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Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

blog.vrypan.net

121–130 of 165 posts

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#121
post #73

Here's how it works. The techies create something. The legals come along and say, OK, to release that in the wild it needs some T&Cs that cover our arses for everything and then some, because people keep sueing us. In practice, would Google ever dare invoke this on a large scale? No, you know that. Yes, there should be some transparent process that is undertaken if yours were revoked, but Google only like stuff that…

Me in 1993: Yeah, but seriously, nobody is going to start charging for domain names. Writing a hundred bytes in your named.conf? What would you charge, ten cents? Doesn't make sense. And everybody swaps secondary service with everybody else, and your upstream includes it at no extra charge.

god were you wrong back then!

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#122

How did Google not realise when they launched Google+ that URLs that end in ridiculously long strings of numbers (107350252619396782277) was a poor idea? Now it feels like they're adding a sticking plaster to fix their initial design decision. Google+ on the whole seems quite poorly designed from a UX perspective. Most people seem to use Google+ like a blog, but the two column card layout on the desktop (three column…

FWIW you can choose a one column layout. looks great on tablet/mobile but not so much on a 27" LCD.

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#123

Why I won't get a Custom URL: > Many people have the same name. Add a few extra letters or numbers to this URL to get one that is unique for you. Why would I want yet another "MyName " identifier? How does that help friends and family remember or identify me? What purpose does it serve? I'm yet another person with a nickname that identifies me all over and has for years, I too own the domain. But Google+ keeps insist…

This whole "many people have the same name" thing is absolute garbage. using google search, i can't find a single reference to anybody else who has the same name as me. my name is unique. and yet i have to add a suffix anyways.

and my nickname is pretty unique, i know there's nobody else on google+ using it. and i have a page named 'notatoad', not that i use it for anything. but i have to put a suffix on that too.

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#124

facebook - choose whatever username you want HN - choose whatever username you want twitter - choose whatever username you want reddit - choose whatever username you want tumblr - choose whatever username you want Google+ - we choose it for you, you can't change it, we might charge you for it, and we might also take it away at some point also - why does G+ need to insert the /u/0 after the domain name? twitter, faceb…

Seriously, did you read any of the other comments on this thread?

Facebook: "If you select a username or similar identifier for your account or Page, we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe it is appropriate"

Twitter: "We reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, to suspend or terminate users, and to reclaim usernames without liability to you."

Reddit: "Service Provider or third parties may charge you fees for products or services offered for sale through the Website, and/or for access to portions of the Website or the Website as a whole" AND "Provider may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, suspend or terminate the access of and take other action against users, subscribers, registrants and account holders"

Tumblr: "Tumblr reserves the right to refuse registration of, cancel, or modify a Tumblr URL in its sole discretion."

And finally, you don't need any "/u/0" after the domain name. See: https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#125
post #118
post #61

The reason I won't get a custom URL is because after getting the "Click here to get your custom URL" email, I was informed I had to give them my mobile number before this process was achievable. It seems Google is on an absolute mission to get my mobile number, they've been relentlessly hinting that it's essential that I give it to them for what feels like forever. No Google, you cannot have it. Please, stop asking.

Note that you don't have to give Google your mobile number. You can use a Google Voice number.

That's not really the point is it? They said they couldn't give me a personalised URL unless I gave them my mobile number. Clearly I could have given them any number. It's the fact they're holding features to ransom that I find utterly disturbing.

Do no evil. Yeah right.

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#126

facebook - choose whatever username you want HN - choose whatever username you want twitter - choose whatever username you want reddit - choose whatever username you want tumblr - choose whatever username you want Google+ - we choose it for you, you can't change it, we might charge you for it, and we might also take it away at some point also - why does G+ need to insert the /u/0 after the domain name? twitter, faceb…

Seriously, did you read any of the other comments on this thread? Facebook: "If you select a username or similar identifier for your account or Page, we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe it is appropriate" Twitter: "We reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, to suspend or terminate users, and to reclaim usern…

these are all terms of service considerations. you can still choose a username upon signup for almost any social media account except G+. g+ is the only service that assigns a username to you.

i did not know that about /u/0, thanks!

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#129
post #105
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give us some backstory on how you acquired a single letter domain name, please.

I wanted to find a 1-letter domain that was the easiest to type on a keyboard (with my 2-finger typing habit). I think that was back in 2006-ish days. So i found that typing keys C + . + GG requires an absolutely minimal amount of physical finger effort as hands are almost perfectly positioned above these keys. So I registered these. In fact back then there were a plenty of other 1-letter domain available up for a gr…

Thank you.

Re: Why I won't get a Google+ Custom URL

#130
post #73

Here's how it works. The techies create something. The legals come along and say, OK, to release that in the wild it needs some T&Cs that cover our arses for everything and then some, because people keep sueing us. In practice, would Google ever dare invoke this on a large scale? No, you know that. Yes, there should be some transparent process that is undertaken if yours were revoked, but Google only like stuff that…

Me in 1993: Yeah, but seriously, nobody is going to start charging for domain names. Writing a hundred bytes in your named.conf? What would you charge, ten cents? Doesn't make sense. And everybody swaps secondary service with everybody else, and your upstream includes it at no extra charge.

> ten cents

And they started charging $70, IIRC!

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