sandyjensen - Slashdot User

Comment Criticizing the dashboard (Score 5, Informative) 372

by sandyjensen on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @07:51PM (#31933556) Attached to: Group Calls For Google Antitrust Probe

The article criticizing the dashboard has already been slashdotted but (oh irony) it was in my chrome cache.

The group also said that the Dashboard, though useful, is not easy to find.
“If they want people to use this, why isn’t there a direct link from the home page?” asked Simpson. “In other contexts Google likes to say competition is one click away. They’ve buried the Dashboard. The extra password verification is a good security measure, but why can’t you get there with one click from a Dashboard link on the home page?”

The google dashboard is cleverly "buried" at google.com/dashboard

Navigating to it requires the user to select the "Settings => Google Account settings" dropdown at the top right of the page when you're logged in. Maybe I've been around computers for more than a few minutes and that gives me an advantage, but that felt like a pretty natural way to find this.

I agree that Google needs to take more steps to make user behavior anonymous, but at least they're honest about that and have a means for providing dashboard feedback.

And FWIW I don't see anything in the Microsoft Online Privacy Statement about giving users a way to control their data. Nor in the Yahoo Privacy Center.

Maybe it's just too hard to find.

Comment Heavy air (Score 1) 7

by sandyjensen on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @07:25PM (#31933260) Attached to: Most Expensive Laptop Ever

"...made of highly polished solid 24ct gold. Weighing about 2600 grams...."

That's about double the 1.36 kg of the stock MacBook Air.

Group Calls For Google Antitrust Probe 372

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday April 21, 2010 @07:21PM from the break-it-up-over-there dept.

CWmike writes "Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog called on the DOJ to launch a broad antitrust investigation into Google's search and advertising practices and consider a wide array of penalties, including possibly breaking the company up (PDF). The watchdog, along with a mobile entrepreneur and two lawyers representing Google rivals, called for an investigation focusing on a number of issues, including Google's marriage of search results to advertising and its book search service. '...We think all remedies should be on the table, including, we think, the possible breakup of the Internet giant,' said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. Adam Kovacevich, senior manager for global communications and public affairs at Google, discounted the criticisms, saying Consumer Watchdog has been 'relentlessly negative' about Google. The group recently questioned the reasons why Google stopped censoring search results in China, and criticized Google's privacy Dashboard as inadequate, Kovacevich said."

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