Google being jerks in order to dominate the internet

[mouser]

From https://arstechnica....should-worry-us-all/

The company has "tried to push the Web into a Google-controlled proprietary direction to improve the performance of Google's online services when used in conjunction with Google's browser, consolidating Google's market positioning and putting everyone else at a disadvantage."

YouTube has been a particular source of problems. One example Peter provides has to do with a hidden, empty HTML element that was added to each YouTube video to disable Edge's hardware accelerated video decoding: "For no obvious reason, Google changed YouTube to add a hidden, empty HTML element that overlaid each video. This element disabled Edge's fastest, most efficient hardware accelerated video decoding. It hurt Edge's battery-life performance and took it below Chrome's. The change didn't improve Chrome's performance and didn't appear to serve any real purpose; it just hurt Edge, allowing Google to claim that Chrome's battery life was actually superior to Edge's. Microsoft asked Google if the company could remove the element, to no avail."

Slashdot's take: https://tech.slashdo...nded-the-web-over-to


https://arstechnica....-should-worry-us-all

[wraith808]

That article makes me more paranoid about this notification from WinPatrol:

Google being jerks in order to dominate the internet

Why does Google Chrome need an elevation service?

[IainB]

@mouser: Interesting article. Thanks for posting.   
Actually no surprises there though, as Google is an excellent near-perfect corporate psychopath, just like it should be.   

[Dormouse]

Google seem to have acquired the Microsoft palybook

I'd checked on the elevation thing earlier. Seemed not to be maliciious, but also not necessary so I kept it blocked.

[Deozaan]

I was a big advocate for Google products and services for many years among my peers and acquaintances. Over the past several years I've become increasingly uneasy about them and their practices, and in the past two years or so have been slowly migrating myself away from them and their services.

I no longer use Google (the search engine). I no longer use Chrome as my browser. I use Hangouts only insofar as it is required for Google Voice. I've pretty much entirely moved away from Gmail. I haven't exactly migrated away from Google Docs/Drive, but there are a lot of instances where I will just create a local (or cloud synced) Libre Office document instead. And I'm eagerly awaiting a viable YouTube contender to surface.

I don't think I'll be sad one bit if in 5 years or so I think of Google like I now think of MySpace, LiveJournal, or Yahoo!

[cyberdiva]

Deozaan, increasingly I've come to feel as you do. I now use Google Search only when I can't find what I'm looking for on my default, DuckDuckGo. Privacy concerns made me avoid Chrome from the start. PaleMoon is my default browser, with Firefox as a backup.  But I still do use Gmail. What have you found to be a satisfactory alternative?

[Deozaan]

But I still do use Gmail. What have you found to be a satisfactory alternative?

-cyberdiva (December 22, 2018, 11:54 AM)

I've been using ProtonMail.

It's not quite as smooth of an experience as Gmail, but it works for my needs. And I still haven't migrated my Google Contacts over to ProtonMail, so I'm not sure how I feel about ProtonMail's Contacts feature(s). But I like how ProtonMail automatically handles end-to-end encryption to/from other known services that support encrypted email. And for services that don't normally support encryption by default, you can import a person's public key or just password protect the email to ensure snooping eyes or services can't see it without the key/password.

[wraith808]

I take it that you're using a paid account... at what level are you subscribing?

[cyberdiva]

Thanks, Deozaan. I had heard of Proton Mail but had never looked into it. Seems promising, though it's not clear that they support my Pale Moon browser. And apparently the messages one sends and receives eventually expire. That gives me pause. But if/when I'm ready to move from Gmail, I suspect I'll give a serious look at Proton Mail.

[Deozaan]

I take it that you're using a paid account... at what level are you subscribing?

-wraith808 (December 22, 2018, 03:36 PM)

Not so. I'm using the free tier. I was an early adopter so they gave me at least one extra perk. Free accounts get 500 MB of storage and I have 1 GB of storage, of which I'm only using <10 MB. I have no idea what, if any, other bonuses I get for being an early adopter.

I wish they had an even smaller subscription tier. I'd gladly pay $10-12/year, but $48-$60/year makes me question if I really need any of the additional features, the answer to which has been no thus far.

Seems promising, though it's not clear that they support my Pale Moon browser.

-cyberdiva (December 22, 2018, 04:20 PM)

I don't see why it wouldn't. I've logged in using Firefox, Tor (Firefox-based), and Chrome or Chrome-based browsers. And of course they also have Android/iOS apps.

And apparently the messages one sends and receives eventually expire. That gives me pause.

-cyberdiva (December 22, 2018, 04:20 PM)

That is optional. If you're really paranoid and want self-destructing messages, you can set an expiration date. But by default they do not expire. Or maybe I changed the defaults in the settings so long ago that I forgot? Either way, you can opt out of that if it isn't already opt-in by default.

[wraith808]

I take it that you're using a paid account... at what level are you subscribing?

-wraith808 (December 22, 2018, 03:36 PM)

Not so. I'm using the free tier. I was an early adopter so they gave me at least one extra perk. Free accounts get 500 MB of storage and I have 1 GB of storage, of which I'm only using <10 MB. I have no idea what, if any, other bonuses I get for being an early adopter.

I wish they had an even smaller subscription tier. I'd gladly pay $10-12/year, but $48-$60/year makes me question if I really need any of the additional features, the answer to which has been no thus far.

-Deozaan (December 24, 2018, 01:46 AM)

I have that too, and with attachments, 1gb is just not enough for the volume of email that I receive and keep.

[cyberdiva]

Many thanks, Deozaan, for answering my questions. I'm glad to know that the expiring emails feature is optional. It's not one I'd choose. As for the possibility of Proton not supporting Pale Moon, they list the browsers they support, and PM is not among them. Though it's based on Firefox, PM has become increasingly independent. Some current features of Firefox do not work on PM (e.g., the way FF now handles web extensions). I'm not unhappy about this, since some of the extensions I prize most highly no longer work on FF but do on PM. But it does mean that PM may no longer be seen as just another version of Firefox. I guess I could try Proton out and see. However, the 500 MB storage limit also gives me pause. I've got about 2.5 GB on my main Gmail account (with a limit of 15 GB). So I think if I decide to give Proton a try, it would be as an additional secondary account, not a replacement for Gmail. In any event, I very much appreciate knowing about it.

[Deozaan]

For what it's worth, I'm using about 4 GB of storage in my Gmail account which I've been using since ~2004.

Maybe 15 years from now I'll also be using around 4 GB in ProtonMail.