This is good info, but be careful about suggestions of Microsoft products, Office, Word, Bing, etc. Microsoft is just as evil if not worse than Google and imo not an alternative at all.
I can confirm Microsoft IS another privacy domino.
Why do you think MS Teams is such a bloated piece of crap? You'll see that it eats up a ton of RAM on the system.
It acts as this weird mediary between all MS Office documents, PDF viewer, internet browsing, downloading, storage, etc. None of this is really necessary if you have other programs like Adobe/Sumatra. Dropbox etc.
All of this is connected to your Microsoft account, which you have to authenticate with your phone, and enter with your fingerprint.
Thats why Win10 was a free upgrade, theres all sorts of privacy issues with Microsoft. Microsoft is basically competing with Google by copying their strategy.
OMG f Microsoft Teams. My work computer has 8gb of RAM /w HDD (ie not SSD) and the profile keeps making Teams load in the Background during startup. Along with Mcafee and other work programs they used up over 90% of RAM, which makes the HDD work very hard and makes the computer very sluggish.
Example: Opening the NOTEPAD takes over 30 seconds. Notepad!
Really ought to talk to your bosses about switching to Open office, Libre office, or some other Open Source alternative... Might have to go over the IT guy's head, though, depending on how much of a Microsoft fanboy he is (I honestly can't believe such creatures exist, except that I've seen them)
Libre and Open office are basically the same software except a hell of a lot less bloated, and the use the classic menu interface that Microsoft keeps trying to break, because new and shiny is somehow better than familiar and coherent...
I had a hard drive failure a few months ago, but had backed up what I cared about prior to it. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I brought my computer to a repair place and the guy said it would be a little over $200 to put in a new solid state hard drive. I decided to do it myself (youtube is good for a lot of things :) ). I bought one for about $125. I had to re-install Windows 10, but what was weird, even though I never signed up for any kind of backup with Microsoft, some of my personal photos re-appeared when Win10 was installed! (they were in a screen-saver folder, or something like that). It was almost like Microsoft was telling me, ever so subtly, "We have everything!". The good news is, with the old hard drive, it would take about a minute for the laptop to boot up from a cold start, now it takes about 10 seconds.
I've heard people say that EVERYTHING you do, post, and probably watch, online, is recorded somewhere. (but grabbing photos from my personal computer is a whole different thing!)
Ive got a linux phone i have no idea how to use. Pinephone. Im not much of a programing guy but i cut my teeth on 3d printer firmware and it was a ton of fun. Easy simpleton type of stuff is right up my ally.
This phone has hardware kill switches for the mic, cam, wifi and a few others. Still glitchy from the reviews ive watched, but i could resist. Ever since watching enemy of the state years ago that has been my understanding of what we are up against.
They have been using echelon to monitor all communication since before the internet. They've got ALL the data.
I mean, even when bing was "that other search engine" it was more like "holy shit, there's a Microsoft property that's actually good?
Still though, that stuff isn't as bothering as the amount of nosey telemetry they collect from everything they make now.
b-but it's just telemetry data! you've got nothing to worry about, really! Nevermind you can't examine the packets, much less block them. Just trust us that this remote data we jank from your computer is totally on the level!, okay? By the way, have you tried Cortana? for an assload more or your personal information, we'll give you that search assistant you disable on your phone if you have any sense...
But seriously, 'telemetry' was the final straw for me with Windows...
microsoft goes through your stuff too, I had an archive of my research on onedrive and I got my account locked. After literally a couple months they responded that I had objectionable content (violence or terror attacks) in my share. Probably 9-11 documentaries or something.
Any recommendations for actual devices? I've got a rooted OnePlus and I uninstall most of the Google shit, but I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and switch everything. But what keeps them from using Android to do whatever they want? iOS is worse I'm sure. I've looked at Librem phones, can anybody vouch for them?
Also how about a streaming device that doesn't spy on you? I never connected my "smart tv" to the internet but I've got a Chromecast and an Amazon fire stick on two different TVs. I don't use the microphone remote with the fire stick, but I'm sure the Chromecast is just spying through my phone.
I've got a rooted OnePlus and I uninstall most of the Google shit, but I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and switch everything. But what keeps them from using Android to do whatever they want? "
Do some research, but you should be able to install a custom ROM on your existing device. LineageOS in my go to, but there are others as well. XDA developers is a good place to start researching what you might want.
I agree. I use one. However, the problem most folks will have with an external hard drive is even if they are careful with it they will eventually tire of plugging it and unplugging from their computers. Anything plugged in is susceptible to being hacked. I personally am more inclined to take the flash drive out of the machine.
They actually just now deleted my Youtube channel which I first made in 2008 for "hate-speech". How am I supposed to spread hate speech if I didn't touch it since I was 9 years old 🤣🤣
That why I will not store any of my information on cloud based services like Google Drive or iCloud. I store everything on my local hard drive and my backup 2TB external drive!
Why would anyone but the sheeple store their information on the the cloud? Archive offline and disconnect the archive from the internet when not in use.
I've never understood this. Even when I didn't think there was anything nefarious going on at these companies, "cloud storage' just always came off as kinda stupid
I have an LG Stylo 6, android OS, and there are photos I've downloaded that I "can't find" on my phone anymore. I've always believed that they deleting it.
The problem is, where can we go? Apple? They are no better. As for my computer, same problem. Am I to learn linux and create my own server computer? I don't have time for that crap.
Simple workaround; just zip everything into a password protected archive and name the files something like "orange man has mushroom penis" and they'll leave you alone. Or just don't use their services at all.
Google can kiss my a$$. Don’t use their stupid Google Drive anyway, but now I really won’t and I’ll bet a whole bunch of other people won’t either. These ppl are stupid. They act like they’re the only fish in the pond. How nice it will feel when we have competitive choice to replace the BigTech giants.
This is good info, but be careful about suggestions of Microsoft products, Office, Word, Bing, etc. Microsoft is just as evil if not worse than Google and imo not an alternative at all.
I can confirm Microsoft IS another privacy domino.
Why do you think MS Teams is such a bloated piece of crap? You'll see that it eats up a ton of RAM on the system.
It acts as this weird mediary between all MS Office documents, PDF viewer, internet browsing, downloading, storage, etc. None of this is really necessary if you have other programs like Adobe/Sumatra. Dropbox etc.
All of this is connected to your Microsoft account, which you have to authenticate with your phone, and enter with your fingerprint.
Thats why Win10 was a free upgrade, theres all sorts of privacy issues with Microsoft. Microsoft is basically competing with Google by copying their strategy.
OMG f Microsoft Teams. My work computer has 8gb of RAM /w HDD (ie not SSD) and the profile keeps making Teams load in the Background during startup. Along with Mcafee and other work programs they used up over 90% of RAM, which makes the HDD work very hard and makes the computer very sluggish.
Example: Opening the NOTEPAD takes over 30 seconds. Notepad!
Sonny, back in my day 8mb of RAM was a lot.
I remember when 1mb was a big jump from 640k.
Really ought to talk to your bosses about switching to Open office, Libre office, or some other Open Source alternative... Might have to go over the IT guy's head, though, depending on how much of a Microsoft fanboy he is (I honestly can't believe such creatures exist, except that I've seen them)
Libre and Open office are basically the same software except a hell of a lot less bloated, and the use the classic menu interface that Microsoft keeps trying to break, because new and shiny is somehow better than familiar and coherent...
I use Linux, but we dont have a say in anything this company does, otherwise I would've rehauled everything years ago.
Can't hurt to ask, right? bring in your personal machine and show them how much more fluid things run. The free price tag is icing on the cake.
Worst they can do is say no, lol.
I had a hard drive failure a few months ago, but had backed up what I cared about prior to it. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I brought my computer to a repair place and the guy said it would be a little over $200 to put in a new solid state hard drive. I decided to do it myself (youtube is good for a lot of things :) ). I bought one for about $125. I had to re-install Windows 10, but what was weird, even though I never signed up for any kind of backup with Microsoft, some of my personal photos re-appeared when Win10 was installed! (they were in a screen-saver folder, or something like that). It was almost like Microsoft was telling me, ever so subtly, "We have everything!". The good news is, with the old hard drive, it would take about a minute for the laptop to boot up from a cold start, now it takes about 10 seconds.
Sheesh! Do you write horror novels? 😳 Thats the scariest thing I've read all day! 🥶
I've heard people say that EVERYTHING you do, post, and probably watch, online, is recorded somewhere. (but grabbing photos from my personal computer is a whole different thing!)
Ive got a linux phone i have no idea how to use. Pinephone. Im not much of a programing guy but i cut my teeth on 3d printer firmware and it was a ton of fun. Easy simpleton type of stuff is right up my ally. This phone has hardware kill switches for the mic, cam, wifi and a few others. Still glitchy from the reviews ive watched, but i could resist. Ever since watching enemy of the state years ago that has been my understanding of what we are up against. They have been using echelon to monitor all communication since before the internet. They've got ALL the data.
Aw man! I missed out on getting one!
I waited a good month or so for mine to come.
M$ Office: Open Office, Libre Office Word: see above Bing: DuckDuckGo, Brave Search
Honestly, it's kinda scary how good bing actually is. If it wasn't owned by microsoft, I'd almost recommend it.
Almost
I mean, even when bing was "that other search engine" it was more like "holy shit, there's a Microsoft property that's actually good?
b-but it's just telemetry data! you've got nothing to worry about, really! Nevermind you can't examine the packets, much less block them. Just trust us that this remote data we jank from your computer is totally on the level!, okay? By the way, have you tried Cortana? for an assload more or your personal information, we'll give you that search assistant you disable on your phone if you have any sense...
But seriously, 'telemetry' was the final straw for me with Windows...
https://harpazo.proboards.com/thread/57393/duck-left-political-donations-abuse
They aren't the privacy safe haven they claim. I've stopped using them.
Trust your gut. If it walks like a duck, and acts like a duck, then its probably a dick.
Thank you for being open minded, and not getting triggered by "muh duck-ducks" 🦆
Brave search, Linux Mint, libreoffice
microsoft goes through your stuff too, I had an archive of my research on onedrive and I got my account locked. After literally a couple months they responded that I had objectionable content (violence or terror attacks) in my share. Probably 9-11 documentaries or something.
What did Q say? backup offline?
Yeah. he was talking about THIS time.
Thank you, ty, for the No More Google link!
Any recommendations for actual devices? I've got a rooted OnePlus and I uninstall most of the Google shit, but I think I'm gonna pull the trigger and switch everything. But what keeps them from using Android to do whatever they want? iOS is worse I'm sure. I've looked at Librem phones, can anybody vouch for them?
Also how about a streaming device that doesn't spy on you? I never connected my "smart tv" to the internet but I've got a Chromecast and an Amazon fire stick on two different TVs. I don't use the microphone remote with the fire stick, but I'm sure the Chromecast is just spying through my phone.
Do some research, but you should be able to install a custom ROM on your existing device. LineageOS in my go to, but there are others as well. XDA developers is a good place to start researching what you might want.
https://qalerts.app/?n=777
"THEY are watching. ARCHIVE EVERYTHING OFFLINE."
Been using youtube-dl a lot lately.
Save nothing to their platforms, nothing. If it is important it belongs on your drive, and backed up on a flash drive.
External hard drives are better than flash drives IMO.
I agree. I use one. However, the problem most folks will have with an external hard drive is even if they are careful with it they will eventually tire of plugging it and unplugging from their computers. Anything plugged in is susceptible to being hacked. I personally am more inclined to take the flash drive out of the machine.
wow that escalated quickly. this is crazy.
Crazy? They’re giving us a gift.
The gift of being right. We are the truth now, and we will set this world free.
Gift of legal action routes too.
They actually just now deleted my Youtube channel which I first made in 2008 for "hate-speech". How am I supposed to spread hate speech if I didn't touch it since I was 9 years old 🤣🤣
Only google gets to distribute misinformation on their platform.
That why I will not store any of my information on cloud based services like Google Drive or iCloud. I store everything on my local hard drive and my backup 2TB external drive!
Why would anyone but the sheeple store their information on the the cloud? Archive offline and disconnect the archive from the internet when not in use.
I've never understood this. Even when I didn't think there was anything nefarious going on at these companies, "cloud storage' just always came off as kinda stupid
People are sheep.
Pack animals, but I suppose there's very little distinction ultimately...
Thank you for the sauce, love the avatar.
archive offline...always.
I had photos from hunters laptop on my pixel phone, they just disappeared one day, they've already been doing this shit
I have an LG Stylo 6, android OS, and there are photos I've downloaded that I "can't find" on my phone anymore. I've always believed that they deleting it.
The problem is, where can we go? Apple? They are no better. As for my computer, same problem. Am I to learn linux and create my own server computer? I don't have time for that crap.
ProtonMail and their services. The paid option is great value especially during an offer/sale.
As for Windows, do a clean install and turn off all the monitoring crap. You can turn it all off, but you can get super close.
Use Brave browser, Private tabs, even ProtonVPN, etc.
Archive stuff offline and perform backups.
Who appointed Google to be the universal judge of what is the truth?
DARPA
Wait was that rhetorical?
Are you fucking kidding me?
This is batshit
When they accidentally wipe out people's pictures & stuff during their sweeps... that'll wake people up.
don't back up into the cloud. keep your backup drive offline.
Delete our files like they did our votes.
"Ministry of Truth" Can't say we weren't warned.
Never, ever EVER use any "cloud" services (eg someone elses server storage in some datacenter)
Who is Google? Been using DuckDuckGo for years. The fact that an alternative media and internet is growing daily is lost on them!
I misread that at first.
Google will scan people's privates. Wait, whut!?
Simple workaround; just zip everything into a password protected archive and name the files something like "orange man has mushroom penis" and they'll leave you alone. Or just don't use their services at all.
Reasons Q said to save/archive everything offline in multiple drops.
Did you listen? Why not?
Yep. Time to ditch google.
Google can kiss my a$$. Don’t use their stupid Google Drive anyway, but now I really won’t and I’ll bet a whole bunch of other people won’t either. These ppl are stupid. They act like they’re the only fish in the pond. How nice it will feel when we have competitive choice to replace the BigTech giants.
Never have trusted google
Mao ZeGoogle!
Never keep your data on another persons computer. Not if you value the data in any way.
SO NO MORE FLAT-EARTHERS?
YAY!
/s
Drive d
I have already degoogled so no skin on my nose
Under those rules they need to delete themselves. That's all they put out. It's all lies and propaganda.
Wow! Censorship on steroids. Their last gasp.