Hate being stalked by Facebook? Why not try Google+ stalking

Google is fattening up its single sign-in feature that was opened up to mobile and web apps in February. This is the feature that allows netizens to use their Google+ usernames and passwords to log into accounts on third-party systems. The web giant said developers who use "social infrastructure platforms" Janrain and Gigya - …

[jake]

Me, personally, I shun the advertising moguls ...

... by dropping their IP addresses on the floor at the border routers (RADIUS in some cases).

We didn't build this thing in order to become objects to be bought & sold, we built it to study networking, and to a smaller extent sociology. I know what this network is for, and the marketards can't have it! I suggest aggressive blocking of any & all advertising ... and I practice what I preach.

[Destroy All Monsters]

Re: Me, personally, I shun the advertising moguls ...

Actually, I think it was a spinoff of research in building nuke-resistant networks, so that the glitterati could continue to talk about cats falling down stairs while the rubes were being transformed into shadows on wall...

[jake]

@DAM (was: Re: Me, personally, I shun the advertising moguls ...)

"Actually, I think it was a spinoff of research in building nuke-resistant networks, so that the glitterati could continue to talk about cats falling down stairs while the rubes were being transformed into shadows on wall..."

Nope. It was a research network designed to research networking. Still is, marketards notwithstanding.

The "nuke resistant" bit wasn't a part of what we were thinking, or doing. Still isn't. For one thing, do you know what a nuke-generated EMP is? Remember the WTC attack? I had gear on top of both towers, and in the basements of both (and at Sun, on floors 25 and 26 WTC2). The entire Internet infrastructure rang like a bell for a couple days as the equipment (tried to) automatically figure out new routes. It didn't work.

A couple dogs I had trained were involved in the search and rescue effort, but the authorities decided my techie skills were more important than my dog handling skills ... a couple dozen of us were awake for about a week, cat-napping occasionally, rebuilding the logical infrastructure manually.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Me, personally, I shun the advertising moguls ...

Freetard

[jake]

@AC11:22 (was: Re: Me, personally, I shun the advertising moguls ...)

"Freetard"

You say that like it's a bad thing ... Do you actually have issues with me freely contributing software that works to the world at large, for the simple reason that I choose to do so?

Why? Serious question.

[Anonymous Coward]

Facebook, google+, the gubermint...

Its getting quite difficult to keep hidden on the internet.

Its also getting quite difficult to avoid the corporate dung that is flung at users everyday.

By not using (or at least in a minimal capacity) you may have some control of your on/off line presence...

The cat and mouse antics are set to continue.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Facebook, google+, the gubermint...

You're doing it wrong.

Embrace the fact that they are collecting data about you, and feed them the most heinous bullshit you can get away with on the clean side of the law. Data pollution is *much* more fun than hiding in a corner, hoping they don't find you.

They can have my data - but what of it is real?

I especially love websites that insist on having my phone number and address. I have the details of the Information Commissioner's office next to my screen - just imagining what will happen when they start using that is entertaining..

Don't get mad - get even. Far less stressful, and fun to boot.

[Don Jefe]

Re: Facebook, google+, the gubermint...

Agreed! It is much more fun!

I wish more people did it though. I'm afraid the majority if people give "them" exactly the info they are looking for.

[Gav]

Re: Facebook, google+, the gubermint...

You do realise your data pollution tactic doesn't work when you post as a Anonymous Coward?

And I *am* the Information Commissioner (as far as you know, sometimes, prove me wrong), so quit doing that!

[jake]

@Gav (was: Re: Facebook, google+, the gubermint...)

"You do realise your data pollution tactic doesn't work when you post as a Anonymous Coward?"

Posting on ElReg ain't exactly "world at large", Gav.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Facebook, google+, the gubermint...

Yeah, i do partake in "statistical anomolies" and i have a very great deal of fun doing so.

But, for things like online banking and shopping, i have no choice to use real details.....

Anything else though is fair game for messing up...

[frank ly]

Riiiiiigt ......

...., because I want every marketard in the world to know my Google identity and Gmail address.

[g e]

Barren wasteland?

If by Farcebook's 'seething' you mean 'having to filter 95% of the shit that spams your feed' then yeah G+ is definitely barren.

In a way I personally like very much indeed.

[Mystic Megabyte]

Argh!

I've just been to the dashboard https://www.google.com/dashboard

It says that I'm linked to seven million sites. WTF is that about?

Google is beginning to piss me off big time. I don't want to part of + or anything else.

I use Ghostery, ABP, Better Privacy and RefControl, if a site does not want to play nicely I go elsewhere.

[Badvok]

Re: Argh!

"Google is beginning to piss me off big time. I don't want to part of + or anything else."

One wonders why you would have a Google account in that case.

[Mystic Megabyte]

Re: Argh!

because my web-site was getting too much spam I forward it all to a gmail account.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Badvok - Re: Argh!

Because in order to use Gmail, Google is forcing you to have an account which will then be used on all Google real estate whether you like it or not. I was disgusted and enraged when I discovered one day that after opening Gmail in one tab of my browser and going to YouTube in another one, Google had helpfully set up an YouTube account for me and automatically signed me in. Starting that very moment, Gmail has always been opened in a private tab on a standalone portable version of Opera browser, separate of the rest of my Internet browsing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why Google wants you to have an account.

There is only one reason, and one reason alone why Google wants you to have an account. By having an account, you have given Google legally permission to gather data on you (well, sort of, their process for getting your permission to access your personal data is in breach of EU rules, but let's skip that for now).

Until you sign up, you have been an ID that ties together various events, gathered via Google Ads, recorded searches and the Google fonts API which gathers data from practically every website template on the planet (try finding a Wordpress template, for instance, that does NOT use it). After you sign up, you have given them permission to stick your name on it the moment they work that out, and they will.

Why do you think they're lobbying like crazy to prevent users to gain the right to be forgotten in Europe?

[Steve78]

Re: Argh!

What do you have to hide to go all that effort to remain "off the radar" so to speak?

[adnim]

I will keep on

using a as many different names and as many different email addresses as is required to access those sites that I have to use log on credentials for. I will never connect one account to another. Cookie Monster, AdBlock, refcontrol and NoScript do the rest.

[Anonymous Coward]

Community net

Time for a local mesh separate to the internet(?)

I've thought for a while I'd love to have some non advertising and spam driven network I could dip into for local knowledge and exchange. I don't wan't to set a Facebook group up for "A street, Ashire" I just want to be able to ask "why were the police raiding No. 234 yesterday" and get back some messages connecting me with local knowledge and maybe even alert me to the spate of breaks in's round the area. People are spending more time online and less in the garden/road/park (at least if this year is anything to go by) so we are not connecting at a community level like we would have before cars and Daily Mail panics.

There is a good reason for groups connecting and sharing, for me that is not to get better focused spam or political profiling. Humanity is not facebook, google+ or any other service we are a race on a planet swiftly embracing marketing as the third partner in all exchanges, that's not healthy in my opinion.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Community net

The problem with that system is all you'll get are rumours and Chinese whispers from self-important gossip merchants.

The Police already have a searchable site that shows types of crimes and numbers in a particular area here:

http://www.police.uk/crime/?q=Fleet Street, London, UK#crimetypes/2013-02

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Community net

I know about that site but it doesn't let you know why arrests were made within fifty feet of your house if it doesn't result in further action, in fact it's quite short on information if you are actually on the ground. I've seen loads of suspicious activities and gradually worked out a few things but according to that site it's all good.

I don't know the solution but our current social isolation is not exactly short on whispers and group misunderstandings. This is the same country where a paediatrician was attacked isn't it? I would hope if we actually talked to each other we'd have at least one person with enough sense to say "wait that's not the word you are thinking of.

[I Like Heckling]

Tired of the G+ barren wasteland bullsh*t

Let's get one thing straight... G+ is not barren, it's not a wasteland... it's the fastest growing social platform at the moment and has achieved far more than facebook had in the same amount of time. It's grown to about 50% of the size of FB and has a higher number of active daily users (people spend more time on G+ than they do on fb).

On G+ you are not bombarded with ads, the look is cleaner and easier to manage... and it doesn't require you to friend everyone. I've got several thousand people following me, and less than 500 that I follow... In that regard it's like twitter.

But what's different about G+ is that it's more about creating new connections instead of trying to reconnect with old ones that you probably lost touch with for a reason. It's about content creation and sharing.

It's obvious to anyone who has taken the time to actually use G+ and discover it's merits... but instead you still get sloppy attempts at journalism that can only regurgitate tired and inaccurate bullsh*t that was only true when it launched.

I've made so many new friends n G+, some of them i've met in real life and others I plan on travelling half around the world to meet at some point.

The killer app for G+ is the hangouts... up to 10 people at a time video chatting and having fun. In almost 2yrs using the site (I joined in beta in July 2011) I have met some amazing people, I'm now friends with people who are celebrities in their fields... beit tv, music and the arts. I've become friends with scientists, chemists, biologists. The people I've become closest too have been the ones I've met through hangouts.

So please stop suggesting G+ is barren, a wasteland, a ghost town... You will get out of it what you put in... and the problem is that most people are too lazy to put in the effort and discover how much better than fb it really is.

If you needed any indication of how worried fb is about G+... you only need to look at the changes they made in the last 12 months to copy features from G+, they're even starting to copy layout ideas too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Tired of the G+ barren wasteland bullsh*t

Man, you are so good at PR & Marketing speak. Here's an upvote for your skills! As for G+, I'd rather stick to my opinion.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Tired of the G+ barren wasteland bullsh*t

Let's get one thing straight... G+ is not barren, it's not a wasteland... it's the fastest growing social platform at the moment

Of course it's the fastest growing. If you only have one user, adding one is a 100% net gain.

"How to use statistics", Microsoft Press, 1980 or so.