Yeah but you are a lovely fool. Just like the court-jester
The silly hat and a pigs-bladder on a stick, I can see you with
What I said about the google accounts is aimed at all browsers, as it is a common way of tracking someone when leaving a site, so google use it in the same way.
You may regularly delete your
LOCAL chrome history. That is old news for google. You can't delete their copy
(you can and should opt out of this).
As soon as you type a URL or click anything they have it.
It is just like if I was monitoring you with a key-logger, or using spy-ware.
If someone was sat outside your house in a car, using a laptop to harvest your info, for their financial gain, you'd be quite rightly pissed off and call the police.
If you unwittingly install some software that also harvested your info for sale, you'd be quite rightly pissed off and kill it with some anti-spyware software.
If you unwittingly install a web browser that also does exactly the same, for some reason that is now OK ?
"A rose by any other name is still a rose" William Shakespeare 
When google announced they were to make their own browser, I thought "that's odd, why would they...oooh! Yeees veeery clever."
Then "but surely no one would let them get away with that, as they can do what they please then".
Low and behold, it has got to a point when it is so pervasive and money-making, that you get it shoved at you as extra install option in every shareware under the sun. You practically have to fight to keep it from being installed.
Freeware and shareware commonly offer to install another product that is a money-maker. Quality software does not need to be shoved at you. People seek your product if it is worth it.
I have no problem paying for software, but I have a problem with a company making money off my back without my permission. I am not the product, they are!
"I am not a number! I am a free man!" Prisoner No.6
It is the selling of the info to 3rd parties, that I (and
everyone should) most have an issue with. Analytics I am fine with. I regularly make use of the general back-ground analytics.
...aaaand back on topic
BuF was the semi-official Unreal site to begin with, but with most of the sane people leaving it turned into "Lord of the Flies" with groups preying on the weak or new. I find it tolerable as long as I stay out of the off-topic section.
Someone recently posted the stupidest idea for a thread I have ever seen
In a misguided attempt to encourage light-hearted banter, it was suggested to talk bad about each-other, without saying who it is aimed at. Then they were to guess who they were talking about.
How he thought it would not just degenerate into a fresh killing-field of bitterness I have no idea
Short-sighted moron.
Thankfully as soon as Hal saw the post, it was locked. with the comment "Just No". I sent Hal a thankyou.
Unreal Playground, I can't make my mind up about. Maybe it is because I see a few of the same annoying people there. They seem to be a calmer crew there, but I suspect as there is a productive environment they have less time to fight.
*Warning - self-publicity ahead*
"My Unreal" site has very clear rules on conduct.
Rule 3 is "No fighting inside. Keep it for the Tournament." I have not enabled the forum, as I do not feel the UT world needs spreading-out. It needs bringing together. That is one of the aims of my site. eg. adding the RSS feeds from every useful Unreal site or forum onto 1 single page.
It is an attempt to make an organic community portal and resource site, for all Unreal related games. Hopefully members will start adding some content and add more "personality" to to the place. Early days, so anyone who adds useful content or likes compiling lists or resources, may be in-line for an admin position. Being strict and swift with the edit and ban-hammer is encouraged (just like here).
I am hoping that my long-term faith in Opera as a company is not misplaced, and with or without me, the site will be live for many years to come (unlike many others whose host disapear). They make no financial gain from the "My Opera" community site, so is low on the horizon for anyone looking to buy a community (as happened to Multiply).
It doesn't try to be too flashy with lots of toys, so it is hard to make a slow messy site.
I could do with sorting out some new CSS (and change "Archive" to "Index"), and making it more "Unreal", but content and functionality are my priority.
The fact that it is a group site within a community site works well, as joining gives you your own handy site to host up to 2GB of files. You then don't need to use those advert driven upload sites, or picture hosts, so no need to worry about pictures or files being deleted (unless the user gets banned).
I can include custom HTML on an individual page or upload to a folder, so it can grow beyond it's basic options.
The forum can be enabled easily if it becomes a popular idea (I'll add it as a poll). I tend to send people directly to where they need to be (like here).
Comments can be added without joining, so even lurkers can contribute (spam and abuse are easy to delete) and there is a "shoutbox" so people can chat, and there is a web-based IRC chatroom should people require group chat.
Currently there is no Unreal 2, Gears of War or UT3 content for example, so if anyone fancies it ? Join and post away.
The Deus Ex page currently is just a beta, with important and useful links, but no info and no love.
I seem to have put most love into the 2K4 mods page, and I think it sets the tone/style I am looking for.
Reviews should be short and fun. Comparisons and suggestions of mod/mutator combinations included.
Links to the author, host, mirror, extra info, forum etc.
It is basically setup wiki style, members can
currently edit pages so it does run the risk of abuse
Major mods are allowed as big a page as is wanted. My mirrors of the FOOD FIGHT and SDK pages for example can be easily fixed or updated by the authors (if they joined
), without needing to ask, or be an admin (though they can be). Page dates can be reset to place them at the top of the archive/index.
If a page gets too big it can easily be edited or split. eg. there are 2 UT2K4 pages because the BuF downloads section is still a disgrace. I have found everything and extra and that is a well filled page. Business-like (no reviews just descriptions if needed)
*End of shameless self-publicity*
I can't remember why I joined Hook's ship, as I don't get round to playing online anymore, but I like the gentlemanly atmosphere, and it is fun being a pirate swabbie on hooks ship, as I get to play with my language in a way that fits a Cornish pirate (or Buccaneer as we do likes to be called, me hearties. Aaaarr)
See, didn't take much to spark me off
Ah yes that's why I joined Hooks crew
Stopping now. Can't believe I just wrote so much again. Sorry everyone
