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I use Google for everything from Google Apps to Google Voice. Given this recent behaviour of Google, I'm doing something wrong. Over the next few weeks, I plan

by tshtf 15y ago

I use Google for everything from Google Apps to Google Voice. Given this recent behaviour of Google, I'm doing something wrong. Over the next few weeks, I plan to do the following: 1) Transition my gmail account over to a domain I own. I'll email everyone I know, and change all my known addresses. Thankfully, Google lets me connect via IMAP to retrieve all of this. 2) Move my Google Voice number to my VOIP carrier. The directions are here: http://kevinpaffrath.com/2011/06/22/port-number-google-voice-to-provider http://kevinpaffrath.com/2011/06/22/port-number-google-voice... Life is too short to worry about when Google will delete your account for silly reasons.

unshift 15y ago
> Life is too short to worry about when Google will delete your account for silly reasons. which is exactly what you're doing...
- danilocampos 15y ago
  He won't be after he migrates his stuff. That strikes me as entirely reasonable precautionary action.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
tectonic 15y ago
Is there a good alternative to Google Voice? I want an online voicemail service and call forwarding for when I travel.
- rorrr 15y ago
  voxox.com - free youmail.com - free? phonebooth.com - $20/month ringcentral.com - $20/month line2.com - $10-15/month 3jam.com - $5/month
  - michaelw 15y ago
    I self-host openvbx which is a pretty nice application running on the twillio.com service.
    - tectonic 15y ago
      OpenVBX looks quite good.
- kbd 15y ago
  I use Youmail for voicemail and have been really happy with it. I pay the $20/year or whatever it is for a paid account.
  - saurik 15y ago
    Also, the paid transcription they have is much much MUCH better than what is offered by Google Voice... (disclaimer: I actually use PhoneTag still, not YouMail, but both PhoneTag and YouMail have assured me that YouMail's new transcription feature uses PhoneTag's backend, due to their partnership to provide this service).
- djeikyb 15y ago
  I've been happy with Youmail's free and paid services. I paid when I needed voicemail transcriptions. Right now I'm using the free voicemail service.
sliverstorm 15y ago
Every time I see these posts with alarmists giving bullet-lists of things they are "going to do", it sounds a lot to me like they are trying to threaten Google. Just so you're not surprised and disappointed later, I'll let you in on a secret- they don't care. Even besides the part where they are Google, I have witnessed a long history of complaints to different companies, and the more false bravado and chest- and/or drum-beating you display, the less they care about you.
- markkanof 15y ago
  I get your point, but I don't think that is what he is doing. Sending an angry email to Google listing all these points would be an example of chest thumping, and your right, Google doesn't care. I interpreted his comments more as "I need to look out for my own best interests." If someone has the technical know how and monetary resources to have more control over their email and phone service, then why not do it. For some people it's great to just use what Google provides. It's relatively simple and is free, but you are at the mercy of whatever new policies they might put in place. Also, it is purportedly very difficult to get any kind of customer service from Google, so if your account is deleted, you might be out of luck. Google doesn't care, but for an individual it could be a huge deal to all of the sudden be cut off from multiple means of communication. If this guy doesn't want to take that risk, what's the problem with that?
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- jdunlop 15y ago
  You sir, aren't thinking things through. If you want to risk losing critically important emails because google decided it didn't like your google+ picture, you be my guest. I for one am deleting my g+ account until they fix all this garbage. If they don't, then I won't use it, simple as that. I'm using it for fun, I don't really need it (everyone's on facebook). BTW, let me know if you ever run any companies, I want to know who to short and what software not to use.
  - 15y ago
jrockway 15y ago
I don't think this is recent at all: this has been going forever. It just happened most recently to someone with a love of spamming the Internet (which is why his gmail was disabled, apparently), and we all heard about this. Combined with ladyada and Skud, it seems like this is happening a lot. But it's three cases out of millions of users.
- cryos 15y ago
  Define forever, becuase in my books Google+ is only a month old... and I use have used other Google services for a long time with fake names for online gaming... as do many others I've gmaed with (giving out personal information isn't desirable at all when gaming online). The first I heard of accounts banned was people trying to activate Google+ for gaming accounts.
- jshen 15y ago
  "But it's three cases out of millions of users" Are you saying that only three accounts have been suspended? I'm assuming not, but that's what your words mean. Hard to take the point seriously after that.
  - bad_user 15y ago
    Considering there are hundreds of millions of Gmail accounts, that statement may be pretty accurate.
tuoru 15y ago
If you're not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold. In this case, a product Google no longer wants to sell.
- imurray 15y ago
  I've lost count of how many times I've seen statements about users being products on here. Can we please stop reciting platitudes? Obviously Google would care if they annoyed enough users to lose ad revenue, or tarnish their reputation. The real argument is about whether the fraction they are annoying is small or otherwise irrelevant.
dorian-graph 15y ago
1) Transition my gmail account over to a domain I own. I'll email everyone I know, and change all my known addresses. Thankfully, Google lets me connect via IMAP to retrieve all of this. How do you plan doing that as I'd like to do the same.
- cubicle67 15y ago
  can't speak for tshtf, but yesterday I just put my gmail details in Mail an it spent most of the night donwloading my entire gmail history. I'm a bit more comfortable knowing I now have a local copy
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
Uchikoma 15y ago
Good post would have been: "What I have done: ..."
code_duck 15y ago
Of course, why be vulnerable? Back up your stuff, and be self reliant and as independent as possible. Sound principles regardless of whomever else is doing anything.
tonfa 15y ago
I don't think accounts are deleted, if you read the article it only talks about suspension (of the Google+ profile).
- vaksel 15y ago
  that's because Google doesn't delete things...they just issue a permanent non-revocable suspension.

by tshtf 15y ago

unshift 15y ago

> Life is too short to worry about when Google will delete your account for silly reasons. which is exactly what you're doing...

danilocampos 15y ago
He won't be after he migrates his stuff. That strikes me as entirely reasonable precautionary action.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

tectonic 15y ago

Is there a good alternative to Google Voice? I want an online voicemail service and call forwarding for when I travel.

rorrr 15y ago
voxox.com - free youmail.com - free? phonebooth.com - $20/month ringcentral.com - $20/month line2.com - $10-15/month 3jam.com - $5/month
- michaelw 15y ago
  I self-host openvbx which is a pretty nice application running on the twillio.com service.
  - tectonic 15y ago
    OpenVBX looks quite good.
kbd 15y ago
I use Youmail for voicemail and have been really happy with it. I pay the $20/year or whatever it is for a paid account.
- saurik 15y ago
  Also, the paid transcription they have is much much MUCH better than what is offered by Google Voice... (disclaimer: I actually use PhoneTag still, not YouMail, but both PhoneTag and YouMail have assured me that YouMail's new transcription feature uses PhoneTag's backend, due to their partnership to provide this service).
djeikyb 15y ago
I've been happy with Youmail's free and paid services. I paid when I needed voicemail transcriptions. Right now I'm using the free voicemail service.

sliverstorm 15y ago

Every time I see these posts with alarmists giving bullet-lists of things they are "going to do", it sounds a lot to me like they are trying to threaten Google. Just so you're not surprised and disappointed later, I'll let you in on a secret- they don't care. Even besides the part where they are Google, I have witnessed a long history of complaints to different companies, and the more false bravado and chest- and/or drum-beating you display, the less they care about you.

markkanof 15y ago
I get your point, but I don't think that is what he is doing. Sending an angry email to Google listing all these points would be an example of chest thumping, and your right, Google doesn't care. I interpreted his comments more as "I need to look out for my own best interests." If someone has the technical know how and monetary resources to have more control over their email and phone service, then why not do it. For some people it's great to just use what Google provides. It's relatively simple and is free, but you are at the mercy of whatever new policies they might put in place. Also, it is purportedly very difficult to get any kind of customer service from Google, so if your account is deleted, you might be out of luck. Google doesn't care, but for an individual it could be a huge deal to all of the sudden be cut off from multiple means of communication. If this guy doesn't want to take that risk, what's the problem with that?
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
jdunlop 15y ago
You sir, aren't thinking things through. If you want to risk losing critically important emails because google decided it didn't like your google+ picture, you be my guest. I for one am deleting my g+ account until they fix all this garbage. If they don't, then I won't use it, simple as that. I'm using it for fun, I don't really need it (everyone's on facebook). BTW, let me know if you ever run any companies, I want to know who to short and what software not to use.
- 15y ago

jrockway 15y ago

I don't think this is recent at all: this has been going forever. It just happened most recently to someone with a love of spamming the Internet (which is why his gmail was disabled, apparently), and we all heard about this. Combined with ladyada and Skud, it seems like this is happening a lot. But it's three cases out of millions of users.

cryos 15y ago
Define forever, becuase in my books Google+ is only a month old... and I use have used other Google services for a long time with fake names for online gaming... as do many others I've gmaed with (giving out personal information isn't desirable at all when gaming online). The first I heard of accounts banned was people trying to activate Google+ for gaming accounts.
jshen 15y ago
"But it's three cases out of millions of users" Are you saying that only three accounts have been suspended? I'm assuming not, but that's what your words mean. Hard to take the point seriously after that.
- bad_user 15y ago
  Considering there are hundreds of millions of Gmail accounts, that statement may be pretty accurate.

tuoru 15y ago

If you're not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold. In this case, a product Google no longer wants to sell.

imurray 15y ago
I've lost count of how many times I've seen statements about users being products on here. Can we please stop reciting platitudes? Obviously Google would care if they annoyed enough users to lose ad revenue, or tarnish their reputation. The real argument is about whether the fraction they are annoying is small or otherwise irrelevant.

dorian-graph 15y ago

1) Transition my gmail account over to a domain I own. I'll email everyone I know, and change all my known addresses. Thankfully, Google lets me connect via IMAP to retrieve all of this. How do you plan doing that as I'd like to do the same.

cubicle67 15y ago
can't speak for tshtf, but yesterday I just put my gmail details in Mail an it spent most of the night donwloading my entire gmail history. I'm a bit more comfortable knowing I now have a local copy
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

Uchikoma 15y ago

Good post would have been: "What I have done: ..."

code_duck 15y ago

Of course, why be vulnerable? Back up your stuff, and be self reliant and as independent as possible. Sound principles regardless of whomever else is doing anything.

tonfa 15y ago

I don't think accounts are deleted, if you read the article it only talks about suspension (of the Google+ profile).

vaksel 15y ago
that's because Google doesn't delete things...they just issue a permanent non-revocable suspension.