Post B28nc7ZtxQQM8bT4Ge by darkling@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by darkling@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #B28mQh63yRpyrsUxma by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-10T11:37:32Z
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Are you "google free" ?This means you don't use google search, youTube, gmail and do not have a google account or email.
(DIR) Post #B28maktYhsbZXnRmvQ by g@irrelephant.co
2026-01-10T11:39:15Z
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@futurebird I am logged in mostly for YouTube premium, but my personal email was moved out a couple years ago and I don’t use Google search in general. Being 100% free seems impossible
(DIR) Post #B28mcu0ZnMFEO4klpQ by mensrea@freeradical.zone
2026-01-10T11:39:42Z
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@futurebird my gmail account is old enough to vote and deeply tied into my life. removing is taking time
(DIR) Post #B28mqgR13epGLNgwbY by LappenjammerDieZweite@social.vivaldi.net
2026-01-10T11:42:10Z
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@futurebird I am almost Google free. I am forced to use a few apps that are only available in their playstore and I hate it.
(DIR) Post #B28msP8cL0gbHIuGHY by fgraver@hcommons.social
2026-01-10T11:42:24Z
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@futurebird I’ve had my gmail-account since it was still in beta… I’ve switched to another provider for my email (Runbox) but keep finding that gmail is intricately woven into my online presences—getting out is hard! Also, I have many people I collaborate with nationally and internationally, and they insist on using google docs for collaborative writing. Unfortunately, none of the alternatives are as flexible yet.
(DIR) Post #B28muQy0Vd49WsuZEm by jmax@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T11:42:52Z
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@futurebird - Search / maps is particularly hard, because of the number of other sites that use them.
(DIR) Post #B28n3OsZdl5Lf2e4xc by chessert@mastodon.online
2026-01-10T11:44:30Z
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@futurebird I have a Google account. I have it only to be able to login to YouTube. I still have a Google Mail account, and Google Drive space, but they both have no content at all (for a few years now).
(DIR) Post #B28nDpSjevqx0GX50q by darkling@mstdn.social
2026-01-10T11:46:22Z
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@futurebird I rage-quit Google about 18 months ago -- not that I was using the account for anything much anyway. It was precipitated by a supplier at work creating a new account for me for... some reason on other. When I logged in to it, Google automatically linked that account to my earlier one, without asking, and with no obvious method of unlinking them again.I also took the opportunity to ditch LinkedIn at the same time, just because.
(DIR) Post #B28nIlQs4QBJx60uae by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-10T11:47:18Z
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@darkling That's so creepy. I wish you luck and strength on your journey to control your digital world
(DIR) Post #B28nJd6AXbhwOWk8oq by Kierkegaanks@beige.party
2026-01-10T11:47:20Z
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@futurebird i still need google sheets (or ms office) and would lose what’s left of my mind without youtube, so i’m screwed
(DIR) Post #B28nN3UyqHWN8rywvQ by weirdfish@literatur.social
2026-01-10T11:48:01Z
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@futurebird Actually I use YouTube but only via #invidious or the #newpipe app. So that's kind of minimalinvasive.
(DIR) Post #B28nXpzvNXBgSHb5to by lionelb@expressional.social
2026-01-10T11:49:59Z
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@futurebird I watch YouTube from a couple of steps removed. There are gems there and to eschew it entirely would be like vowing never to step into a library ever again. Adam Harrison on Pennsylvania forests would be a painful loss.
(DIR) Post #B28nc7ZtxQQM8bT4Ge by darkling@mstdn.social
2026-01-10T11:50:46Z
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@futurebird It's not been too difficult for me in general, because I've *never* used the big services much, if at all. LinkedIn was the only "social" media site I was ever on. I ditched GitHub in favour of Codeberg in the autumn. I have my own domain name, and have been running a website and my own email on it for nearly 25 years.At this point, for me, it's more about avoiding clicking on YouTube links than wresting control back from the dominant services.
(DIR) Post #B28nm3mytqu3HYKDB2 by RachelThornSub@famichiki.jp
2026-01-10T11:52:32Z
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@futurebird Ironically, I bought a 9-year-old Google Pixel phone specifically to be able to use a non-Google (and non-Apple) OS. (I have lost faith in Apple and am trying to dump them all.) My Pixel runs Lineage OS and I have never had to log in to my Google account to use it.But I still have a Gmail account that is the only mail address a lot of people have for me. (Still, I have deleted the Gmail apps and only use the web interface for Gmail.)The struggle continues.
(DIR) Post #B28nmzDBP6jLNK1RQm by RogerBW@discordian.social
2026-01-10T11:52:44Z
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@futurebird Never had a login, but the hardest one to give up was maps.
(DIR) Post #B28o2lmn5WK8MyCgiG by Black_Flag@beige.party
2026-01-10T11:55:33Z
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@futurebird This would also require not having an Android phone.
(DIR) Post #B28oa9i59yW07nv9lI by thejessiekirk@ohai.social
2026-01-10T12:01:35Z
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@futurebird Sadly, I do still have a Google account that I use for microG, Android gaming and watching age-restrictid videos on YouTube. I don't see any of that changing, unfortunately.
(DIR) Post #B28pBVKPkLi3t4exPc by roknrol@beige.party
2026-01-10T12:08:20Z
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@futurebird I use YouTube. Even apps that strip the advertising (Re-Vanced, FreeTube) require a Google account to function.My bigger concern is my phone though. I have plans to replace the OS, but that's a mighty big shift and I absolutely cannot be without my phone due to banks and travel and a whole bunch of shit that require I remain connected.Once that problem is solved, I imagine dumping YouTube will be a smaller hurdle to overcome.
(DIR) Post #B28pPs8riqt8hH6oc4 by robparsons@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T12:10:58Z
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@futurebird I'm working towards it. I wouldn't say it's hard, just takes a long time. I'm not doing it systematically, just transferring account emails to another email address when I have a spurt of energy. Getting rid of gmail ultimately won't be a problem.Problem 1) replacement for google maps with a private layer. AFAICS Open Street Maps can do it, but it's technically daunting for me. I may just do without the map in the end.
(DIR) Post #B28pZvwMSHejNC3dku by tizianomattei@mastodon.uno
2026-01-10T12:12:45Z
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@futurebird No Google account since last summer, had it dormant for 2 years after switching to Murena's /e/. I have one app from Google installed, which is Snapseed, that I sometimes use because it's a very good image editor. It's not tied to the Google ecosystem and 100% tracker free according to Exodus privacy report...
(DIR) Post #B28r5aWbiETOAvfZKK by tadbithuman@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T12:29:41Z
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@futurebird Just got Graphene, slowly extricating myself from Google/Yahoo etc.
(DIR) Post #B28rO06BMttMhg5agi by wynke@mendeddrum.org
2026-01-10T12:33:00Z
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@futurebird I'm uncertain whether to choose 'I aspire to be' and 'I don't aspire to be'.
(DIR) Post #B28rUhju1hFZn2rfiS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-10T12:34:16Z
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@wynke You can choose both. I try to make a poll that can capture human complexity and contradiction :)
(DIR) Post #B28sEpC6dpZuER346a by mariamakesamess@mastodon.ie
2026-01-10T12:42:34Z
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@futurebird I was but then an employer moved to them 🤦♀️
(DIR) Post #B28sHNffQd6Zjs5u7M by adredish@neuromatch.social
2026-01-10T12:43:02Z
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@futurebird I can't be google Free My entire university infrastructure is based on google workspace. And, yes, when I asked the lawyers (OGC = Office of General Counsel) about a decade ago about this, they acknowledged that this meant google could do stuff with the data (translation and the like). Presumably, this now includes AI (although I haven't asked).I never did find out whether they have sanctions in place to prevent google from using PHI (private health information) in the medical school files (which are also all google infrastructure. Or, more importantly, whether those sanctions actually work.
(DIR) Post #B28scVGoN1bNO8XYFU by DrewNaylor@mastodon.online
2026-01-10T12:46:51Z
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@futurebird Unfortunately, I have an Android phone, Google Voice for visual voicemail speech to text (I don't like having to listen to all my voicemails), and a YouTube account so I have to have Gmail.
(DIR) Post #B28srlRqVGWbuIyimm by bonno@mastodon-belgium.be
2026-01-10T12:49:35Z
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@futurebird I was very deep into everything Google.I have moved my drive, docs, photos, keep notes, email away from Google.I use a privacy browser and duckduckgoI still have a Google account which I use for android. I have never been in apple nor Facebook. I've closed my Amazon, github and X accounts. I'm using Linux so no MS for me. F all of US big tech fascisme enablers. I'm looking into secure Linux phones but that's hard.
(DIR) Post #B28tMbIkHLK3PlQS3M by wynke@mendeddrum.org
2026-01-10T12:55:10Z
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@futurebird Done that now.I would like to be free of Google, but it has me locked in in several annoying and frustrating ways. A notable one is that mail from my main mail address (which is not self hosted but close in some ways) simply does not get through if I send it to some addresses that have (presumably) a hidden Google based backend (or possibly Microsoft, can't tell from my side), which is completely unacceptable when communicating with my child's school (and at the time I first had to provide another address to get around this I had Covid and was not really in a state to spend a lot of time and energy on a better solution).
(DIR) Post #B28uSQXLJWXJijaz6e by lffontenelle@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T13:07:25Z
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@futurebird Realistically, it's more a matter of degree than of all-or-nothing to me
(DIR) Post #B28wCrz7h8Rm7lIbIG by Balderdoordash@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T13:27:01Z
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@futurebird working on it. One left
(DIR) Post #B28wKfr2g9ZEorEytU by sibylle@troet.cafe
2026-01-10T13:28:26Z
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@futurebird I do have an account, from the days of google+.I use newpipe for youtube, but I consider using my account to upload to youtube. Apart from uploading to peertube.
(DIR) Post #B28wRJpAz6sUWNXJBY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-10T13:29:37Z
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@sibylle Every time I try to use peertube it freezes :(I know the people making it are working very hard, but we need some kind of slush fund to make the bits flow faster.
(DIR) Post #B28wl1VEoV1JUPbdlQ by cypriendlp@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T13:33:12Z
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@futurebird Google Maps is the hardest to avoid by far, in the meantime I contribute to OSM hoping to be, at some point, good enough to replace it.
(DIR) Post #B28yUxGkzBhpdOIZH6 by UkeleleEric@mstdn.social
2026-01-10T13:52:42Z
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@futurebird I have no Google account on this smartphone. I have Google account for my YouTube account, where I post videoes.
(DIR) Post #B28zZt3oA5Cnz09pFw by jsc@hcommons.social
2026-01-10T14:04:48Z
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@futurebird Almost every day, I must use Google/Alphabet services for my job. So very many operational documents! I have advocated there for FOSS alternatives, but have gotten no traction in the face of the inconvenience of migrating and the organizational inertia. But as things continue to enshittify, perhaps priorities will change.
(DIR) Post #B28zdCe3np0lanhAiu by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2026-01-10T14:05:25Z
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@futurebird I try to use Duckduckgo without AI version but for my professional searches it's often too bad (and often also not AI free) and I have to reuse Google.I do need YT (professional and for fun): I find no alternative. Peertube often freezes and also doesn't have this vast historical archive.My mail accounts are Google- and US-free.
(DIR) Post #B290PpTKkQtJucrg5g by cbzo@mastodon.green
2026-01-10T14:14:12Z
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@futurebird I am google free and it was long and hard to get there. Gmail was my main email account from 2006 to 2021. I took 2 years + transferring the emails to another account , and erasing every piece of data before deleting it. And it was emotionally not easy because I had liked the service very much at the beginning. So yes, *people do what they can*.
(DIR) Post #B290dl5npNRUNqV5Mm by bucknam@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T14:16:42Z
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@futurebird I got all my personal and business stuff off of Google … and then had to create a Google account so I could access meetings and files with clients who won’t/can’t get out of the Googlesphere. Sigh.
(DIR) Post #B292kadFJmblsNWp5E by jmcclure@sciences.social
2026-01-10T14:40:21Z
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@futurebird I spend way to much energy and frustration trying to figure out alternatives to an android device for running my consulting business (mobile payment processing is the big issue). So I'm stuck with an android device which means I'm stuck with a google account.
(DIR) Post #B2955T1azr26Gw063E by stellarsarah@mastodon.world
2026-01-10T15:06:33Z
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@futurebird I'm mostly using my Google accounts for spam and because I need them for my phone. And I use YouTube, but I block the ads and don't save my history. I haven't used Google to search for years though.
(DIR) Post #B296RrB3yhMvVOfXBw by DoctorG_1@social.vivaldi.net
2026-01-10T15:21:46Z
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@futurebird i can Not un-Google my Android 10 😢
(DIR) Post #B2992UFgNRWl1gQLY0 by privacy_guru@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T15:50:49Z
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@futurebird @GinevraCat I am 99% Google-free. The only service I use is YouTube, but I watch signed out. I deleted all of my previous Google accounts. It was fairly easy, since I never used Google for email. I still had old Yahoo or Hotmail accounts (which have since been deleted) when everyone was switching to GMail. The only other Google service I use, but it is only thru Tor, is Google Translate to read some foreign news articles.
(DIR) Post #B29BMI63TnYd1kUYOO by nix@social.coop
2026-01-10T16:16:47Z
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@futurebird I'm in the boat of "I have a work account but not a personal one".
(DIR) Post #B29DDJZioTP4umDRAG by geliga@mastodon.world
2026-01-10T16:37:36Z
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@futurebird to people answer "I have no google accounts", what's your phone? An iPhone?
(DIR) Post #B29GHLXHlU7415gr7Q by stevenaleach@sigmoid.social
2026-01-10T17:11:56Z
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@futurebirdI'd love to replace Gmail, but I simply don't see any viable alternative.Not only is there no other free service that looks like they'll stay around, but I believe a Google account is *required* to use the "Play" store to install software on Android.And a smart phone is a requirement to participate in the modern world. I work as a dishwasher, for instance, and must clock in and out with an "app".I couldn't have my job without a Gmail address (or Apple equivalent maybe).
(DIR) Post #B29I9yQZTyHAEFA64G by moriel@chaosfem.tw
2026-01-10T17:33:01Z
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@futurebird i have a Google account because i own an Android phone, but i have all of the privacy options possible enabled, i use DuckDuckGo for my search engine, i never log in to the google account on my computers, i do not use gmail. Except for the bare minimum required to keep my phone operational i avoid google as much as is possible. (And for those now thinking about it, i have reasons for not doing business with Apple, too, so please don't suggest i get an iPhone.)
(DIR) Post #B29KIuCMm8AJcvu8Ce by emd@cosocial.ca
2026-01-10T17:57:03Z
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@futurebird only have an account cuz folks use google meet.
(DIR) Post #B29Kx3hGsao4fYVSQy by ProphetsCross@mastodon.social
2026-01-10T18:04:18Z
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@futurebird I have a Google account for YouTube, that actually existed before the link was made and was just a YouTube account when I made it, but apart from that, and YouTube Music through a frontend app, and Google Maps, I don't use anything else Google related
(DIR) Post #B29TZUyIijfLtiJQlk by TheLancashireman@hostux.social
2026-01-10T19:40:53Z
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@futurebird I clicked 2 and 3.I have a gmail account but it's only connected to my phone for playstore, which I avoid as much as possible,On my PC I use YouTube and Streetview occasionally, but in their own container tabs separate from everything else. I never log in.
(DIR) Post #B29XmLMw8MUXhGDSPA by tlariv@mastodon.cloud
2026-01-10T20:28:02Z
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@futurebirdI feel like you might appreciate the French word dégafamisation (and the reflexive verb se dégafamiser) where "gafam" means "Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft"
(DIR) Post #B29aB5KJ7FwJ5duZdo by whitehotaru@masto.ai
2026-01-10T20:54:52Z
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@futurebird I use my Google account exclusively to log into YouTube via browser to be able to change from auto translated videos to original language and just focus on channels I am following. I switched my mail account a couple of years ago and gave up on Android phones after a Samsung galaxy 2. For car navigation I use Google Maps on an iPhone without login or Apple Maps. I mostly ride by bike or train and for last mile navigation I use @organicmaps.
(DIR) Post #B29dNxZBZw6weLhYfI by burnitdown@beige.party
2026-01-10T21:30:53Z
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@futurebird i have a gmail account, and i use youtube a lot. the gmail account is being slowly put out to pasture so that nothing important ever lands in it. the amount of spam it gets is absurd.
(DIR) Post #B29yeJsAViaJVBDsKe by celeste_42bit@infosec.exchange
2026-01-11T01:29:08Z
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@futurebird I have no PERSONAL google account. I need to have one for work tho, because auth0 and stuff.
(DIR) Post #B2A3DFFO6EiH6lzbKC by girlbandgeek@mastodon.social
2026-01-11T02:20:15Z
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@futurebird I responded "don't aspire" however, it's nuanced. I don't use search, but do use mail, docs, drive and YouTube. As a kpop fan, would be particularly hard to sever from YT, not to mention tons of other great content. I am mentally prepared for the exigency of having to exit Google, as I did recently with Spotify.
(DIR) Post #B2AOtdeBrwqvz2eM8u by KanaMauna@sauropods.win
2026-01-11T06:23:14Z
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@futurebird I had an account to download some wedding pictures back in 2010. I no longer remember the password and the couple are now divorced.
(DIR) Post #B2Aqu2pZ2Er8nyx4uO by hauchvonstaub@nrw.social
2026-01-11T11:37:02Z
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@futurebird I've already started using a different e-mail provider, but for multiple reasons, I wouldn't want to get rid of my accounts.There are also people who only upload to YouTube, so I'd have to stop watching their videos.I don't like YouTube as a platform anymore and I rarely log in to comment on a video, but I still like people who primarily use YouTube.I already feel like I'm self-ostracising by not using discord and instagram.
(DIR) Post #B2B864oRBtqxeCkRIe by Laberpferd@sueden.social
2026-01-11T14:49:41Z
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@futurebird I stopped using Google search in the early 2010s when they got privacy-invasiveNever had GMail or other Google account for anything(The same with Whatsapp; Facebook etc., but totally wish for a privacy-friendly way to join Telegram)As i cant watch videos anyway, never considered Youtube
(DIR) Post #B2BTQRBDpwj1qdxIK8 by dystopia@mastodon.scot
2026-01-11T18:48:41Z
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@futurebird I’m currently looking for a google drive alternative. Then I think I might be able to pull the plug
(DIR) Post #B2Bg2WDakgw5vazMTg by jaeclectic@mas.to
2026-01-11T21:10:01Z
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@futurebird In honesty, I had to pick the last option (I don't aspire) because there are google services I still rely on and use regularly and am not making any attempt to switch. But I do aspire to limit google-dependency. On my laptop, I use duckduckgo as my default search. Still need to figure out how to change default search on my phone. I don't use gmail as my primary email (or even secondary) but I do use google calendar. And I have a youtube habit.So, mixed lot, alas...
(DIR) Post #B2F3KkBASuGerLOUu8 by NatureMC@mastodon.online
2026-01-13T12:15:06Z
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@futurebird Just some good news: The #EuropeanUnion is building an alternative to #Google in a joint venture with #Ecosia and #Qwant: https://www.eu-searchperspective.com/It takes a lot of effort/money to build big databases but they want to go online with a first version soon.#search #webSearch #searchMachine #EuropeanAlternatives
(DIR) Post #B2FA92ZYx6fS6sAftw by GOKUSHRM@mastodon.social
2026-01-13T13:31:29Z
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@futurebird canta with shizuku =✌️
(DIR) Post #B2FgyvTvl3qfi3K02q by not3ottersinacoat@mastodon.social
2026-01-13T19:39:24Z
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@futurebird ITT: excuses, excuses, excuses