I'll be the first to admit it - I like the quirky ways programs sometimes will use to make otherwise mundane processes done by my computer more amusing. When I used Eudora as my mail client, it would use MoodWatch to detect aggressive, R-rated or rude phrases in an email and rank it from 1 Chili Pepper (Better hope you know the person) to 3 (Whoa, this is the kind of thing that might get your keyboard washed out with soap!). I could set up my Gmail to challenge me with math facts before sending email late at night to save me from dru... err sleep deprived emailing. I especially liked the funny warnings that are present when opening a new Google Chrome Incognitio window. Well, were present.
Admission - I use incognito mode. A ton. And not for the reason that you might think. I mainly use it because of how Google will occasionally over-estimate how important something I search for is important to my daily life, and will send the information to my phone on my Google Now Screen. Constantly. I once looked up examples of Final Jeopardy Questions to help get ideas for a trivia night, and Google decided that I must want to know when the show Jeopardy is showing.^ After a month of Jeopardy reminders, I now use Incognito mode for when I'm searching for something that I don't need to be reminded of for months on end. I also use it for many other reasons.
But back to the drastic change. Whenever I would launch Incognito mode, I would be greeted by this quirky little message:
Oh, when were were young and fun, without a care in the world.
I couldn't wait to show my wife the first time I saw that. I used to joke about James Bond being thwarted by my use of incognito mode, having to resort to standing behind me to find out when Jeopardy airs.^^ Then came Prism and the other NSA programs. Needless to say, we were all stunned by the scope of the snooping. It was no longer funny to joke about surveillance by secret agents when we learn that our internet traffic is actually under surveillance by secret agents So now, to further clarify what incognito mode does and does not do in regards to your privacy, we have this screen:
I guess it just assumes that if your ISP has access to your info, the NSA has access to your info.
So, in the age of increasingly less privacy on the web, with the stakes being much higher, the humor of Google Chrome's Incognito Mode has been sacrificed for a much more informative screen. You may be gone, warnings of free smileys, secret agents and not turning around, but you will not be forgotten.^^^
^What is Nearly Every Single Day?
^^See above
^^^If someone wants to make a youtube video with these screens, a lighter, and the "I will remember you" song that they use when talking about the animals that need adoption, I will add that here. Until then, just imagine that in your head.
Wed Mar 05, 2014 at 5:31 AM PT: Been getting a few great comments about things that you've regretted searching for that ended up plaguing your Google Now / Website Ads / other computing experience. What's your story?