Comments on iheartubuntu: Google Doing Evil

hmmm, maybe if the people would get away from Safa...

2012-03-01T16:15:18.808-08:00

hmmm, maybe if the people would get away from Safari and IE (have no idea why someone would use the latter anyways) it would be alright. I have had no problem with google at all.

You are entirely correct. Running your own mail se...

2012-03-01T09:20:50.714-08:00

You are entirely correct. Running your own mail server is going to be the best route. You can also run your domain off of foreign servers and then access your IMAP that way or use a paid service like Neomailbox, based in Switzerland or Runbox.com based in Norway. Both countries have strict privacy policies.

For an Android phone which needs a Google account... I dont know of any other way around that. Id recommend waiting for the Ubuntu phone to come out. You could however at least separate your accounts and have, say, a Google account for your personal, one for your business and one for your cellphone. This way at least all of your entire life data is not as easily condensed into one account. This sort of separation is a good move, but not a means to an end if concerned about privacy. Using fake names on accounts, not using photos to link who you are, these are all small steps you can do to try to help secure your privacy. Again, the main point of this is privacy of your personal data... not because we are deviant people. Our data is getting sold and traded on the auction block and protecting that should be of importance.

When it comes down to it, if ease of use is more important than privacy it doesnt really matter, does it. Being careful of ANY big corp is a smart idea. They usually dont have the best interest of the consumer in mind.

I know how IMAP works :-) Services like mail.com ...

2012-02-29T23:14:48.638-08:00

I know how IMAP works :-) Services like mail.com are also cloudbased servers, so I don't see why they are so much safer to use than Google? I think perhaps running a private server is the best option. But still SAFE? On the other hand I still need a Gmail account to sync my photos, docs, mail on my phone, work, home, ipad, Chromebook etc. So I'll stick with Google as I think they do provide great service for free.

Within Thunderbird you would need to set up an ema...

2012-02-28T21:09:22.086-08:00

Within Thunderbird you would need to set up an email account that has IMAP capability. There are many to choose from out there. Some are free like Mail.com, others offer high security and cost money like Neomailbox.com. Once set up with the IMAP settings, your email would be synced where ever you are. On your Thunderbird at home, or on the web online someplace.

I too use Gmail. How do you suppose I read my mail...

2012-02-28T13:15:22.538-08:00

I too use Gmail. How do you suppose I read my mail while being on the road? Thunderbird is great I know. But to read mail that way I have to get an address like [email protected]. Another thing, how do I go about running my services on my Android Phone if I'm no longer using Google Products?

Jack - Ive pretty much said my piece in regards to...

2012-02-26T12:54:44.903-08:00

Jack - Ive pretty much said my piece in regards to Google. The next weeks worth of posts are of the apps themselves and what I like about them. Thunderbird instead of Gmail and Google Reader, Rhythmbox and Ubuntu One Music instead of Google Music, etc. Im not a Google, Apple or Microsoft fanboy at all. Im just interested in privacy.

I agree that its easier than it used to be to wipe data, but anyone would be a fool to believe Google or any other company doesnt hold on to data.

Essentially, if you use a Google product you are adhering to their policies and rules. If you dont like something in their policies, you dont have to use their product.

One of the very last Google products that I use is this website... Its run off of Blogger.com. Im slowly moving everything to Wordpress. But why? Just because of Googles data mining? Not entirely. Google recently announced Blogger websites will be banned in some countries. Which countries? Why not fight for internet freedom instead of caving in?

And for God's sake, when Microsoft criticizes ...

2012-02-26T12:16:34.654-08:00

And for God's sake, when Microsoft criticizes ANY company, please do your research before re-spouting it for them.

P3P is totally broken, and Microsoft knows it is. They have been aware that ~1/3 of all sites use the same "workaround" that you call devious above for over two years. Microsoft's own websites suggest developers use this workaround because P3P is broken!

M$ were just jumping on the bandwagon trying to make Google look bad. And poor journalists (like this site) drank it right up because they are desperate to finally find Google guilty of doing something "evil."

Great. Now, I have a week of trolling headlines fr...

2012-02-26T11:53:37.453-08:00

Great. Now, I have a week of trolling headlines from you in my California planet feed...

It is unclear how you can consider a company "evil" when they are by far the most transparent company on the net about what information they gather and store for you:

http://www.google.com/dashboard

They not only make it trivial to delete any info that have on you; the also make it trivial for people to take all their content out of google:

http://checkout.google.com

Any comments from a supposed open-source advocate lauding Apple and condemning Google is seriously flawed...