February 10, 2006

• Don't use it then. That's one of the reasons I don't have their desktop searchy thing, or any toolbar thingy - it remembers faaar toooo muuuuch!
• Yep. I installed it on my old computer, but paranoia quickly set in when it dredged up all sorts of stuff I didn't know was still on there -- some of that crap dated back to the '80's! -- and my firewall kept warning me it was trying to contact the internet. No thanks. It got uninstalled pretty darn quickly.
• All ye can do is fend off intrusion for a bit longer. Information is the new currency and sooner or later ours is going to be sought and get got. Luckily most of us don't have much to hide. And incidentally, the Werzog says it will only be neceesary to generate a sufficiency of false data-bases in order to screw the current system, thus ensuring the future dominance of the Unified Mounds of the Giant Termites.
• Google has sold out to Homeland Security!
• **puts on tinfoil hat and asbestos panties**
• I just realized I had not bitched about this post yet.
• Bitch all you want, but I'm backpedalling as quickly as possible from Google these days. My home page from 1999-2005 was the big G but has been changed now to a rival search engine (not a famous name either, pigz). All good things gotta come to an end.
• Okay, seriously for a second, because I am computer-retarded can someone tell me if I should take that Google toolbar, that I use frequently--because I thought Google was my friend, off? Or is this something seperate?
• Cripes, I use Google for my homepage, too! Should I stop doing that, too?
• If Google is evil, then ElGoog is your friend!
• wonders idly what BlueHorse's bra is made of, lays small wager on "titanium"*
• Darshon, a G search is a G search, toolbar or whatever. I wouldn't go overboard on the paranoia. Just spread your searches around a bit. I'll bet a list of excellent search engines is only a google away.
• Fes, Granma should have burned her bra back in the '60's. /makes for hot stuff, today.
• You know what? I'm not that upset. Desktop search is the Next Big Thing. If Google doesn't do it, Yahoo will. If Yahoo doesn't hit your drive, you'll be thoroughly desktop invaded when you install Vista. You know damn well (or you should know) that by using Office or Windows you've already signed away the right to allow MS to check for specific data on your drive and replace or remove it at will. There's a convenience factor. I like having the little desktop search thingy in my taskbar. It brings up old email, web pages, student information, whatever. There's an inevitability factor as well. So long as I'm going to have my desktop invaded, I'd at least like to ensure that the invading program indexes what I want to see. I don't know that MS will give me a desktop search with Firefox and Thunderbird support, and I'm NOT switching to Outlook + IE just to see where my mail and web history are. I'm enough of a techie to look at the settings, and paranoid enough to block some things without being so worried about snipers that I uninstall everything and microwave my hard drive. You have to draw the line somewhere. I worry about spam and viruses, but the desktop indexing isn't high on my freak-out list. I can't be bothered to worry about what happens if they get into my system and look at my files. If the government wants to know what I'm up to, my posts here, on MeFi, my shopping record at Amazon and NewEgg, my search history on Google, all of that will probably tell them as much or more than my folder full of exams and assignments and unpublished data will. Now if I was an actual subversive anti-establishment freak with a hard drive full of plans for a bloodless (or bloody) coup instead of just a guy who likes to spout off on the 'net, I sure as hell wouldn't be running Windows in the first place, and I wouldn't be doing any of my web searching from my own computer. Long diatribe short, yes it is unfortunate that using this service might open you up to the possibility of greater perusal, but for fuck's sakes filling out your tax returns or a census form or buying anything anywhere with a credit card will also leave an electronic trail that identifies you in some way. Datamining is a bitch, I know (I routinely give false zip codes to the people who ask for it, and I NEVER give my phone number unless the person asking has an actual need to know it) but christ there's a lot more important things to worry about right now, like whether the government has the right to collect this data without a subpoena in the first place. Start there, and then glare angrily at Google. They're not doing this so that they can set you up for The Man, they're doing this because they think it's useful for you to be able to access your files from anywhere. If The Man happens to come calling for your data, it's not Google's fault, especially if The Man was tipped off to your data due to government violations of your personal freedoms. I mean, jesus - who's breaking the law in that situation? Not Google. EFF does some good work, someone needs to keep an eye on Big Brother for us, but fight the big battles first, folks. Google is not automatically evil for asking if you'd like to have them store your data. They're only evil if they are collecting it, screening it and then sending the summaries off to the NSA.
• Trusting -any- money-making entity is like trusting the government. Eventually you'll be told a lie. Therefore? Use the services you wish, but don't trust them not to do something they -can- but -haven't- done. For example - think of the innocuous-seeming triplet of birth date, age, and ZIP code. Combining the three pieces of information gives you the ability to discriminate down to a single individual in a lot of cases. It is true with maybe 85% confidence in my town (pop. < 4000). So mistrust requests for even innocuous-seeming data, and know what's likely to be compromised. For example, your name, machine name, zip code and address might be in every Word document you have, if you filled out the registration screens when you installed it.
• Yeah, well, still no thanks. I mean, once your private documents are out there on some server instead of on your personal hard drive, you've pretty well given all rights to it, and any ability to delete it or ensure that only the most recent changes are there. I'm not sold on the wholi "inevitability" of it either. There are always options. And there is a big difference between indexing a drive for your convenience, and sending stuff to reside on servers. There are other nice, easy solutions for accessing files anywhere: I either use my nice little FTP site, not run by a megacorp that seems obsessed with gathering and keeping every bit of information in the world, or just use a flashdrive with my current working version on it.
• (For other search engines, I recommend kartoo. A little Flash-heavy, but the visual presentation of your search results, together with their relationships, is very revealling. The search functions themselves aren't the best, but they're a lot better than what they were.)
• But, given all that, use it if you want to. What the hell. Yeah, it could be handy if you don't care about possible future ramificatins. Personally, I always take the side of caution, myself, when it comes to putting any info on the web. Delete all them cookies, clean out browsing histories, etc.
• A company that I recently worked for (until they were acquired by Satan, Inc. and subsequently tossed me out like a half-eaten bowl of cold potato soup, the heartless bastards) had us all sign a confidentiality agreement that said, among other things, that we would not store company information on non-company data stores. To that end they gave me a laptop (that I no longer have even though its resale value was damn near nil and the decent thing to do would have been to let me walk with it). Had I used Google Desktop on that machine, in doing so I would have been conducting a practice for which I could have been fired, as it turns out. So I guess I should be glad I got my package. as should we all be
• How long before law enforcement starts routinely scanning our collective indices for possible criminal activity? In fact, don't they have an obligation to do so if they're serious about fighting crime? Hope you don't have any pr0n featuring Traci Lords on your system (she was underaged in most of her movies) -- of course, that includes your broswer cache, which would include pictures of any sites you may have "accidentally" stumbled upon. You pedophile...
• Yeah, well, still no thanks. I mean, once your private documents are out there... Hey, everyone, lookee what i found on fimbulvetr's drive!
• Honestly, there's no need to abandon Google entirely over this. First, this has been known and discussed since desktop search was first released *months* ago. Second, just don't download it. I didn't, because I don't want them caching my HD on their servers, but I still use google.com and Google Earth and a lot of their other services. Hell, they're the only search engine with the stones to stand up to the US government right now. Other than that, what bees and frogs said about inevitability. This is coming, folks. Before too long we'll stop talking about buying software and start talking about buying web services.
• Luckily most of us don't have much to hide. Anyone has info on their machines that could cause them, at least, some public embarassment, and at worst, the possibility of legal action. From an old copy of a game that a friend gave you on the 90s' to a candid picture of a loved one to 'secret' info from your company or a client... I recall back when the fever over 'net-based everything' was in full swing, and on a demo of web apps that were called upon your slim client to do their job and go away (translation: you couldn't own the software, you'd need to be connected all the time, upgrades and new bugs would be inflicted whether you liked or not), I stated my concern about security and privacy: 'If I'm using this word processing applet for a love letter, or a whistle blower exposé, how can I prevent someone of snooping on it?' No real response; 'highly strict security' to be 'standard' was said to be able to prevent that. It upsets me that, if I log-in to my GMail account, using Google afterwards shows me as conected, even if I click the log-out button. Hell, they're the only search engine with the stones to stand up to the US government right now. I've heard a few tinfolers' accounts about who really owns Google to make me nervous. But hey, the images! The fast, concise searches! The free 2Gb mailbox! Oh well...
• helium balloons, heh heh
• Google has been hurting you for quite some time. How about a never expiring tracking cookie for starters?
• Anyone has info on their machines that could cause them, at least, some public embarassment, and at worst, the possibility of legal action. I don't even want to THINK about the filth and perversion stored on some of your hard drives. Or about the keyboards sticky with owl semen. **shudders**
• Clusty seems to be a reasonable alternative, and as their FAQ clearly states, they only record your IP, search terms, eye color, inside leg measurement, Social Security Number, blood group, fingerprints, stool sample and a scraping of skin from the back of your neck. So they're okay. Honestly, I think it would be a good thing if the EFF spawned a subsidiary that developed an open source search engine. They could still generate revenue from geo-advertizing, collecting popular search terms etc, but avoid storing any personally identifying data.
• Hamachi is a pretty good vpn which will let you do the same thing with out giving your files to google.
• I don't even want to THINK about the filth and perversion stored on some of your hard drives. Or about the keyboards sticky with owl semen. Too late, Gram ma! You've already thought about it, and now you can't unthink it!
• I can't believe people are getting so upset over this. What a bunch of whinging wallies. The 'Search Across Computers' feature is apparently not a feature you have to use. If you don't like it, simply don't use it. Furthermore, it's a very useful feature for a lot of applications. It's a good innovation for those who have use for it. And Google seems to have done their best to minimize privacy issues in its implementation, as they apparently explicitly state that your search index is deleted off their servers once it has migrated between computers. Again, if you don't like the feature, don't use it. Or stop using Google desktop search if you don't like it that much. But claiming Google is evil on this basis is like calling the hardware store evil for selling screwdrivers, and after all screwdrivers are used by thieves, etc Keeerist, it's Gmail search all over again. Next you're going to want the butler to read the newspaper to you, but he better be illiterate 'cause you wouldn't want him knowing what news stories you're interested in. See the problem there, bright boys and girls? And why are you making a fuss over this when there's other things going on with Google of actual import? Such as the Chinese dissident just thrown in jail because of Yahoo's collusion with authorities for commercial gain. Everyone knows Google just made a deal to go into China. Don't you think that's more worthy of your attention?
• Uh guys... if every company which introduced a product which you personally did not want to use, was then automatically classified as evil, would there be a "good" company left in this world? Every single one of us out here has enough personal information out there on the network to destroy our lives for years... And the companies who hold it have no obligation to us and virtually no government regulation of their use of it... but you're flipping out because a few people can save their book reports on google's servers? Get a grip. Seriously.
• Uh guys... if every company which introduced a product which you personally did not want to use, was then automatically classified as evil, would there be a "good" company left in this world? Every single one of us here has enough personal information out there on the network to destroy our lives for years... And the companies who hold it have no obligation to us and virtually no government regulation of their use of it... but you're flipping out because a few people can save their book reports on google's servers? Get a grip. Seriously.
• What InnocentBystander said.
• Well, alrighty.
• Too late, Gram ma! You've already thought about it **makes note to purchase clean rubber gloves and gallon of bleach** **rummages around thread picking up screwdrivers**

• > A company that I recently worked for ... had us all sign a confidentiality agreement that said ... that we would not store company information on non-company data stores.

  this is the most important issue, imo. lots of people use google desktop at work; lots of people will not configure it beyond the default; ergo, lots of company data will be stored on google servers. inevitably, some google accounts will be hacked, exposing this data. if i was running an IT department, i'd either ban google desktop or force a specific configuration on all company users.
• I just mixed up a screwdriver, Gram ma!
• tagline?
• If you insist... Monkeyfilter: tagline?
• *High-fives Alnedra!!*