A look into the future CALLER: Is this Gordon's Pizza? GOOGLE: No sir, it's Google Pizza. CALLER: I must have dialled a wrong number. Sorry. GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Gordon’s Pizza last month. CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza. GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir? CALLER: My usual? You know me? GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust. CALLER: OK! That’s what I want … GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust? CALLER: What? I detest vegetable!. GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir. CALLER: How the hell do you know! GOOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years. CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetable pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol. GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you only purchased a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once, at Drug RX Network, 4 months ago. CALLER: I bought more from another drugstore. GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement. CALLER: I paid in cash. GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement. CALLER: I have other sources of cash. GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your last tax return unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law. CALLER: WHAT THE HELL!!! GOOGLE: I'm sorry, sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you. CALLER: Enough already! I'm sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I'm going to an island without internet, cable TV, where there is no cell phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me. GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago…

Hello, I am looking for some advice if possible regarding an issue that I have with them about a phone that I have returned to them to get replaced under warranty. On the 27th September, I returned my Google Pixel device back to Google's warehouse, using UPS shipping labels provided to me via their customer support live chat. This shipping method provided me with a tracking number so I could find out when it arrived. Great! The phone was delivered to Google's warehouse in Germany on the 29th September. A few days after I knew it had arrived at the warehouse, I got in touch with Google as I had received no confirmation from them to say that they have received my phone. I questioned this and was assured that my phone has been received at the warehouse and all is good, my replacement device will be shipped to me as soon as it has processed through their systems. A few more days passed with no information from Google still regarding my device, I get in contact again and explain. They tell me that they are unable to find my device that I sent them. This is where I begin to get slightly concerned. I explain to them that the tracking shows delivery (I sent them this in a screenshot). They asked me to provide shipping labels, which I did, but when I sent them to them, I never got a response regarding it. Cut a long story short, every time I've contacted Google I have spoken to a different agent, whether this was through live chat/phone call. I finally thought I was getting somewhere when I spoke to a staff member on the phone who told me that they are going to send me a Pixel XL in replacement for my Pixel device and that I will receive it within 7 working days. Excellent! I'm getting somewhere I thought. A few more days passed from that point, no shipping confirmation, no confirmation of receiving the device, nothing. The only communication has been when I have contacted them via email or live chat. Following this discussion, I received an email from the live chat again who explained that there has been no update on the device's whereabouts and that no new device will be sent until they find it. As you can understand, I was not happy and email back explaining the conversation I had with an agent on the phone. Finally, Wednesday 11th October, two weeks since I sent the device. I spoke to someone on the phone, who was an excellent help. He said that he has now just processed it as if they have received the device and that it is processing through the system now and will hopefully be sent to be soon (not exactly 100% what I wanted to hear, but it's a start). He explained to me that I should email him on Friday 13th October if I have received no communication regarding the replacement as he personally processed the replacement whilst on the phone to me. He also explained to me that he is now the only person that I will talk to for this case. So tomorrow, I will call Ollie the agent again to speak to him regarding the device, because as of this evening, no device has been sent out to me. The most aggravating part for me during this has been speaking to different people every single time I contact, even by email, a different person replies to me. I have tried to escalate the case as much as possible, but am being told that there is nobody else that is able to talk to me. Even when challenged, I got a response from a so-called "supervisor" by email, who I replied to but have never heard anything back from. Along with this, I have found an email address online for their grievance department, but as of yet, nobody has got back to me on that email, except an automated response. What would people suggest in doing? I plan on arrange for a call from the agent I spoke to on Wednesday tomorrow morning, but I am unsure at what I should do if he says that there is nothing else he can do to speed the process up. Despite the fact someone told me it was sent before he did. Any suggestions? Apologies for the long story, but have condensed it down as much as possible. Thanks in advance for any advice given. EDIT: Each time that I have spoken to a person on the phone and they have given me information such as sending me a different device or such. I have got them to email me this, so that I have a copy of this in writing each time that they have said it.

When we have a question about something that comes into our minds, we can often find the answers just by searching using Google etc. Lets see what answers we can get without an internet search. First question. Why on the same stretch of coastline, can you find one beach that is mostly sandy and within a few miles find one that is mostly pebbles ? E.g parts of Cornwall, Dorset. I don't know the answer, but my guess is that it is to do with underwater geology and general terrain. E.g if you have lots of rocks under the water near a beach, then it will be mostly sand that is deposited on a beach. If you have few rocks under the water so no natural barrier, then the force of the water will deposit larger debris including pebbles onto a beach.

It's bad enough when you deal with third-party pop-up ads, but it's that much worse when the site itself shows pop-ups. Do you really want to subscribe to that newsletter before you've even read a single word on the page? Well, Google is going to worsen the search results of websites that use pop-ups so that they rank lower and therefore get fewer hits. As of January 10th, 2017, its mobile search results will downplay sites with "intrusive" interstitials and pop-ups. It'll accept content that asks for necessary info or takes up a "reasonable" amount of space, but "click to continue" pop-ups and first-party sales pitches won't curry Google's favor. https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/23/google-downplays-sites-with-pop-ups/

The wealthiest 62 people have as much wealth as that of half the worlds population combined: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/18/richest-62-billionaires-wealthy-half-world-population-combined

Hi! I thought I'd use CAG for this one as it's not infested with so much spam and rubbish as the PC help forums! I have a very old PC which I cannot afford to replace as I'm out of work at the moment! Spec:- M/B Asus A7V-600X with 2.1 GHz Athlon CPU; RAM 1.5GB DDR II type; Graphics GeForce FX5500 On-board AC97 Sound 145 GB HDD 16X DVD-RW Multi-drive & 48X CD-RW Optical drives, both IDE I am running Windows 7 Pro at the moment with Google Chrome 26.0.1410.5, and any more recent version refuses to install with an error message "your PC hardware is not supported by Chrome!" I am getting incessant Google Chrome crashes, lockups, pages repeatedly not loading, etc., etc. I am getting the Free Windows 10 Upgrade Offer but this also refuses to install on the grounds of "Unsupported Hardware!" My Broadband is a BT Home Hub connection provided by my landlord and is very reliable, last about 65 MBps when I tried a Speed Check on it! Can anyone suggest:- 1) Is there a way round the Chrome/Windows 10 problems; 2) What other alternative browser(s) can I try in this elderly machine? Many thanks!

I was looking for a place to park near a local station. There is an NPC park and ride there, with a few bays, but I've noticed there is a road that goes around the bays with no yellow lines, and it's not clear whether or not it is a part of the car park or not, as there is only 1 sign at the back. There is plenty of room to park here, and others do, but just wanted to know if it is a part of it or not. Here is a google street view link which is pointing at the place I want to park, spin around and you will see the entrance road and the car park. https://goo.gl/maps/oJRbp There are no "You will be charged" signs anywhere, nothing on the entrance, if you took a right turn from the road leading in, you wouldn't even go past the sign. EDIT: Here are some pictures of the sign taken today. I couldn't even read the T&C's while standing right infront of it. http://imgur.com/a/G9sOM

Hi, We have used google adwords (always with very little success) for a while now. However, we recently got a bill for more than £400 of Adverts which didn't create a single inquiry. In fact we didn't even know the campaign was running. We have a normal screen on our google account that we believe told us all of the information we needed. However, for this campaign, somehow, it had been activated for adverts that are placed into people websites. And this only shows on a seperate screen that has no commonsense link to the screen we always use. This might have been a setting someone at google changed when assisting us setting up the account. But its certainly not something we knew how to do, intentionally. Anyway, the account was set for a £10 a day limit and on the main screen it was showing as we were spending about £2 a day. Until we got the bill. Our spending pattern and the log of visits to the website would both act as proof that this advert didn't make sense. But my main issue here is that, all of this spending was hidden from us and could only be accessed easily by someone who had good knowledge of ad-words. Anyway we spend about £400 on an advert that didn't even create one email inquiry. Does google have a duty to make it clear what you are spending your money on? Because we simply didn't have a clue and I was checking the normal screen daily. Thanks

I purchased a Nexus 10 two years ago this December and I am now on my fourth device. The 2 year warranty is almost up and I have developed another fault with the one they sent me 3 days ago (Headphone jack isn't working). Previous issues have been intermittent wifi drop outs, and slow charging. This is becoming a bit of a joke now. It's got to the point where I've not really used my device extensively and hence haven't had anything stored on the device because of the constant wipes and reset to factory settings etc. The first 2 replacements were brand new however the latest one was a refurb. I'm not really sure if I have any ground to stand on here? I need to call them tomorrow or Monday but can I demand a brand new device from them this time instead of a refurb and just hope for the best after the warranty expires?

I have been looking for a caravan and came across a seller wanting to use Google Wallet for payment. I have never heard of this before. It seems too good to be true. The only thing that worries me is he wants the money deposited before he will "deliver" the caravan. He says he is in Perth, Scotland and I live in Northamptonshire. I canntn see how he can deliver the caravan all that way at no cost to me. I think this may be a [problem]. Any comments please.

Hi all, About 3 weeks ago I pre ordered purchased a brand new Samsung Gear Live watch from Google Play Store. Whilst waiting for the watch to arrive I noticed some of the people that had received the pre release watch at the Google I/0 conference had reported the charging cradle that snaps onto the back of the watch was damaging the plastic on the back of the watch meaning they were no longer able to charge the watch. With this in mind I have tried to be very careful with the watch removing the cradle from the rear of the watch with care. Unfortunately however the watch has succumb to this fault and the charging cradle has broken the plastic on the rear of the watch meaning I am unable to charge the watch. Below is an example of the problem which is well known. http://www.sammobile.com/2014/07/07/samsung-gear-live-charging-mechanism-reportedly-getting-damaged-easily/ I contacted Google play and they have offered me a new replacement watch, after some persuasion, however, I am far from confident that this will not happen again, I asked Google that I would happy to accept a new watch if they could offer a different way of charging that did not require snapping cradle on to the back of e device risking it breaking again. I have requested a full refund, my argument is the charging cradle is not fit for purpose as it breaks the device. Do I have a case in consumer law here?

Google's online site has the policy in which for you to return a faulty device you need to first give them permission to put an 'authorisation' on the value of the replacement device they send to you. This is non-optional. The idea that if the faulty device you return is not deemed under warranty by them they will take the authorised value and you keep the replacement they sent you. I.e you pay for same product twice whether you like it or not. Am I being completely wrong in believing this go against Sales of Good Act? Thanks

I bought a Nexus device from Google Play Store recently, but soon changed my mind and decided to cancel my order. I rang up the Google Play customer service to cancel my order, but they said it was not possible, and was told to refuse delivery instead to get a refund after 14 days - which I did. A refund of the £9.99 delivery charge wasn't mentioned so I queried whether this would be refunded, to which I was told it would not be refunded. Am I not entitled to a refund of the delivery charge as well, under the DSRs?

G00gle are using surplus surveillance drones from the US military to develop a 3D StreetView. The idea is to have a drone follow each StreetView CCTV camera car at a height of 50 metres. Instead of the existing 2D images, the new service will capture 3D images using software developed jointly by G00gle and Caltech. This software is being installed in G00gle Glass, so that users can explore a 3D representation of any street they choose to download. It will appear to users that they are standing in the actual street. The 3D StreetView Privacy Impact Assessment appended to G00gle’s Privacy Policy recommends that the drones should not be silent but “should emit a sound like the low frequency buzz of a Doodlebug” - a reference to the V1 flying bomb . Doubtless they will be nicknamed “G00gleBugs”. Potential privacy issues are dismissed on the grounds that unlawful activity is being unmasked. For instance “addresses where grandparents have been reported missing to the police” and “where gardens ... clearly contain areas which have recently been dug over”. The Assessment notes that 3D StreetView would “revive the services offered by [the home security] sector as burglars are likely to become users of the 3D system”. PS - elsewhere, the Assessment deals with the inadvertent capturing of 3D images of adults engaging in nude sunbathing etc., in back gardens, indicating that applying the usual blurring algorithm just to the face of a sunbather “risks leaving other body parts exposed, in full 3D” - as recently discovered in Manchester's Temperance Street PPS - LAs will be able to explore the dimensions of extensions at the back of houses to check planning rules have not been violated PPPS - it is rumoured that "G00gle G0ggles" was originally considered as the name for G00gle Glass, to trade on the alliteration

http://cag.tw/4cr

Facebook and Google amass 'voluntary' personal data Max Schrems is no luddite. The law student was savvy enough to know that, if he requested it, Facebook would have to release all of the data it has collected on him since he joined. Even he, though, was taken aback by the amount of information Mark Zuckerberg's social network had on him. When his report came back – all 1,200 pages of data – he saw details of friend requests he had ignored; people he had "defriended" and even items he had deleted from his account. Yet everything in his file was information he had voluntarily given. His experience mirrors not only those of Facebook's estimated 900 million users, but those of everyone who has ever googled something, entered personal information into a website or – to some extent – even loaded a web page. Today's headlines on the Government's so-called "snooper's charter" are about new powers for the police. But companies have been using internet users' data for good and bad for years. Google and Facebook are probably the most notable examples of sites that feed off the data their users give them. Both have targeted advertising. For those adverts to be worth the pixels they are printed on, they need users' information. http://www.independent.co.uk/hei-fi/news/facebook-and-google-amass-voluntary-personal-data-7854248.html?origin=internalSearch

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk%2Fhome%2F2012%2F02%2Ften-people-havent-read-googles.html%23more-4205&h=XAQFdBvbyAQE4yiOeDS1x_Yb5f_Yiw_iTtLUXtdsf0B-LUQ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2105435/Three-simple-steps-delete-Google-browsing-history--late.html It would be wise to read the above ASAP, these changes take place on March 1st Lex

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk%2Fhome%2F2012%2F02%2Ften-people-havent-read-googles.html%23more-4205&h=XAQFdBvbyAQE4yiOeDS1x_Yb5f_Yiw_iTtLUXtdsf0B-LUQ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2105435/Three-simple-steps-delete-Google-browsing-history--late.html It would be wise to read the above ASAP, these changes take place on March 1st Lex