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Get on The Evil List: Which tech companies are doing the most harm?[^]
I mean, if you can't beat them, join them.
All these companies didn't get big for nothing.
And their CEO's are among the richest people on earth.
Clearly, it pays to be evil 
That said, I'll still continue to use 2, 3, 7 and 15 on the list.
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You'll probably be using No. 27, as well. 
I use Nos. 1, 3, 7, 15, and 27 on the list.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Never heard of them, sounds like something from a dystopian sci-fi movie.
I'm not from the USA so I'm probably not using it 
Amazon isn't big in the Netherlands because it has been absent for a long time.
I recently ordered something on Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk, but that's a coincidence.
Us Dutch get our stuff from bol.com
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Sander Rossel wrote: Never heard of them, sounds like something from a dystopian sci-fi movie.
I assume that in the Netherlands you use bicycle and/or windmill power (or possibly - Leyden jars  )
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: windmill power
LOTS!
Daniel Pfeffer wrote: or possibly - Leyden jars
Never heard of them 
Daniel Pfeffer wrote: bicycle
Also lots, but not to power our houses
Unfortunately, our government decided to use lots of "green" bio mass which turned out to be not so green
Of course there were reports about this before they started using it, but the government ignored that and now they can't go back.
If the government was a company they'd be at the top of the evil list, then there would be a lot of nothing, then some more nothing, and then the list as it is now.
On the other hand, don't attribute to malice that which can simply be explained by stupidity.
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Hoist by their own petard: Numbers 8 and 2 are prominently linked right at the top of the article...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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And on the bottom as well.
Perhaps the most evil thing about these companies is that it's hard to do without, or perhaps that's what made them evil in the first place.
I could do without 8 and 2, but lots of companies obviously can't.
But can you imagine a modern life without Google? 
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I don't use 2 or 8, never have done. But without google, you're left with Bong* - and MS is on their list as well ...
* yes, yes - I know of Duck Duck Go and such like, but I remember how they introduced themselves - by adding toolbar after toolbar to browsers until you had more tools than browsing window...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: * yes, yes - I know of Duck Duck Go and such like, but I remember how they introduced themselves - by adding toolbar after toolbar to browsers until you had more tools than browsing window...
You mean like this one?[^]
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I don't see one from DDG there -- AFAIK, they don't even produce one.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Sander Rossel wrote: can you imagine a modern life without Google?
I have android phones, but I also have google blocked, both on the phones and on my computers.
It's extremely easy to live without google.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: I have android phones
Mark_Wallace wrote: I also have google blocked
If you have an android phone, are they not tracking you already? Unless you remove all Google apps and revert to stock OS.
"It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[ ^]
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Exactly, block apps all you want, but there's nothing you can do, on the phone itself, about the underlying OS.
Block all inbound/outbound connections to all Google properties at the router, then I'll believe claims about "living without Google".
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I have used custom ROMs earlier and I found Cyanogenmod (now Lineage OS) to be quite good. That way I know Google is not tracking me. Someone else from that community of devs is.
"It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[ ^]
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Ahhh, that's quite the important detail to leave out.
Yeah, I remember tinkering with Cyanogenmod with my oldest tablet (Android 2.1 (!!!) I think) and being rather intrigued. The manufacturers for my "newer" tablets have made more of an effort to lock them down however, and I hadn't had much luck with it since or with LineageOS - not that I've tried very hard. Are Android 4.3/4.4, and 6.0-based tablets now too old for anyone part of the Lineage project to bother supporting?
Heck, I almost had Xubuntu installed on my HP Stream 7 tablet - I can walk through the entire installation process (mouse, keyboard fully supported), but it refuses to do much of anything past the first reboot.
I'm all in favor of giving old hardware new purposes. I haven't managed to replace Android 4.3 on my second-oldest tablet, but at least I make use of it daily - displaying the real-time bandwidth usage page from my router.
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dandy72 wrote: The manufacturers for my "newer" tablets have made more of an effort to lock them down
I used a Xiaomi phone for some time. It was loaded with bloatware with a couple of apps/services which you would not be able to see unless you really dig in. I discovered those are to provide targeted ads and decided to get rid of their MIUI. Since they had locked down unlocking, rooting etc. It took me a while to find how to remove the OS. It turned out I had to download a desktop application provided by them and then request from there. Then they will reply over email or something and then I could do what I want. Finally, I did manage to get LineageOS on it and then everything was great except that I missed the camera application they had. Luckily I had backed up everything so I could get parts of MIUI camera working on this custom OS. Realizing this is too much work, I sold that phone and got myself a shiny new Pixel 2 XL (sold my soul). It was very expensive phone but, I bought it a week after Pixel 3/3 XL were released so shops had leftover 2/2 XLs which they gave away with massive discounts. They did try to up-sell but I had checked and could not find anything new in 3/3XL that would interest me.
dandy72 wrote: Are Android 4.3/4.4, and 6.0-based tablets now too old for anyone part of the Lineage project to bother supporting?
Probably. Since demise of Cyanogenmod, the group working to keep the OS alive has become really small. So they might be focusing on what is most used. It is simply my guess.
dandy72 wrote: I'm all in favor of giving old hardware new purposes. I haven't managed to replace Android 4.3 on my second-oldest tablet, but at least I make use of it daily - displaying the real-time bandwidth usage page from my router
Nice. I had a phone earlier with broken screen. I used it as dash cam on the car. I could not use standard camera video for it though. I found an app called AutoGuard which was neat.
"It is easy to decipher extraterrestrial signals after deciphering Javascript and VB6 themselves.", ISanti[ ^]
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Capitalism evil. Uggh 
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Every -ism is evil when taken to the extreme.
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Jörgen Andersson wrote: Every -ism is evil when taken to the extreme.
Chocolatism is not.  But then again, there is no extreme with chocolate.
Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other.
Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it.
Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.
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Jörgen Andersson wrote: Every -ism is evil when taken to the extreme.
Orga...no, that's not how you spell it...
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And it also ain't evil.
Except for certain priests.
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I saw from this mornings mail out yet another statement of the obvious regarding phone spyware - this time MSpy. There may be others on the list like Spyera or spyfone but I got bored reading it.
"Its to allow parents / employers monitor authorized devices but really its for spying on your partner".
No one ever talks about these things being used for theft.
Consider this, you are on your expensive new phone in a built up area and some low-life snatches it and cycles off.
But as soon as you report the loss to the police, your luck is in - some honest soul has found it and returned it still in pristine condition.
What you don't realize is that since it was snatched unlocked, our low-life was able to get spyware onto it then hand it in to a police station and now just has to sit back, monitor it, capture your bank details, home details and anything else they wish...
Same probably goes for cheap phone deals from online auction sites.
Ger
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ummm, if I know someone else has had my equipment for any length of time,
even a friend (not saying they did it on purpose, perhaps went to the wrong site etc)
I'll scan it, and if still not comfortable (been with a stranger) reformat/reset it to factory.
likewise for the wifes gear. (yes I'll fully check out for instance her work laptop/tablet if her own office IT department has 'installed' something or 'updated the work apps' etc on it for her.)
I'm very pragmatic about this: viruses, trojans, spyware, ransomeware etc. are designed with the gullible and stupid in mind, and that business is booming.
after many otherwise intelligent sounding suggestions that achieved nothing the nice folks at Technet said the only solution was to low level format my hard disk then reinstall my signature. Sadly, this still didn't fix the issue!
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Just sort your phone's drawer by install date, and check it after anyone else has had possession of it.
And install a firewall (if your phone isn't rooted, use something like No-root Firewall[^])
All good security needs, after all, is a modicum of common sense.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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