Is the open pandora worth buying with all these android devices around?

[John D.]

At least people are asking it.

I dont mind people asking for it but can we just simply redirect them to the other thread where the exact same thing has been discussed 3 days ago and close this one, instead a restarting a new one and filling it again with new answers? It's just a mind-boggling waste of time for everyone.  

I actually kind of like reading this type of question every few months.  It helps keep the perspective of comparing the Pandora to whatever new happens to be out there.  I had never heard of the ARCHOS gamePad nor the JXD thing; both looked somewhat interesting.  But won't buy either - I have too much fun with my Pandora anyway.  I don't think the nVidia Shield looks very compelling either.

I'll keep using the Pandora until a new device that has "everything + more" than Pandora comes out.  Probably won't happen for several more years... like Pandora 2...

 

[ekianjo]

I actually kind of like reading this type of question every few months.

It's not every few months, it's every few days in the current situation

 

[Fzero]

And still ... none of the other devices offer a keyboard, gaming controls AND is pocketable.

Not without having to carry additional k/boards and gamepads anyway, which is just a pain

Unrivaled

 

[hedwards]

^Good point. If I'm homeless, I can still play with my Pandora. If PerfectBlade is homeless he won't have any place to hook up his Xbox to play.

Well, not just xBox, but any set up that has the monitor separate from the controls is going to be like that. Obviously, in many cases, that's not an issue, but having the controls to do what you need to built in, is the point of having a handheld.

 

[comradekingu]

Also the pandora isnt a spying and data mining device, the xbox very much is. That is worth money to me.

Since when isnt it ok to use money on computer equipment? It isnt like i seldomly use it... Computers used to cost a lot, now they dont.

You can get a laptop with pre-bundled malware subsidicing the license cost of the junk os on it. I dont really care if thats cheap or not, i dont want it.

I want my keyboard, i already have whatever functionality i dont end up using, on my phone. And even though android is the best of the big ones, it still tried and lost in fighting me for what i wanted out of it.

 

[ekianjo]

Also the pandora isnt a spying and data mining device, the xbox very much is

Android as well. At least the stock version. And every app you install has the potential to leak your contacts, use your GPS and track you everywhere.  

 

[hedwards]

Also the pandora isnt a spying and data mining device, the xbox very much is

Android as well. At least the stock version. And every app you install has the potential to leak your contacts, use your GPS and track you everywhere.  

I was shocked when I installed LBDE to find all the requests for information that weren't relevant to the functioning of the app.

 

[FaeMinx]

Also the pandora isnt a spying and data mining device, the xbox very much is

Android as well. At least the stock version. And every app you install has the potential to leak your contacts, use your GPS and track you everywhere.

I was shocked when I installed LBDE to find all the requests for information that weren't relevant to the functioning of the app.

If I ever have to go covert, I'll probably either ditch all my devices except my Pandora, or flash them all with custom roms (but perhaps even that's still a risk).


Fun fact: One of the reason I decided to get a Pandora was for just such an eventuality.

 

[ekianjo]

Also the pandora isnt a spying and data mining device, the xbox very much is

Android as well. At least the stock version. And every app you install has the potential to leak your contacts, use your GPS and track you everywhere.  

I was shocked when I installed LBDE to find all the requests for information that weren't relevant to the functioning of the app.

Yeah, that's why I almost never install any app on the Android phones I have. I default to the websites, because at least I know what the browsers leak. The apps, you never know how far they spy you. Fuck that shit.

 

[hedwards]

Yeah, that's why I almost never install any app on the Android phones I have. I default to the websites, because at least I know what the browsers leak. The apps, you never know how far they spy you. Fuck that shit.

What concerned me the most was that Google was letting people have my GPS and cell tracking data. With the exception of a couple of apps I have that involve maps, none of the apps had any legitimate reason for requiring my location data.

 

[Klumpen]

Google is watching you.

That's why Google Glass is extremely creepy for me

and one of the reasons why I haven't got a smartphone at all.

 

[PowerGod]

Actually I still don't have a Google+ account, but both my gmail and youtube accounts are pestering me with questions about aggregating them and/or open a G+ profile... anyway I know for sure that in the eventuality I'll open such account, all my gps locations should be already there thanks to my friends.... at least that's what is happening with facebook... I use it once a month, just to have a look, but my profile is always full of informations/photos about where I was and what I did...

 

[Klumpen]

/me never had a Google- or Facebookaccount.

These companies are evil and will buy whole nations soon.

I wish I could still use or even just delete my old Youtube account, but I cannot without signing up at Google. >(

Those *ucking bastards...

 

[WizardStan]

What concerned me the most was that Google was letting people have my GPS and cell tracking data. With the exception of a couple of apps I have that involve maps, none of the apps had any legitimate reason for requiring my location data.

I read about an app (or some kind of hack) that would expose itself with false information, random GPS coordinates, fake accounts and addresses, that sort of thing, so these applications that want the information for whatever stupid reason they do don't get anything actually identifiable. It was specifically advertised as some kind of anonymizer, so there was almost certainly a lot more stuff that it took care of, but this was a few months ago and I've since lost track of it. Something to keep an eye out for, though.

 

[hedwards]

Actually I still don't have a Google+ account, but both my gmail and youtube accounts are pestering me with questions about aggregating them and/or open a G+ profile... anyway I know for sure that in the eventuality I'll open such account, all my gps locations should be already there thanks to my friends.... at least that's what is happening with facebook... I use it once a month, just to have a look, but my profile is always full of informations/photos about where I was and what I did...

That's why I made a separate email address at a different provider. I know that at some point, Google is likely to make G+ mandatory for individuals that use their services and I'd like to be prepared.

Regardless of that, it's a good idea to back up your emails anyways, just in case something happens. Data doesn't just liberate itself.

 

[comradekingu]

WizardStan:

Next level tactics, that app is the one you really should be aware of.

 

[MrConfusion]

Yeah, that's why I almost never install any app on the Android phones I have. I default to the websites, because at least I know what the browsers leak. The apps, you never know how far they spy you. Fuck that shit.

I'm browsing through a proxy (dansguardian+squid) to filter cookies from all the sites except the ones where I want to allow them. I can run this in a VM while on the road and using W8, but at home it's in the server that acts as the gateway to the net. In fact, at home everything either uses a proxy (SOCKS or HTTP) or doesn't leave our home network. This is quite heavy and for things like Steam I need to run a script that allows the relevant ports for that one IP for a while.

A pain, but I feel it's worth it. No need to config each individual computer at home and I can trust the setup.

Google services are the worst: Whenever I use anything even remotely related to Google I instantly get "we use cookies to serve you, by using our services you approve of our cookies, blah blah blah...". Well, the moment they actually stop serving I'll just have to switch over to other providers instead then...

I really found it creepy when advertisements all over the net "changed" according to my use of Google. At the end of a holiday I would get ads that were related to my hobbies. Soon after work had started and holiday eneded my adds were flooded with IT-related things again. I clear caches and cookies often... on Unix I do it with rm, even... so that explains the "hopping" in content.

Before I set up the proxy I had not even realized that links on the Google search result pages have, at some point, stopped leading directly to target sites, but instead take a roundtrip to Google to track your click and only then forward you to the site. They weren't always like this .

What was even more odd was that if you choose so, Google seems to use https for the search results, but it always hops back to plain http for that roundtrip? Did so at least back when I checked.

If Google ever forces to use https, I suspect they'll do it to try and stop people from filtering cookies with proxies... Why would you want to encrypt traffic between you and someone that sells information about you to make a living?

Ever since running the proxy ads have been more "random". But the proxy does break things and bad sometimes. Especially when it acts as the man in the middle for HTTPS (this was not trivial to configure and takes a lot of care, because you definitely will want some firewall rules to bypass it for some important sites). Then again, when a site does not work I often know "it's me" and I just have to open up a VM and browse directly to that site with a totally clean browser or add an exception to the proxy. Doesn't matter to me, since I use the web quite lightly relatively speaking... There are sites that are totally reliant on cookies to show anything but an error.

The thing that really sucks is that there's so little that can be done. I know I'm paranoid when I say this, but I really suspect Google, for example, is also crosscomparing source IPs and cookies automatically these days. Better to surf on a 4G stick so you can do a connection down-up regularly and are likely to get a new IP from the pool. Plus you might even be behind a NAT when using one. That should confuse them pretty nicely h34r: .

 

[comradekingu]

>and using W8

Stopped reading

 

[ekianjo]

>and using W8


Stopped reading

haha

 

[rohezal]

The thing that really sucks is that there's so little that can be done. I know I'm paranoid when I say this, but I really suspect Google, for example, is also crosscomparing source IPs and cookies automatically these days. Better to surf on a 4G stick so you can do a connection down-up regularly and are likely to get a new IP from the pool. Plus you might even be behind a NAT when using one. That should confuse them pretty nicely h34r: .

First: get a VPN it is more easy. You can buy a cheap virtual host and make your own if you don't trust companies. More crypto makes it harder for them.

Second: it is more likely you get are in a pat zone (or "nat" like you said) when you use 4G.

Third: You can use tor.

Fourth: Google is probably using https to lock out the "enemy" goverment and stuff from eardropping.

Fith: Good that you want to make you more secure. Being paranoid (sick fear which has no reason) is hardly possible in a world, where a secret service monitors everything you say or hear on eletrical communication, an semi official torture prison exists where you can be brought without a judge and the president has a dead list where he can put down a name and then a killer roboter will execute his kill order. Seriously, if I would have told that people 15 years ago, that would have lought and say this is not possible.