Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 141 posts

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#51

Post by Nextgrid »

distances wrote: post #44
whatshisface wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personalization makes it incredibly hard to "watch the watchers," because everyone is getting a slightly different view of what Google is doing. I would like to see a program where users submitted data about their recommendations to researchers so that we could uncover Google's opinions. It would have a lot of financial value to YouTubers and would make it harder for Google to abuse their role as censor. I could imag…

I clear my YouTube search and watch history about once a week. Partly because of privacy, but also because a single binge of, say, metal casting videos does not mean I want them recommend ever again in the future.

They use browser fingerprinting and/or IP addresses as well. Even on a brand new browser session, doing something even slightly related to the previous session brings back its entire recommendation history.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#52

Post by Nextgrid »

leovander wrote: post #47

>GAFAM Never seen it listed out like that, I thought it was FAANG. Or is FAANG only used in reference to top salaries in the Bay Area?

GAFA is the french-speaking equivalent of FAANG (although they all seem to omit Amazon and Netflix).

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#53

Post by sho »

mirimir wrote: post #45
heartbreak wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Scott Wadsworth’s latest video. It’s not narcissism, it wouldn’t be better as a blog post, it doesn’t drag on to run more ads, and it isn’t low brow or toxic. There are billions of hours of content on YouTube. You haven’t seen a representative sample. https://youtu.be/cv6BdwMe560

I don't have audio on this VM host. And CC is way too annoying. But based on several seconds of it, this ~19 minute video could be maybe 2K words plus ten images. Then I might actually read it.

I think it's safe to say that 99.999% of people do not share your bizarre youtube-watching setup. I think it's also safe to say that the 60s-ish master craftsman featured is never even going to attempt to cut down his demonstrative, highly visual content to fit in an inferior, limited blog post.

I don't even know what your point is. How about you try not watching videos through a VM with no sound.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#54

Post by sho »

stevewillows wrote: post #49
heartbreak wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Scott Wadsworth’s latest video. It’s not narcissism, it wouldn’t be better as a blog post, it doesn’t drag on to run more ads, and it isn’t low brow or toxic. There are billions of hours of content on YouTube. You haven’t seen a representative sample. https://youtu.be/cv6BdwMe560

That's an excellent example of the wealth that is on youtube. As he was going through those knots, I could think of a dozen ways to use each one. They're so simple, but effect -- and with zero waste. He's got a real wisdom in his voice and style.

I have always thought that, out of all the hype and cambrian explosion that was Web 2.0, Youtube was the only site that clearly improved the world. There is an astounding amount of great content on Youtube. Turns out that giving normal people a platform, and a way of sharing, can have results which are utterly amazing.

I'm not happy that Google basically has a monopoly on this, but honestly, I consider youtube to be a force for good. And even more honestly - to some extent Youtube, and the fantastic content creators I've discovered on it, has gone a long way towards restoring my faith in humanity. Man there are some smart, wise, knowledgable people on this silly little blue speck we call home. And man am I glad they feel the need to share and educate the rest of us.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#55

Post by mirimir »

sho wrote: post #53
mirimir wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have audio on this VM host. And CC is way too annoying. But based on several seconds of it, this ~19 minute video could be maybe 2K words plus ten images. Then I might actually read it.

I think it's safe to say that 99.999% of people do not share your bizarre youtube-watching setup. I think it's also safe to say that the 60s-ish master craftsman featured is never even going to attempt to cut down his demonstrative, highly visual content to fit in an inferior, limited blog post. I don't even know what your point is. How about you try not watching videos through a VM with no sound.

True. But even if I had sound, I'd pick text over video. I don't have the patience for unedited rambling.

I don't have sound because it'd be a security vulnerability. Given that my wife has a mobile on 24/7.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#56

Post by sho »

mirimir wrote: post #55
sho wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's safe to say that 99.999% of people do not share your bizarre youtube-watching setup. I think it's also safe to say that the 60s-ish master craftsman featured is never even going to attempt to cut down his demonstrative, highly visual content to fit in an inferior, limited blog post. I don't even know what your point is. How about you try not watching videos through a VM with no sound.

True. But even if I had sound, I'd pick text over video. I don't have the patience for unedited rambling. I don't have sound because it'd be a security vulnerability. Given that my wife has a mobile on 24/7.

If you prefer text that's fine. But you must be cognisant that a very large number of people do not, and that in many cases you're losing a lot in the translation - including that the translation may never be made in the first place. Personally, I am fine with both. There is a right tool for the job.

> I don't have sound because it'd be a security vulnerability

This just sounds to me like a kind of narcissistic paranoia. Dude, the NSA isn't spying on your youtube habits, and if they were - the VM, or anything else, wouldn't help you.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#57

Post by tgragnato »

geokon wrote: post #50

The problem is that JS Fonts and other CDNed stuff won't load and websites will hang or work weird - particularly Stackoverflow. Bc it's all over https you can't MITM it and inject your own with OpenWRT/piholes. Decentraleyes (a Firefox browser extension) fixes some of this, but not all. If anyone has any additional suggestions, please let me know (it makes life bearable in China without a VPN)

I use a very similar setup (based on unbound): for Stackoverflow to properly work you need to whitelist ajax.googleapis.com.

> it makes life bearable in China without a VPN

If you're already a firefox user, you might try the "FoxyProxy Standard" extension to selectively bypass the GFW for the domains you need. Friends in China are reporting a varying degree of success with setting up forwarding on Apache (TLS1.3 with padding). Obvs, don't forget to set authentication. Once you're there you can add your own DoH to the mix.

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#59

Post by michaelbazos »

Nextgrid wrote: post #52
leovander wrote: post #47

>GAFAM Never seen it listed out like that, I thought it was FAANG. Or is FAANG only used in reference to top salaries in the Bay Area?

GAFA is the french-speaking equivalent of FAANG (although they all seem to omit Amazon and Netflix).

GAFA(M) omits Netflix but not Amazon, since it stands for Google Amazon Facebook Apple (Microsoft)

Re: PiHole-Google: Completely Block Google and Its Services

#60

Post by Remed »

geokon wrote: post #50

The problem is that JS Fonts and other CDNed stuff won't load and websites will hang or work weird - particularly Stackoverflow. Bc it's all over https you can't MITM it and inject your own with OpenWRT/piholes. Decentraleyes (a Firefox browser extension) fixes some of this, but not all. If anyone has any additional suggestions, please let me know (it makes life bearable in China without a VPN)

You can create a self-signed certificate for Google domains and trust it on your machines. Then you can MITM. This won't work well if you want to do it at a scale, with a number of 3rd party users, but if the only user is you or your family, it should do the trick.
Post reply on HN