New Media Research Studio

For Next Week (Feb 10th):

Experiment: A week without Google

In the coming week starting from the end of this class we will attempt to make it through a whole week without using any Google service. Not Google Search, not Gmail, not Google Talk, not Google Video, not Google Docs, not Google Maps, not Google Earth, not Google News, not Google Groups, not Youtube, not Google Video, not Blogger, not Picasa, not Google Calendar, not Google Checkout, not iGoogle, not Google Translate, not Google Chrome, if you have a G1 phone, you are not allowed to use Google services with it, talk and text only… you get the point.

It’s not going to be easy and hence we will not attempt to create an unfeasible challenge. We will keep a promise to each other to follow some rules:

1. Whenever we are passively exposed to Google content (an embedded Google video, map, and so on…) we post that link to delicious.com (this is how to post to delicious.com) using the tags ‘nmrs’, ‘weekwithoutgoogle’ and ‘ambushed’ (+whatever else you want to include)
2. Whenever we break and use a Google service, we report about it to the blog, as a comment on this post.
3. If we totally break altogether, we write a post about it as soon as we decide to pull out, summarizing the experience.

We will also try to support each other in the process by:

1. If you use Gmail, please make sure to set a forward on your email to another email service (either on or offline). Please do that as the first thing you do after this class, and not later than 10pm.
2. Every time you are about to use Google, and find a way around it, try to propose the alternative to the class by tagging the alternative with the tags ‘nmrs’, ‘weekwithoutgoogle’ and ‘dodged’.
3. Share tactics on the blog. Work together to try to make it.
4. Previous classes found the use of this Firefox plugin useful, so if you find you just can’t trust yourself use it to block any Google domain. In the options add the following urls:

   *.google.*
   *.youtube.*
   *.googlegroups.*
   *.blogspot.*
   *.blogger.*
   *.gmail.*
   *.picasa.*
   

   (am I missing anything?)

This is trust based only, but the student who will manage to take this challenge on and make it through the week will win the class’s medal of honor.

Good luck!
(we’re going to need it)

Possibly Relevant Posts:

• Can My Computer Be Smart Please? Thanks. (1) | Angela
• How Long Before We’re All Scroogled? (1) | Angela
• I know where you live. (1) | Ashley