LTT made a great video about exiting the Google ecosystem

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Poll of the Day » LTT made a great video about exiting the Google ecosystem
I switched to Brave browser and Proton mail today. Going to install Ubuntu some other time. Tired of having the feeling of being watched all the time tbh. My copy of Windows is 8+ years old, probably has a virus, and I don't even feel safe entering in my CC info anyway.

I don't want random features forced on me and random settings being switched against my will. I'd rather go over to Linux and bash my head against a wall having CLI tutorials pretend that everything they say is supposed to work.

Going to use a VPN at all times too. Fuck you NSA, fuck you Google trackers, fuck you ISPs selling my internet history. Goodbye, Visual Studio, I will miss you. Lots of MS employees have their work tainted by that company's obsession with spyware.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnSv8ylLfPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
I haven't watched the video yet but I'm Google Photos is so hard to get rid of. I have immich setup and running for months that I can access with a personal VM but it's so tedious to check my backs are good every so often. I can lose a lot but I don't want to lose my photos even if every pixel is being scanned but I so desperately don't want that.
So I was standing still at a stationary store...
I have an Android phone and moving to Apple wouldn't really be an improvement so I'm in someone's ecosystem anyway,
I forgot what version of windows I even had until a couple of weeks ago, because it doesn't annoy me much and mostly functions as just an OS.

It's W10, but the real reason for this was that a couple of years ago BTB created a program that would just get rid of all the shit, so I used that and It mostly functions as I'd like. So when people say modern Windows is shit, I get confused but then I remember I don't even know the depths of how bad it is because I haven't seen it for a while.
I couldn't even tell you what half the shit was I disabled or got rid of, I figure if a curmudgeon like BTB says it's gotta go, I'm down with it.
so, you can use the government version of windows that strips out all of the tracker shit

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-security-baselines/windows-11-version-22h2-security-baseline/ba-p/3632520

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55319

also if btb made something to remove stuff from windows, i wouldn't trust it.

not that it'd be malicious or anything, but that it just wouldn't do anything
see my gundams here
https://imgur.com/a/F7xKM5r
updated 4/07/24; hg dantalion
Yeah after switching from Chrome to Brave I have no regrets, I don't even notice a difference, they both support the same plugins.

I switched my search browser to brave search and it's definitely improved. Google search is just that bad these days. Like, unusable. That wasn't too hard. I just had to disable all the brave ai stuff.

I don't trust Proton enough to switch everything over just yet but I have no issue with it yet. It's just a boring e-mail. It's not like I use it every day.

ConfusedTorchic posted...
so, you can use the government version of windows that strips out all of the tracker shit

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-security-baselines/windows-11-version-22h2-security-baseline/ba-p/3632520

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55319

also if btb made something to remove stuff from windows, i wouldn't trust it.

not that it'd be malicious or anything, but that it just wouldn't do anything
That's useful to know, I'm still going to switch to Ubuntu though, because I don't like all these features being dropped on me. Like Onecloud. Why is it that one day all my files are on the cloud and Windows is telling me daily that I need to upgrade my storage plan so they can fit the rest of my files on it? I didn't agree to this on purpose. I can't opt out of it easily. They just downloaded all my files without my knowledge or consent. None of them are encrypted, so they just have all my files, and they're scanning them to scrape data for their profile of me that they're building. Wtf.

I ran BTB's scripts a long time ago, but yeah I just take his word that it did something, I can't really tell. MS would just patch more back in eventually.

All an OS needs to do is run a browser, play my games, and let me code. 80% of my time is in the browser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
I forget what the alternative to Github is. Github uses your code to train AI.

I would also love it if I could ban certain websites from search results. Quora is useless and I'm tired of it being at the top. An extension that automatically adds "-quora" to every search, basically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Brave uses Chromium. Use Firefox to be truly free of their infestation.

Yellow posted...
Going to use a VPN at all times too. Fuck you NSA


Most people's internet habits fingerprint them pretty specifically. Chances are if the NSA is interested in you, they'll know exactly what you're doing all the time VPN or not. A VPN might help you not get a piracy notice, but if you think a 1st world intelligence agency will be stymied by it, then I've got a bridge to sell you.
Yellow posted...
I forget what the alternative to Github is. Github uses your code to train AI.

There's bitbucket, but that's owned by Atlassian, so it probably sucks and they probably sell your data anyway. If you really want privacy then you probably want to self-host with something like gitea or altenratives.

Grendel posted...
Brave uses Chromium. Use Firefox to be truly free of their infestation.

> Going to use a VPN at all times too. Fuck you NSA

Most people's internet habits fingerprint them pretty specifically. Chances are if the NSA is interested in you, they'll know exactly what you're doing all the time VPN or not. A VPN might help you not get a piracy notice, but if you think a 1st world intelligence agency will be stymied by it, then I've got a bridge to sell you.
Are they going to be associating my gamefaqs account with my SSN? Sure. Whatever. Are they going to know exactly what I type into the search box from here on out? No.

Believe it or not the government is not some almighty power. They run into walls. There was a leaked document talking about how Tails OS is a serious obstacle to them. Hate to say it but this edgy commentary is about as useless as someone telling me not to vote because the whole system is corrupt. You might as well be an NSA plant.

Trackers being blocked and VPNs hiding you from your ISP mean the government can't see what you're doing unless they exploit your system. Stories of most wanted hackers getting caught involve them doing something stupid most of the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Yellow posted...
Are they going to be associating my gamefaqs account with my SSN? Sure. Whatever. Are they going to know exactly what I type into the search box from here on out? No.

If they wanted to it'd be pretty easy to get that directly from Google especially since they could probably pretty reliably fingerprint you to the VPN endpoints you're using on a timeline. They 100% have backdoors and back-alley agreements with these companies Snowden, among others, made that public. I reiterate, if you're trying to hide your browsing habits from an intelligence agency you're going to need to get A LOT more computer savvy than you are.

What really matters, though, is that they're probably just not interested in any of us, so the whole thing is pretty moot beyond being distasteful that they do it at all.
Yellow posted...
Believe it or not the government is not some almighty power. They run into walls. There was a leaked document talking about how Tails OS is a serious obstacle to them. Hate to say it but this edgy commentary is about as useless as someone telling me not to vote because the whole system is corrupt. You might as well be an NSA plant.


My man you're the one making edgy leethacker posts about hiding from the NSA using your NordVPN account or some shit. You haven't even mentioned Tor, you have no idea what you're talking about. Use a VPN, they're good tools, but you put waaay too much faith in them.
When did I say I was going to completely hide from the NSA with a VPN alone... a VPN only hides certain things but not your fingerprint. Nothing hides your fingerprint. You could be on Tor/Tails and be completely open. I also implicitly mentioned Tor when I mentioned Tails OS. The fact that you didn't catch that makes me think you don't know how to be anonymous on the internet.

What a VPN does is hide your traffic from your ISP, which the government can access directly if they want to. It can also possibly hide you from the website server itself, which the NSA might not even have access to anyway. It doesn't stop trackers or Javascript for that matter. I'm sorry but I know exactly how a VPN works.

Also point me to where you read that NordVPN has a back door for the NSA lol. Was it here?
https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracytheories/comments/grr4m9/nordvpn_is_operated_by_the_nsa/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Also worth mentioning that the NSA is probably the nastiest government agency to try to avoid tracking from, but it's definitely possible, evidenced by people who have evaded the government for years only to be outed by an outdated version of tor browser or a straight up admission of guilt, meaning VPNs are a lot more effective if you live in Russia or something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
My switch to Linux Mint has been pretty seamless. There have been some issues, but nothing worse than what I would have had to deal with on Windows. I'm definitely never going back. Every single steam game I've tried has run without issue.

I wouldn't have said this a year ago, but Windows feels pretty obsolete at this point, and I think it's only going to get worse as they add more bloat and dumb features no one wants or can get rid of. Meanwhile Linux just keeps getting better and more user friendly. I've never been a hug Linux fan up until now, I don't like terminals, I think people are unfairly nostalgic/nerdy for them. A lot better than they do on Windows (old games don't lose compatibility with Proton)

My two times I had to mess with the terminal were having to install a custom driver for my Xbox One controller, and having to run a command to fix some audio clicking. But that was it. No more than 5 minutes total.

I'm also a programmer so I messed with it way more of course. My frustrations trying to make C# work aren't really anyone elses. VSCodium isn't detecting my .net SDKs, and Jetbrains Rider is crashing when I open one of my projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
It looks pretty good too.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c54dcafa.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Yellow posted...
Tired of having the feeling of being watched all the time tbh
Hate to break it to you, but as long as you're connected to the internet, you're being watched. Everything you read, write, or post (including this post I'm writing here) is monitored. Switching from Google to whatever isn't going to change that, no matter what X browser or Y email tell you.

There is no privacy on the internet. The sooner you accept it, the easier life becomes.
Cupcake
Fine, I accept my NSA overlords and submit to them fully. There is nothing I can do. I will never be able to run for political office because the deep state will blackmail me unless I support the latest war effort or something. I'll become president and suddenly become a bastard on all fronts because I got a menacing message from a man in a suit.

Well anyway

VSCode is a terrible downgrade. You took a perfectly good IDE (Visual Studio) and ruined it with CLI because CLI makes your hipster brain feel smarter while providing no benefit. Buttons that you can use your mouse to click on are for evolved people. It exists in this modern day so that shut-ins can feel some sense of power knowing they can do something other people can't. They're speed-running arthritis and hand pain.

Yes I have been fighting it for over 6 hours.

Ok Jetbrains Rider works now. I guess I have to buy this now, because I'm not using VSCode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Yellow posted...
Fine, I accept my NSA overlords and submit to them fully. There is nothing I can do. I will never be able to run for political office because the deep state will blackmail me unless I support the latest war effort or something. I'll become president and suddenly become a bastard on all fronts because I got a menacing message from a man in a suit.
Welcome to the light, my friend
Cupcake
Well listen, I was being a bit snarky, there are tiers to being spied on. If you're hiding from a state actor, that's much harder than cutting out Google/Microsoft. That's also not impossible, though, lots of high profile hackers only get caught because they do something stupid, and until then they just get away with it. It's not exactly the whole 1984 situation, or at least, the NSA doesn't share their power levels with the FBI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1PUDUfWe4M

There are people who say VPNs do nothing, like the guy in the above video, but honestly, no one wants to use Tor all day. I think that's not fair. Too easy to shit on the YouTube shills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Also no matter what I do I cannot install Ableton Live using Wine. It's going to be a VM running Windows 7 disconnected from the internet I think. I can live with that tbh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
tbh it takes a pretty big ego to think oneself important enough to be spied on to any material effect

don't mean this in a negative way but unless you're a public figure or hold political sway, you probably are too insignificant for anyone to care about your Internet search history
Take me for what I am -- who I was meant to be.
And if you give a damn, take me baby, or leave me.
Clench281 posted...
tbh it takes a pretty big ego to think oneself important enough to be spied on to any material effect

don't mean this in a negative way but unless you're a public figure or hold political sway, you probably are too insignificant for anyone to care about your Internet search history

Main character syndrome
Some guys have all the luck, Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks, Some guys do nothing but complain
Yeah no. If you were to put cameras up in your house and live stream every single thing you did to the government that would be less intrusive than what it currently is. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your internet history is literally up for sale, I'm not hyperbolic.

Why wouldn't I negate that by like 90% with almost no drawbacks. Most people just use their computers for browsing the internet and playing video games. Everyone should do it tbh. I would not recommend building a gaming PC in this current year running Windows.

Also yeah I admit to being paranoid and spread thin with the things I have to worry about. This is personally just taking one thing off the table that I have to think about. Not sure why people are trying to red pill me into accepting something else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
Don't you mean blue pill? That would mean you are no longer "in the know"

You have to accept that the everyone isn't out to get you. The world is a much more boring place than you think it is
Some guys have all the luck, Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks, Some guys do nothing but complain
Yellow posted...
I forget what the alternative to Github is. Github uses your code to train AI.
Sourceforge?
Rumble Roses. Someone enters the room. Them: O_O Me: What?! I always play games without my pants on!- Inmate 922335
#ImpeachToadDickTrump
Lonestar2000 posted...
Sourceforge?
That site sucks. Idk what they do aside from pointlessly obfuscate downloads.

Damn_Underscore posted...
Don't you mean blue pill? That would mean you are no longer "in the know"

You have to accept that the everyone isn't out to get you. The world is a much more boring place than you think it is
If the rest of the world was half as paranoid as I was, I wouldn't have to bear all this, would I? Really carrying the team here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_Wrt6pNSw
you can use any physical disk or cloud storage service to back up a zipped copy of any git repository, you don't need to use a service that specializes in git
Take me for what I am -- who I was meant to be.
And if you give a damn, take me baby, or leave me.
Clench281 posted...
tbh it takes a pretty big ego to think oneself important enough to be spied on to any material effect

don't mean this in a negative way but unless you're a public figure or hold political sway, you probably are too insignificant for anyone to care about your Internet search history

Oh they care, they just don't use it for "nefarious purposes" like most people claim. It usually just goes into a bucket and a big data process churns through it and pulls out usage statistics to determine what updates they should make to Windows. Bug reports and manual feedback aren't nearly as accurate or useful.

The worst you could say that someone is doing with that data is targeted ads, which let's be honest usually becomes a moot point since anyone concerned about such things obviously has an ad blocker.
My bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/152760030
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Yellow posted...
If the rest of the world was half as paranoid as I was, I wouldn't have to bear all this, would I? Really carrying the team here.

It's up to you if you want to live your life that way but you would be happier and even healthier if you didn't. That sort of lifestyle/mindset causes a lot of stress
Some guys have all the luck, Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks, Some guys do nothing but complain
Yellow posted...
Also yeah I admit to being paranoid and spread thin with the things I have to worry about. This is personally just taking one thing off the table that I have to think about. Not sure why people are trying to red pill me into accepting something else.
It's less about pilling/forcing and more about helping you with what you want, which is to say, removing one thing from your list of things to worry about.

Once you accept the surveillance state reality, you won't worry about it anymore. Simple as that. Acknowledge there is no way to fight it and you'll stop worrying about it. Worked great for me. No more fighting with VPNs and weird browsers and random email services. Not to mention saving money on those services that have costs associated.

We the people can't do shit about it at this point, so why waste the brainspace fighting it or worrying about it?
Cupcake
Poll of the Day » LTT made a great video about exiting the Google ecosystem