What Are You Giving Up to The Big Google?

CROSS-POSTED WITH MY BLOG POST ASSIGNMENT FOR COMM 2450...

I wasn’t surprised by the amount and kinds of information Google has on me. I also wasn’t surprised that Google announced the Dashboard feature, which Google claims is an attempt to be transparent and to give the user “choice and control” over users’ own data. The only thing that surprised me was how long it took. Google Dashboard went live on November 05, 2009, many, many months after Google’s control over the flow of information and advertising has been challenged by users and technology industry analysts.

Google’s attempt to become transparent will benefit users to be sure, but this merely leads naïve users (not in the technical sense)—which is, unfortunately, the bulk of its user—to believe in a sense of control, and that the mere presence of this control results in users willing to give up even more information to the Almighty Google. In other words, because users believe they control their own information, it is perceived to be safer to use more of Google’s services and inadvertently provide Google with even more information. “I can quit anytime,” as an addict might say.

I have had a Google Account since the Gmail beta days, with my earliest Google e-mail dating 07/10/2004. Checking my Google Dashboard, I see that Google has a ton of information on me: 2 analytics accounts over 3 website profiles, 152 contacts entries, 1 blog, 2 calendars, 132 documents, 17185 e-mail messages at 3485 MB (47% of the quota). 15 Picasa web albums, 6415 shared items in Google Reader, 321 Gmail Task Items, 112 Google Voice calls, 308 Google Wave messages, and 22542 total Google searches.

Ironically, even though I have much of my digital life embedded and integrated with many of Google services, I am known to be very critical of Google among my circle of friends. I would argue that it is important for us, as users, to know what we are getting ourselves into and what exactly we are blithely handing over to Google on a daily basis. If we agree that the benefits outweigh the risk in both the short and long term, then we can use Google. Google hasn’t been about search since the beginning, but the first thing that comes to mind when people say “Google” is search. Instead, Google is fostering new media for online advertising, whether through e-mail, searches, calendars, blogs, or profiles. Advertising is its cash cow, and there are many ways and services in which Google implements it. We need to understand this, and not just use whatever happens to be popular and free. (Yes, I am a hypocrite.)

Blogger Retrospection

I started looking back at my older posts on Blogger. This post will have been my 218th post here, taking into account everything. Already this year, I have posted 63 times already, with an average of 10 to 11 posts a month, or about 3 posts per week. That is a good amount, I think. Whether the content I choose to share or write about is worth your time is another matter.

I remember I had wanted to move away from Blogger (because, frankly, it sucks as a blogging engine) several times, as in "The Move to Tumblr" and "BLOG@WP."

Then, one day, on April 10, 2008, I felt the urge to write, "Revisitation." But my return to blogging (posting regularly) really began with this post from April 13, 2008: "Damn You, Apollo."

Now, writing for USuMBS Blog and Engineerography Blog has become a habit.

Our First Guest Writer for Engineerography Blog

Yesterday, Taylor served up a post about turbochargers and intercoolers on Engineerography Blog. It's nice to see the website expand a little bit more. We still have Hans and I as the primary writers, but I'm excited to get another guy on board and maybe make him a regular as our car guy.

Check it out, it's actually pretty cool.

Planning the Move to Wordpress for USuMBS.com

I am in the process of moving stuff over to Wordpress.org's blogging engine. Blogger just isn't cutting it anymore.

Here are some fun facts I discovered yesterday:

My physics class is taught by an ECE guy.
My ECE circuits class is taught by a physics guy.
My CS Java class is taught by a math guy.
My MAE lab class is taught by a MAE woman.
My Stats class is taught by a new guy who is just as boring as the previous older guy.

Engineerography Blog Launches!

Hans, Adrian, and I created a new blog focused on the studying and writing of everyday engineering. It's called Engineerography Blog, and we launch today!

It's not supposed to be anything professional, but I came up with the idea of it mid-November last year. I've asked Hans and Adrian to take part in writing and production, and we've been working hard on it since last month.

Please check it out, and maybe even bookmarking it. We start with real posts tomorrow, Tuesday, January 06, 2008.

Partial Integration, of the Non-Math Variety

I finally was able to successfully bring the blog into the USuMBS template. I aim to finish the details of it soon. Maybe even tonight, although I should really be studying.

Onto Facebook

I am attempting to get my blog posted through my Facebook profile in an attempt to garner more readers. Let's see how it works out.

Mac-less

After the Apple Store visit, my first time to the new-ish West 14th Street Apple Store, I was somewhat disappointed that they will not replace it for me right off the bat. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) that they took it for a repair.

That means I will be computer-less for the better part of two weeks. And that I will have a better Mac than when I left it ... hopefully.

As a result, POTD will be limited, and blog posts will be limited as well. How sad ...