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PaperclipPerfector  18d ago (text post)   2256 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 1, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Using Google Search and Google services on a Google browser (i.e. all of them except Firefox and Safari) is a bit too centralized

I mean, yes and no. Having a lot of orgs have some of your data is worse from a privacy perspective than one org having all your data, because usually "some" is enough and then you have more possible points where somebody could use it against you (or be hacked by somebody who will).

From a "transition cost" perspective... well, Google's unlikely to block you from search and I'm not sure they even can block you from Chrome.

Sure, Mozilla, Google, and DuckDuckGo each know about me, but what are they going to do with it?

In the Google-Google-Google world, they can gather data from the services, put ads and "customization" in search, and prevent adblockers in the browser. I made the switch before AMP and Manifest V3 existed, so I'm feeling pretty vindicated with my decision.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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