Jack Scott's Blog

This article on Zen Habits caught my eye today. Basically it’s about going without Google. Having done basically the same thing about a week ago, I thought I’d share how I went through the process.

The reason I decided to close my Google account was for the same reason as Leo (from Zen Habits). I don’t like the idea of a single corporation having access to all our personal data, no matter how “Don’t Be Evil” they are.

Gmail: I hadn’t been using Gmail for a few months anyway. I use the mail server on my web host, and download it via POP to Outlook on my desktop. I don’t care much about IMAP; if I’m on the move I don’t care about my email.

Calendar/Reader: For these I also use Outlook. For calendar, Outlook is second to none (basically, it was designed for corporate scheduling). For RSS, it’s less than ideal, but it’s decent. It’s nice to have it all in one program. If you don’t have Outlook, Thunderbird will do the same thing for free (and has better support for GPG to boot).

Search: Unfortunately I’m still a sucker for Google search. Along with all the sites Leo tried, I also used Dogpile. None of them even come close. Without an account however, Google only really can store my IP. Since I have a dynamic IP address and I’m behind a NAT router, that isn’t very useful.

Maps: Another hard one. There isn’t really an alternative (Microsoft’s solution within Bing is awful). I just use it without an account. Same functionality, less data stored by Google.

Other Google services: I never used them. I use Firefox, not Chrome. I use Word and Excel, not Google Docs. I use Facebook to share my photos.

You’ll notice in that last sentence there I mentioned Facebook. You may have read my essay Why I no longer use Facebook…, and in which case are wondering why I went back. The answer is simple. Within my circle of contacts, no Facebook equals no social life. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen with Google.

1. Not Googling before posting. This doesn’t apply to all forums, but where it does, you had better do it right, otherwise you’re going to get put in your place rather quickly. You’ll be probably be told to ‘search the fucking web’ or STFW.
2. Not reading the manual before posting. Again, this doesn’t apply in all situations, but where it does, it does in a big way. You’re likely to get ‘read the fucking manual’ or RTFM as a response if you don’t.
3. Evade a temporary ban. If you’ve been given a ban, you’ve got it for a reason. Evading the ban (by registering another username, changing email address, etc) is only likely to cause being kicked out again, this time more severely and more permanently.
4. Start insulting other people personally. It’s fine to disagree. Disagreement causes wonderful arguments that everybody can learn from. Letting that disagreement turn into a personal flame war only causes misery for everybody. And probably a warning from the moderators too.
5. Not use [code] tags for putting code in. It'll make you look really, really dumb. Enough said. If you don't know if the forum supports code tags or you can't find them, point that out. At least then you have an excuse, and you can do it next time.
6. Tell somebody their hard work is crap without telling them why. If you have enough of an opinion to tell somebody it's complete crap, tell them why as well. Otherwise it'll never get any better. This is especially important if you're a regular and the initial poster is a newbie, because it reflects badly on the whole community. And thus...
7. If you're in a high position in the community, don't conspire against it. You don't need to be a moderator to be in a high position. You might have a high post count, or lots of people might mention your (user)name. Whatever it is that places you in that position (or appearance of a high position), don't abuse it. It will reflect badly on the entire community to outsiders or newbie.
8. Take over somebody else's thread for having an argument with a third person. The only exception to this is if the argument is on the exact same topic. If a poster asks "which is better, red or blue?" and then you start discussing the merits of yellow and green, it's rude and off-topic.
9. Talk conclusively about something you have no clue about. It will only lead the conversation off-topic (at best) and is likely to confuse the other posters no end.

Do you have any ideas for a tenth item for the list? What is your pet peeve on forums?