discuss Yes, it's Google

decades80 said:

I am not using anymore Chrome, they track every search I make and profile all of their users

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Yes, indeed... And Chromium browser, which is supposed to be ungoogled opensource, is no better.
However, some chromium-based browsers pay attention to what users want. Such as Brave browser (brave.com):

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-Chromium-(features-we-disable-or-remove)

tonyk2000 said:

Yes, indeed... And Chromium browser, which is supposed to be ungoogled opensource, is no better.
However, some chromium-based browsers pay attention to what users want. Such as Brave browser (brave.com):

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Deviations-from-Chromium-(features-we-disable-or-remove)

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I like it also for fun, I can get free BAT tokens when browsing and donate them to crypto sites I visit. I have the link in my signature to the browser download. The history of search never leaves your browser, ever. And if you are using it mobile, they claim you save yourself almost 20 USD of unnecessary data transfer per month. It blocks majority of pop ups and all the ads and malicious downloads.

They also give free BAT coins to publishers. I am promoting it about 40 days on Namepros and already got 150 instalations. Its 5 bucks worth of BAT per each, but they are free so I dont mind

As for phones... Based on my recent researches:

1. This phone from Matrix 1
is now available. Are we really in the matrix or not is another issue, better to discuss it in epik-related threads in general chat In any case, it is called "Nokia 8110 4g" and is available in EU, works fine with all EU frequencies (some US frequencies are also supported) and it is also possibe to enable worldwide 4g frequencies through an easy "hack". NO ANDROID (thanks goodness). It has 4g, internet sharing, browsing and the like. Not an old "feature phone". Opensource OS from www.gerda.tech can be installed. It works - confirmed (by myself).

2. Punkt MP02 4g mobile phone
https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp02-4g-mobile-phone/
Pure android without google. Extra security features from Blackberry ecosystem. Was sold out in a week or so after the release (not a surpirse), but one still can preorder it right now.

3. To be released in Q3 2019:
Librem 5 linux-based smartphone. No google at all.
https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

Many people feel this way about Google. Im currently trying to get rid of my Chromebook and go back to a Windows laptop.

decades80 said:

I am using blockchain private browser

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Which one?

Brave, the link is in my signature.

tonyk2000 said:

As for phones... Based on my recent researches:

1. This phone from Matrix 1

is now available. Are we really in the matrix or not is another issue, better to discuss it in epik-related threads in general chat In any case, it is called "Nokia 8110 4g" and is available in EU, works fine with all EU frequencies (some US frequencies are also supported) and it is also possibe to enable worldwide 4g frequencies through an easy "hack". NO ANDROID (thanks goodness). It has 4g, internet sharing, browsing and the like. Not an old "feature phone". Opensource OS from www.gerda.tech can be installed. It works - confirmed (by myself).

2. Punkt MP02 4g mobile phone
https://www.punkt.ch/en/products/mp02-4g-mobile-phone/
Pure android without google. Extra security features from Blackberry ecosystem. Was sold out in a week or so after the release (not a surpirse), but one still can preorder it right now.

3. To be released in Q3 2019:
Librem 5 linux-based smartphone. No google at all.
https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/

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It seems that your post is suggesting a Google/Android alternative, while posting a YouTube link. Ironic.

I know someone who hates Google and how they track you... but they use Google to translate their voicemails and text it to them.

Bernard Wright said:

It seems that your post is suggesting a Google/Android alternative, while posting a YouTube link. Ironic.

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Yeah As a part of a normal browsing with appropriate settings - it is usable, why not. By appropriate settings I mean making youtube as close as possible to a "file storage": adblocking, not being logged in to google, etc.
Alternatives for videos to become completely ungoogled? Vimeo maybe.

Bernard Wright said:

It seems that your post is suggesting a Google/Android alternative, while posting a YouTube link. Ironic.

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YouTube ain't that effective in snooping like Google Browser and Gmail

mAd MaX said:

YouTube ain't that effective in snooping like Google Browser and Gmail

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No matter of political spectrum, a lot of people find the idea, that BIG G and FB know you more than you know yourself a bit disturbing. BRAVE doesnt track your behavior and under no circumstances build a psychological profile. Furthermore you will save tens of dollars per month for data transfer on your (smart)phone. Its blocking downloads of unnecessary ads, widgets... And if you use free streaming sites, it will save you a lot of time for closing those annoying pop ups.

mAd MaX said:

tell me a mobile handset doesn't come with Android preinstalled ?

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Apple iPhone

mAd MaX said:

Was talking about open market handsets

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What's a market handset? Why doesn't Apple qualify as a market handset?

NameDeck said:

Who isn't using Google's DNS resolvers these days? Imagine what they potentially can do by filtering traffic...

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OK. you peaked my interest please tell me more or provide a link.

decades80 said:

I am not using anymore Chrome, they track every search I make and profile all of their users. I am using blockchain private browser instead which is 3 times faster 10 times more private and blocks all the ads on Youtube and other websites. It has already 30 million+ instalations and stil growing rapidly.

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Name. Please.

Brave Browser, its basically from BAT project (Basic Attention Token ) you can download it from this link :
https://brave.com/BTY331

Sounds great.

Per Wikipedia.org: "Brave is a free and open-source web browser developed by Brave Software Inc. based on the Chrome web browser. The browser blocks ads and website trackers. In a future version of the browser, the company has proposed adopting a pay-to-surf business model."

stub said:

What's a market handset? Why doesn't Apple qualify as a market handset?

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Open market handsets are free to be fitted with any service operators Sim...unlike iPhone

stub said:

OK. you peaked my interest please tell me more or provide a link.

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Sure. Cloudflare recently launched their public DNS at 1.1.1.1

This link will give you some good info and basic understanding on how it works:
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-1.1.1.1/

I linked this page instead of Google's as they don't get too technical about it so for anyone unfamiliar with the subject it should not be too hard to understand.

Back to Google. They have been offering the same thing for ages: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/

Now, as you can see using a third party DNS resolver in a perfect world speeds things up, is more secure etc. Over time more and more people have started using Google's DNS instead of their ISPs. Now imagination a world where everybody is using them. It does give them a lot of power over the way domains are resolved. We all (well the mass) blindly trusts them so what's to keep them from abusing this power?

It's not the end of the world if they would and It's not an imminent concern of mine cos if they did mess with it it'd be a huge scandal. But didn't we think exactly the same thing about Facebook up untill a couple of years ago?

Taking into consideration they are also invested in the internet's physical infrastructure, are a registrar, and basically 'own' all data in the world you can see that we/they created the ultimate setting for global power over the internet.

That being said, I am typing this from my Android phone and will be using my Chromebook for most of the day but I think it's important to realise (at least) the vast power we are willingly giving to companies like Google.

NameDeck said:

Sure. Cloudflare recently launched their public DNS at 1.1.1.1

This link will give you some good info and basic understanding on how it works:
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-1.1.1.1/

I linked this page instead of Google's as they don't get too technical about it so for anyone unfamiliar with the subject it should not be too hard to understand.

Back to Google. They have been offering the same thing for ages: https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/

Now, as you can see using a third party DNS resolver in a perfect world speeds things up, is more secure etc. Over time more and more people have started using Google's DNS instead of their ISPs. Now imagination a world where everybody is using them. It does give them a lot of power over the way domains are resolved. We all (well the mass) blindly trusts them so what's to keep them from abusing this power?

It's not the end of the world if they would and It's not an imminent concern of mine cos if they did mess with it it'd be a huge scandal. But didn't we think exactly the same thing about Facebook up untill a couple of years ago?

Taking into consideration they are also invested in the internet's physical infrastructure, are a registrar, and basically 'own' all data in the world you can see that we/they created the ultimate setting for global power over the internet.

That being said, I am typing this from my Android phone and will be using my Chromebook for most of the day but I think it's important to realise (at least) the vast power we are willingly giving to companies like Google.

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OK. I've been using their DNS Servers for over a year. It's not that new. I know it feels like new when you read CloudFlare's blurb. I'm not sure exactly when it was introduced. TBH.

mAd MaX said:

Open market handsets are free to be fitted with any service operators Sim...unlike iPhone

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OK. It was you conveniently talking about open market handsets, and ignoring a large chunk of the market in handsets. I'm not saying you are wrong. Your statement would probably still be true if you'd included the whole market in your comparison. Just to be clear.

Earlier in this thread I posted a link to what bloatware exactly Brave removes from Chromium code. This job is definitely not easy and requires a lot of time and efforts. One cannot simply delete a bunch of lines from a complicated code and expect that the result will always compile and work as expected. But Brave team is successful so far. They also have a version for Android, which can be used instead of chrome on a smartphone (sometimes chrome can be also uninstalled even on not rooted phones, through adb shell).

I am typing this from Brave on linux. Works perfectly. The only issue I see with Brave is that built-in adblocker not always works, too many ads are missed, including ads what I actively do not want to see (some stuff promoted by domaining bloggers, for example). So, I ended up with the following: Brave with built-in adblock disabled, and Ublock Origin addon installed. It does not prevent me from whitelisting websites I like if they show appropriate ads selected by a human (a rare combo, unfortunately) as well as from using "brave rewards" system (which I did not yet try).

For an android smartphone, due to similar reasons as well as due to the fact that installed extra apps tend to show ads inside, Brave can serve as the main browser (and should, since it is ungoogled by nature), but with adblocking on system level ( such as by adguard: www.adguard.com )

its true.

mAd MaX said:

It's not about big/small...it's about the algorithm of Google which is a monopoly

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Myself and other friends of mine stopped using the service in February. I have no interest whether they are evil or not. The basics of the search results don't genuinely work

I.e. Want to see highlights from a particular sporting event? Type the same search into bing you'll be amazed.

The algo is overcooked IMO. I found it easy to use waybackwhen now I have a hard time finding what i want to see through SERPs

Somebody will come along and make them redundant, that's what entrepreneurship is all about. I wouldn't worry about all your doom and gloom stories, Google couldn't sell for $750k less than 2 decades ago. That's how fast things can change