In Which I Contemplate Divorcing Google

It's been quite a marriage. 9 years, to be precise.

Back in 2003, I fell for Google the first time, called Google 'God', for its ready answers to everything from 'how to cook a roast chicken'  to 'what is a large hadron collider'.

The same year, I opened my first Gmail account. Then another. Then I got myself a Google Blog, I got on Google Chat, worked with Google docs, owned an Android phone for a bit. Last year I entered Google Plus, and began to watch some of my favorite shows on You Tube.

I've been married to Google and rely on it on a daily basis almost as much (gasp!) as I do on my real-life husband -- and though I joked about how much of my life is lived on my blog and my mails, I did not realize how much of a hold Google had on me till I began to read this: How I divorced Google, of which the following is an excerpt.

When I sit at home, Google (unless I consciously prevent it) knows where I sit, on what machine, and what time of day I'm there. Data is collected not only from the search engine site, but sites that I visit that have Google maps, and so forth. The penetration of Google's ability to sniff a single individual's location and preferences is unprecedented. Google knows more about me than my mother.

Then, as I read about cookies, and super cookies and redirected host files, I hit another realization: I'm not equipped to do this -- I can't go after cookies, eliminate super cookies and then evade going to Google sites forever, not only because Google is everywhere, but also because, like a whole bunch of other people, I'm a tech-dunce.

As a writer, I've had a few 'conspiracy-theory-like' nightmares since, where Google would be able to buy and sell us (it already acquires and uses our info), choose our mates, and decide the fates of our children.

Privacy, once compromised, can lead to any slippery slope, after all.

But for the time being, I've decided to ignore these scenarios. It isn't just Google. All of them do it -- Google is just the biggest Shark. So, I'll go back to my cocoon of the free bounties of Gmails and You tubes and Blogger, and pretend that all is well with me and Google. Isn't that what most marriages are about, anyway?

When this post publishes, Google will know exactly when and where it was put up, and by whom. In a few years from now, they might decide (and be in a position to) to take action. Who knows, they may do it now -- my blog on Blogspot is 5 years old, and I shall be sorry to lose it....!

One thing is sure, they, not me, would have that last laugh. Because, unlike Tom Henderson who managed to divorce Google, I'm both lazy and stupid (besides being a scatterbrained writer).

What is your take on Google? On its Privacy policies? Are you on/ do you use anything Google-related? If, like me, you're married to Google, have you ever contemplated divorce?
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This post brought to you by Damyanti from Amlokiblogs

Guest Blogger: Donna B. McNicol

Please join me in welcoming another guest today, Donna B. McNicol. I'm so excited that so many of you are taking advantage of this great opportunity! If you're not sure what I'm talking about, it's all in this invitation post.

Donna is a prolific blogger (and that's putting it mildly). I think you'll enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.

Hello, my name is Donna and I am a blog addict. Doesn't matter if you are talking about MY blogs or YOUR blogs, addict applies to both. It all started so innocently back in 2006 when I started my first blog, From the Lily Pad. I was a 59 year old widow, considering selling my house and belongings and becoming a full-time RVer.

Of course, considering a lifestyle change that massive meant research, LOTS of research. I started using Google Reader to follow some RVing blogs. I slowly added in other blogs having to do with motorcycles, computers, cameras, and anything else that grabbed my interest.

Fast forward to 2008 and I retired my From the Lily Pad blog and started 2 Taking a 5th with my soon-to-be husband. As our interests expanded over the next two years I added a few more blogs to write:

• Hopping through Life
• Fire Lily Base Camp
• Riding Route 66
• Sadie Speaks
• Toadily Pets
• Foto Footprints

Hopping through Life was created for my 'writing' urges, for things that might or might not interest our RVing friends. That was the reason for Fire Lily Base Camp and Riding Route 66 as well - topics that wouldn't interest everyone so I didn't want to clutter up our personal blog.

In 2012 I added My Write Spot and Write 4 Ten but I retired the Toadily Pets and Foto Footprints. Then family called and I created and now maintain a blog for my daughter's casting company in Atlanta, Catrett Locke Casting. Of course none of these are daily blogs.

Reading blogs is harder to control, I use RSSOwl as a standalone reader and have categories for Authors/Writing, Riding Friends, RVing Friends, Simple Life, Gadgets & Computers, Ebook and Humor/Misc. At one time I was following over 500 blogs. I have tackled that list a couple of times and now have it down to 370. It grew to the largest during the last April A to Z Challenge. I followed a lot of blogs that disappeared after the event or turned into something that I was no longer interested in reading.

I still follow too many RVing and Writing blogs and I'm trying to weed my list down even more. I do have some blogs that I read daily and I've moved them into their own category. The others can be quickly marked as read if 1) I don't have time or 2) they don't interest me. If I do that too many times on the same blog, they are a candidate for pruning.

How do control the number of blogs you follow? Do you write more than one blog? Am I crazy? (No, never mind, that is a rhetorical question).

So again, hello. My name is Donna and I am a blog addict. And you?
Wake me later, I'm napping...
Donna B. McNicol 

Thanks for being here Donna! Can't wait to see you in the next challenge.
Tina

Getting to Know: JoJo of Tahoma Beadsworks and Photography

Please welcome our second installment in the “Getting to Know Your Fellow A-Z Participants” that I posted about during my invitation for guest posters. Over the next few months leading up to the 2013 challenge, we will have lots more of these posts. If you're interested in participating, just email me (Tina) at tndowney (at) gmail (dot) com. Be sure to include “guest post” in your subject. I get a LOT of emails...

1. When did you start blogging and why? Tell us a bit about the kind of blog you have.  Be sure to include the name of your blog and the link.
   
   
   I opened my blog, Tahoma Beadworks and Photography on July 6, 2006 and originally it was intended to be a fan site for actor Vincent D'Onofrio.  A bunch of us VDO fans started blogs around the same time.  I soon realized that my friends were providing way better pics and info about him so I transitioned mine into one about my life and featuring my photography and crafts.  This was before Facebook, so it was a way for friends/family to keep in touch and keep up with what I was up to without my having to write emails or *gasp* handwritten letters.  My muse left me in 2009 and I took a substantial break that year, but returned to regular posts in 2010.  It's a fun and creative outlet and I enjoy preparing the posts.  Please come visit!!  
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. How did you find out about the challenges, and how many have you done? What was your favorite part of participating?
   
   
   My friend Bev at Blue Velvet Vincent invited me to participate so I signed up.  My fave part was finding and following new blogs and meeting great new friends.  
   
   
3. What suggestions would you have for visiting new blogs during the A to Z challenge?  What blog visiting strategy has worked for you during the challenge?
   
   
   I basically just clicked on random blogs from the Linky List.  It was frustrating as some weren't participating, had removed their blogs or were blogging on topics that didn't float my boat.  That was the most time consuming part.  It'd be great if there was a topic list into which we could place our blog links, so as to find and reach people with similar interests.
   
   
4. What topics or themes would you like to see other bloggers cover during the challenge? What types of content (poetry, short stories, writing tips, photos, reviews, etc.) would you enjoy reading during the A to Z Challenge?
   
   
   I can only speak for my own interests of photography, crafts, Canada and life-type diaries.  I am not a full time writer so the writing and poetry blogs didn't really do it for me.  Nor did the ones about babies and raising children or religion.  
   
   
5. Please tell us something unusual about yourself – don't be shy. 
   
   
   Unusual....hmm.....that's a hard one.   There was a time, from 1987-1995, when my life literally revolved around the Grateful Dead.  Going to shows, trading the live tapes, hanging out with other Deadheads and talking about the shows, waiting for the mailorder tickets to be available for the next show, recruiting non-Deadhead friends to help me try and get the coveted New Years Eve tickets (I paid for the money order but had them fill out the information because it was one mailorder per person).  I met my ex-husband at a show and we followed them for our honeymoon in 1989, then moved to San Francisco to be closer to the 'scene'.  Got to meet Bob Weir & Jerry Garcia in 1990.  It all came to a screeching halt when Jerry died in 1995 (only a couple miles from my house, too, I might add...I heard the ambulance go by that morning).  I still love them, listen to them and wear the t-shirts, but I won't go see the remaining members...not without Jerry.  I also found that once Jerry died, I had almost nothing in common with a lot of the people we'd been hanging with regularly for years.  I hadn't realized that all we did was talk about the Dead and once that was over for me, there was nothing to talk about!  Still, it was a wonderful time in my life and I'm glad I had the chance to experience it.
   
   
   
   
   6.    Are you joining the challenge in 2013? Are you doing a theme? Please share any plans you have. We promise not to steal your ideas.
   
   
   I am hoping to do the 2013 challenge, as long as I am still unemployed.  If I do end up finding a job and work full time, it will be virtually impossible to keep up with a daily challenge.  No themes....i think that's way too hard, although I thought about doing an A-Z of music I like, but I like to keep it theme-free which is easier for me.
   
   
   

   Thanks for joining us, JoJo!  It was great to have you.

   Tina