My Nest thermostats are the last Google thing and the last I’ll ever buy. I’ve completely degoogled my life except for the Nests, because they still work fine in HomeKit via my Starling. Once they kill the Nest thermostat E (and I doubt that’s very far off), I will be completely free of that shitty evil company. I’m almost looking forward to it.
Not who you’re replying to, but I got an older Garmin GPS on ebay for like $30 (the nuvi 2589). Get one with LMT (lifetime maps and traffic) and a traffic receiver cable. I had to buy my traffic receiver separately, cost me $12 on ebay, but you could get a current one for $70 and it may work better.
I just use Apple Maps. I know, “Apple bad” and all that, but in a duopoly I will choose the lesser of evils. No, I will not mess with custom ROMs on a Google-produced phone. I need my banking apps, and Google is now kneecapping most apps.
Most newer cars also have “good enough” navigation these days.
Disagree, but to each their own. I will always consider an advertising company to be worse than a products company. Mind you, they can both get fucked.
…and there’s the purity test downvote. It is completely unrealistic to expect people to exist without one of the big vendors. I have no Google apps on my phone; also, no Meta products either. I use tracking blockers and a pi-hole at home. The only company gathering data on me is Apple, and it’s in their best interest not to sell it considering their whole “privacy” stance. Not that it means much, but it’s sure as fuck better than Google.
I registered my own domain and use purelymail.com. Super cheap, not difficult to set up if you’re mildly technically inclined. Plenty of instructions on how. Beauty of using your own domain is you can take it and use it anywhere without having to change your address again.
You ever have issues with sites not accepting your email? I tried to claim some free games on epic, made an account with my email provider (not Gmail), but I would keep getting errors saying some shit like please enter a real address or something. I don’t have issues with every site but it’s a pain when it doesn’t work.
That’s entirely up to the mail provider to maintain. Purelymail has been really good about keeping a good reputation among major mail players, and that takes a long time to build. I’ve never had a problem with deliverability with them.
There are a few checks that are up to the domain holder to complete when configuring a mail service. You’ll want to complete things like SFP, DKIM, and DMARC records on your domain which are systems that work with your mail provider to prove that you are really who you say you are and not a spoofed email which physically cannot do this. If a site like EPIC checks for DKIM records on setting up an account, then this is in fact something you can configure and is generally free to do.
The most common issue I have is due to my TLD. There are some poorly coded sites that require a .com, .org, or .net TLD before you can click the Submit/Next button…
My Nest thermostats are the last Google thing and the last I’ll ever buy. I’ve completely degoogled my life except for the Nests, because they still work fine in HomeKit via my Starling. Once they kill the Nest thermostat E (and I doubt that’s very far off), I will be completely free of that shitty evil company. I’m almost looking forward to it.
What do you do for maps? Specifically directions while driving?
I’ve tried apps based on OSM but they get too unreliable outside of heavily populated areas.
Not who you’re replying to, but I got an older Garmin GPS on ebay for like $30 (the nuvi 2589). Get one with LMT (lifetime maps and traffic) and a traffic receiver cable. I had to buy my traffic receiver separately, cost me $12 on ebay, but you could get a current one for $70 and it may work better.
I just use Apple Maps. I know, “Apple bad” and all that, but in a duopoly I will choose the lesser of evils. No, I will not mess with custom ROMs on a Google-produced phone. I need my banking apps, and Google is now kneecapping most apps.
Most newer cars also have “good enough” navigation these days.
They’re is no lesser evil between Apple and Google.
Disagree, but to each their own. I will always consider an advertising company to be worse than a products company. Mind you, they can both get fucked.
…and there’s the purity test downvote. It is completely unrealistic to expect people to exist without one of the big vendors. I have no Google apps on my phone; also, no Meta products either. I use tracking blockers and a pi-hole at home. The only company gathering data on me is Apple, and it’s in their best interest not to sell it considering their whole “privacy” stance. Not that it means much, but it’s sure as fuck better than Google.
What do you use for email?
I registered my own domain and use purelymail.com. Super cheap, not difficult to set up if you’re mildly technically inclined. Plenty of instructions on how. Beauty of using your own domain is you can take it and use it anywhere without having to change your address again.
+1
purelymail is great
You ever have issues with sites not accepting your email? I tried to claim some free games on epic, made an account with my email provider (not Gmail), but I would keep getting errors saying some shit like please enter a real address or something. I don’t have issues with every site but it’s a pain when it doesn’t work.
That’s entirely up to the mail provider to maintain. Purelymail has been really good about keeping a good reputation among major mail players, and that takes a long time to build. I’ve never had a problem with deliverability with them.
There are a few checks that are up to the domain holder to complete when configuring a mail service. You’ll want to complete things like SFP, DKIM, and DMARC records on your domain which are systems that work with your mail provider to prove that you are really who you say you are and not a spoofed email which physically cannot do this. If a site like EPIC checks for DKIM records on setting up an account, then this is in fact something you can configure and is generally free to do.
The most common issue I have is due to my TLD. There are some poorly coded sites that require a .com, .org, or .net TLD before you can click the Submit/Next button…
Proton, disroot, mailbox.org, tutanota, riseup (anyone have an invite? No? Ok maybe not riseup).
I use Tuta.