A Question About Our Googly Wannabe Overlord
 

Alright, I'm just about ready to wipe my ass with Google, and flush the internet down the toilet.

Here's my question:

Can I unlink a YouTube account from a Google account, AND still have a YouTube account? That is: Can I be signed in on my iGoogle homepage, and NOT be signed in on YouTube, or any other Google owned/operated site that I don't want to be signed in on when I ain't using (or may NEVER use) that site? Can I sign out of YouTube without signing out of my iGoogle homepage? Google's opinion is that no one would ever not want to be signed in everywhere, all the time, and won't tell me.

If they're gonna do it this way, what is the point of signing in or out anywhere? Why would I want to sign in to every goddamned Google-owned/operated/affiliated site on the web every time I sign in to one of 'em?

This shit is supposed to get easier, not more difficult.

Goddamn Google to hell. Twice.

I started getting a headache in my eye right after the part where you wrote "Can I unlink..."

You owe me two Ibuprofin.

Hell, I still got my original headache, I'll take 'em for ya by proxy.

google's your friend.

No, really.

http://www.google.com/support/youtub...?answer=183819

Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that.

If I'm understanding that correctly, the answer is a great big fat NO.

And that's forcing me to abandon all things Google that require a sign in.

If I'm checking g-mail, why do I need to be signed in on YouTube (or vice versa), or any other site?

Can I delete my YouTube account, without deleting my iGoogle homepage?

Why is this so alarming?

1. I'm not the only person using this computer.
2. I don't want to have to sign out of my homepage everytime I use it.
3. I already have a YouTube account w/a different name, that I don't want linked to my Gmail account.
4. If someone wanted to fuck with you, all they need is the one username & password (which they don't even have to know, because ya want the site to "remember you next time" don't ya), and they can fuck with you on any site Google owns/operates/is affiliated with in the slightest.
5. I don't like being told what to do.
6. It's not "alarming", I just don't like it.
7. When I turn my computer on, click the one little Firefox button, I'm automatically logged in on every site Google has anything to do with. That means, that whenever anyone turns on my computer, and clicks that little Firefox button, they have access (under MY name) to any Google site that I've ever used. Including Google Checkout. Any sensitive info that I put there, is freely available to anyone who can turn on my computer.

And 8. Google is getting a little too "Big Brothery" for my tastes. Google does not, repeat DOES NOT know what I want, regardless of how much they think they do.

I'm quite capable of making my own decisions. Google is just trying to make it impossible to implement those decisions.

Set up different user accounts and have a separate installation of Firefox for each user.

AMEN!

I'm annoyed that FB, for example, tells lots of sites I visit who I am.
I browse the onion, and it is immediately telling me if any of my friends like a given story. WTF? How did the Onion knw who I am? Obvious FB tells them. Did FB even ask me if I wanted this? No. Do I? No.

My camera is not a phone, but pics from it might get posted on the net.
My phone is not a camera, and never goes on the internet.
FB does not get my phone number.
I regret letting FB know my gmail address - should have set up a dummy one for the occasion.
The cellar is relatively isolated from these, but the gmail connection is there too.

Given all the social issues that are developing, especially in the US, and the US governement giving itself ever incresing powers to spy on me and if they choose, kill me, this shit worries me. Seriously. I think the next decade is likely to "turbulent", like the sixties, and I suspect the struggle might get dirty. This data is a treasure trove for would-be tyrants.

Clear your cookies now, and then use private browsing in Firefox whenever you go to FB and then exit private browsing before you move along to the next site. It will keep FB in the dark on your browsing. Otherwise, they track every site you visit.

All I can say is I have an old hotmail account.
I use this to log into YouTube, even though they have tried to get me to change it.
Nuh-uh - I only want to have to remember and check one email address thank you.

Same with a yahoo messenger group I belong to.
I got a yahoo address, promptly changed my primary email to my hotmail one and subsequently forgot it.

So, what I'm getting is, nobody else knows how to do what I'm talking about either.

ETA: There must be a way.

Your googly overlord wants you to type do a barrel roll into your search engine.

Google automatically sets you up with Picasa, YouTube, iGoogle, etc. You don't have to use the accounts they set up. I have my own YouTube account, not associated with Google. I could link it if I chose, but I don't. As far as I know, you cannot sever one of the products from your Google package permanently.

If you really wanted to use Google and a non-Google YouTube account at the same time, maybe you could open up Explorer for the YouTube account?

You can set Firefox to automatically remove all cookies, browsing history, and passwords when you close it. When I'm done on my computer, I close Firefox and the next time it's opened, everything is at a log in screen.

Google can be your friend if you let it. I am more bothered by the general movement to Cloud computing. I am going to buy 20 external hard drives and keep my own cloud computer back up. The thought that we are suppose to trust all of our data to some Cloud in the sky is foolish.