I've wondered how long it would be before Google began merging Maps and Waze.
They already use the same maps, they already share driver data between each other, they already both spy on your driving activity and send it all back to Big Brother.

Waze still seems to use a more aggressive routing algorithm, but that could be an option in a single app.

I have to admit though, it's been fun having Cookie Monster as the navigator voice :)

Not quite a Google issue, but they're partly responsible....

I have a two year old Samsung Tab S3. Samsung is the only company left who makes a decent high end Android tablet. Everyting else is bargain bin junk at this point.

They finally got around to making available Android 9 (just as 10 comes out).
And the damn thing is nearly unusable now. Painfully slow in so many actions.


So I had an okay tablet that now sucks. I don't like being on the hardware train unless there's a massive change (which in tablets doesn't happen too often).... But who let this out the door?

It's so damn disappointing.

But such is life in the Android world it seems. Things just get abandoned quickly.

Now that the Apple and Android seem to be closer than ever, the lack of control of hardware really hurts the Android ecosystem.

Even the best comes off looking like crap.

https://www.techspot.com/news/82126-google-implement-encrypted-dns-but-isps-want-congress.html

tl;dr: Google and Mozilla aim to deploy DNS-over-TLS in browsers, but will point to Google DNS by default, raising competition concerns.

Yikes. That's going to stir up a shitstorm. The article doesn't mention how Goolag plans to deal with organizations that have internal DNS and simply *cannot* use any third party DNS provider. For that matter, in my organization we have all sorts of security tied into our DNS infrastructure, and bypassing it is considered a violation of company policy.

I expect Chrome to gradually turn into the equivalent of the AOL client, but I expected better from Mozilla.

DNS infrastructure, and bypassing it is considered a violation of
company policy.

So did you know that Docker containers default to 8.8.8.8 in certain circumstances where there is no other usable config (e.g. you're pointing at localhost, which doesn't work from inside docker?)

I expect Chrome to gradually turn into the equivalent of the AOL
client, but I expected better from Mozilla.

Come on. Firefox' market share is tiny at this point. And Microsoft us about to release a new version of Edge that is based on Chrome's rendering engine. Pretty soon, Chrome is going to be *the* browser except for Safari.

So did you know that Docker containers default to 8.8.8.8 in certain

circumstances where there is no other usable config (e.g. you're

That is disturbing enough to make me want to deploy a nameserver on my network with an address of 8.8.8.8

(Note to self: talk to peers tomorrow and establish consensus to do this)

Come on. Firefox' market share is tiny at this point. And Microsoft us

about to release a new version of Edge that is based on Chrome's
rendering engine. Pretty soon, Chrome is going to be *the* browser

No disagreement there. We've been around this way before, and we know what that kind of market share does to a company's propensity to use their market share for evil purposes.

That is why I suggested that Chrome is going to continue turning into the AOL client -- capable of accessing the open web, but designed to steer users to services inside its maker's walled garden.

People are starting to wake up to Google's antics and are starting to look for alternatives. Over the last few months, I've turned a few people on to DuckDuckGo, for example, when in the past they were like, why would you not want to use Google? The hardest part seems to be getting them to understand that Chrome and Google Search are not the same thing.

2019-10-06 23:43 from IGnatius T Foobar

So did you know that Docker containers default to 8.8.8.8 in certain

circumstances where there is no other usable config (e.g. you're

That is disturbing enough to make me want to deploy a nameserver on my

network with an address of 8.8.8.8

(Note to self: talk to peers tomorrow and establish consensus to do

this)

I have a firewall rule in place set to MITM any DNS query that is not addressed to my own list of aproved DNS servers and direct the traffic to them. Precisely because many home devices make it hard to configure your prefered DNS servers politely.

I do something similar with NTP and my web proxy configuration. I am a very evil admin.

That is disturbing enough to make me want to deploy a nameserver on my

network with an address of 8.8.8.8

(Note to self: talk to peers tomorrow and establish consensus to do

Or just block port 53 to all external addresses?

Well, imagine that. http://altavista.digital.com/ still resolves to something valid...

I have a firewall rule in place set to MITM any DNS query that is not

addressed to my own list of aproved DNS servers and direct the traffic

to them. Precisely because many home devices make it hard to configure

your prefered DNS servers politely.

The problem with docker containers and systemd systems is that the default systemd-resolved listens only on localhost, and I suspect it's not possible to write iptables rules to redirect traffic from dockernet to localhost.

Heh. I think it's time to write an RFC saying "8.8.8.8 is a reserved address which shall be configured as an alias of the site's local DNS resolver."

I prefer to use 1.1.1.1 anyway :)

Remember to reserve 8.8.4.4 too.

Yup. You know what's really funny, I was looking up some network documentation regarding DNAT, and the *exact* example they showed was a configuration redirecting 8.8.8.8 to an organization's own DNS server.

Sheeple rejoice! Some of the biggest names in unwanted surveillance have come together to hasten the day when you will be forced to shoot the toaster.

[ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/12/amazon-apple-google-and-the-zigbee-alliance-to-develop-connectivity-standard/ ]

"The goal of the Connected Home over IP project is to simplify development for manufacturers and increase compatibility for consumers. The project is built around a shared belief that smart home devices should be secure, reliable, and seamless to use. By building upon Internet Protocol (IP), the project aims to enable communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services and to define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification."

"The industry working group will take an open-source approach for the development and implementation of a new, unified connectivity protocol. The project intends to use contributions from market-tested smart home technologies from Amazon, Apple, Google, Zigbee Alliance, and others. The decision to leverage these technologies is expected to accelerate the development of the protocol, and deliver benefits to manufacturers and consumers faster."

Soon you won't have to worry about whether that smart light bulb you bought is capable of sending the photos it took of you in the shower to Amazon; it'll just work, even if you don't configure it to do so. And presumably it will be speaking Zigbee instead of WiFi, so there won't be any of those pesky "computer experts" locking down the network, either.

I expect Chrome to gradually turn into the equivalent of the AOL
client, but I expected better from Mozilla.

In the next few versions of Chrome, they will be blocking HTTP downloads from HTTPS sites. It could be argued that this is a Good Thing for teh Internet in general, but I'll bet this is going to wreak havoc with pretty much every intranet site in the universe. "This is something that we're thinking hard about and trying to solve," says one overlord. We shall see about that.

I get the impression that Google will eventually offer a free "secure proxy" service for your protection.