im so sick

[Rare Bird]

..

[walpurgis]

Wot's up Andr'e.

I find Google OK. I used to use Altavista for searches quite a lot, but it's now defunct!

[Frankyc2003]

What p****s you off about Google?

Their stupidly expensive new headquarters off Tottenham Ct Rd?
Their annoying smugness?
Their Web browser Chrome?
Their weird and almost unusable pair of interactive glasses?
Shall I carry on?

[Rothchild]

http://how-to.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_block_your_browser_from_sending_information _to_Google_Analytics

Simply also add

www.google.com

And any of their other properties you'd like to have nothing to do with and magic, a google free internet experience.

It still wierds me out when I go on the internet on a computer that's not mine and realise it's covered in adverts!

Also, I recommend Ghostery and Script Block as a means to a faster, cleaner and generally more plesant internet experience.

[Macca]

I never really notice the ads. Doesn't bother me at all. It is interesting that they tailor them for you using cookies, though. There was a bloke on the Telegraph website who came on the comments slagging off the Telegraph. Of course he didn't realise that 99% of the commentators there regard the Telegraph as being left wing and complicit so he was preaching to the choir, really. Then he started going on about the ads, saying it was typical of the Telegraph demographic that they should be flogging SAGA insurance and incontinence solutions. He stopped when someone pointed out that everyone got different ads and they were ads aimed at him specifically.

I seem to get a lot of ads advertising Ukrainian women. I wasn't interested initially but over time I find I am tempted to try one on sale or return...

[NRG]

Don't like Google, then you need to https://duckduckgo.com :)

[walpurgis]

I never really notice the ads. It is interesting that they tailor them for you using cookies, though.

I seem to get a lot of ads advertising Ukrainian women. I wasn't interested initially but over time I find I am tempted to try one on sale or return...

I 'de-cookie' my PC about once every three days. I can't stand clutter on it and get rid of all temporary files regularly.

As for the Ukrainian women, they are like the 'Thai brides'. as long as you have a decent cash flow you'll be OK. When their spending ability (of your dosh) fizzles out, they're off! :eyebrows:

[synsei]

I'm so sick....of ferkin Google
please discuss

On the whole I am comfortable with Google's search engine and browser, however one thing that really hacks me off about the company is that they give us really useful tools to play with and then....WHAM!!!...snatch them away again.

Example: iGoogle

Basically, for those who don't know, iGoogle is a personal homepage which you can customise in various ways. It has a library of really useful widgets which can be added to the page, such as currency converters, news feeds, maps, measurement converters etc, etc, etc. In four days however Google will stop support for iGoogle and it will cease to be. Pfft!!!

For those who do use iGoogle there is a chink of light, igHome.com (http://www.ighome.com/) is basically the same thing, although not quite as pretty and with a far smaller widget library. It'll do though Pig, it'll do... ;)

[Macca]

. When their spending ability (of your dosh) fizzles out, they're off! :eyebrows:

You realy think that my sheer animal magnetism would not be enough to keep them, even if living a life of grinding poverty on a council estate just west of Grimsby? I'll reconsider then.

[walpurgis]

For those of you who like the usability of Google's 'Chrome' browser, but don't like the invasive and overseeing nature of it, try Torch or (even better) Comodo Dragon browsers, as they are Chrome derived and work just as well, but have none of the Google 'Chrome' surveillance habits.

[struth]

I use dragon a lot. very secure.....it is my back up behind opera.

[walpurgis]

You realy think that my sheer animal magnetism would not be enough to keep them, even if living a life of grinding poverty on a council estate just west of Grimsby? I'll reconsider then.

I wish I could afford to live on a council estate by Grimsby. I'd be there like a shot! (not joking, you should see the state of where I live. it's no coincidence that Southall rhymes with Shithole)

As for your animal magnetism Martin, I think you may have something..............but I wouldn't want to catch it! ;)

[synsei]

For those of you who like the usability of Google's 'Chrome' browser, but don't like the invasive and overseeing nature of it, try Torch or (even better) Comodo Dragon browsers, as they are Chrome derived and work just as well, but have none of the Google 'Chrome' surveillance habits.

I've had a few but rather annoying problems with Dragon so I am back with Chrome, which now seems to be behaving itself...

[Rothchild]

I 'de-cookie' my PC about once every three days. I can't stand clutter on it and get rid of all temporary files regularly.

You know you can set your browser to delete cookies at the end of each session? Saves you a 3 day deletion routine.

Cookies are only one mechanism that's used for surveilance, sorry 'targeted marketing'. Google analytics is just the brand leader for embedable scripts that snag your browser string and IP and use it to id you. Big data is now so much more advanced than cookie tracking. Someone else mentioned the Telegraph, they're absolutely mad for it, add Ghostery to your browswer and click through to the Tele, they have around 35 scripts running on each of their pages for different 'behavioural insight', marketing and ad delivery tools. Not only does a good hosts file (and ad / script blocking software) make the net easier to navigate it makes it faster too because that's a whole bunch of crap that you don't have to download with every page.

[Gordon Steadman]

You know you can set your browser to delete cookies at the end of each session? Saves you a 3 day deletion routine.

Cookies are only one mechanism that's used for surveilance, sorry 'targeted marketing'. Google analytics is just the brand leader for embedable scripts that snag your browser string and IP and use it to id you. Big data is now so much more advanced than cookie tracking. Someone else mentioned the Telegraph, they're absolutely mad for it, add Ghostery to your browswer and click through to the Tele, they have around 35 scripts running on each of their pages for different 'behavioural insight', marketing and ad delivery tools. Not only does a good hosts file (and ad / script blocking software) make the net easier to navigate it makes it faster too because that's a whole bunch of crap that you don't have to download with every page.

Quite so. I assume the PC is the same as the Mac for this. With any machine, its a matter of finding out how they work. Some would probably find it a pain but I have mine set to ask about every cookie that is attempted. I can then see what is being tried but can also decide at what level to accept or deny them. Apart from a few regular pages, I always say allow for session only or deny. My cookie list is only about twenty items.

[Rothchild]

All the browser based tools should work the same on a mac (of course depending what browser you're using!)

The hosts file on a mac is in the same place as in linux, so /etc/hosts you'll need admin rights to edit it.

One of my setup tweaks on a new box is to add these guy's list to my hosts file: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm it's better than deleting cookies at the end of a session as it just doesn't allow them to be downloaded in the first place.

[walpurgis]

You know you can set your browser to delete cookies at the end of each session? Saves you a 3 day deletion routine.



Yes I know, but I like the 'hands on' approach with my PC (probably why I keep buggering things up --- but you don't learn unless you try), anyway I often go through the cookies to see what's been arriving.