Odd G+ Realization: since search beats Streams, and blocking is so rampant, your best experience is viewing when not logged in.

The challenge is keeping track of who you're interested in. The benefit is that when you're not logged in, you can avoid contributing to the data stream and #surveillancestate. I'm still finding occasionally interesting content there, but prefer dialing back markedly.

In the #csshacks department, I've disabled virtually all feedback controls (+1, reshare, edit, etc.) in the UI so that I generally have to go through major hoops to be able to comment/reply to stuff (which is pretty much exactly how I want it).

Finding #Reddit and #HackerNews a lot more useful these days.