That happens a lot to Google products.

At which point do we acknowledge the cure is as bad as the problem?

Didn’t we all do that when we stopped using Norton Anti-virus?

SmartTube is back up this morning after an update.

This reminds me that every night I set the alarm on the alarm clock next to my bed. I bought this alarm clock in 1991 in a Caldor store for less than $10. It has a little light bulb in it that I’ve changed 3 times.

33 years. Not bad.

I uninstalled gboard yesterday. So frustrating how bad it is. a) My fingers definitely didn’t touch those letters. b) you’re not even giving me suggestions of things I actually could have swiped. c) Those aren’t fucking words.

iOS keyboard isn’t better, but it also isn’t worse.

iMessage is not as good as Google Messages, tbh. It’s the one thing I miss after switching from Android. I miss having access to my messages in a browser and any device.

The only people that Google Messages isn’t better for is iMessage users, and that’s because iMessage cripples it on purpose. It’s shitty.

Yes. For sure. People downvote you, but you are correct.

I switched from Google after talking to a data engineer who was lamenting how little data he could get from iPhone users compared to Google. Google gave him everything. I work for a company that buys advertising data from Google. We don’t from Apple.

Maybe they are both bad, but it’s not nearly equivalent.

Interesting. I’m running it on a Celeron N4020 with 4GB RAM right now. This system was allegedly shitty in 2019.

I replaced my Chromebook with Elementary OS. On it’s face, it’s a lightweight, web browsing OS with a limited “App Center” of approved apps (similar to ChromeOS), but underneath, it is a Debian-based distro that you can do anything you want with.

This just in: Google suddently discontinues support for popular and profitable ad blocker blocker blocker blocker, because literally all they know how to do is kill things that work.

Spreadsheets are life. I think in spreadsheets. I hope it comes soon.

My favorite stores in the mall in the 80s and early 90s were the Electronics Boutique, Waldenbooks, Tape World or Sam Goody, and Sharper Image. None of those thing exist anymore. When I go to the mall now, it’s 90% clothes and jewelry, and I’m just not that interested in it.

My kids like the rock/skate shops like B&C, Hot Topic, Zumiez, Vans… but it’s still just basically clothes.

M as in Mancy?

True.

Also, there is a psychological effect of people either feeling excluded from a conversation, or suspicious that they are being secretly insulted when they can’t understand it.

If you use Debian-based linux (Ubuntu, Minut, others), Mozilla recommends getting the package directly from their respository rather than flatpak or other repos.

Personally, I saw a major performance increase on my low-powered laptop when I switched from flatpak to the Mozilla package.

https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/4-reasons-to-try-mozillas-new-firefox-linux-package-for-ubuntu-and-debian-derivatives/

Back in the day, I used to grab any piece of paper, and then walk around the entire office with a slightly angry and urgent look on my face as if I was going to talk to someone important. Do a lap. Back to your desk. Job done.

Dell Latitude 5000 series are usually bought by corporations for employees. They are made of sturdy metal, and have features like backlit keyboards and physical trackpad buttons. Then, after 2-3 years, or if they have some minor problem, they end up in a giant stack that either never gets diagnosed, or just gets sent to recycling.

I have had fantastic luck getting a couple of these either direct from the company I’m working for, or from ebay or a company that recycles laptops. They usually don’t actually have a problem, and if they do, parts are readily available on ebay. You can end up with a high-spec laptop from just a few years ago for practically nothing.

I’m really interested in Graphene and Google privacy, but what does it mean when you say "Sandboxed? Like… I want to use Google Maps, does Google still track me? Maybe only when the app is open, and not when it’s closed?

I work for a company that does marketing, and they are seriously struggling right now because TV and Social media ads are getting more expensive, while at the same time becoming less effective.

Yes. This is true.

Because ads suck and people hate them. Whats the new way? Be good at what you do so people talk about your brand. Show up in searches when I’m looking for you. That’s it.

I still like it. But it does have two problems:

1. Post spam. There is no enforcement of the posting rules, and nobody reacts if they are reported. For example, I’m looking for a Volvo, and people post a Dodge but put every car manufacturer name in the listing so they show up in every search.

2. Scam fucking overload. Every time I post anything for sale, the scam traffic is overwhelming. I listed a car and got like 12 similar scam responses. Most appeared to be chat bots with no human behind it. Some surprised me by responding to my sarcastic replies.

But I still look there. The site works for the most part, especially if you use the search modifiers. And selling stuff works too. Sometimes you get murdered, but it’s rare.