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What I use instead of Google services

gabrielweinberg.com

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Re: What I use instead of Google services

#161

Post by larrys »

eropple wrote: post #20
larrys wrote: post #6

While it's not trivial it's not that hard to spin up a mail server on a VPS (which can run smtp, imap and/or webmail). For that matter you can run it off a static internet connection or even a dynamic IP from your home or office PC. (Running linux or Mac OSX never done it with windows although I'm sure you can).

You can then get shotgunned by spam filters, too. =( Running your own mail is not for the timid.

"You can then get shotgunned by spam filters, too"

Have you had that problem and weren't able to get by it? I've had IP changes over the years and while it's taken a small bit of work to get the new IP accepted (in some places most places don't seem to care) I'd say it's hardly a show stopper. Of course all the email deliverability people selling products and services in that market want to make you believe you'd be a fool to roll your own.

Of course if you get a VPS with some IP address that someone used to spam sure you have a problem. The idea is to do your homework and not have any of the obvious problems. (You can run the IP by the blackholes to see most issues.)

Also (not a comment directed at you by the way) I love the way a forum such as HN where people spend all sorts of time doing things just for fun seems to have a problem with the "work" involved in doing something that actually has value or might take a bit of work in order to solve a problem that they have.

The downvotes seem to indicate a reaction such as "wow what a stupid idea why would you run your own mail server hey you can just use fastmail that's what we all use".

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#162

Post by fidotron »

ismavis wrote: post #157
fidotron wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Google+, by default, likes to grab all pictures taken with the device camera (and most stupidly will then say they're ready to be shared - because every photo is for sharing . . . ) The worst is Google Play Services though. It's basically a way for Google to get your location data, and to generate massive global maps of WiFi networks, rather like what got them in trouble with the streetmap cars. Anyone doubting…

>Yes. Google+, by default, likes to grab all pictures taken with the device camera Google+ photos auto-upload is opt-in.

You mean the box is ticked in a terms and conditions screen when you first turn the device on and that counts as opting in. It's on by default. Most people don't realise what it's doing until either the uploader drinks all their battery (which mercifully they seem to have fixed) or they have loads of photos pop up when they sign in to Gmail on a desktop.

The sign in process for Android devices has become ever more convoluted and incomprehensible. People, understandably, complain about the Facebook app, but Google are actually far worse.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#163

Post by mentaat »

you can use most google services without google "tracking" you - search, chrome, gmail, youtube, gmaps etc.

and for years i did just that but what makes google insanely useful is that the more it knows about you the better its services become for you.

iow, as the amount of data you give google increases the useful the services become. but google is still incredible useful even if you don't give it any data.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#164

Post by dharma1 »

atonse wrote: post #108
eertami wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was satire because >I don't like to be tracked. >Phone OS: iOS, etc But now I think it is serious, if not highly deluded.

It's actually quite simple: follow the money. Apple makes little to no money by invading your privacy. They've already made money once you bought their hardware. Which is why they will be a much better champion of your privacy. However, companies like Google and Facebook make almost 100% of their revenue by knowing every detail they possibly can about your life. That's why they try to commoditize hardware and place a…

Facebook doesn't commoditise hardware - but otherwise you're right. However, for hundreds of millions of people buying their first smartphones iProducts isn't even a viable option, while a sub $100 Android phone is. And those devices will be their gateway to the internet. So maybe something good will come out of it too

And I guess you can opt out of the Google tracking ecosystem even on "Android" hardware

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#165

Post by x0x0 »

imgabe wrote: post #88
Valseuss wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even have to have been there at all. Once an entity holds all your personal information like that, they can just say "Oh you were here, here, here and here at these times" even if it was not true. Who would doubt them? After all they have all the information right? RIGHT? Perfect way to set up someone you don't like.

If the government has devolved to the point that we have to worry about them framing people unjustly, we have FAR, FAR bigger problems than a database of location information. Hiding the information in that scenario is, at best, a temporary band aid. The appropriate fix is limiting the power of the government and requiring strict and transparent conditions on when and why someone can be arrested.

The government has so devolved -- they're using (most likely illegal) nsa spy tools and stolen data to arrest drug dealers, then lying to everyone involved about how they "stumbled" across the information, or so-called "parallel construction" [1]. While all the tools whine about slippery slope fallacies, the fact of the matter is we're already sliding down.

   The undated documents show that federal agents are trained to "recreate" the 
   investigative trail to effectively cover up where the information 
   originated, a practice that some experts say violates a defendant's 
   Constitutional right to a fair trial. If defendants don't know how an 
   investigation began, they cannot know to ask to review potential sources of 
   exculpatory evidence - information that could reveal entrapment, mistakes or 
   biased witnesses. [2]

   Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents 
   reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to 
   conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers 
   but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges. [3]
[1] http://my.firedoglake.com/wendydavis/2014/02/10/dea-parallel...

[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/05/dea-surveillance-co...

[3] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE...

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#166

Post by mathrawka »

imgabe wrote: post #88
Valseuss wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even have to have been there at all. Once an entity holds all your personal information like that, they can just say "Oh you were here, here, here and here at these times" even if it was not true. Who would doubt them? After all they have all the information right? RIGHT? Perfect way to set up someone you don't like.

If the government has devolved to the point that we have to worry about them framing people unjustly, we have FAR, FAR bigger problems than a database of location information. Hiding the information in that scenario is, at best, a temporary band aid. The appropriate fix is limiting the power of the government and requiring strict and transparent conditions on when and why someone can be arrested.

One thing that people do is just say "the government" like it is a single entity. It is not one entity. It is made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals.

You know that guy that used to scare your wife/daughter with his stalking? Well he just happens to have a government job and may be in a position to abuse the knowledge that he has access to for personal gains.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#167

Post by imgabe »

billiam wrote: post #146
imgabe wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the government has devolved to the point that we have to worry about them framing people unjustly, we have FAR, FAR bigger problems than a database of location information. Hiding the information in that scenario is, at best, a temporary band aid. The appropriate fix is limiting the power of the government and requiring strict and transparent conditions on when and why someone can be arrested.

I'm sorry, I just don't follow this slippery slope argument. We have lots of examples of the government abusing their use of online information. For the haves, we have the still-minor indignities of the no-fly list and targeting certain political stripes for IRS audits. For the have-nots, it is terrorism fusion data centers, predatory civil forfeiture and, jeez, a lot of the criminal justice system. So that world doe…

The things you've mentioned are all generally Bad Things and things that we should be fighting to stop. Fighting to obscure your location information and even protect your privacy in general doesn't stop any of the things you mentioned if you believe the government is acting in bad faith.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#169

Post by imgabe »

mirkules wrote: post #145
imgabe wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, my line of thinking is more like "If X happens, we're fucked regardless of whether we have privacy or not, so we need to focus on not letting X happen" If an insane genocidal dictatorship comes to power, you will be impacted, unless you're on the side of the dictators.

I'll bet you top dollar that's not what Jennifer Lawrence is thinking right now. She's not thinking "It was inevitable that someone will get my photos from iCloud". Instead, she's thinking "I should have never put my photos on iCloud in the first place". Hence the point of this thread: don't expose more information than you need to. Edit: just as I typed this, the top story details the perils of data theft, exactly t…

This is probably going to be unpopular, but how exactly has Jennifer Lawrence come to harm from the leaked photos? So people will see the photos and...what? Fantasize about her while masturbating? I'm pretty sure that was happening already.

There's no doubt some embarrassment, but that's more a result of the fact that we've all decided that people need to be embarrassed about being seen naked. In a hypothetical privacy-free world where everyone has access to nude photos of everyone else, nude photos have no power over anyone.

Re: What I use instead of Google services

#170

Post by mirkules »

billiam wrote: post #146
imgabe wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the government has devolved to the point that we have to worry about them framing people unjustly, we have FAR, FAR bigger problems than a database of location information. Hiding the information in that scenario is, at best, a temporary band aid. The appropriate fix is limiting the power of the government and requiring strict and transparent conditions on when and why someone can be arrested.

I'm sorry, I just don't follow this slippery slope argument. We have lots of examples of the government abusing their use of online information. For the haves, we have the still-minor indignities of the no-fly list and targeting certain political stripes for IRS audits. For the have-nots, it is terrorism fusion data centers, predatory civil forfeiture and, jeez, a lot of the criminal justice system. So that world doe…

It looks like someone is systematically downvoting rational arguments in this thread without explanation, yours among them..
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