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How to live without Google (2017)

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Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#91

Post by toomuchtodo »

nottorp wrote: post #88
auslander wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the key to all my online accounts Most services support primary email/login change

> Most services support primary email/login change They do, but would you like to do that every couple years if, say fastmail or any other service goes out of bussiness? Do you even remember all of them, so you can change the email in time if your provider gives you advance warning that they're shutting down? Long term, it's complicated.

You buy your own domain, and change the MX record if you move.

Yes, you have to plan ahead unfortunately until someone comes along and offers an "email address for life" you can forward anywhere.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#93

Post by Marsymars »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #92

Does anyone have a good alternative to Google Voice?

Depends a bit on which specific workflows you're using Google Voice to enable, but as someone not living in America (so don't have access to Google Voice), I can give you a succinct answer to that: No.

If I want to be able to answer phone calls on my PC, my only options are either an SIP softphone, or a Mac/iPhone using Continuity.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#94

Post by AnonymousPlanet »

ilovecaching wrote: post #87

I think it’s funny that people try to cut FAANG out of their lives and still use Linux, which is primarily contributed to by FAANG and other corporations like Intel and IBM. Also DuckDuckGo is so slow. I mean how are they supposed to compete with Google’s edge network? Then they have innacurate results, the first result is usually a deceiving looking ad, and you have to take them at their word that they aren’t also s…

And use what? Windows 10? That's like using FB as your operating system.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#95

Post by auiya »

Swapping out a select few of Google's products isn't the same as "living without Google". Until you've blacklisted their entire netblock range from your usage[1], you don't realize just how many tendrils they have in every aspect of your Internet experience. And good luck getting around the other tech giants' oligopoly of the web as well[2]. The Internet isn't a fun "wild-west frontier" anymore, it's now completely commercialized into a handful of super large silos, with mostly no way around them.

[1] https://gizmodo.com/i-cut-google-out-of-my-life-it-screwed-u...

[2] https://gizmodo.com/life-without-the-tech-giants-1830258056

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#96

Post by SquareWheel »

Const-me wrote: post #90
SquareWheel wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Have no idea why Google’s doing that. It's duplicate content. That's punished in the SERPs.

Search “karmadecay” on google images. You’ll get zero results from karmadecay.com. Not on the first page, not on the 10-th page, it’s just not there. Normally, the domain is very strong keyword. Search for “facebook” and the first image will be from facebook.com, search for “duckduckgo” and you’ll see a screenshot image hosted on duckduckgo.com on the 7-th place (not the first I expected but still high enough). I’m n…

A search for "site:karmadecay.com" brings up some results. (warning: mostly nsfw)

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#97

Post by hrktb »

astonex wrote: post #40
phil9987 wrote: post #3

For a couple of month I have set duckduckgo as my standard search engine, but I often do not get satisfactory results. Is this because I am used to the Google results or does duckduckgo indeed not prioritize in a good way?

It's almost like Google is actually good at Search and replicating that isn't easy

I know it's partly snark, but I think Google is not actually that good at it. Not because they are complacent, but because search is a hard problem and there is no objectively 'good' results to any arbitrary query.

There is a tradeoff for any given user between getting the most popular results and what could be the most 'accurate' result. I find myself using several search engines depending on what I want (apart from Google/DDG, you always have the option to go directly to amazon or StackOverflow for instance), and am pretty happy about it.

But saying Google is good at search is a bit like praising Wallmart for being good at retail. Sure, they are to some extent, but there are clear tradeoffs we need to be aware of.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#98

Post by AlwaysRock »

phil9987 wrote: post #3

For a couple of month I have set duckduckgo as my standard search engine, but I often do not get satisfactory results. Is this because I am used to the Google results or does duckduckgo indeed not prioritize in a good way?

I switched a year or so ago. The results are different. They feel less spot on but they provide more depth. Google will typically give me the answer I'm looking for on the first page but if it doesnt the second/third/fourth page will not have it either. They will be very similar to the first page.

DDG doesnt always have the right answer on the first page. But it may be on the second. Or the third. It's worth checking them at least. Realizing this made my DDG experience better.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#99

Post by lemcoe9 »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #92

Does anyone have a good alternative to Google Voice?

You can find a SIP provider (Flowroute, SIP.US, SIPSTATION.com, Twilio, OnSIP, and many more) that will allow you to either use a desk phone or a software-based phone with a telephone number of your choosing. It's never free, and you can expect to pay $0.009 - $0.02 per-minute for all calls.

Disclaimer: I work for one of the companies that I listed in parentheses.

Re: How to live without Google (2017)

#100

Post by Const-me »

SquareWheel wrote: post #96
Const-me wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Search “karmadecay” on google images. You’ll get zero results from karmadecay.com. Not on the first page, not on the 10-th page, it’s just not there. Normally, the domain is very strong keyword. Search for “facebook” and the first image will be from facebook.com, search for “duckduckgo” and you’ll see a screenshot image hosted on duckduckgo.com on the 7-th place (not the first I expected but still high enough). I’m n…

A search for "site:karmadecay.com" brings up some results. (warning: mostly nsfw)

Right, I have wrote that in my first comment:

> Google will only show result from that domain if you limit search to that domain with “site:karmadecay.com”

The question is, why doesn’t normal image search show that site ever, despite tons of content?

I know technical reasons are still possible, but so is google breaking laws, they have quite a history of unlawful behavior and have paid billions in fines for that.

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