From FastCompany Labs: 30 ways to leave Google Apps behind. Now, why is Fast Company writing articles about leaving Google behind?

Because of this op-ed postulating that Google is an evil empire. “And the next time Google, say, decides to buy an advanced robotics company, don’t ask if its ethics will survive. That’s beside the point. Google doesn’t care about you. It cares about your data. Act accordingly.”

Holy bean dip. Google has purchased Nest Labs. For over 3 billion dollars.

Interesting: Russian search engine Yandex has added Facebook data to its search results. “Like the Bing agreement, Yandex uses a Facebook ‘firehose’ covering all real-time data. For Yandex, it is restricted to public posts from Facebook users in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkey. That covers “tens of millions” of users, according to a Yandex spokesperson.”

The USGS has launched a new sediment portal with information on over 4,500 sites. “Watershed managers, policy-makers, researchers, and the public can use the portal to access suspended sediment information at over 4,900 sites.”

Need some icon fonts? Mashable looks at eight generators.

Wow — apparently the UK government won’t be completely transitioned off Windows XP by the time support expires in April. “HMRC told us it expects to have completely moved off of Windows XP by ‘the end’ of 2014, while NHS Scotland expects to finish in the third quarter.” Ouch ouch ouch. Good morning, Internet..

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