@Tutanota happy birthday #tuta and I wish more years to come always encouraging and defending #privacy as it's best. It's been an amazing year for me in the process of #degoogling and switching to tuta was the very first smart step. Cheers !!
While #degoogling my phone, I deleted one system file that didn't need deleting, and now no calendar apps will work. It's a great relief that #protoncalendar doesn't need that system file.
Back in the day, #Gmail had this function where it you received an email (newsletter...) with a date/time, you could (highlight that part and) create a calendar entry automatically for that point in time, and with the email subject as the #calendar title.
Of course, Gmail has been #enshittified to the point where this function/workflow is no longer available.
But is there any other email client/calendar combo out there that still has this function?
Is there a more general term similar to #degoogling for trying to reduce your dependency on the big 5 tech companies' online services? One that's short enough to use as a tag?
Like trying to get off of Gmail, Outlook, OneDrive, iCloud and Google Drive, staying off Facebook, getting ebooks somewhere other than Amazon, etc.
Got reminded of this while reading about ProtonMail. The reason I haven't gotten into proper #piracy is that I don't have a VPN for torrenting, and the reason I don't have a VPN is that I don't #torrent. So it would be nice if I got a good VPN while #degoogling myself.
Will ProtonVPN rat me out to Comcast? I know some VPNs don't hide what you're downloading from your ISP, for reasons I don't fully understand.
Fairphone announces that the "Zero Google Fairphone 4" has arrived to their shop.
This Fairphone 4 has the e/OS/ operating system installed, from Murena. All Google applications have been substituted. It's the most privacy-aware phone, no tracking whatsoever, no data fed back to Google.
It's been about 10 months since I installed /e/OS on my Fairphone 4, so I decided to write a long-term review / rant of it over at my blog. Feel free to check it out!
I never would've guessed 2023 would be the year I both quit Twitter AND fully switched all my Chrome stuff back to Firefox, but here we are. As of today, I'm fully Firefoxed (again, after becoming way too lax over the last few years).
"When beginning the journey of restoring digital privacy, some people get overwhelmed with all the work involved, and perhaps give up. Don’t let that be you. Understand that you don’t need to do everything right away. Instead, start small and go step by step at your own pace. With each step in the process, you get more security and control over your personal data, which is a small victory." https://restoreprivacy.com/google-alternatives/
"In the modern age of digital data exploitation, your privacy has never been more critical, and yet many believe it is already a lost cause. It is not. Your privacy is up for grabs, and you need to care about it. Privacy is about power, and it is so important that this power ends up in the right hands." https://www.privacyguides.org/en/basics/why-privacy-matters/
Sometimes people ask me how inconvenient is being a #privacy paranoid and avoiding spying corporate services. And of course they say they couldn't do the same, because they want convenience and everything Just Working™.
So for me being #corpfree isn't inconvenient itself. I don't even feel this. I didn't even feel it when I fully finished #degoogling.
But using #encryption is something I feel, when I have to repeat every step every time to access my stuff. And MFA - with not storing cookies and browser history it is real pain in the a** :blobCat_melt_cry:
@kev : I think the point is NOT about getting rid of your iPhone, but, instead, being able of getting rid of Apple (in your case), Google (for lot of other people), Amazon (think to Alexa) and similar companies.
If you're unable to live your life without real alternatives to services those companies are offering, than I think this is the first problem to address.
As for myself, I started #degoogling myself ~2 years ago. Currently, with a common smartphone. Not an easy task, unfortunately :-(