< Notes...

Google Finance Beta, yet another Alphabet beta service that will have many adoring fans, and then one day be killed. Yeah, no thanks.

Eleven years (11!) after Google bought Nest they have finally integrated it on Google Home. There is no longer a need for having the Nest app installed, all can be done via the Google Home app now. Eleven years!

It makes no difference that Google has updated Chrome for iOS with Liquid Glass (the first of their applications to be “adapted”). As a vanillist, it means nothing to me.

This is the first search result—at least for me—on Google when searching for “call bank of america”. A Google sponsored scam. Yup. 🤯

Update: 02 Oct 2025 @ 11:20:24

I reported this to Google, and it took them less than a day to remove it. It doesn’t show on my search results anymore. One down…

It has been over a month since Google revamped Snapseed and, though I am fine with the changes—many people aren’t—I am getting a bit tired of seeing updates almost every week, with no changes on the changelog; that is, the changelog has been the same since it was revamped.

You might notice some new things sprouting around here. Not only did we freshen up the app to help make editing a breeze, but we also swat away some pesky bugs for a smoother experience. Oh, and remember to give the new film filters a try for some sweet, vintage looks. As always, these are free of charge.

Yes, we know, now, quit it! Geez!

Started using Zen web browser at work, because Google, in their infinite wisdom, decided to deprecate a ton of widely used extensions from Chrome. So far Zen is doing its thing, and doing it well.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when an update notification popped up today for Snapseed and, imagine my surprise when I saw the total refresh it received. Snapseed is a unique delightful aberration, a glitch in the matrix. Acquired by Google in 2012, it is the only app I know that Google has kept alive, and standalone (that’s, not incorporated into another), and updated.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is an amazing app.

Alphabet felt like they were been left behind, so they had to do something, me thinks.

“This is the earliest Android has launched a major release in the last few years, which ensures you get the latest updates as soon as possible on your devices.”

Hmm, right. I wonder why? 😂

Chrome has gone nuts. Because of this note, which has two sentences in French, Chrome is prompting me whether or not I want to translate the page—not just that note!—to English. Wait until AI makes it in. Oy.

Using URL shortening was never a good idea. I ran my own, and it bit me really bad when I lost its backend database and with is all the shortlinks. Using Google URL shortening service—or anything Google, but I digress—was/is an even worse idea. I know, I used them too.

First they sunseted Goo.gl, while stating that “all existing links will continue to redirect to the intended destination”. Then, they “transitioned” that statement to “we will be turning off Google URL Shortener”, which will finally happen comes 25 August, 2025. Lovely.

Nothing announced today at Google I/O dazzles me. I was watching the live stream, and when they demoed the glasses with Gemini, and I saw the stutter, I had to quit, because I felt ashamed. The Verge has “the 15 biggest announcements” at Google I/O 2025, if you dare to be bored.

I think they should instead focus on fixing the mess that’s their Play Store (Google Play?), and the many crappy, missleading, full of malware, applications within it.

HarmonyOS with its microkernel architecture, on the other hand, looks pretty interesting.

I am liking the redesign of Google Fonts, which was announced on the Material Design Blog. I will still use the google-fonts-helper to get the fonts I choose to use, and host them locally.

Alphabet (called just Google before) has a history of killing their apps and services. Their latest to impact me is Google Domains. Thus, I have moved all my domains to CloudFlare. I now use only one of their products, Google Search. Big change from having everything on Google, to having pretty much none.

Update: 22 Oct 2025 @ 08:23:36

CloudFlare registrar is also cheaper (to register and renew domains) than Google Domains (soon to be part of Squarespace). Very pleased with CloudFlare, so far.

Google Passkey is a step in the right direction. Setup, and in use. Smooth.

Interesting how my “Technology” section on Google News is mostly games, and Apple news. I wonder if there are forces at play here (of course there are!).