I have duck duck go integrated into my Chrome. Being able to do things like type '? md5 blabla' and have it spit out a hash has been helpful. Other things like integrated SO and Wikipedia help a lot too.
Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
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Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#12I really wish I could do this, but Duck Duck Go really just seems subpar when it comes to anything I actually still use a search engine for these days (technical searches). A better solution for my use case is to 1) avoid search engines where possible (far easier than you might initially think) and 2) just use googlesharing with ssl to provide myself with some anonymity while using google.
That's curious because I really have been working hard to get it much better for technical searches, and I often get the opposite report (that it's better for those with integrated SO , less content farms, other zero-click & goodies). I guess it varies by specific type though. In any case, I'd really appreciate specific examples so I can improve!
Specifically I generally search error strings, and expect to get relevant links to archived mailing lists.
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#13I would love to make the switch as I love their philosophy and have been a follower since they started, however the results I get when I search are below par to what I receive with Google (for example). I keep trying and I will continue to keep trying.
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#14I really wish I could do this, but Duck Duck Go really just seems subpar when it comes to anything I actually still use a search engine for these days (technical searches). A better solution for my use case is to 1) avoid search engines where possible (far easier than you might initially think) and 2) just use googlesharing with ssl to provide myself with some anonymity while using google.
Could you explain a little more about how you avoid using search engines? Do you just go directly to sites that you know and trust and use their search functionality?
More or less, yes. I have bookmarks to all of my prefered news sites and blogs, use wikipedia or imdb for most of my general knowledge searching, and most of my technical questions are answered by official documentation or source diving.
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's curious because I really have been working hard to get it much better for technical searches, and I often get the opposite report (that it's better for those with integrated SO , less content farms, other zero-click & goodies). I guess it varies by specific type though. In any case, I'd really appreciate specific examples so I can improve!
I switched back to Google because it performs significantly better on technical mathematics searches, which is mostly what I look for. On computer programming searches DDG and Google seem to do about equally well. On some domains I wouldn't be surprised if DDG does better.
To add on to this, every search engine is generally pretty bad at math related searches. It may be something worth looking into.
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
I switched back to Google because it performs significantly better on technical mathematics searches, which is mostly what I look for. On computer programming searches DDG and Google seem to do about equally well. On some domains I wouldn't be surprised if DDG does better.
To add on to this, every search engine is generally pretty bad at math related searches. It may be something worth looking into.
Can you give some examples as to math searches, the more the better :)
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's curious because I really have been working hard to get it much better for technical searches, and I often get the opposite report (that it's better for those with integrated SO , less content farms, other zero-click & goodies). I guess it varies by specific type though. In any case, I'd really appreciate specific examples so I can improve!
Specifically I generally search error strings, and expect to get relevant links to archived mailing lists.
Gotcha. I would love to do more with 0-click there. Does anyone know of any good/great listings or search engines for error strings?
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#18"I prefer to uses dashes rather than %20 as it looks cleaner and is more easily understood by the non-technically versed visitor."
Isn't "+" the standard alternative, also pretty readable?
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#19Permanently - is that still a word on the Internet?
For short periods of time.
Re: Why I Switched to Duck Duck Go Permanently
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
To add on to this, every search engine is generally pretty bad at math related searches. It may be something worth looking into.
Can you give some examples as to math searches, the more the better :)
There are two major problems I've found.
1. Poor interpretation: "distribution of compact support" brings up nothing very useful in DDG -- a bunch of linkfarms, it looks like -- but in Google the third result for me is a relevant .pdf from Oregon State.
2. Users attempting to ad-hoc convert math notation into ascii: Google understands "l 2 space", but DDG thinks I mean "l2space" which is some sort of gallery in I don't know where.
It's a hard, nontrivial problem.