Agent SmituxMay 31, 2024
ploum

Leave Google now and help others doing the same by:

1. Switching #Duckduckgo or #Kagi (using !g if Google is really needed)

2. Creating an email account on one of the many ethical alternative while asking gmail to redirect all email received.

3. Trying @organicmaps and adding your business information on OpenStreetMaps (opening hours, etc)

4. Creating a @peertube account on an instance and uploading your videos there

All those steps can be achieved by yourself, alone!

#degoogle

May 30, 2024 at 4:25pmWeb
Show threadCypher JackMay 30, 2024
@ploum @organicmaps @peertube I prefer to use !sp for @StartpageSearch as a backup solution as they have the Google index while being more private and respectful of their users data.
Show threadJonasMay 30, 2024
@ploum @organicmaps @peertube
To 1. another Search alternative is #Ecosia (https://www.ecosia.org/) with a sustainable benefit

To 4. if you can't stop watching YT videos, you should enter via a Piped instance (https://github.com/TeamPiped/Piped/wiki/Instances)

The Add-On #libredirect can help.

5. Exit Android and install #e/os @e_mydata
Ecosia - the search engine that plants trees

Ecosia uses 100% of its profits for the planet and produces enough renewable energy to power all searches twice over.

Show threadploumMay 31, 2024

@Jonas @e_mydata @peertube @organicmaps : Ecosia is pure greenwashing bullshit.

They should be avoided at all cost, their model is to display advertisement to pay someone to give them a "planting tree certificate".

It has been demonstrated multiple times that this is worse than doing nothing. Because how do you make those certificate?

You burn a forest then you plant "paper making trees" on top of them.

I thought Ecosia was simply dumb. It seems that they are "bond-vilainesque".

Show threadJonasMay 31, 2024
@ploum @e_mydata @peertube @organicmaps

You are obviously ill-informed or have fallen for false information. Ecosia is the complete opposite. Surely they use money raised through advertising. Where else would the money come from? But Ecosia plants trees with massive positive impact and does not sell certificates.

Ecosia works with scientific institutes to achieve the best effect (for example my university). And you don't have to burn down forests to plant new ones. Haven't you noticed how much forest area has been lost in the last 100 years?

Ecosia is the most effective search engine against greenwashing, as it explicitly identifies companies that profit from fossil fuels. What's more, Ecosia has developed a new legal form to ensure that no company profits can be distributed to investors. Everything goes back into the company or the tree planting and protection projects. Ecosia is also trying to stand up to the big logging companies and buy the forest away from them, with mediocre success.

As a private individual, you can of course also donate directly and then receive a donation receipt stating how much you have replanted or protected with your money. However, you cannot use this as proof of CO2 certificates to give your company a sustainable image.

Again, Ecosia plants and protects forests, they have nothing to do with certificates.
Show threadploumMay 31, 2024
@Jonas @e_mydata @peertube @organicmaps : thanks for this contradiction, I will need to research the subject a bit more.
Show threadJonasMay 31, 2024
@ploum @e_mydata @peertube @organicmaps

Perhaps this blog post will help.

https://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/blog/2020/09/27/ecosia-the-search-engine-for-a-sustainable-future/

And for more scientific input, you can find a few papers on Researchgate. Unfortunately, not all of them are freely accessible.

https://www.researchgate.net/search/publication?q=ecosia

Or you can take a look at what Ecosia says about itself. Via their YT channel, here is the of course piped link.

https://yt.frei.chat/channel/UC1_up347GdfKBDVGqwjt7Aw
Ecosia, the search engine for a sustainable future

What is it ? And why is this so cool ?  Ecosia is a search engine, created by the German entrepreneur Christian Kroll in 2009 and was subsequently nominated the first B Corporation of the country. …

Masters of Media
Show threadDeekshith AllamaneniMay 30, 2024

@ploum @organicmaps @peertube Google search and email were easy to leave and I do not miss them at all. Next stage, I also hosted my own Nextcloud instance which helped me leave Google Drive.

Google Maps and Youtube are difficult to leave in my opinion. I use #osmAnd but the anxiety of getting lost on road and being hit with traffic and road closures makes me check Google Maps here in the US.

Will plan to selfhost Peertube sometime but the network effect of Youtube might take a long long time to beat. I currently consume Youtube via #Tubular (fork of #NewPipe) but will make effort to make myself independent of it slowly

Show threadMx VerdaJun 1, 2024
@dsoft @ploum @organicmaps @peertube heh. I get lost no matter what map app, website, etc I use. I got a discounted large-text atlas so we'll see if that helps in the slightest! XD
Show threadAdelaide あで FisherMay 30, 2024
@ploum people who use kagi and recommend it to others really need to familiarize themselves with people they are giving money to
https://kagifeedback.org/d/2808-reconsider-your-partnership-with-brave
Show threadCarlos SolísMay 30, 2024
@actualwitch @ploum In an ideal world, people would boycott JavaScript on ethical principle (due to it being mainly developed originally by Brendan Eich). In a practical world, that means being essentially offline
Show threadBeanface42May 31, 2024
@actualwitch @ploum You can also refuse to use javascript at this point.

Or incitate Emacs users to stop using their favorite tool, because of the very discutable attitude of Richard Stallman not so long ago.

Or refuse to use Cisco devices because they help building and maintaining the "great firewall" of China.

Another example: DuckDuck Go is using Bing. Bing help the Chinese governement with censorship within his search engine, the almost only alternative to Baidu and 360 in China. This censorship has direct consequences on the Ouïghours and Tibetans repression.

I believe Brendan Eich is a dick but also believe Kagi is an impressive product that deserve more than a simple try. What they do with their small web initiative is great, for example:

blog.kagi.com/small-web
Kagi Blog - Kagi Small Web

As a part of our ongoing pursuit to humanize the web, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Kagi Small Web initiative. What is Kagi Small Web? To begin with, while there is no...

Show threadWade McGillisMay 30, 2024

@ploum openstreetmaps is so wrong lol. i just placed so many "this is wrong" markers on the map.

there are also markers left by other people that are 8 years old.

:|

Show threadwb x64Jun 1, 2024

@wademcgillis @ploum it's an all volunteer effort, like Wikipedia. Adding notes is difficult because there are more notes being added per day than closed, so the backlog is enormous and most people never click to see notes.

The best thing you can do is click the Edit button and try to make the fix yourself. Happy to help you get started or help map some of the harder bits!

Show threadWade McGillisJun 3, 2024
@wilbr CurlingMan13 keeps approving my notes with the message "Create an account" lol
Show threadwb x64Jun 3, 2024
@wademcgillis yeah, create an account :)
Show threadanna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖May 31, 2024
@ploum @organicmaps @peertube thank you for this post! What is !g?
Show threadploumMay 31, 2024

@anna_lillith @organicmaps @peertube : using "!g" before a search in duckduckgo or kagi makes the search on Google for you (in case you really need the Google results for this one).

There are many others (called "bangs" on duckduckgo). Cannot live without them anymore ;-)

Show threadBenoît B.May 31, 2024

@ploum @anna_lillith @organicmaps @peertube

You may find "!sp" more convenient.

"!sp" invoke StartPage, which "advertises that it allows users to obtain Google Search results while protecting users' privacy"

Show threadDunbar's NumberMay 31, 2024
@ploum @oblomov @organicmaps @peertube is number two really good? I feel like it just informs Google about how to link your info to a new email address.
Show threadwb x64Jun 1, 2024
@sabreW4K3 @ploum @oblomov @organicmaps @peertube it's not the worst: at least Google won't be reading all your email for forever anymore
Show threadAmin GirasolJun 1, 2024
@sabreW4K3 @ploum @oblomov @organicmaps @peertube yes, I did it differently. I set up a friendly autoreply on my Gail account which responded to all incoming messages, informing the sender of my new address and asking them to delete my Gmail address from their address book. Humans would read it and resend their email. Eventually they'd take the second step as well.
Show threadmirabilosMay 31, 2024
@peertube @ploum @organicmaps duckduckgo is basically dead, just bad bing results now
Show threadSiroj42May 31, 2024
@ploum @organicmaps @peertube Organic Maps is amazing because it works fully offline. And OSM is great in general because of all the small things that are marked there. There's a single small water fountain beyond security at the Hamburg Airport, and it's tucked away on a separate floor so you'll only see it if you happen to go to one of the few gates there (I assume the shops that sell water in plastic bottles lobbied for this). But OSM has it, as well as the gates, defibrillators & more!
Show threadAmin GirasolJun 1, 2024

@Siroj42 @ploum @organicmaps @peertube Organic Maps uses Open Street Map data which is painstakingly curated by people on the ground who care that we should all be able to use an accurate and detailed cartographic commons free of commercial interests.

In contrast, Google, Apple and the rest co-opt that public-spirited sense by inviting each user to contribute data to that platform's privately owned data set. They get mapping data for free so they can show us ads and track us. It's utterly cynical and sinister.

Organic Maps are doing amazing work, presenting Open Street Map data to a wide audience via a simple, powerful app and making it possible to contribute places to the map easily.

Show threadOrganic MapsJun 1, 2024
@fluidlogic @Siroj42 @ploum @peertube you got it absolutely right. Our longer term goal is to provide a viable alternative to Google and Apple maps. And to reach this goal, we want/need to provide an even better tool to contribute into OpenStreetMap.org. More users mean more contributors mean a better map quality for everyone.
Show threadPietervdvn May 31, 2024
@ploum To edit #OpenStreetMap easily, one can use https://mapcomplete.org
MapComplete - editable, thematic maps with OpenStreetMap

MapComplete is a platform to visualize OpenStreetMap on a specific topic and to easily contribute data back to it.