🚨56 DAYS LEFT → Google is killing Android Freedom 🚨

Take action and sign the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/keep-android-open-stop-google-from-limiting-apk-file-usage

#Google MUST NOT decide what you can & can't download on YOUR #Android device.

This undermines one of Android’s defining features: the freedom to install software from wherever you choose. 💪

#Android is supposed to be open, & your phone should be yours → NOT GOOGLES.

Find out more: https://tuta.com/blog/android-side-load-apps-google

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Screenshot from Keep Android Open, "You phone is about to stop being yours. 56 days until lockdown. Starting in 2027*, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID. Every app and every device, worldwide, with no opt-out."

"I no longer believe that our technology will have a net positive impact on society. I think there’s a fantasy world where AI can help decarbonise grids, cut waste, protect ecosystems, and benefit humanity,” she wrote in her publicly posted resignation letter.

“But it’s not this world, and it’s not this type of general-purpose AI we are racing to develop.”
Sofia Liguori, Google whistle-blower

#Google #AI #Israel

https://www.opendemocracy.net/nice-face-of-the-devil-google-whistleblower-on-ai-gaza-and-breaking-nda/

A couple of evenings ago was driving home after last weekends successful #OilService, I finally managed to get #AndroidAuto, #TomTom and #Geheimezender apps not to fight so I could listen to piratenzenders via LTE mobile network without jarring changes in volume / music cutting off and also blaring from phone loudspeaker when I get out of the car (it seems #Google actually fixed some bugs in #AndroidAuto), and the apps are picking the audio channels correctly (music vs announcements)

A station somewhere in Twente started playing Rhinestone Cowboy by #GlenCampbell..

At that point I realised I've essentially turned into my dad, the only thing that has changed is some of the technology!

https://docs.cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/how-to/single-stack-ipv6

#ipv6 #ipv6only #google #cloud

Experto credite, lieber Herr Merz.

Ich habe 21 Jahre lang amerikanische Cloud (auch an deutsche Behörden) verkauft. Erst direkt bei Microsoft im Public Sector, dann über den Channel. Ich kenne die Folien, ich habe einige davon selbst gebaut. Deshalb erlaube ich mir heute, was ich sonst meide: einen Brief an einen Politiker.

Sie haben beim Digitalgipfel gesagt, die Google-Cloud der Nachrichtendienste sei “nicht eine voll integrierte Infrastruktur, sondern eine europäische Infrastruktur”. Und: “Die ist für uns sicher.”
Ich kenne diesen Satz. Er stand in jedem Angebot, das ich je mit abgegeben habe. Nur dass wir ihn nicht selbst sagten, sondern das Gespräch immer so gelenkt haben, dass der Kunde ihn selber ausspricht. Sie haben ihn für uns gesagt. Vor Publikum. Während das BSI noch prüft.

Lassen Sie mich erklären, wie das Spiel aus der Innenperspektive funktioniert. Jedes Mal, wenn die Fragen der Kunden besser wurden, haben wir eine Schicht dazugebaut. Erst lag das Rechenzentrum in Frankfurt. Dann kam eine deutsche Betreibergesellschaft. Dann Mitarbeiter mit Sicherheitsüberprüfung, dann Update-Reviews durch Dritte, dann Air Gap. Jede Schicht war echt. Jede Schicht hat ein Bedenken erledigt. Und eine Sache hat sich in all den Jahren nie bewegt: Wer den Code schreibt, der das System am Leben hält.

Es geht nämlich nicht um den hypothetischen Film, in dem ein US-Präsident Google zwingt, Ihre Geheimnisse herauszugeben. Den Film kann man mit einem Air Gap tatsächlich abdrehen. Es geht um die Szene, in der schlicht kein Update mehr kommt. Dann haben die Dienste ein paar Monate, um umzuziehen. Wohin, lieber Herr Merz? An den Ort, der nie gebaut wurde, weil DER Ankerkunde, den SIE selbst vor einem Jahr versprochen haben, gerade 500 Millionen Euro nach Mountain View überwiesen hat?

Sie haben in derselben Rede den besten Satz des Tages gesagt: Die Frage sei nicht mehr make or buy, sondern wer die Regeln setzt. Experto credite: Die Regeln setzt, wer die Updates signiert. Immer. Das ist kein Vorwurf an Google, das ist das Geschäftsmodell. Ich habe davon gelebt.

Niemand Ernstzunehmendes verlangt Autarkie. Und Dr. Sven Herpig hat recht, eine unsichere deutsche Bude wäre keine Lösung. Aber zwischen “voll autark” und “Google nennen wir jetzt europäisch” liegt ein Kontinent. Er heißt Europa. Mit Anbietern, die es längst gibt. Man müsste sie nur beauftragen.
Ich arbeite heute für einen europäischen Anbieter. Das dürfen Sie sehr gern als Befangenheit lesen. Oder als den Grund, warum ich weiß, wovon ich rede. Ich bin damit übrigens nicht allein, fragen Sie Prof. Harald Wehnes.

Die Souveränität liegt nicht im Standort des Rechenzentrums.
Sie liegt in der Hand, die den Update-Button drückt.

One less excuse.

#DigitaleSouveränität #Digitalgipfel #Merz #Google #BND #Nachrichtendienste #Cloud #ITSicherheit #OpenSource #Europa #FediverseFirst

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Textgrafik auf weißem Hintergrund mit orangefarbenem Balken am oberen Rand. Dachzeile in Orange: „Digitalgipfel Berlin, 2. November 2026“. Darunter sehr groß in weißer Fettschrift das Zitat: „Die ist für uns sicher.“ Darunter kleiner der Quellennachweis: „Friedrich Merz, Bundeskanzler, über die geplante Google-Cloud der deutschen Nachrichtendienste. Das BSI prüft noch.“ Unten links: pandolin.io. Unten rechts in Orange: „Experto credite, lieber Herr Merz.“

Death comes for XSLTL

Last halloween, Google decided to kill XSLT.

There are just a few weeks left, before Google kills XSLT.

We all knew this was coming. It is sad to see how they break everything done just to make some extra money.

#Capitalism #Google #XSLT

https://dbushell.com/2026/11/03/xslt-rip/

I did not know the #Android developer registration enforcement by #Google will be that extensive. 😳

"Not just Play Store apps: all apps. This includes apps shared between friends, distributed through F-Droid, built by hobbyists for personal use. Independent developers, church and community groups, and hobbyists alike will all be frozen out of being able to develop and distribute their software."

In pursuit of independence from US big tech, Android is as dead as iOS. 🤷🏻‍♀️

https://keepandroidopen.org/

> Google Announces It’s Shutting Off Search Engine Access for Schools That Ban AI https://futurism.com/future-society/google-search-engine-access-schools-ban-ai

Google: Be a shame if something happened to that nice school of yours because you refused our 'friendship.'

#AISlop #sloperator #cogsucker #extortion #exploitation #tech #Google #schools #education

#Google security alert.

I just had notification on my burner phone (used for purchases etc) that Google had scraped my phone number. My phone numbers are my private data & they can fuck right off with assuming to seize it. I have deleted the number from my account but I bet they still have it squirreled away somewhere. Bastards.

#android #phonesecurity #security

Most info here https://www.androidpolice.com/google-phone-number-link-to-signed-in-accounts/

If you missed this Google announcement yesterday:

Google: Shutting the Door on the XCPE Botnet https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/shutting-the-door-on-the-xcpe-botnet

More:

KrebsonSecurity: Tech Firms Dismantle Botnet That Turned 1.3M TV Boxes Into Proxies https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/tech-firms-dismantle-botnet-that-turned-1-3m-tv-boxes-into-proxies/ @briankrebs #Google #botnet #infosec #Android #threatintel #threatintelligence

Google reportedly cleared 250,000 TREES in Finland for a data centre without the environmental impact assessment required by law.

Finnish authorities ordered Google to halt construction, but the damage has already been done.

What was once a forest has been turned into a muddy field. Murky water flowing from the site into a nearby river has also raised concerns about potential harm to wildlife.

#google #finland #datacentres #AI #suomi #forests #bigtech #timetoresist

New, by me: Tech Firms Dismantle Botnet That Turned 1.3M TV Boxes Into Proxies

Google said today it worked with industry partners to dismantle a botnet made up of more than 1.3 million Android TV set-top boxes that ship with malicious software which secretly rents the user’s Internet connection out to strangers and conducts advertising fraud. Experts involved in the takedown say the action is likely to sever the botnet’s access to more than 10 million additional compromised systems, including other Internet of Things (IoT) products such as Android-based healthcare devices and karaoke machines.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/11/tech-firms-dismantle-botnet-that-turned-1-3m-tv-boxes-into-proxies/

#botnet #cybercrime #google #IoT #xcpe

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A map of the world depicting Google's impression of the XCPE botnet infections by country. Much of the world is some shade of blue, meaning varying degrees of install base. One big area of the map with no visible infections is, you guessed it, China.

@EUCommission
And what are you going to do about these monopoly abuses on Android mobiles in Europe?

#Android #Google
https://keepandroidopen.org/en/

#Google is killing itself

Most of Google income comes from AdWords, aka selling advertisements that are displayed on websites

Many people used Google to search for a website, go there and maybe click on an ad or increase the ad views

Nowadays Google rips info people are looking for from the websites and displays it in their "AI summary" while taking away website visits and therefor advertisements clicks and views

Not even speaking about the costs of AI

What are they smoking at HQ Google..

@internetarchive Absolutely. The top overpollers of #RSS feeds identify themselves accurately as #Spotify, #Google, #Apple, and #AWS, and in at least some cases senior internal engineers know and have chosen not to fix this waste of resources, even if it is not at 'overwhelm' level:

https://www.earth.org.uk/RSS-efficiency.html

The sound you are currently experiencing is the sound of a million script kiddies humming “time to do some sketchy shit, doo dah doodah, hope I get away with it, oh doodah day”

So, today’s entry in how #ai is destroying the internet, I give you a bug that affects most servers on earth, so that’s fun! It doesn’t affect home and small office users, or any other users who boot their devices solely from disk drives.

The vulnerability, tracked as #CVE-2026-97631, is a Sev 9.5 memory-corruption flaw in an #ICMP component that attackers can exploit to execute malicious code that runs before the operating system and firmware can implement defenses.

Discovered by teams at #anthropic and #google, it was surfaced by #AMI publishing a pull request with a fix for some of their hardware. Because the bug had been “embargoed “ until January while manufacturers worked on fixes, this is an unpatched bug in many cases, that has just been announced publicly.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/code-execution-flaw-in-uefi-firmware-threatens-most-servers-on-planet-earth/

My gmail account, which I've had for 22 years, is now suggesting I take a video selfie, just for poops and giggles.

I wonder when they'll decide it's no longer optional.

#Google #Dystopia

The planet doesn't need more data centres.

It needs more forests, clean air and a future.

#BreakFreeFromBigTech >> https://act.gp/4ix4lJv

#BreakFreeFromBigTech #BigTech #TimeToResist #Google

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News headline about Google felling 250,000 trees for a data centre

Google has illegally felled 250,000 trees in Finland to build a data center.

#ai #google #datacenter #environment

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/oct/22/finland-google-felling-trees-datacentre

In Finland, Google chopped down 250,000 trees, without a permit, to make room for a shiny new data centre. They were ordered to do an environmental impact study. They didn’t bother. That’s how AI companies do it.

If you are still using Google, maybe it’s time to ask yourself whether its services are worth a quarter‑million trees and why we have to sacrifice so much of our nature.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/oct/22/finland-google-felling-trees-datacentre

#google #nature

@BrideOfLinux I find Google's Gemini does that all the time.

I ask it questions (instead of a Google search) and it confidently tells me an utter fabrication. Because I know the topic I'm able to refine my question and the second answer can often be useful - though sometimes it takes several prompts.

It's better than a plain Google search - which is almost useless now - but I wouldn't trust it for anything where I didn't know the topic already.

#llm #ai #google #gemini

Google illegally chopping down a massive forest in Finland and even removing the topsoil so nothing can grow again.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/oct/22/finland-google-felling-trees-datacentre

Makes sense. If copyright no longer applies to big corporations, as LLMs have shown, then why should any other regulation?

I'm not sure an appropriate fine is even possible for this. And you can't put that forest back.

I predict we'll be having angry people burning down datacenters in the next couple years.

#Google #Deforestation #Datacenter #Finland

YouTube is testing hiding the dislike button entirely and users aren’t happy

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-is-testing-hiding-the-dislike-button-entirely-and-users-arent-happy-3420822/

#Google #Youtube #enshittification #technology #streaming

#Google a very long time ago had a moto ‘don’t be evil’…guess that hasn’t applied to their business practices in a long time now.

They have no respect for the law or nature:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/oct/22/finland-google-felling-trees-

Should we see Finnish politicians as spineless or as hostages to #Google ?

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@RosannaSibora/117475238625142335

Wait, a conference whose main sponsor is genocide-complicit surveillance capitalist Google who abandoned its own DEI hiring policies to appease Trump* rejected a devroom on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in FOSS…

I wonder why?

* https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rw3e5je5po

#FOSDEM #FOSDEM27 #BigTech #Google #fascism #surveillance #capitalism

"Google Ireland, which runs Google Search in the EU, now faces a fine of up to €250,000 for each breach, or detention of its managers..."

Or the detention of its managers.

OR THE DETENTION OF ITS MANAGERS!

This is the only punishment that can bring firms like #Google into line

#Defamation
#Search
#GenAI

German courts rule Google liable for what its AI search says
https://madrobot.blog/2026/10/18/german-courts-google-liable-ai-overviews-ai-mode-aachen-munich-ruling/

If you bought the hardware, you should have the final say on the software. #Google's plan to block unverified #Android apps is a direct attack on user sovereignty.

https://keepandroidopen.org
@keepandroidopen #KeepAndroidOpen

@GossiTheDog

These are the #AI dullards who created a system allowing the creation of "chat bots" based on murdered children -- including my daughter.

After promising otherwise, media outlets confirmed that CharacterAI's system still allowed them to create bots with my daughter's name and photo.

#Google reverse acquihired CAI for $2.7B.

More evidence that #Google have abandoned their #GoogleBooks API product.

Completely broken for over a week and no response to various requests for help.

https://discuss.google.dev/t/google-books-api-intitle-inauthor-queries-return-zero-results-while-plain-queries-succeed-october-2026/401929

@kabel42 @amin @thedoctor @sotolf @solusspider

Ah, this is like me searching for "coffee shop -starbucks" and getting all starbucks.

Quality company, #Google.

Such impressive. So innovation.

Is it just me, or is yt-dlp not working very well right now, even with #deno installed?

Dang it, #youtube/#google!!

#YtDlp

Sounds about right... A fitting metaphor!

#DataCenter Caught Watering Its Lavish Lawn While Human Neighbors Are on Year-Long Water Restriction

"You better believe that they are watering their entire green with so many sprinklers that it's literally making a giant pond."

By Joe Wilkins
Published Sep 7, 2026

"When the #DenverCO board of Water Commissioners approved stage one #drought restrictions back in March, they did so facing some of the driest conditions in decades. According to the #USDrough Monitor, the watershed sourced for Denver’s water utility is experiencing a 'severe to exceptional drought,' while the Denver metropolitan area has been in a “severe drought.”

"As a result, residents and businesses have been asked to scale back. Denverites now have to limit watering their lawns to two days a week, chosen by address. And even on those days, customers are prohibited from watering between the hours of 10am and 6pm, Gadget Review reports.

"Yet as some 1.5 million customers honor the restrictions, one major customer is evidently refusing to close the tap: a brand new #AIDatacenter .

"In a now-viral video circulating on social media, an unidentified resident of Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood filmed the massive lawn of a data center being sprayed with copious amounts of water.

" 'You better believe that they are watering their entire green with so many sprinklers that it’s literally making a giant pond,' the woman says.

"The identity of the data center in question is unconfirmed, but it’s likely the new 18 megawatt facility owned by the cloud computing company #CoreSite. At around 170,000 square feet in size, the mammoth facility recently went live in #ElyriaSwansea, though not without sparking a wide-ranging debate around Denver’s zoning regulations.

"It isn’t known which tech companies are renting out space in CoreSite’s Denver facility, but elsewhere the company has proudly partnered with tech giants like #Amazon, #Google, and #Microsoft ."

Read more:
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/data-center-lawn-neighbors-drought-water-restrictions

#AI #AIDatacenters #USPol #Colorado #WaterIsLife #Datacenters #Datacentres #WaterRestrictions #WastingWater #Drought #ClimateChange

#Google Is Closing Android: And Taking Your Freedom With It

The #Android story is a warning: when you depend on a platform built by a company whose interests diverge from yours, you eventually lose. The solution is not a different Big Tech provider, it is infrastructure built on fundamentally different principles.

https://pixelunion.eu/blog/2026/03/google-closing-android-ecosystem/

Socket, posted yesterday: Malicious Firefox Extension Poses as PDF Identity Verifier to Hijack Google Accounts https://socket.dev/blog/firefox-google-account-takeover @SocketSecurity #infosec #Firefox #Google #cybercrime