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Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

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Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#561
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you sound like someone who should not be using Windows in any way shape or form. The telemetry and lack of control? Try Linux out.

I'm wary of telemetry, but willing to accept it. It's the lack of respect that gets to me. "Yes/Maybe Later"? Showing me a fake Windows update screen once a month to try to get me to use an online account and switch to Edge? Starting a Bing search when the start menu doesn't recognize an application's name? Pre-installing games with advertisement and microtransactions? It's a commercial operating system, for Christ's…

>Starting a Bing search when the start menu doesn't recognize an application's name? Pre-installing games with advertisement and microtransactions?

I'm always surprised when I see things like this on HN. Also complaints about it auto-rebooting to install updates, requiring an MSN account, etc.

I turn all that stuff off when I first install it, so I see none of those problems. I just kind of assume any tech-savvy person or power-user would also do so.

And we might think the defaults suck. Rightfully, they would for us. But for granny or a gen-Z kid with no computer knowledge? Somebody who isn't going to know to make backups, run scheduled updates, or know the difference between local search and internet search? Those defaults probably make sense.

For me, it works great because I turn that stuff off and I know how to manage a computer. For people who don't, it also probably mostly works great, because they don't have to know how to do that.

Seems like there's just this one odd slice of people caught in the middle who know enough to get irritated by the defaults, but not enough to configure their system the way they want it. If you're in that group, then you're tech-savvy enough to look up how to change the settings to make it work the way you want. I encourage you to do so and make those changes to save yourself some stress and irritation.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#562
post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google's gotta make money off Pinterest somehow, based on the most blocked domains on Kagi: https://kagi.com/stats Pinterest is a scourge on the modern web, worse than any other.

Might these stats be biased by the demographics that use Kagi? I don't use Pinterest, and never really encounter it on a daily basis, but some of my friends really like the site. Tbf, they might use stackoverflow more, but seeing Hacker News on the top 5 doesn't seem to reflect the average web user's usage...

There was a time where Google image search was dominated by Pinterest results but clinking through never took you to the photo. And most of the photos were rehosting of the original so you wouldn't get that either.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It feels really nice using products that respect me, as opposed to services that are actively hostile because of advertisers. Hot take, but IMO Windows has far more respect for the user than Linux does. Everything is far more QA'd (and designed to be QA-able) and at least tries to minimise user frustration. There are exceptions to this, like "suggestions" in the Start menu, but outside of this it's designed in a use…

Is this satire?? Respect for the user… While it forces a reboot While it tries to trick you in to upgrading to 11 While it sends huge amounts of telemetry to Microsoft When it forces you to sign up for an non-local account When it use dark patterns to get you to use Edge and upgrade to Windows 10 When it forces updates on Home users …

Mine doesn't do any of that. (Except maybe the telemetry, which I don't care about.) You've configured yours wrong if it is doing that.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#564
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you sound like someone who should not be using Windows in any way shape or form. The telemetry and lack of control? Try Linux out.

I'm wary of telemetry, but willing to accept it. It's the lack of respect that gets to me. "Yes/Maybe Later"? Showing me a fake Windows update screen once a month to try to get me to use an online account and switch to Edge? Starting a Bing search when the start menu doesn't recognize an application's name? Pre-installing games with advertisement and microtransactions? It's a commercial operating system, for Christ's…

This resonates with me. Whenever I use a windows machine, it really doesn't feel like I am in control and treated as a adult. Adding to the list, click-baity AI-aggregated sex&crime news delivered to you by default. It offends me.

While your list of changes is impressive, I noticed it took you years. So maybe you're a little like me: I find change hard, a cognitive burden that needs a good-enough reason above a certain pain threshold.

I was lucky enough to have been forced to work with Linux in Uni, and when I first set it up myself (trying out two or three distros because I actually managed to bork the first installation somehow), it was in an environment that embraced discovery and I wasn't on my own. Now at work, it's an uphill battle you don't use Windows. Confidence is a must.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#565

Kagi is the single best productivity tool I've added to my kit in the past year. It is easily worth the price.

Could you please share what you have found or discovered, or perhaps how it helps productivity?

Genuinely curious. Have tried Kagi and found results to be mediocre at best compared to DDG.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mostly agree, but I've been blocking ads however ways I can for years now, and I'd say a few minutes of setup has saved me HOURS of dealing with ads at this point. Plus... Building a PiHole was downright fun and easy.

I wish I'd been able to get the pihole to work as easily as it sounded. It looked cool. But it was incompatible with the router from the ISP I had at the time, and rather than also buy and setup a new router, I just packed it away. Now I have a new ISP with a different router, and I'm sure it's incompatible too. But at least it only takes 30 seconds to install ublock origin, and no extra hardware.

Consider using NextDNS to help block ads on both individual devices and network-wide too.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#568
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah you sound like someone who should not be using Windows in any way shape or form. The telemetry and lack of control? Try Linux out.

The only lockin I have remaining to windows is video games really

I regularly game with Steam and Lutris on Fedora and it's really good - I wouldn't say perfect but the only problems I've had have been with one or two much older titles. No way I'm going back to Windows.

Re: Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month

#570
post #429

Three years ago, I migrated from Gmail to FastMail because I was afraid of losing access to my digital life on Google's whim. Two years ago, I found out that my favorite Youtube creators were all on Nebula. One year ago, I switched my phone to LineageOS to get security updates a little longer. A month ago, I installed OpenStreetMaps because Google Maps got really bad at showing points-of-interest. And today, Kagi rem…

I would love to use Nebula but it seems to lean quite politically in one direction (as I suspect from a Canadian platform) which seems like something I don't want to support with my dollars. At least on YouTube I can find a diverse range of opinions

I don't have a Nebula account, but I checked their feed a while ago and they seem to have a variety of opinions, at least for videos about politics/economics. I found both socialist channels (eg. "Second Thought") and liberal/pro-market channels (eg. "PolyMatter"). I'm not sure if they have any right-wing/republican channels though, so if that's what you want, perhaps it is not for you
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