6 ms·

Holy crap - I guess the days of just going online and making an account are over. I hope it's not the case (and I am enjoying my alternate, non-google emails)

Holy crap - I guess the days of just going online and making an account are over. I hope it's not the case (and I am enjoying my alternate, non-google emails) - but it seems that "so goes Google, so goes the web" has happened often enough that I worry

closetohome 5y ago
It's awfully hard to establish any kind of online presence without a mobile phone number these days. Google used to have the option to get a confirmation code by voice if you couldn't receive texts, but they discontinued it, and nobody will accept a Google Voice (or most VOIP really) number as valid. If you ever want to get a feel for how truly not-free the Internet is, try browsing through a VPN for a few days. Lots of stuff doesn't load, period. And you'll get constant "we've detected suspicious behavior from your IP" warnings, followed by endless capchas.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Or use Tor. Nobody likes it when you blend in too well, even just for reading.
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  iCloud Private Relay tends to work better than your average VPN, I suspect because it has a big enough non-technical userbase that just blocking it would lose customers
- dhess 5y ago
  > and nobody will accept a Google Voice (or most VOIP really) number as valid. Apple will accept a Google Voice number as a trusted phone number on your iCloud account, and it even works with their SMS 2FA, in the few places where they still support that.
- not2b 5y ago
  VOIP has been ruined by the crooks (including the crooked extended warranty people who spam my phone from a different fake number almost every day); it was broken as designed.
  - lxgr 5y ago
    How is that VoIP's fault? The root of the problem seems to be that the POTS seems to demand a ridiculous level of trust of all participants, which does not scale beyond a handful of incumbent market participants. I like being able to take my phone calls wherever I am, with or without cell signal. Don't blame the technology; blame the broken network.
- sjcoles 5y ago
  > If you ever want to get a feel for how truly not-free the Internet is, try browsing through a VPN for a few days. Lots of stuff doesn't load, period. And you'll get constant "we've detected suspicious behavior from your IP" warnings, followed by endless capchas. I have never had this problem with PIA.

closetohome 5y ago

It's awfully hard to establish any kind of online presence without a mobile phone number these days. Google used to have the option to get a confirmation code by voice if you couldn't receive texts, but they discontinued it, and nobody will accept a Google Voice (or most VOIP really) number as valid. If you ever want to get a feel for how truly not-free the Internet is, try browsing through a VPN for a few days. Lots of stuff doesn't load, period. And you'll get constant "we've detected suspicious behavior from your IP" warnings, followed by endless capchas.

Scoundreller 5y ago
Or use Tor. Nobody likes it when you blend in too well, even just for reading.
wlesieutre 5y ago
iCloud Private Relay tends to work better than your average VPN, I suspect because it has a big enough non-technical userbase that just blocking it would lose customers
dhess 5y ago
> and nobody will accept a Google Voice (or most VOIP really) number as valid. Apple will accept a Google Voice number as a trusted phone number on your iCloud account, and it even works with their SMS 2FA, in the few places where they still support that.
not2b 5y ago
VOIP has been ruined by the crooks (including the crooked extended warranty people who spam my phone from a different fake number almost every day); it was broken as designed.
- lxgr 5y ago
  How is that VoIP's fault? The root of the problem seems to be that the POTS seems to demand a ridiculous level of trust of all participants, which does not scale beyond a handful of incumbent market participants. I like being able to take my phone calls wherever I am, with or without cell signal. Don't blame the technology; blame the broken network.
sjcoles 5y ago
> If you ever want to get a feel for how truly not-free the Internet is, try browsing through a VPN for a few days. Lots of stuff doesn't load, period. And you'll get constant "we've detected suspicious behavior from your IP" warnings, followed by endless capchas. I have never had this problem with PIA.