Tag: google

  • On ad blocking

    I do not intentionally block ads. I do, however, intentionally block ad tracking. And I think this distinction is important. This morning I read Manuel Moreale’s recent post On Ad Blockers wherein they struggle to find an argument against blocking all ads on the web. “Every time I stumble on a discussion about blocking ads…

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  • Dear Arc

    As an avid Safari fanatic, I’m reluctant to dive into a new browser backed by any company with a business model I find… elusive. I’ve been giving Arc a spin every few releases since signing up for the beta and each time it has improved a lot. Just yesterday I was chatting with our creative…

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  • Stop relying on Google

    Slowly, over the last decade, I’ve been pulling myself away from using Google services. Over 10 years ago I tried Duck.com instead of Google Search. It took a few years, but once it stuck, I haven’t turned back. I bet the number of searches I make on Google per month is in the single digits.…

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  • Duck.com keeps growing. You should use it.

    In 2014 I linked to a post that showed DuckDuckGo‘s daily search volume at roughly 5 million searches per day. In 2015 they had grown to 12 million per day. I hadn’t checked in to their stats in a long time until I saw this tweet from them. They are now averaging 67 million searches…

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  • The Best of 2019 as told by me

    At the end of the year I like to sit down and make a rather random list of the “best” things I’ve seen that year. I do this almost entirely from memory but I also peruse my browser history and look through my Unmark archive in order to uncover some of the things I appreciated…

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  • .new

    Google: With .new, you can help people take action faster. We hope to see .new shortcuts for all the things people frequently do online. For instance, Playlist.new will create a new Spotify playlist for you. Docs.new will create a new Google Doc for you, etc. I don’t think my younger self could have predicted that…

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  • Colin Walker on choosing the best devices

    Colin Walker nails how I’m making decisions on what hardware I’m purchasing: I’m largely platform agnostic and have always been able to achieve what I wanted regardless of what device I was using. That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t want to use the best tools for the task at hand. I too am platform…

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  • Wishes for today’s Apple Event

    In my Pixel 4 wish list I may have overstated my current position on my choosing Android or iOS in my next phone. I wrote: As my time to upgrade my phone comes around of course I’m left with a choice to go back to iOS or stick with Android. I’m sticking with Android. I…

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  • Android 10 apps that support Dark Theme

    Ben Schoon: The majority of Google apps support this system-wide toggle, but few third-party developers have followed the company’s lead. Here are some non-Google apps that support Android 10’s dark mode toggle. He lists a number of apps that support the OS-level option. Outlook claims to support it, but I have it installed and updated…

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  • My personal data sharing policy

    I’ve been online since 1994. I’ve shared a lot of information here on my blog, through various social networks, and to different services like Google Maps, Untappd, and many others. That information has often included location, photos, audio and video. For decades I thought nothing of sharing my current location online. I used check-in services…

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  • Google Pixel 4 wishlist

    Yes, I know there have been leaks galore regarding the Google Pixel 4. While I’ve seen the leaks I haven’t paid much attention to them. I’ve tried to ignore them so that I could be at least a little surprised when it is announced. I currently have the Google Pixel 2 XL. I’ve had it…

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  • iOS creates a competition hostile environment

    Below is a screenshot of the sheet you see on YouTube for iOS when tapping on a link in a video’s description. They invoke this custom sheet because, like Google, Apple has created iOS to be competition hostile to other browser vendors like Mozilla, Opera, Microsoft, etc. Tapping on a link should open your default…

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  • My interpretations of announcements by Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter

    Apple pre-announcing something: “We’re excited to get this in customer’s hands late next year”. My interpretation: “We never pre-announce things. Why are we doing this? We’re terrible at it. In fact, we make fun of other companies for doing it! Steve Jobs would never allow this! (mostly) We must be doing this because some group…

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  • Best of 2018

    This year I’m taking a slightly more comprehensive approach to my “best of” list. I’ve taken a look at previous year’s lists: 2008, 2009, 2017 and comprised a slightly more complete set. Again, this is only the things I came across this year and can remember. I don’t keep a list throughout the year but…

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  • Jeremy Keith on Edge switching to Chromium

    Jeremy Keith: There’s just no sugar-coating this. I’m sure the decision makes sound business sense for Microsoft, but it’s not good for the health of the web. His reaction is very similar to mine. His call to action is too.

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  • The State of Web Browsers

    Ferdy Christant: If you agree that this sucks, install Firefox. Also on mobile. Here’s instructions on how to switch from Chrome. Read the entire thing. Sorry it is on Medium. I don’t know why he’d post this there. The irony is palpable.

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  • Microsoft gives up on EdgeHTML

    Chris Beard, CEO Mozilla Corporation: Microsoft’s decision gives Google more ability to single-handedly decide what possibilities are available to each one of us. From one point-of-view this move by Microsoft might seem to make total sense. They spin this as “it will be easier for web developers to target one less browser engine”. However, this…

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  • Google Pixel Night Sight on a Google Pixel 2 XL compared to iPhone Xs

    My wife has a brand-new iPhone Xs and I have a one-year-old Google Pixel 2 XL. We always compare photos in a variety of situations. When she had the iPhone X my Pixel 2 XL would win handily in a variety of situations. Her new iPhone Xs wins here and there (e.g. in Portrait mode…

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  • Google+ shutting down for consumers

    Ben Smith: Given these challenges and the very low usage of the consumer version of Google+, we decided to sunset the consumer version of Google+. Thank heavens. Also, this bit: At the same time, we have many enterprise customers who are finding great value in using Google+ within their companies. Our review showed that Google+…

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  • Om Malik on Google Photos vs Apple Photos

    I’ve finally found some time this morning to read Om Malik’s post on Google Photos vs Apple Photos – a post that has been sitting in my Unmark queue since the day he published it. Om Malik: The improvements in Google Photos and lack of magic in Apple Photos sometimes make me wonder if I…

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  • My Everyday Carry, May 2018

    I’ve been meaning to make this list for some time now. Finally, I emptied my backpack and took a photo so that I can make a list of my every day carry. The above items are with me, in my backpack, every single day. Speaking of my backpack. It is a graphite Collins by Brenthaven.…

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  • Rob Shecter on switching from iPhone to Pixel 2

    Robb Shecter: Notifications are far better than what I’m used to. They’re are so good, it’s maybe the killer feature for me This may be more of an observation of Android than of the Pixel 2. But I can say that my experience has been similar to Robb’s. I really, really like my Pixel 2 XL…

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  • The Android apps I use every day

    From the time I switched to Android in late-2017 (more here) I’ve been installing and uninstalling apps and services from my phone – trying to find the right mix for me. I expect the apps, preferences, and everything about my mobile experience to continue to change but lately it seems to have settled a little.…

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  • Technology Dogmatism

    Are you dogmatic about the companies you will buy technology from? Are you an Apple fanboi? Or, perhaps you’ll only run Windows and Apple sucks at everything because reasons. I try not to be that guy. I try to look at the entire field of offerings in every category; hardware, software, cloud services, home entertainment…

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  • A review of the Google Pixel 2 XL and Android 8.1 by a longtime iPhone user

    After 10 years of using iOS as my primary mobile platform I’ve decided to give Android more than just a casual try. This post is my review both of the Google Pixel 2 XL and Android 8.1 as well as a few comparisons I’ve drawn between iOS and Android ecosystems. I’ve been an Apple fan…

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  • Seth Godin on Google’s Promotions Inbox

    Seth Godin, in an open letter to Google: Imagine that your mailman takes all the magazines you subscribe to, mixes them in with the junk mail you never asked for, and dumps all of it in a second mailbox, one that you don’t see on your way into the house every day. And when you…

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  • Android Excellence on Google Play

    Kacey Fahey on the Android Developers Blog just sort of gave out some awards: Every day developers around the world are hard at work creating high quality apps and games on Android. Striving to deliver amazing experiences for an ever growing diverse user base, we’ve seen a significant increase in the level of polish and…

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  • An update via Android (audio)

    A quick audio bit, recorded while driving through my car’s audio system for part of it (sorry), regarding upcoming blog posts and reviews of Android and the Pixel 2 XL. Download audio

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  • Best of 2017 as told by me

    To create this list I sat down and wrote from the top of my head the things I could remember being awesome in 2017. The list isn’t exhaustive. It is just what made an impression on me as being "the best" in each category. Best Blog: fuzzy notepad Evee consistently writes well-researched, readable, diatribes on…

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  • Waymo is running trials without drivers

    Darrel Etherington, for TechCrunch: Waymo is operating at full Level 4 autonomy, sharing public roads with human-driven cars and pedestrians, with no one at the wheel able to take over in case things don’t go as planned. See also, my prediction time capsule.

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  • Browser struggle

    In the opening scene of It Might Get Loud, Jack White fashions himself an instrument from a single guitar string, a glass Coke bottle, a piece of wood, and a few nails. He goes on to describe how he appreciates an instrument that he has to physically struggle with in order to force it to…

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  • Favicons on tabs in browsers

    John Gruber: With many tabs open, there’s really nothing subjective about it: Chrome’s tabs are more usable because they show favicons. Like John, I’m currently a Safari user. I switched to Chrome for a bit due to the Developer tools being a bit better at the time but, as you may know, I’m trying to…

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  • Nicotine and Heroin

    Roger McNamee, very early investor in both Google and Facebook (and, though he’s profited, he regrets it): The people at Facebook and Google believe that giving consumers more of what they want and like is worthy of praise, not criticism. What they fail to recognize is that their products are not making consumers happier or…

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  • Goodbye Google Instant Search

    Barry Schwartz for Search Engine Land re: Google killing Instant Search: Now as you type, you will only see search suggestions and then be able to click on those suggestions to see the results. The search results will not load any result pages without clicking on a search suggestion or clicking enter. As I said…

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  • Goodbye Google.com

    BBC: Google is adding a personalised Facebook-style news feed to its homepage – Google.com -to show users content they may be interested in before they search. End of an era.

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  • Glass Enterprise

    Jay Kothari, Project Lead for Glass: Now the Glass product team is back at X, and we’ll be collaborating with the Google Cloud team and our partners to help customers across a variety of business sectors make the most of Glass. Together, we’re looking forward to seeing more businesses give their workers a way to…

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  • VR180

    Frank Rodriguez: VR180 video focuses on what’s in front of you, are high resolution, and look great on desktop and on mobile. I think this looks like an excellent format. As I’ve mentioned in the past, 360 video is very difficult to follow if there is a narrative. While 360 might be good to virtually…

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  • Chrome ad blocking

    Sridhar Ramaswamy: We believe online ads should be better. That’s why we joined the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group dedicated to improving online ads. The group’s recently announced Better Ads Standards provide clear, public, data-driven guidance for how the industry can improve ads for consumers, and today I’d like to share how we…

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  • Is VR overrated?

    Kristopher B. Jones, an entrepreneur from near my neck of the woods, weighs in on VR in a recent Forbes piece debating the applicability of the technology: I’m a strong believer that virtual reality is overrated, as it has limited applications outside of very specific industries. Industries like gaming and medical training are likely to…

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  • E16: The Dark Crystal, Netflix, Amazon and more

    Danny and I sat down on Saturday afternoon to chat about a few things. Below are a few links relevant to our conversation. http://cdevroe.com/media/audio/e16.mp3 Links The Dark Crystal on Netflix trailer Netflix spending $6B on content Amazon spending over $3B Google I/O Keynote Microsoft Build Keynote | Day 2 Download MP3

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  • Google Assistant for iOS is a clunky mess

    Karissa Bell for Mashable: For starters, Assistant’s iOS app is a confusing, disjointed, mess. You’d think the Assistant would be able to easily link up with all your other Google services, but that wasn’t the case in my initial testing. It isn’t often that I agree with an article on Mashable. However, in this case…

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  • Google I/O 2017 wish list

    I figured that since I wrote my Build 2017 wish list and the reviewed that list after the event, and that I plan on doing the same for WWDC this year, it would only be prudent to write down my wishes for Google I/O as well. At first when I sat down to write this list…

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  • Duck Duck Growth

    Two years ago I wrote about DuckDuckGo, my search engine of choice on all devices, reaching 12M daily active searches. They are still growing. Gabriel Weinberg: We are proud to say that at the end of last year, we surpassed a cumulative count of 10 billion anonymous searches served, with over 4 billion in 2016!…

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  • PodSearch

    _DavidSmith has a new side project called PodSearch. He explains: The concept was simple. Take a few of my favorite podcasts and run them through automated speech-to-text and make the result searchable. It works. I’m still waiting for Google to add real contextual search to video and audio. They’ve got images working well. And Pinterest…

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  • Google’s AMP is a gilded cage

    Terence Eden: If, like me, you made the mistake of trying out AMP on your website – you’re in a tricky position if you try to remove it. Google doesn’t like anything leaving its clutches. I appreciate nothing about AMP. In fact, I don’t click any links that use it in protest. /via Jeremy Keith.

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  • Manton Reece on AMP

    Manton Reece on AMP: I want the web to be faster. Breaking links should not be part of the solution. AMP is terrible. As is any solution that changes the URL. When wap.* or m.* was "a thing" I hated that too. Now, more than ever, there is less reasons to change the URL to…

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  • E11: Browsers, Surfaces, MacBook Pros, and Tesla roof

    Danny and I have an early Sunday morning conversation about our browsers of choice (he likes Vivaldi), Microsoft and Apple’s announcements this week and the Tesla roof. http://cdevroe.com/media/audio/e11.mp3 Download MP3

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  • Warning: Gmail affected by Google Drive space

    A few months ago I gave Google Photos a trial. I wanted to give the service a real, honest test so I purchased one of Google’s larger Drive plans (1 TB) and started uploading. Google Photos is great. In fact, the only reason I didn’t stick with it was because — like so many Google things…

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  • Trying iOS, Android, and Windows

    Fred Wilson: I plan to go back to iOS when the next iPhone ships, and then back to Android six months after that. In this way, I can stay current on both operating systems and ecosystems which I think is useful in my business. I wish I could do this again. For a time I…

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