<![CDATA[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. 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.)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/260e47b1-f169-47c3-9b29-5e8dcc269e4e/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.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 03:43:11 GMTWed, 06 May 2026 11:26:41 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 16:16:32 GMT]]>@cstross Imagine the same thing on a Chromebook. They must've taken leave of their senses.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/woe2you/statuses/116528525659902911https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/woe2you/statuses/116528525659902911Wed, 06 May 2026 16:16:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 16:00:28 GMT]]>@WellsiteGeo @cstross from what I have read, the model that is being transferred to the users machine is one that purports to aid in 'writing essays' and whatnot.

Essentially, what that can do, is parse your inputs for idioms. Does that make sense?

That's then a known intermediate step before likely using the one at the search prompt with google.

They installed it, and they know the offloading step and result. So there is a huge advantage to using your machine to compute, and feed it back in.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dckim/statuses/116528462465320122https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/dckim/statuses/116528462465320122Wed, 06 May 2026 16:00:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 15:56:59 GMT]]>@cstross

I recently switched from Firefox to Librewolf because Firefox was having issues not preventing popups, and I was getting worried about Mozilla leadership. Painless - export bookmarks, re-import. Just for your back pocket in case FF follows suit with the AI shenanigans. Congratulations on dumping chrome.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/tbortels/statuses/116528448764887239https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/tbortels/statuses/116528448764887239Wed, 06 May 2026 15:56:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 15:26:48 GMT]]>@cstross

Almost 3 G's for an app I think I used once to access my energy company's website. What a waste.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sauropods.win/users/KanaMauna/statuses/116528330060041666https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sauropods.win/users/KanaMauna/statuses/116528330060041666Wed, 06 May 2026 15:26:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:53:43 GMT]]>@cstross @ParadeGrotesque @salixlucida I am curious, I don't use zen browser but is there something wrong with it?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/tseitr/statuses/116528200020779338https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.sdf.org/users/tseitr/statuses/116528200020779338Wed, 06 May 2026 14:53:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:44:21 GMT]]>@pier @AlisonW @JustinMac84 Yes, and that's the most infuriating part of it all! They're fly-tipping useless junk on my property.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/cstross/statuses/116528163134675729https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/cstross/statuses/116528163134675729Wed, 06 May 2026 14:44:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:42:53 GMT]]>@mhedney Deleting the app is a start, but you also need to go into ~Library/Application Support/Google and delete the crap it leaves there, too.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/cstross/statuses/116528157367589658https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://wandering.shop/users/cstross/statuses/116528157367589658Wed, 06 May 2026 14:42:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:33:32 GMT]]>@cstross on my Macs I switched form FF to Orion as a secondary browser because FF kept changing settings after updates. I don't love Orion but I'm a Kagi user so its convenient and uses FF extensions.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115351216303277697/statuses/116528120594757521https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/115351216303277697/statuses/116528120594757521Wed, 06 May 2026 14:33:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:16:54 GMT]]>@mhedney @cstross

I'm a recent mac convert and have the same question

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://indieweb.social/users/kenSwinson/statuses/116528055246214766https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://indieweb.social/users/kenSwinson/statuses/116528055246214766Wed, 06 May 2026 14:16:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:14:50 GMT]]>@AlisonW @JustinMac84 @cstross Except that apparently Chrome doesn’t even use the local model except for a couple of features that most people don’t want or use.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/pier/statuses/116528047105154916https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/pier/statuses/116528047105154916Wed, 06 May 2026 14:14:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:13:19 GMT]]>@cstross another endorsement for Vivaldi, but I understand you are invested in Firefox and can't easily switch.

Safari is the most energy efficient browser on macOS, thus a good fit for your Neo. Unfortunately, in line with Apple's collapsing software quality, it is rife with web standards compliance bugs. Apple is also all-in on advertising, and the corrupting influence is seeping through the company. For instance, in a "one rule for thee, but not for me", they exempt themselves from the advertising ID opt-in they impose on others because "we're not a third-party", the EU is taking a dim view on this, but according to a classmate who works at the EC's antitrust division, Apple is the most arrogant and entitled of the FAANGs.

I myself switched to Linux, and use Vivaldi fully locked down (cookies disabled by default unless allowlisted, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Global Privacy Contol turned on), and a vanilla Firefox for the sites that won't render on Vivaldi (typically Javascript-heavy ones that break if cookies are disabled, grrr), but I have a button that nukes all cookies and state in Firefox.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/fazalmajid/statuses/116528041102040567https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.vivaldi.net/users/fazalmajid/statuses/116528041102040567Wed, 06 May 2026 14:13:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 14:08:05 GMT]]>@cstross to deinstall chrome on macOS, is it really as simple as dragging the app into the trash? (As I did) Does one also need to go and explicitly root out the LLM crap too?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mapstodon.space/users/mhedney/statuses/116528020523300384https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mapstodon.space/users/mhedney/statuses/116528020523300384Wed, 06 May 2026 14:08:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:49:33 GMT]]>@cstross @kimcrawley I have an old laptop that is still running an older version of debian because i haven't had the patience and time to go through some 4000 open ff tabs. It's been several years now, and it just sits there. By the time I finally go through it, I figure many of the pages will be 404s and the job will be much easier, but still...

[To anyone else reading, I'm not asking for solutions - I know there are ways to export tabs, none of them are satisfactory for what I want.]

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.ridetrans.it/users/Andres4NY/statuses/116527947706481412https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.ridetrans.it/users/Andres4NY/statuses/116527947706481412Wed, 06 May 2026 13:49:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:48:29 GMT]]>@cstross If Charlie-SCIENCE-FUCKING-FICTION says it, you know it's on! Kick Chrome to the Churb!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/dbat/statuses/116527943511380533https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/users/dbat/statuses/116527943511380533Wed, 06 May 2026 13:48:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:47:22 GMT]]>@cstross

Good move, but can imagine it was quite the pain...

Having to use Chrome on my employer's Win machine has inoculated me experientially, so that my Macs at home have never had Chrome installed on them.

(Safari for my main, and Firefox as a backup, plus it has a few privacy-related extensions I find handy that Safari doesn't, though I'm thinking of trying out Waterfox sometime as well.)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/imalcolm/statuses/116527939107327945https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/imalcolm/statuses/116527939107327945Wed, 06 May 2026 13:47:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:45:43 GMT]]>@cstross @JustinMac84

Sorry, Pyrrus.
It's immortality, of a sort.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527932595909196https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527932595909196Wed, 06 May 2026 13:45:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:43:31 GMT]]>@firebreathingduck @cstross
I went through that process a few months ago, and settled on Opera.
Which is pushing it's diseased AI willy in my face all too often.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527923948890798https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527923948890798Wed, 06 May 2026 13:43:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:41:55 GMT]]>@dckim @cstross
5GB is *very* small for a training set. Small fractions of a percent. So how are they divvying up that task (à la SETI@home) and sending digested data back?

Now you've got me thinking. How much compute has Google (Alphabet) "donated" to BOINC - the generalisation of task distribution that grew off the back of SETI@home?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527917658868056https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527917658868056Wed, 06 May 2026 13:41:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:36:37 GMT]]>@cstross @Dr_Bombay Hmmm. Most browsers have a "list of open tabs" function, which *implies* (big 7 letters!) a file containing that list (dynamically generated).

Which if you could find it would be half the battle.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527896816347093https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527896816347093Wed, 06 May 2026 13:36:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:31:52 GMT]]>@cstross On one hand, I didn't update my CPU earlier when I should/could, and I am still running my PC from 2012. OTOH, Chrome can't bloat on my hard disk because it can't update. LOL.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Illuminatus/statuses/116527878148976062https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Illuminatus/statuses/116527878148976062Wed, 06 May 2026 13:31:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:31:45 GMT]]>@cstross @JustinMac84
"Another great victory for Marketing."

Coming soon - Alphabet Inc renamed Phyrrus Inc.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527877690174763https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://masto.ai/users/WellsiteGeo/statuses/116527877690174763Wed, 06 May 2026 13:31:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:29:41 GMT]]>@cstross @Dr_Bombay open tabs you should be able to use OneTab across both, then export and import.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/philbetts/statuses/116527869538745041https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/philbetts/statuses/116527869538745041Wed, 06 May 2026 13:29:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:19:06 GMT]]>@cstross I likr waterfox.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hear-me.social/ap/users/115696907373093865/statuses/116527827963699330https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hear-me.social/ap/users/115696907373093865/statuses/116527827963699330Wed, 06 May 2026 13:19:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 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. on Wed, 06 May 2026 13:11:57 GMT]]>@cstross I had planned to do some writing today but nooo, I'm following your example.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://io.mwl.io/users/mwl/statuses/116527799798838933https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://io.mwl.io/users/mwl/statuses/116527799798838933Wed, 06 May 2026 13:11:57 GMT