Wow. Google search just destroyed itself. I'd been reading about the new 'personalization', wondering what it would mean to me -- it means Google search is now completely useless. I just did one of my usual searches and it returned eight hits. 8! Six of which are pages I posted myself. Yeah, when I'm 'searching' for info, I just want to talk to myself and not learn from anybody else.
I switched over to incognito search, did the same search, and got ten PAGES of results. Some of that is garbage, but most it returned lots of hits on things relevant to my topic that I didn't write.
I went over to Bing.com and got 111 hits.
Google, stop trying to 'help' me! You've ruined gmail as it is, Google+ 'real names' policy sucks rocks through a garden hose (even with the new changes), and now you've gutted the best thing you had going.
~K~
Showing posts with label google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label google. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, September 17, 2011
So Many Good Reasons Not to Tell the Internet Who You Really Are
Well, after being denied and disabled, and me spending time frantically trying to find how to get my account back again, it has been reenabled. Maybe it's a coincidence that it reappeared after I posted on my blog about it. I decided to leave the post so as a warning to the rest of the world that if they have something to hide, the Google Identity Police will get them.
You know, hiding something like you're not using your real name because you have an ex parte order against your abusive husband and you don't want him to find you.
Or maybe, you're not using your real name because you're gay and they will fire your ass if they find out, or if you're lucky, just key your car.
Or maybe, you're a dissident in Iran, and they'll arrest you. Hell, maybe you're a dissident in the USA, and you don't want the Tea Party on your doorstep.
Or maybe, you're the author of the Totally Erotic Lesbian Sex Guide (I made that up) and you don't want the world to know you're actually unemployed Joe Sixpack with flabby manboobs.
Or maybe, you write totally tame stuff, but you'd really rather not have some rabid fan showing up at your kid's school so they can ask you for an autograph.
Or maybe, you have a disability and you want to suck the American teat like a leech by doing something evil like getting a job and not wanting your disability to be a source of discrimination in the employment process.
Or maybe you're doing something nefarious, like running a small non-profit organization and are using gmail as your email. Because yanno, it's free, and you'd rather spend the money to feed the hungry or fight AIDS or something.
So many good reasons not to tell the Internet who you really are, but if you need more, here's a few suggestions:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Who_is_harmed_by_a_%22Real_Names%22_policy%3F
http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/the-google-real-name-policy-is-wrong/
https://plus.google.com/117665613028757061169/posts/U1PZufyuNHY
You know, hiding something like you're not using your real name because you have an ex parte order against your abusive husband and you don't want him to find you.
Or maybe, you're not using your real name because you're gay and they will fire your ass if they find out, or if you're lucky, just key your car.
Or maybe, you're a dissident in Iran, and they'll arrest you. Hell, maybe you're a dissident in the USA, and you don't want the Tea Party on your doorstep.
Or maybe, you're the author of the Totally Erotic Lesbian Sex Guide (I made that up) and you don't want the world to know you're actually unemployed Joe Sixpack with flabby manboobs.
Or maybe, you write totally tame stuff, but you'd really rather not have some rabid fan showing up at your kid's school so they can ask you for an autograph.
Or maybe, you have a disability and you want to suck the American teat like a leech by doing something evil like getting a job and not wanting your disability to be a source of discrimination in the employment process.
Or maybe you're doing something nefarious, like running a small non-profit organization and are using gmail as your email. Because yanno, it's free, and you'd rather spend the money to feed the hungry or fight AIDS or something.
So many good reasons not to tell the Internet who you really are, but if you need more, here's a few suggestions:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Who_is_harmed_by_a_%22Real_Names%22_policy%3F
http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/the-google-real-name-policy-is-wrong/
https://plus.google.com/117665613028757061169/posts/U1PZufyuNHY
Atlas Poetica a victim of Google Identity Police
Help! I'm a victim of the Google identity police. With their new 'real name policy', my journal Atlas Poetica's email account is now locked and slated for deletion with no way for me to appeal.
I ran afoul of the new policies for Google+ when I accepted an invite for my journal, Atlas Poetica, whose email address is Atlas Poetica at gmail dot com. I put the data for the journal, including its founding year as its 'birth year'. This flagged me for underage. I then used my charge card to pay 30 cents to correct my birthdate. That was denied and my account is now flagged to be deleted in 30 days, with no information at all how to appeal this.
I'm assuming the charge card proof wasn't accepted because the charge card has my personal name, not 'Atlas Poetica.' This 'real name' policy is really really stupid. I know lots of small presses that use gmail for their email. Further more, I use a pen name for damn good reason -- I'm gay and I work in a profession where I could lose my job if employers knew, and I've also been the target of harassment (vandalism to house and car, assault), so that when I moved to a new town, I went back in the closet. Google has no right to force me to out myself and run the risks to life, health, and property. Furthermore, my pen name is a valuable asset, I have published under that for five years now and I am successful in my chosen field under that name.
I want my journal's account back. How do I get it?
~K~
M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica
I ran afoul of the new policies for Google+ when I accepted an invite for my journal, Atlas Poetica, whose email address is Atlas Poetica at gmail dot com. I put the data for the journal, including its founding year as its 'birth year'. This flagged me for underage. I then used my charge card to pay 30 cents to correct my birthdate. That was denied and my account is now flagged to be deleted in 30 days, with no information at all how to appeal this.
I'm assuming the charge card proof wasn't accepted because the charge card has my personal name, not 'Atlas Poetica.' This 'real name' policy is really really stupid. I know lots of small presses that use gmail for their email. Further more, I use a pen name for damn good reason -- I'm gay and I work in a profession where I could lose my job if employers knew, and I've also been the target of harassment (vandalism to house and car, assault), so that when I moved to a new town, I went back in the closet. Google has no right to force me to out myself and run the risks to life, health, and property. Furthermore, my pen name is a valuable asset, I have published under that for five years now and I am successful in my chosen field under that name.
I want my journal's account back. How do I get it?
~K~
M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica
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