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Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox

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  Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-02-12 06:54 +0000
    Re: Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox Oregonian Haruspex <bob_davis_retired@yahoo.com> - 2014-02-12 11:24 +0000
      Re: Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox Steve Foerster <steve@hiresteve.com> - 2014-02-12 07:01 -0800
        Re: Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox Oregonian Haruspex <bob_davis_retired@yahoo.com> - 2014-02-13 02:18 +0000
    Re: Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-02-12 16:09 +0000

#285 — Mozilla to run ads inside Firefox

 http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/12/mo
zilla_to_run_ads_inside_firefox/

Directory Tiles will send users to content the Moz Foundation
 thinks users will enjoy. 

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#295

RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:
> http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/12/mo
> zilla_to_run_ads_inside_firefox/
> 
> Directory Tiles will send users to content the Moz Foundation
>  thinks users will enjoy.

It's little wonder, seeing as how they get the majority of their money from
Google (90% or so) and I am guessing that this is just the beginning.  When
the Mozilla team eliminated the easy to use checkbox to disable JavaScript
I smelled something fishy, and now we found the fish.

This smacks of the Ubuntu spyware, in that the implication here (ads the
users will enjoy, hah) is that the ads will be using a profile built up on
the user's browsing habits.

Not a big surprise.  I have stopped browsing with JavaScript in order to
stymie the attempts to spy on me, blocked web bugs (yes they still exist)
but some sites are just flatly impossible to use without JavaScript.

I wonder who has more data on me - the NSA or Google, and is there a huge
difference these days?

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#307

Oregonian Haruspex wrote:

> I wonder who has more data on me - the NSA or Google, and is
> there a huge difference these days?

Google won't kick in your door in the middle of the night and kill you.

The modern commercial Internet is a tradeoff.  You get tons of useful information from various providers, and in return those providers get tons of useful information about you.  I'm not sure I love it, but I'm also not sure what realistic alternative there is that still provides the same information that I want to have at my command.

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#344

Steve Foerster <steve@hiresteve.com> wrote:
> Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
> 
>> I wonder who has more data on me - the NSA or Google, and is
>> there a huge difference these days?
> 
> Google won't kick in your door in the middle of the night and kill you.

You missed my point.  I realize that there's a difference between Google
and the NSA, but my point was that any data that Google has on me, the NSA
also has by default, through National Security Letters and agents in place.

But while we are on the subject, the increasingly close relationships
between corporations and the government is blurring the lines of who can
kick in my door and kill me.  Technically anybody with legs and a gun can. 
Legal authorization may not have been obtained, but the result would be
similar.  During the government shutdown, Wackenhut and other mercenary
outfits were used for law enforcement here at home.

You may be paying a much bigger price for your convenience than you think.

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#311

On Wed, 12 Feb 2014 06:54:16 +0000 (WET)
RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:

>  http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/12/mo
> zilla_to_run_ads_inside_firefox/
> 
> Directory Tiles will send users to content the Moz Foundation
>  thinks users will enjoy. 


The conclusion I take away is that even these community foundations -
once money gets involved - get corrupted and start thinking about
profit motives, which imply getting people to view ads.  Then they get
confused and ultimately lost in the difference between "showing you
content that interests you" and "showing you content we earn money for
stuffing in your face."  Then finally they lose their entire grip on
reality and start convincing themselves that what they want you to see
is really what you want to see.

I used to use the Opera browser in the days when the GUI had an
advertisement built into it.  It was annoying, but I put up with it
because I liked the browser.  These days, the DuckDuckGo app on my
Android phone comes with a "newsfeed" of stuff from Reddit and
elsewhere that lend no value at all to my experience.  I just want a
non-Google place I can search for stuff.  This trend of "giving you
something useful while simultaneously taking something away" is making
me dizzy.

Meanwhile, I surf the net when possible using Lynx or Links.  I win!

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