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CIRCLE WITH A DOT

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  3. Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs.

Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs.

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  • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

    @JustinMac84 Actually it's 1.5Gb for the browser ... and another 5Gb for a sodding local AI model I didn't ask for *which is non-removable and Chrome re-downloads it if you delete it*. Hence nuking the app completely.

    J This user is from outside of this forum
    J This user is from outside of this forum
    justinmac84@mastodon.social
    wrote last edited by
    #9

    @cstross At least it's local I guess, but that's an outrageous amount of space for a feature you can't opt out of.

    alisonw@fedimon.ukA 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

      Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

      Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

      greenmtnbear@4bear.comG This user is from outside of this forum
      greenmtnbear@4bear.comG This user is from outside of this forum
      greenmtnbear@4bear.com
      wrote last edited by
      #10

      @cstross I've done the same on Windows. I've switched browsers to Brave for now. Sigh...

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

        Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

        Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

        jasonb@sigmoid.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
        jasonb@sigmoid.socialJ This user is from outside of this forum
        jasonb@sigmoid.social
        wrote last edited by
        #11

        @cstross switch to librefox instead of FF.

        cstross@wandering.shopC 1 Reply Last reply
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        • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

          Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

          Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

          draeath@infosec.exchangeD This user is from outside of this forum
          draeath@infosec.exchangeD This user is from outside of this forum
          draeath@infosec.exchange
          wrote last edited by
          #12

          @cstross you might try those misbehaving sites in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungoogled_Chromium ?

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • jasonb@sigmoid.socialJ jasonb@sigmoid.social

            @cstross switch to librefox instead of FF.

            cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
            cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
            cstross@wandering.shop
            wrote last edited by
            #13

            @jasonb Stop telling me what to do or I will block you.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • J justinmac84@mastodon.social

              @cstross At least it's local I guess, but that's an outrageous amount of space for a feature you can't opt out of.

              alisonw@fedimon.ukA This user is from outside of this forum
              alisonw@fedimon.ukA This user is from outside of this forum
              alisonw@fedimon.uk
              wrote last edited by
              #14

              @JustinMac84 @cstross
              Plus not everyone has extrafast or unlimited bandwidth internet.

              pier@infosec.exchangeP 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                somevegancheeseisok@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                somevegancheeseisok@mastodon.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                somevegancheeseisok@mastodon.social
                wrote last edited by
                #15

                @cstross I've been using FF, Brave, and DuckDuckGo, with occasional tangents into less functional browsers like Mojeek, Swisscows, and Ecosia. What drove you to pick FF exclusively?

                cstross@wandering.shopC 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • somevegancheeseisok@mastodon.socialS somevegancheeseisok@mastodon.social

                  @cstross I've been using FF, Brave, and DuckDuckGo, with occasional tangents into less functional browsers like Mojeek, Swisscows, and Ecosia. What drove you to pick FF exclusively?

                  cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                  cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                  cstross@wandering.shop
                  wrote last edited by
                  #16

                  @SomeVeganCheeseIsOk I don't use FF exclusively. But I've been on FF since it replaced Mozilla and I've been on Mozilla since it replaced Netscape Navigator, and I switched to NN from NCSA Mosaic circa 1995.

                  1 Reply Last reply
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                  • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                    Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                    Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                    mywoolymastadon@toot.communityM This user is from outside of this forum
                    mywoolymastadon@toot.communityM This user is from outside of this forum
                    mywoolymastadon@toot.community
                    wrote last edited by
                    #17

                    @cstross

                    I was an early adopter of Chrome. Sad to see it become such garbage. I bailed on it sometime last year and went with Vivaldi.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                      Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                      Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                      sleepypanda@sw-development-is.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                      sleepypanda@sw-development-is.socialS This user is from outside of this forum
                      sleepypanda@sw-development-is.social
                      wrote last edited by
                      #18

                      @cstross Good for you Charlie. I was at the same point last night (using Vivaldi as main browser) but had doubts. After you‘ve done it, I will join you tonight. Google-free Mac it shall be.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                        Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                        Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                        kimcrawley@zeroes.caK This user is from outside of this forum
                        kimcrawley@zeroes.caK This user is from outside of this forum
                        kimcrawley@zeroes.ca
                        wrote last edited by
                        #19

                        @cstross Please consider Vivaldi instead, they are strongly anti Gen AI. Firefox cannot be trusted, Mozilla loves Gen AI and their "killswitch" is a con. For Firefox rendering, I use LibreWolf instead. LibreWolf is also anti Gen AI.

                        And please check your email and check out https://stopgenai.com

                        cstross@wandering.shopC 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                          Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                          Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                          dr_bombay@mstdn.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                          dr_bombay@mstdn.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                          dr_bombay@mstdn.social
                          wrote last edited by
                          #20

                          @cstross question: how did you transfer all your open tabs and extensions? I think that’s what is holding me back…

                          cstross@wandering.shopC 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • kimcrawley@zeroes.caK kimcrawley@zeroes.ca

                            @cstross Please consider Vivaldi instead, they are strongly anti Gen AI. Firefox cannot be trusted, Mozilla loves Gen AI and their "killswitch" is a con. For Firefox rendering, I use LibreWolf instead. LibreWolf is also anti Gen AI.

                            And please check your email and check out https://stopgenai.com

                            cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                            cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                            cstross@wandering.shop
                            wrote last edited by
                            #21

                            @kimcrawley I'm considering Waterfox. Big issue is I have a *lot* of open tabs there (FF is my primary browser) on multiple machines. Moving one browser in a day has used up all my spoons.

                            kimcrawley@zeroes.caK andres4ny@social.ridetrans.itA 2 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • dr_bombay@mstdn.socialD dr_bombay@mstdn.social

                              @cstross question: how did you transfer all your open tabs and extensions? I think that’s what is holding me back…

                              cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                              cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                              cstross@wandering.shop
                              wrote last edited by
                              #22

                              @Dr_Bombay Manually, with some effort!

                              philbetts@mastodon.socialP wellsitegeo@masto.aiW 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                                @kimcrawley I'm considering Waterfox. Big issue is I have a *lot* of open tabs there (FF is my primary browser) on multiple machines. Moving one browser in a day has used up all my spoons.

                                kimcrawley@zeroes.caK This user is from outside of this forum
                                kimcrawley@zeroes.caK This user is from outside of this forum
                                kimcrawley@zeroes.ca
                                wrote last edited by
                                #23

                                @cstross I understand completely. I'm not familiar with Waterfox, but my assumption is they are likely good.

                                I think you're a really cool science fiction writer, and I emailed you about Stop Gen AI this morning.

                                Link Preview Image
                                Stop Gen AI – Mutual Aid and Political Activism

                                favicon

                                (stopgenai.com)

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                                  Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                                  Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                                  dckim@mastodon.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  dckim@mastodon.socialD This user is from outside of this forum
                                  dckim@mastodon.social
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #24

                                  @cstross it really is a hassle for a lot of people, and if you have left it, the thing will be constantly eating into your processing speed... in a very big way. It would essentially dominate your machine.

                                  This really is sinister. The company has reached a stage in their development process where they have nothing new to train the model on.

                                  So now they need to train it directly from you, on your machine.

                                  It's all that's left for reach.

                                  wellsitegeo@masto.aiW 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                                    Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                                    Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                                    F This user is from outside of this forum
                                    F This user is from outside of this forum
                                    firebreathingduck@social.vivaldi.net
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #25

                                    @cstross

                                    Thanks for posting this. I have Chrome installed everywhere as a backup browser. Time to find a new backup.

                                    wellsitegeo@masto.aiW 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                                      Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                                      Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                                      paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.orgP This user is from outside of this forum
                                      paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.orgP This user is from outside of this forum
                                      paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #26

                                      @cstross

                                      This could be helpful:

                                      Willow (@salixlucida@mastodon.sdf.org)

                                      De-Google: https://helium.computer/ De-Mozilla (Firefox surreptitiously "phones home", plus Mozilla wants to make Firefox an "AI browser"): https://zen-browser.app/

                                      favicon

                                      Mastodon @ SDF (mastodon.sdf.org)

                                      cstross@wandering.shopC 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.orgP paradegrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org

                                        @cstross

                                        This could be helpful:

                                        Willow (@salixlucida@mastodon.sdf.org)

                                        De-Google: https://helium.computer/ De-Mozilla (Firefox surreptitiously "phones home", plus Mozilla wants to make Firefox an "AI browser"): https://zen-browser.app/

                                        favicon

                                        Mastodon @ SDF (mastodon.sdf.org)

                                        cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                                        cstross@wandering.shopC This user is from outside of this forum
                                        cstross@wandering.shop
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #27

                                        @ParadeGrotesque @salixlucida No, it's the *opposite* of helpful.

                                        tseitr@mastodon.sdf.orgT 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • cstross@wandering.shopC cstross@wandering.shop

                                          Welp, it's taken me a few days to get round to it, but I have just now deleted Chrome (and it's associated LLM malware downloads) from ALL my Macs. Fucker was taking up 6.5Gb of space on my Macbook Neo. Utterly unacceptable bullshit on a machine that starts with 256Gb of storage, even if I *wanted* the AI features (I don't).

                                          Took a while because I had to transfer all my extensions and continuously open tabs across into Safari (I mainly use Firefox, but some sites render badly in FF.)

                                          mwl@io.mwl.ioM This user is from outside of this forum
                                          mwl@io.mwl.ioM This user is from outside of this forum
                                          mwl@io.mwl.io
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #28

                                          @cstross I had planned to do some writing today but nooo, I'm following your example.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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