perplexity.ai for search. TRY IT.
Firefox with uBlock origin for a browser with ad blocking. Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Youtube without ads.
Chrome is a google product.
perplexity.ai for search. TRY IT.
Firefox with uBlock origin for a browser with ad blocking. Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Youtube without ads.
Chrome is a google product.
Kagi or DDG for search.
Proton for email.
Get a router, or set up a pi-hole, that will allow you to switch DNS servers and switch it to either CloudFlare (1.1.1.1) or Quad 9 (9.9.9.9)
Grab a used office PC and set up a private NextCloud instance. That will allow you to get away from most Google services like Photos, Calendar, etc. You can swap your mail to here, too if you buy a domain name and forwarding service. Use an application like SyncThing to automatically move the data off the phone and onto the server.
None of it is too far down a rabbit hole, but it requires a bit of a technical bent.
Browser wise, FireFox with the following addons allows you to control your information quite a bit better:
CrustyRedXpress said:porschenut said:Why the hate for these guys?
Because a lot of us are tired of tech bro billionaires getting wealthy while making all of us worse off.
Resistance is never futile.
From what I have seen over the last 30 years is just one tech bro generation after another doing the same thing. Find software bug(s)? That means we can have a next generation and charge money to fix our mistakes. Now I own tech index funds and share the money. Not as much but enough. In a different industry, **** jacked up my insurance rates last year more than I like to see. Of course it was due to "increased costs". I looked up their stock and found that the increase was twice the percentage of the increase.
In reply to The0retical :
Using the multi account container plugin negates the need for the Facebook container. I use that to lock several of the big 5 into their own containers which seems to reduce the tracking somewhat.
I walked into this thinking this was about divesting from companies like Blackstone, Boeing, Lockheed, airchina. ect... ect.. Definitely misread.
Just a FYI if you shop at whole foods they are owned by Amazon. I had a farm share for 5 years, I would recieve fruit and vegtables for 5 months, I learned how to ferment and try new veggies. I am looking for one now, if I had a additional freezer I would buy a cow or pig.
porschenut said:Why the hate for these guys? Amazon to me is very useful, the returns process cannot be beat. I compare pricing on most stuff and after paying shipping Amazon usually wins. Facebook marketplace has passed CL for results, and I just ignore everything else. If you object to them making money from your information buy some of their stock. Then you too will share in the profits.
Resistance is futile.
That return policy from Amazon is one of the biggest problems. If you buy something from them, there's a non-zero chance you'll get a returned item that's used, damaged or just plain fraudulent. A friend of mine runs a small business selling kitty litter trays through Amazon and sent me some of his products to try out - they came from the return bin. One was used (yes, a used catbox), one was a competitor's product reboxed in his box and one was something totally different thrown in the box. Or maybe you'll get a low quality counterfeit product. The way Amazon bins like products means that if one of the vendors for a product sends them some counterfeit, they will send it out for any vendor selling the same thing using FBA.
Also, this "no questions asked" return policy has trained consumers to act the same way with other vendors. They'll buy something and then return it because they didn't think about their purchase. This costs money for the vendor in employee time if not in shipping. Guess where that money comes from? For myself, I almost always find the same products for sale elsewhere for less than Amazon charges - with shipping. Especially if it's cheap random Chinese crap, you can get that from Aliexpress just like the original vendor. Real brands will sell direct for less or the same price.
I've moved on from a Pihole, I now use nextdns.io. The advantage is that my phone and laptop are still protected even when I'm not at home. $20/year is well worth it and it's crazy easy to set up. I have all FB domains blocked.
The nice thing about DNS level blocking is that it speeds up the web and helps protect you against malware and phishing and the like. I also block anything on a .ru domain because there's nothing worthwhile to be found there.
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