Christina's 5 questions, October 2026[1]

2026-10-07
edited: 2026-10-16
--
Happy to see this monthly feature return.

> 1. How best for a North American to plan deGoogling? Beyond easy
> fixes like installing F-Droid, using proxies for video watching, how
> much planning should a beginner do to migrate from a Gmail account,
> install a custom ROM, choose new alternative FOSS apps?

Assuming that degoogling is being considered a privacy and security
measure, I think a sane way to start planning is to narrowly define
the goals and related parameters. Explicitly list what you are
protecting or preventing; when thinking about what that looks like,
consider the extent you're willing to go to make that happen, in terms
of resources and effort. That is, identify what is important to you:
images, videos, personal or business emails, Google Sheets documenting
your budget, Maps location history, data on where you are/went, with
whom, how long, details that may be written in various forms --
emails, Docs, collaborated Docs comments, calendar items. Then
identify who are your threats: in this case,  Google itself and the
wider data broker industry. What about your friends and family who use
Google products? This qualifies as third-party risk, maybe arguably
insider threat. Would you not email them? What about sharing photos?
For your protection or prevention goals, will you discuss rules about
them with family, or for their sharing onward?

I'm not trying to be shitty to degoogling here. I have tried it, as
well as attempted decoupling from other major infrastructure.
I've had long phases of ROM flashing, back since Gingerbread, and
including GrapheneOS, on a Nexus 5 and a Pixel 6a; I've ditched SIM
cards and ISPs and used an iPod Touch; I gave up existing on that and
Wifi and got a candybar Nokia to tether with, for a setup that avoids
Google but accepts risk with Apple and KaiOS[2], the latter being a
new spin on an old ineffective concept: security-theater by obscurity.
I'm now a father and realize that I can't implement an
enterprise-grade Data-Loss Prevention program for sharing baby pics
with family; no automated blocking available there, if they want to
post it somewhere, I can only monitor for that and ask them to take
them down. This is all to say, I find it worthwhle to degoogle as an
exercise in understanding its reach into our lives, and for exploring
the wider diverse universe of Internet tools. But as a human who
enjoys interacting with more than just the technologically
masochistic, I think it's also a good learning vehicle for
understanding information security, risk and return.

> 2. What is your preference: hiking up a mountain, or reading a good
> novel?

I rarely hike mountains or read novels, but when I do, I feel like I
derive equal elated enjoyment. But now that I live amid the Austrian
Alps, I think I have to prefer taking advantage of the local
landscape. Plus, the baby loves nature and chews on book pages.  

> 3. What were your horseback riding experiences? If none, have you
> ever caught a fish?

My wife and I once visited a friend at the stable where she keeps her
horse.  I've never touched a horse before, and I only sat on her as
she was led forward maybe 3-4 steps, and that's it. I did it, and I'm
good. This was also the first time I really watched someone ride a
horse, and realized that whenever I'd seen a movie or TV show where
someone riding horseback was depicted as sensual and sexual, I never
got why before, but in that moment, I did.

> 4. What is an activity that makes you feel alive? Have you
> repeatedly remained hyper for hours post-activity?

Skateboarding doesn't always pump post-activity adrenaline, but I feel
alive doing it. But with the right people and a good session, yeah, I
remain psyched long beyond the skating. 

Tangent: did anyone else get an ear worm triggered by this question's
phrasing? I'm now stuck singing along in my head with "Stage dives
make me feel more alive/ Than coded messages in slowed down songs" [3]

> 5. Adult citizens in my locality have the opportunity to vote in two
> elections this month. To what extent, if you are eligible to vote,
> do you research a candidate running for public office?
 
When I lived in Philadelphia, I was much more engaged with elections,
and I was aware of good sources for information. I don't have that
anymore, which is a failing of my own to navigate a worsened
information space.  

[1] gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space:70/0/~christina/2026-10-5Q.txt
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KaiOS
[3] https://youtu.be/YnIEgnar4aY