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An Antidote to Corporate Media
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Dan8267
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2013 Mar 23, 7:20am
Ironically, the solution is to use Google translate to access the filthy Chinese site as.baidu.com. Use the following url
MisdemeanorRebel
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2013 Mar 25, 5:42am
Imagine if cars were sold like digital devices and software: Oh, you checked your oil manually, outside of a licensed service station? Not only are we going to void your warranty, and repo your car, we're going to sue you for violating our copyright!
Seriously, there are horror stories about Amazon and others just WHOOSH taking people's books away on a whim, that they legally paid for and had for years - and refusing to respond until they got a big nasty PR hit in a popular blog that went viral.
Has anybody else noticed that "Ownership" seems to mean more and more like "Leasing at the whim of the seller?"
What's funny is that these companies are all defending their IP ownership, while working hard to eliminate the ownership rights of their customers.
Dan8267
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2013 Mar 25, 6:02am
Has anybody else noticed that "Ownership" seems to mean more and more like "Leasing at the whim of the seller?"
That's the new model for everything. Software, and everything else, as a service. It would be much better for society for things to free us from having to resort to "services" as services are inefficiencies in the economy. What's a better economy, one in which 10% of labor is required for fulfilling the "clothes washing service" or one in which everyone has washing machines and clean clothes are essentially free? Imagine what useful things you could do with the 10% of labor freed by this.
Of course, automated services are worse as they don't even provide jobs -- and, of course, that's the point.
justme
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2013 Mar 25, 6:06am
If you buy an app (.apk file) on google play, and then later move/install it to another device for whatever reason, does google get on your case?
Dan8267
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2013 Mar 25, 6:23am
Don't know. Never tried that.
The point is that you should be able to download a .apk file and run it in an enumerator. You should not need a "Google" or "Android" device, nonetheless a registered one, in the first place. As a developer, I'm very much interested in doing just that.
As a user, I don't want Google tracking every piece of software I run, especially my "Daily Goat Dress Up" app. That's an app that downloads a picture of a goat every day and you can dress it up in leather or lingerie or a schoolgirl outfit. OK, too much information...
Personally, I find the whole geographic location tracking more troubling. I bought my Nexus 7 at Staples and then registered with a new, google account (no CC required). I'm running Firefox, but NoScript isn't available for Android. As a side note, the Mercury News gives an impolite BAN ANDROID message if you try to access their website with all the hatches battened down.
leo707
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2013 Mar 25, 8:11am
If you buy an app (.apk file) on google play, and then later move/install it to another device for whatever reason, does google get on your case?
I have two tablets and have not had a problem using my Google Play account on both, and simultaneously having purchased apps installed and updated.
JodyChunder
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2013 Mar 25, 9:16am
The push toward a world comprised of ether is a world of ever-diminishing returns.
Comments 1 - 8 of 8 Search these comments
In an example of Google breaking it's do no evil mantra, Google requires that you let them associate ever app you download from Google Play with your social security number, even ones you download from a browser on your PC.
If you try to download an app without in effect handing over your social security number, you get the following message from Google,
Basically, what Google is saying is they want your social security number and they insist that you give them sufficient information to obtain that ID. Here's what Google is telling you to do...
1. Buy an Android device with a credit card. From that credit card, or any credit card you ever use while using the Android device, Google can easily get your social security number and uniquely track you, not an online persona of you, but actually you.
2. Register that Android device with a Google account. That way anything you do with your Google account is associated with your social security number. Google can tell exactly what you, personally, are doing at any time.
3. Download your apps with the Google account associated with your social security number, not with a different Google account that does not have that SS number.
This is the best reason I've discovered for not using tablet apps or Google/YouTube accounts. And for Google to use its size to force this onto users without even an opt-out is like forcing the world to strip naked and submit to a cavity search before using a tablet. It's just plain creepy.