Like Trying to Hide the Daylight From the Sun

You came to power on the same wave that gave us Web 2.0, the one built on user-provided content.  As it turns out, people were a lot more interested in each other than we were in pretty much anything else (okay, except for porn).  One of the reasons many of us were comfortable sharing content was because it was not necessarily linked to our meatspace identity.  We could be different people on different sites (there are things said on this site that would not be said on sites linked with my meatspace identity -- in turn, information on my meatspace life here tends to be descriptive but not specific).

Has there been a single instance since the inception of Web 2.0 that users have reacted positively to post hoc information sharing without explicit consent?  Or has there been massive outrage until users were permitted to limit data sharing in accordance with individual comfort level?  IT HAPPENS EVERY FUCKING TIME.

And yet you don't seem to learn.  So here we go again.

Google, you provide some wonderful services; I've had a gmail account since the first round of invites.  Last time I checked I have... eight separate log ins.  But I'm gonna have to limit my use of them now.  Announcing a sweeping privacy reform while not permitting users to choose which of your services they want to use?  Does not count as asking for our permission.  (Completely abandoning google just isn't convenient at this time, especially given the dearth of alternatives without equally troublesome privacy issues of their own)

I won't miss google+ (although given that it's been several hours since I deleted the google+ accounts, those profiles really ought to be gone by now).  No more browsing while logged in.  No more personalized news.  I now have to delete your cookie EVERY DAMN DAY.  Basically, chrome is now my google docs viewer and nothing more. And no more logging in to gmail unless I need to search for a conversation-- thunderbird is go.   I'll log in to gchat using the less reliable gchat widget, and I'll be annoyed about it.  But you really haven't given me much choice, have you? 

Moral of the story: Take an inch: watch me pull back a mile.

I was in the middle of a comm discussion when the code push finally went through.  I started poking around and got VERY unhappy.  My first fit of towering rage was directed at the Feedback account:


( Subject: So, you don't actually care about your users concerns with Release 88.  )


Then, because the official LJ publications in english have had sweet fanny adams to say about the thousands of complaints they've received in the last week, I wandered over to igrick's page and pressed google translate and hoped for the best.

( Lies, damned lies, and statistics )


Well, you guys know how well I take to being blatantly lied to, so here's my comment there.  Please direct replies over there or to whenever there's a news post.  Oh, also, for those that want DW invitation codes, I'll hand them out in that thread, just to rub it in their faces a little harder.

I may be making the permanent paid move of this account to DW shortly. (I've bought time for other accounts here before, but for reasons listed below, have retained LJ as the main space for this account.  Do you think if enough of us show up with cash, Denise will be able to upgrade the servers and maybe finally fix the span/cut tag bug I've sent eleventy-billion bug reports on?  I still don't want to lose my comments over there or have to change all of my internal links manually, but it's looking pretty grim.)  Anyone who needs a DW invite code, I have a few.  Anyone else who just doesn't feel like going through the pain in the tuckus of moving their internal links, I suggest you start sending individual feedback or just make your feelings known on the latest LJ news post.

To whom it may concern,

I am a paying user. All of my stuff is here.  I don't want to move it to a new service-- it would be an incredible headache.  I am going to try very hard to be civil and courteous and use capslock only when necessary.

If the proposed Comment System changes go into effect, I DON'T HAVE ANY CHOICE.  I WILL HAVE TO STOP USING THIS SITE.  IT WILL NO LONGER PROVIDE THE SERVICES I NEED.  THIS IS A STATEMENT OF FACT.

But that's actually kind of secondary to my main issue.  Here's the thing:

I'm a native English speaker
Puedo leer en español. 
Ich kann Deutsch lesen.
أنا أتكلم وأقرأ باللغة العربية
אני קוראת גם עברית

That's five languages and three alphabets which I can read and understand.  Among the languages I can't read? Russian. I can't read the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets - so I can't even make intelligent guesses about word meanings.

I understand that Livejournal is currently a Russian enterprise, but its original founder and much of its userbase remain English-speakers -- and many of them are ONLY English speakers.

So why is it that the details of a proposed major site overhaul were released exclusively to the general public in Russian and Russian only?  (igrick.livejournal.com/528687.html)

( Morag continues to rant and provide helpful links for quite some time... )