Below are posts associated with the “Google” tag.
🔗 linkblog: Firefox could be doomed without Google search deal, says executive
Look, I have some sympathy for Mozilla because it’s Mozilla… but Mozilla’s dependence on Google is a real problem.
🔗 linkblog: Best printer 2025: just buy a Brother laser printer, the winner is clear, middle finger in the air
I didn’t need to read a printer recommendation article today, but I’m so glad I did. The rage about the world we live in is great.
🔗 linkblog: The future of search isn’t Google — and it’s $10 a month
I have been meaning for months to embrace Kagi, and this is pushing me further over that edge.
🔗 linkblog: Ex-Google CEO says successful AI startups can steal IP and hire lawyers to ‘clean up the mess’'
What reckless hubris. As I wrote earlier today, I’m in favor of more liberal IP law, but not so that businesses can swallow up content to profit from it.
surveillance (but not accountability) in school acceptable use policies
It’s that time of year (again) for signing the acceptable use policy for kiddo’s school, and I’m again grumpy about a lot of the details in here. Some of these details are me being a nitpicky academic, like the use of the word “technology” to refer to digital technologies alone. Others strike me as more serious, though.
Let’s take a look at this paragraph, listed under a “Roles and Responsibilities of Parents/Guardians” header:
🔗 linkblog: AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change'
This sucks so much—and encapsulates our world’s obsession with financial success over environmental health.
🔗 linkblog: AI means Google's greenhouse gas emissions up 48% in 5 years'
If AI is indeed going to help us reduce emissions, it seems to me that that will be the product of targeted, scientific and industrial use of AI, not shoving AI into a load of commercial products. Are these commercial companies using AI to figure out how to reduce emissions? If not (and maybe even if so), it seems disingenuous to express optimism that their increased energy use will be magically cancelled out by someone else.
🔗 linkblog: Decentralized Systems Will Be Necessary To Stop Google From Putting The Web Into Managed Decline'
Some good thoughts here by Masnick.
🔗 linkblog: Google’s AI pitch is a recipe for email hell - The Verge'
Some good comments in here—especially on how AI enforces and normalizes certain kinds of writing instead of allowing us to determine what writing should look like.
🔗 linkblog: Texas Sues Google Over Use of Facial Images - WSJ'
I don’t like Paxton, and I can’t imagine this is much more than performative railing against a strawman version of Big Tech, but this is a real issue, so I’m interested to see where it goes.
🔗 linkblog: Arizona GOP Secretary Of State Candidate Insists ‘Deep State’ Google Is Blocking His Website; Turns Out He Requested It Not Be Indexed | Techdirt'
Politicians need to better understand the internet. This is just as dumb (and perhaps more devious) than the nonsense the governor of Missouri was up to.
🔗 linkblog: The Advanced Spellchecker in Chrome and Edge Saves Everything You Type—Even Passwords'
I knew my distrust of spellcheck would be validated one day! Seriously, though, this is bad news.
🔗 linkblog: Trans Researchers Want Google Scholar to Stop Deadnaming Them | WIRED'
Ashamed to say I hadn’t ever thought about this possibility.
🔗 linkblog: A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal. - The New York Times'
This is why the EFF and others have concerns about overreach of even clearly well intentioned content moderation. CSAM is clearly despicable, but automated content moderation can make mistakes, and consequences for those mistakes aren’t small.
🔗 linkblog: Google Docs will start nudging some users to write less dumbly - The Verge'
Nooooo thank you. Don’t like this about Grammarly, don’t like this about Word, won’t like this about Google Docs. I am very skeptical of giving algorithms authority over style.
🔗 linkblog: Google Ordered Translators to Replace References to Ukraine “War”'
Speaking of the non-neutrality of platforms… Granted, Google has a difficult line to walk here, but this is still disappointing.
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'How Steve Bannon Has Exploited Google Ads to Monetize Extremism — ProPublica'
Another reason to be wary of automated ad exchanges.
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times'
Tech companies are often ad companies, and it behooves us to remember that.
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Apple and Google Remove ‘Navalny’ Voting App in Russia - The New York Times'
This is maybe the best example I’ve seen of app stores being a problematic model. Is there an Android app that could be sideloaded? Definitely isn’t for Apple, and that’s shameful.