Don't be evil
These folks think that Google is not living up to its corporate motto: "Don't be evil." Here, they explain the evils of gmail. I don't think they'll find a large audience given the near reverence most people feel for Google. I can see that some of what they say is cause for at the very least theoretical concern. But the utility of gmail is simply to amazing for me to want to give it up.
Just one aspect of google's mail interface was enough to sell me - the way it aranges emails by conversation. The fact that I don't have to delete emails, and the ease with which I can sort them is enough to make me a satisfied user. And the spam filtering is the best I've ever seen. All my email accounts now direct their output at on gmail account, where I can archive and search all of my email. Unless we start hearing stories of abuse, I think I'll just be reckless and keep using Big Brother Google's email, map, search and news features.
On another computer security issue, this bit on samizdata is fascinating. The comments have a lot of info about computer security that is worth reading.
Widescale use of computers is really still in its infancy. Privacy, security and fraud issues are only going to get more complex, dangerous, and opaque as time goes on.
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The Samizdata thread was
The Samizdata thread was interesting, in several ways. First, Euan Gray spent a lot of time focused on the window-dressing and ignored the window.
Second, the pseudo-ad at the end for www.cotse.net got a chuckle out of me. Not for any legitimate reason, but after having read through the mini-bitchslap-fest between Dale & Euan, I saw "www.cotse.net" but read "www.goatse.cx".
As for the rest, I harbor no delusions that Google's indexing the world to be good to humanity. That said, Gmail's a decent service, and I use it like the throwaway service that it is - anything crucial or important goes to a server I own and control. The rest? Gmail's just fine for it.