Asides

Moving away from Google

I’ve used an Android phone for several years and over time the number of files and photos that were synced from my phone(s) to Google became quite large. I’ve never been a big proponent of Google services and try to limit my exposure to Google to a palatable level, and I was astounded to find out just how many of my personal files were stored in the Google cloud.

Since I wanted to get a better handle on my files and photos, I decided to move most of them off Google so here’s what I did:

I logged on to Google from my desktop computer, then I went to Google Takeout, scrolled through the long list of items that vould be stored on Google and selected the items I wanted to download to my computer.

 

Google provides a lot of services I never used and the Google takeout list is enormous, but I scrolled through the list and only selected Drive and Google Photo. Then I clicked on the blue “Next step” button found on the bottom of the screen.

I selected my preferences on the next screen and then selected the “create export” button.

 

Since I had a lot of photos and files stored in the Google cloud, about an hour later I received an email from Google that indicated my files were ready to download to my computer with a link for me to click to retrieve my files.

There were a couple of zip files that I downloaded to my computer. I unzipped the files to some folders I created on my computer and reviewed them to confirm all my documents and photos were there. Then I went back to my Google account via my desktop browser and deleted the files that were stored on the cloud.

Managing Google Cloud Services

Since I use an Android phone, I still use some Google services, but I won’t allow my files and photos to sync willy nilly to Google any more. I disabled the backup option in the Google Photos app on my phone. (open app on phone, tap the gear icon in top right corner)

 

I also don’t share many documents to Google Drive via the app on my phone. If I create or download a file or photo I want to keep, I’ll selectively choose the file and upload it to Google Drive or to one of my other cloud-based storage accounts.

I installed the Google Drive app on my Windows desktop computer, so I can view and manage any files or photos that I choose to keep on Google Drive. Since the files are now also on my computer, it’s easy to move them away from the Google cloud and back them up to my external hard drive.

December 6, 2024

The Secret of Orange Cats Finally Uncovered After 60-Year Search : ScienceAlert

Here’s an Interesting read for those of us who have loved orange cats.

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-secret-of-orange-cats-finally-uncovered-after-60-year-search

This article brings up some compelling points to consider. I am currently thinking about where I get my news and considering shifting my support away from these mainstream media publications to some not for profit publications.

The publisher is always right

 

My Favorite Podcasts

When I had long commutes to work, I often listened to podcasts on my phone. Now that I mostly work from home, I listen to them during my daily walks. 

Here’s a list of the podcasts that I enjoy:

Breakdown, Atlanta Journal Constitution

This is Criminal, VoxMedia Podcast Network

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler, Lemonada

In the Dark, The New Yorker

Invisibilia, NPR

Life, Craig Harper (inactive)

On Being with Krista Tippett

Poetry Unbound, On Being Studios

Serial, The New York Times

The Clark Howard Podcast

The Matt Walker Podcast

The You Project, Craig Harper

This American Life

This is Love, VoxMedia Podcast Network

I created an OPML file that includes subscription information for all of these podcasts and have uploaded the file to Dropbox to share with my friends. You can download the file and then use it to add the feeds for these podcasts to whatever podcast app you use.

Download Julie’s favorite podcasts RSS feed (OPML file) from Dropbox

#podcasts #RSS

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

The Pale Blue Dot, by Carl Sagan

so beautiful, brings tears to my eyes  . . .

Streaming Holiday Tunes on SiriusXM

I’ve had such a pleasant day at work, listening to holiday music on the Mannheim Steamroller channel on #Siriusxm

How to import and export RSS feeds through OPML files in Feedly:

How to import OPML into Feedly?

How can I export my sources and feeds (through OPML)?

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

The Invisible Man

We see right through the unshowered soul living in a car by the beach, or by the Walmart, or by the side of the road. But he’s there, and he used to be somebody. He still is. A firsthand account of homelessness in America.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a62875397/homelessness-in-america/?src=longreads

A gofundme page has been set up for Mr. Fealey

I wonder how many Mr. Fealeys park their cars at the local Walmart parking lot near me.

Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers

New filing shows electricity demand would be flat without the industry https://virginiamercury.com/2024/11/26/under-pressure-from-the-scc-dominion-reveals-the-true-cost-of-data-centers/

Under pressure from the SCC, Dominion reveals the true cost of data centers

I am concerned this could be Georgia’s future.

Remove CoPilot from Android Phone

Microsoft’s Copilot showed up on the app search bar on my Android phone. I don’t want to use it and never installed it. When I reviewed the apps that were installed on my phone, Copilot wasn’t in the list.

I have a personal outlook.com account that I use on the phone via the Outlook and OneDrive apps and I’ve installed the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote apps on my phone, but I don’t subscribe to Office 365 and I don’t have a work or school acount set up on the phone. I checked and Copilot pro is not activated within any of those apps.

I was baffled for a minute as to how Copilot got on my phone. . . Then I remembered that I also use the Microsoft Launcher app. When I opened up Microsoft Launcher and looked through its settings, I found the answer:

I disabled Copilot by taping the Copilot option and then tapping the on/off toggles beside “Your feed” and “Search bar” on the next screen:

 

When I was a child, growing up in Alaska, my mom was a prolific painter

My mom loved the Eskimo people and became close friends with an older Eskimo woman named Mary who shared her family photo album with my mother. Many of the portraits my mother painted were from Mary’s photo album.

My mother passed away more than 30 years ago. Several years ago I created a page here that is devoted to my mother’s art. Several people who were lucky enough to have one of my mother’s pieces have reached out to me after googling my mother’s name and finding that web page. Many of them have shared photos of their art with me and today I spent quite a lot of time organizing my mother’s artwork into this album on flickr.

Click to view Mom’s Art Gallery.

Click here to view Flickr album of artwork