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    • Showing only topics with the tag "google". Back to normal view

    12. How important is protecting our data from companies like Google?

      ~tech Ask
      I was a supporter of Andrew Yang while he was running for president. His policies appealed to me a lot. One I supported because it made sense to me; personal data as a property right. I’ve thought...

      I was a supporter of Andrew Yang while he was running for president. His policies appealed to me a lot. One I supported because it made sense to me; personal data as a property right. I’ve thought about it more and I don’t see how a company like Google using my data negatively affects me. What are the negative repercussions I experience when a company uses my information like that? Are there alternatives that would protect my data more that are actually decent? I’d love to receive some explanation for this!

      21 votes

    18. Tildes ReExtended is being taken down from the Chrome Web Store for supposedly breaking its policies

      ~tildes Text 1414 words
      To the few people that are using Tildes ReExtended on Chrome (and the rest that needs yet another reason to despise Google), the extension might get taken down from the Chrome Web Store for...

      To the few people that are using Tildes ReExtended on Chrome (and the rest that needs yet another reason to despise Google), the extension might get taken down from the Chrome Web Store for supposedly violating its Spam & Placement policy. But I'll let CWS Support explain it, since I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about, here are the 2 emails I've received and what I responded with.

      CWS Email 1, received 2020-06-08 10:04

      Dear Developer,

      Your recent publish request for Google Chrome item "Tildes ReExtended" with ID: opjikhnnnagajmhcdglgfbaephgpfjcc was rejected because it did not comply with our policies.

      If you already have a published version of this item on the Chrome Web Store, it has not been affected and is still available.

      Your item did not comply with the following section of our Program Policies:

      "Spam and Placement in the Store"

      • Items should work and provide some functionality upon installation.
      • Items should provide the promised functionality that aligns with the description of the item.

      Please review your item and make necessary changes so that it provides the function/service included in the item’s description.

      Once your item complies with Chrome Web Store policies, you may request re-publication in the Chrome Web Store Developer Dashboard. Your item will be reviewed for policy compliance prior to re-publication.

      If you have any questions about this email, please respond and the Chrome Web Store Developer Support team will follow up with you.

      Important Note:

      Repeated or egregious policy violations in the Chrome Web Store may result in your developer account being suspended or could lead to a ban from using the Chrome Web Store platform.

      This may also result in the suspension of related Google services associated with your Google account.

      Sincerely,

      Chrome Web Store Developer Support

      Developer Terms of Service
      Program Policies
      Branding Guidelines

      © 2020 Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 , USA
      Email Preferences: You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Chrome Web Store developer account.

      Response 1, sent 2020-06-08 15:59

      Hi, I'm a bit confused about how the extension violates those policies, since it satisfies both of the included bullet points.

      Upon installation, there is a set of features that are enabled by default. (Which you can verify for yourself here https://gitlab.com/tildes-community/tildes-reextended/-/blob/master/source/ts/utilities.ts#L36-55). Which addresses the first point.

      And for the second point, the description, which is currently:

      Features include:

      • Dedicated "Back To Top" button.
      • Improved "Jump To New Comments" button.
      • Improved "User Labels" functionality; multiple labels per person, custom colors, priority order.
      • New "Hide Votes" feature.
      • New "Markdown Toolbar" feature.
      • More features to come. https://gitlab.com/tildes-community/tildes-reextended/issues

      Is literally a list of what the extension is capable of...

      I'd also just like to mention, the latest update only contains a breaking bug fix and updated dependencies (compared to the previous update). So I'm confused why the previous version was allowed through and this one isn't, since it's practically the same.

      CWS Email 2, received 2020-06-09 14:53

      Dear Developer,

      We routinely review items in the Chrome Web Store for compliance with our Program policies to ensure a safe and trusted experience for our users. Your item "Tildes ReExtended," with ID: opjikhnnnagajmhcdglgfbaephgpfjcc, is being taken down as it currently does not work or provide any functionality upon installation. Items on the Chrome Web Store should work and provide the promised functionality that aligns with the description of the item.

      Please review your item and make necessary changes so that it provides the function/service included in the item’s description.

      Files/images which are calling in manifest file should be included in the package.

      Once your item complies with Chrome Web Store policies, you may request re-publication in your developer dashboard. Your item will be manually reviewed for policy compliance which typically takes a few business days, prior to re-publication.

      If you have any questions about this item’s removal, you may reply to this email and the Chrome Web Store developer support team will follow up with you.

      Important Note Repeated or egregious policy violations in the Chrome Web Store may result in your developer account being suspended. This may also result in the suspension of related Google services associated with your Google account.

      Thank you for your cooperation,

      Google Chrome Web Store team

      Developer Terms of Service: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/terms

      Program Policies: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/program_policies

      Branding Guidelines: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/branding

      Response 2, sent 2020-06-09 15:12

      Hi again, I guess I'm not talking to a human being but some automated system. But in case I am, I'll just reiterate:

      And for the new "Files/images which are calling in manifest file should be included in the package." part, I just double-checked and everything defined in the manifest is indeed included in the package.

      And also...

      Your item "Tildes ReExtended," with ID: opjikhnnnagajmhcdglgfbaephgpfjcc, is being taken down [...]

      Really? You give me absolutely no meaningful information on what I'm supposedly doing wrong and now the entire extension is being taken down? I guess now I know what Pushbullet felt like. (https://blog.pushbullet.com/2020/05/13/lets-guess-what-google-requires-in-14-days-or-they-kill-our-extension/)

      I guess "providing more actionable rejections" isn't in the works, after all? (https://blog.pushbullet.com/2020/05/15/our-extension-is-safe/)

      Would love to get an actual response... Thanks.

      CWS Email 3, received 2020-06-10 13:41

      Dear Developer,

      We routinely review items in the Chrome Web Store for compliance with our Program policies to ensure a safe and trusted experience for our users. Your item "Tildes ReExtended," with ID: opjikhnnnagajmhcdglgfbaephgpfjcc, is being taken down as it currently does not work or provide any functionality upon installation.

      Items on the Chrome Web Store should work and provide the promised functionality that aligns with the description of the item.

      Ensure that your filename/directory names in the package are not started with underscore (_) as it is not able to load the extension.

      Please review your item and make necessary changes so that it provides the function/service included in the item’s description. Once your item complies with Chrome Web Store policies, you may request re-publication in your developer dashboard. Your item will be manually reviewed for policy compliance which typically takes a few business days, prior to re-publication.

      If you have any questions about this item’s removal, you may reply to this email and the Chrome Web Store developer support team will follow up with you.

      Important Note Repeated or egregious policy violations in the Chrome Web Store may result in your developer account being suspended. This may also result in the suspension of related Google services associated with your Google account.

      Thank you for your cooperation,

      Google Chrome Web Store team

      Developer Terms of Service: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/terms

      Program Policies: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/program_policies

      Branding Guidelines: https://developers.google.com/chrome/web-store/branding

      Now before anyone mentions it, yes I could have worded my response more delicately and in better faith, but I didn't because I can't be bothered spending the time and mental energy on arguing to stay on a platform I don't use nor care much about. If the extension does get removed, I'm sorry if you're one of the 6 users that will get fucked over because of this. My recommendation would be to use Firefox instead, as the newest version there was approved in less than 5 minutes after I submitted it.

      Edit 1: Added the 3rd email I've received. See my comment here for thoughts.

      Edit 2: Everything seems to be sorted now after I fixed a problem, I don't know.

      48 votes

    27. Would you all help walk me through setting up a Google cloud VM instance with NextCloud?

      ~comp Ask
      This is a more refined continuation of this former thread. I'm not very tech savvy which is why I'm asking for a little hand holding. I've chosen Google as the server because I've mucked around...

      This is a more refined continuation of this former thread.

      I'm not very tech savvy which is why I'm asking for a little hand holding.

      I've chosen Google as the server because I've mucked around with it before and feel comfortable with it.

      Could we start with creating the instance and all the options at that first step?

      7 votes

    32. Have you tried degoogling your Android?

      ~tech Ask
      In a pursuit of a more privacy-oriented mobile computing I've installed LineageOS ROM on my phone and decided to try living without Google Play Services, which usually provide aGPS (cell tower...

      In a pursuit of a more privacy-oriented mobile computing I've installed LineageOS ROM on my phone and decided to try living without Google Play Services, which usually provide aGPS (cell tower geopositioning), push notifications and lots of other frameworks like Google Maps that apps use as libraries.

      My phone has 4 primary uses:

      • Communicator - mostly Telegram, WhatsApp and Slack. Email of-course.
      • Navigator - GPS and Maps are an irreplaceable tool if you're living in a modern metropolis
      • Internet browser - obviously
      • Music Player - music on the go

      So let's see how you're supposed to tackle each of the uses, while using as much FOSS as possible.

      1. System functionality - both push notifications and aGPS can be solved by microG - fake Google Play Services library. Not sure how it implements push, but aGPS is checked against Mozilla's geolocation database.
      2. Communications - Telegram is available on F-Droid (OSS app store), but everything else is not. The solution here is to use Aurora (Play Store front-end to rip APKs) and install them manually. Push notifications might be broken even with microG (WhatsApp is missing notifications for me, sometimes). AOSP email is fine, K9-mail is ugly but works somewhat better.
      3. Maps and navigation: OpenStreetMap is the obvious choice here and OsmAnd delivers the frontend. It has enough metadata for businesses to get you around, but compared to Google Maps it's can be sometimes lacking and/or out-of-date. Navigation itself is decent, but it's missing timetables for public transportation compared to GMaps, which can be a problem, especially if trains are cancelled or delayed. Overall it's very usable, almost feature complete, but I've found myself falling back to Google Maps in my browser when it comes to using public transport.
      4. Internet browser - Firefox, with uBlock Origin installed (yes, it works on Android) it's really good.
      5. Music Player - there are tons of music players available on F-Droid, you can pick whichever suits your needs. Here I actually stepped away from the FOSS and bought myself a PowerAMP license on developer's website. One of the rare moments where paid Android software is available outside of Play Store.

      Now that the primary use cases are solved, let's try some other useful apps:

      • E-banking? Broken without Google Play, app refuses to even start properly.
      • Bike sharing? Taxi app? Public transport app? Broken without Google Maps libraries for the obvious reason. You might or might not be able to use the browser version, depending on the app.
      • Reddit Relay/any app that requires the license? Okay you've ripped the APK with Aurora, but you can't buy the license to remove the ads.
      • Ebook reader? Nothing good on F-Droid, have to rip something off Aurora.

      Basically you have to be prepared to use your mobile browser a lot. And for some of the sites, do it in a "desktop mode" with tiny text, since the mobile version will just nag you to download the app, that might be broken.

      The takeaway is simple - you give up A LOT of convenience just to cut off Google analytics (which you still might get with apps like Slack). It's certainly usable, don't get me wrong, but I still feel kind of stupid fumbling with OsmAnd when I'm out with my friends and trying to look something up. I'll probably end up going back to the stock ROM, or just installing the Google Apps. For me it was an experiment and I think I've got a general feel on how much information and use I'm actually getting out of GApps.

      So Tildes, have you tried degoogling your phone? How did it go? Are you still using it?

      28 votes

    38. Stadia game suggestions?

      ~games Ask (recommendations)
      We don’t have a console and I’m a full time Linux user so gaming hasn’t been the best of experiences for me. Today a Chromecast Ultra and two controllers arrived on our doorstep that my wife...

      We don’t have a console and I’m a full time Linux user so gaming hasn’t been the best of experiences for me.

      Today a Chromecast Ultra and two controllers arrived on our doorstep that my wife apparently ordered and wow is it awesome.

      Zero input lag, 1080p with the option to go 4K, and some solid options for games that are playable instantly.

      So far we have The Division 2, Grid, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Destiny 2, Monopoly, and a couple other indie games. There are some big titles coming - I’m most excited for FIFA and Madden - but I’m looking to find out if you guys have any suggestions for games.

      We are looking for some fun two player action.

      Also, if anyone else on here has Stadia, I’ll add you!

      13 votes