people need to start diversifying or risk:
"A few minutes into my Google-less existence, I realized how dependent I had become. I couldn’t finish my work or my taxes, because my notes and expenses were stored in Google Drive, and I didn’t know what else I should work on because my Google calendar had disappeared. I couldn’t publicly gripe about what I was going through, because my Blogger no longer existed. My Picasa albums were gone. I’d lost my contacts and calling plan through Google Voice; otherwise I would have called friends to cry."
Re: Dumped by Google
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alright but then how do you safely store your important data? Imagine if the same thing happened with Dropbox (if you're using it).
Back it up on hardware you own. You can buy multiple terabytes at low cost, you can use duplicity/Deja Dup if you want secure remote backups (on a server of your choosing), etc. You can send people files without having to rely on any specific service provider -- there is email, there is rsync, etc. It is cheap and easy to set up a file server and dynamic DNS, assuming you have a broadband connection (surprisingly man…
I think there is a much bigger issue here than the theoretical storage solutions. Everything you said is indeed entirely possible for most HN-readers and tech people but I sure can't talk my mother into switching to dynamic DNS and rsync.
The only reason there was a happy ending to this story was that this guy was connected enough to know how to contact someone at Google, what about the other 300million users who barely know what OS they are running? There needs to be some kind of restructuring to protect the public, whether its simple awareness or legislation.
Re: Dumped by Google
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alright but then how do you safely store your important data? Imagine if the same thing happened with Dropbox (if you're using it).
I keep my data safe by storing it on hardware I control and never depending on cloud-service providers.
Any serious amount of data storage requires a hard drive (as opposed to flash), and hard drives are quite fragile. If you drop one on a hard floor it's probably done. And with time they fail for all kinds of other reasons. They are mechanical devices.
Re: Dumped by Google
#107People have been warned about relying on web services already: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-s...
Alright but then how do you safely store your important data? Imagine if the same thing happened with Dropbox (if you're using it).
How do you safely store your data if you don't have access to dropbox ? As in, dropbox, that company that didn't exist until q3 2008 ?
There is a "must be this tall to ride" limit on the Internet, and that is your own IP and the ability to act as a peer on the network.
If you don't meet those requirements, you are just a consumer. You're eyeballs that someone else is renting out. You're a digital serf.
Re: Dumped by Google
#108It seems strange that Google wouldn't have a policy of issuing warnings, escalating warnings, etc., before taking the drastic action of suspending an account. Without knowing the exact reason this person's account was suspended, for all we know it could be a complete glitch.
When you're God you can just send a flood and say "well I hope that person built a boat".
(i.e that the person should have a copy of their data).
Re: Dumped by Google
#109Same as every other “cloud provider”, yet somehow Google is the one subjected to these overwritten accounts and the almost mandatory pseudo law/policy musings that follow. You might want to take a look at some policies from others in the industry to get a more accurate picture of this landscape. These policies are constructed as such to mitigate litigation, which the author concedes. Regardless I'm glad this instance…
Microsoft gets a lot of beating for changes to Windows, simply because of widespread use; an OS with 0.5% market share will not be messing with so many people. By being banned by Google you lose your email, youtube, adsense, adwords, docs...your financial life could be destroyed, even if the 'violation' is for an unrelated offense (example: posting copyrighted material on Youtube and getting adsense disabled)
Re: Dumped by Google
#110What are the best alternatives to Gmail?
Self provide your own email on your own email server.
I think there's a case to be made for self-providing your own dial tone as well, given how simple and cheap that has become, but I can't push that as I haven't even done it myself...