Category: Google

I switched from Chrome to Brave

Brave is open-source. Based on the same platform as Google Chrome. HTTPS Everywhere. A much better experience than Chrome.

In fact, many are switching away from Chrome as Google bungled 5-years ago in a decision to make Chrome work on the Android platform. Far ahead at the time, Chrome has fallen behind other browsers.

I was surprised how easy it was to switch.

I recommend you turn off the default Brave Rewards program and notifications. Those are annoying.

My search engine is DuckDuckGo as it was on Chrome.

Brave … is safe, fast, secure and crypto friendly – which Chrome isn’t so much.

According to developers, Brave is trying to fix the internet.They introduceed a system that block ads and ad trackers by default, eliminating the need of ad block extensions. …

The Brave browser is fast. The browser’s impressive speeds are due to lack of default lack of third party ads. …

Brave vs Chrome – Which one’s better and faster?

 

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The Four by Scott Galloway

Four American companies have totally changed our lives.

Apple
Amazon
Google
Facebook

I use all four non-stop. Fantastic innovation.

Needless to say, there are downsides. Google no longer uses the mantra “don’t be evil”. They dropped it in 2018.

Scott Galloway has replaced Leo Laporte as my main tech guru. I just finished his book …

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google (2017)

It’s great, but you can get a good summary by reading Galloway’s article in Esquire:

Silicon Valley’s Tax-Avoiding, Job-Killing, Soul-Sucking Machine (2018)

Halt and Catch Fire – season 3

Not nearly as good as the previous two. I found myself losing interest. The move to California was not nearly as expected.

Too much drama. Not enough tech.

Rotten Tomatoes has it 95%, however.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Should I continue to the 4th and final season?

… I guess so.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Halt and Catch Fire – season 2

Season 1 was great. But everyone agrees season 2 was much better.

One of my favourite shows ever. I’ve already started season 3.

Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.

Halt and Catch Fire is an American period drama television series … that aired on AMC from June 1, 2014, to October 14, 2017.

Taking place over a period of ten years, the series depicts a fictionalized insider’s view of the personal computer revolution of the 1980s and later the growth of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s.

Audiences give it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter should be regulated

Great article.

Al Franken:

Last week’s hearings demonstrated that these companies may not be up to the challenge that they’ve created for themselves. In some instances, it seems that they’ve failed to take commonsense precautions to prevent the spread of propaganda, misinformation, and hate speech. …

… we can’t trust the companies to get it right …

… as has become alarmingly clear in recent months, these companies have unprecedented power to guide Americans’ access to information and potentially shape the future of journalism. It should go without saying that such power comes with great responsibility. …

ProPublica recently revealed that up until two months ago, Facebook allowed advertisers using the company’s self-service ad-buying platform to target more than 2,000 people who expressed interest in the topic of quote “Jew hater” and other antisemitic themes. …

As it stands now, Google and Facebook control 75% of all internet news traffic referrals …

Currently, Amazon controls over 83% of e-book sales, nearly 90% of online print sales, and almost 99% of digital audio sales.

Amazon has since used its unprecedented monopsony power to force publishers to agree to contract terms and conditions that the publishers say have stalled price competition …

… how do we ensure transparency and accountability from them going forward?

We must not let big tech threaten our security, freedoms and democracy

real time language translation

I like my Apple EarPods. These are similar but better. Volume control on the earbud.

But here’s the killer feature.

You’ll be able to walk up to nearly anybody in another country and hold a fluid, natural language conversation without the need for pantomime and large hand gestures, or worry of offending with a mispronunciation. …

Google’s Pixel Buds translation will change the world

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.