It is essential to stop using Chrome.
Under the pretense of saving users from third-party spyware, Google is creating an ecosystem in which Chrome itself is the spyware.
Given Google's overwhelming presence in the browser market, this is unconscionable.
We should all despise the ad-tech business, and have no sympathy for the companies getting whacked by Google's actions. But we should not permit one monopolist to replace them all.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/year-review-googles-corporate-paternalism-browser
I urge you to check out Kagi Browser[1]. I forgot how pain-free using a search engine could be. With Google, a relatively simple search had me typing:
sink tap gasket intitle:"replacement" OR intitle:"repair" filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc inurl:product OR inurl:details "made in" (site:.com OR site:.co.uk OR site:.de) -site:amazon.com -site:ebay.com
I am appreciative that I’ve gotten pretty good at finding obscure nuggets of info, and it makes Google Dork[2] searches even more fun, but when I simply need “where to by $x”, Google shat out mindless SEO content.
I also highly recommend Fastmail[3] as an alternative email host. Far cheaper than Google Workspace for custom domains, and their masked email function is wonderful, even more so with 1Password[4].
Turning your back from the abusive Google can look intimidating to begin with, but it turns out it takes very little effort if you make a lil’ plan of alternative services to use.
I saw this thread on mastodon the other day griping about Kagi not understanding how inherently political tech is which doesn’t fill me with confidence in their ability to proceed ethically: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/111707573907442638
That’s a darn shame, I just paid for a month of Kagi to try them out.
Saying “Politics finding its way into tech is one of the reason we do not have innovation any more.” instead of answering the question is a way to dodge a question you don’t want to answer. Super duper red flag. Unfortunate. I don’t think I can even trust that their search results aren’t biased.
I urge you to check out Kagi Browser[1]. I forgot how pain-free using a search engine could be. With Google, a relatively simple search had me typing:
sink tap gasket intitle:"replacement" OR intitle:"repair" filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc inurl:product OR inurl:details "made in" (site:.com OR site:.co.uk OR site:.de) -site:amazon.com -site:ebay.com
I am appreciative that I’ve gotten pretty good at finding obscure nuggets of info, and it makes Google Dork[2] searches even more fun, but when I simply need “where to by $x”, Google shat out mindless SEO content.
I also highly recommend Fastmail[3] as an alternative email host. Far cheaper than Google Workspace for custom domains, and their masked email function is wonderful, even more so with 1Password[4].
Turning your back from the abusive Google can look intimidating to begin with, but it turns out it takes very little effort if you make a lil’ plan of alternative services to use.
I saw this thread on mastodon the other day griping about Kagi not understanding how inherently political tech is which doesn’t fill me with confidence in their ability to proceed ethically: https://hachyderm.io/@inthehands/111707573907442638
That’s a darn shame, I just paid for a month of Kagi to try them out.
Saying “Politics finding its way into tech is one of the reason we do not have innovation any more.” instead of answering the question is a way to dodge a question you don’t want to answer. Super duper red flag. Unfortunate. I don’t think I can even trust that their search results aren’t biased.