Gmail Password Changes Require Google Plus!
Today I needed to change my very long and complex gmail password connected to my Android tablet to something easier to type in. I intended to change the password for 10 minutes, then change it back. I needed it to be simple just long enough to get the android tablet connected to gmail, download a few apps, especially KeePassX for Android.
Sounds simple enough, right?
/etc/hosts Changes Needed
As many readers know, I’m willing to have inconveniences to have a little more privacy. I’ve been blocking facebook and a number of other DNS entries for awhile. Google-Plus has been blocked since a few days after it was announced.
127.0.0.1 plusone.google.com plus.google.com
Has been preventing access to “plus” all this time without any repercussions that I could see, until today.
To manage your gmail profile/account, we are redirected to plus.google.com now. This is fantastic or terrible, depending on your point of view. If a business wants to prevent internal users from signing up for google, blocking plus.google.com should accomplish that. OTOH, blocking that location currently prevents gmail passwords from being reset.
Anyway, I allowed plus.google.com to work for about 30 minutes and did what I needed to accomplish. When it was time to set the password back to the older password, Google didn’t allow it. That means I need to change the gmail password on a few more devices before everything is back to normal again.
Here’s an article that explains how to block a large number of internet trackers.. There are lots of ways to accomplish this, but that article relays the basic idea.
