Thursday, May 13, 2021

Terms, conditions and intrusions

Many of my friends have Google email addresses.  I keep stressing that anyone with a connected device, like a smartphone, tablet or computer can easily get themselves a Gmail address.  One reason for doing that is to take advantage of what comes with a Gmail account, which is free.  On the basic Gmail page is a small 3x3 set of dots in the upper right corner.  That set of dots is the Google app launcher and it includes many programs and applications that can be used with a Google name and password that is used to get Gmail.  


If you browse to Blogger.com, you can start a blog, a site where you can write or post pictures that interest you or your friends.  If you browse to sites.google.com, you can start your own web site or just search "start Google website".  


When you use Google products and services and many other things on the internet, you will often find that you can't proceed without agreeing to the terms and conditions set for that product or service.  Some sites allow a user to proceed only if they check that they agree.  Some sites will only allow a user to proceed if the multiple pages of rules and conditions have been scrolled through.  I usually scroll through far more rapidly than I can read the words involved.  When I have tried slowing down and reading the words, I find many terms that I don't understand and many others that I probably don't understand.


When I visit various web addresses (a.k.a. "URL"s - universal resource locator, you can see why they wind up getting called web address), I get interrupted.  Usually rudely, impolitely and incessantly.  It seems a little dumb to write something and post it for readers all around the world to read it and then jam something else across the writing.  This something else is either politely or impolitely written, and it can be quite intrusive and insistent.  I get asked to state my email address and open an account so that the owners of this site can pester me and further overburden me with emails, pictures and the very greatest products hawked by the most attractive models in the world, or so they would have me believe.


The world's most popular browser for jumping around the internet is the Google browser Chrome.  ⅔ of internet users use that browser worldwide. 2nd most popular is the Apple browser Safari, used by about 20%.  I use Firefox as do about 3.5% of internet users.  Firefox is not Microsoft, Google or Apple or Amazon.  Its Pocket service is handy for avoiding some intrusions but not all.

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