7 ms·

Yet again I am reminded that my google is not necessarily the same as 'your' google Just like how "define: something" doesn't show a dictionary definiton for m

by Lewton 13y ago

Yet again I am reminded that my google is not necessarily the same as 'your' google Just like how "define: something" doesn't show a dictionary definiton for me anymore, a functionality i used all the time. And now can't be sure whether was actually removed, or just removed for me!

rorrr2 13y ago
It still works for me, I use it constantly.
rfergie 13y ago
Have you blocked javascript? All that kind of stuff disappeared for me when I installed noscript
- Amadou 13y ago
  Have you blocked javascript? I believe you have identified the cause. Switching javascript off and on between queries makes the define: operator stop working and then return to working. I block cookies and don't log into google in both cases. Silly, lazy, javascript-loving google, it used to work just fine without javascript and I don't see anything particularly special about how it works now that should require javascript either.
  - annnnd 13y ago
    I don't think laziness has anything to do with it - they want you to have JS turned on. For instance Google Analytics, their powerful tracking tool, is crippled without it.
  - hnriot 13y ago
    you need javascript to use the modern web. If you turn it off, stop whining that you've lost functionality. You didn't lose anything, you turned it off.
    - coldpie 13y ago
      It's fine when the functionality actually requires JavaScript. The trouble being discussed is when displaying plaintext requires JavaScript for no particularly good reason.
      - packetslave 13y ago
        It's 2013. I don't think it's especially unreasonable to assume JavaScript is universally available when developing a feature. As hnriot said, if you choose to browse the web with JavaScript disabled, you accept the fact that large swaths of the 2013 web will not work.
        Amadou 13y ago
        It is 2013 and the 4th most popular add-on to Firefox is NoScript. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=users https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=us... Essentially all of the browser exploits over the last decade have had javascript as a necessary component. Irresponsible use of javascript forces your users to expose themselves to attacks for your convenience. That is abusive and is the kind of thing that will drive away your most sophisticated users who are likely to be be adoption trend-setters for any endeavor not primarily pop-culture oriented. Google's inertia means they don't have to care, but nearly everybody else has a lot more to lose from alienating those users.
  - kllrnohj 13y ago
    > Silly, lazy, javascript-loving google, it used to work just fine without javascript It used to not be interactive, either, yet now it is. JavaScript used to not be a core web technology, yet now it is.
    - saraid216 13y ago
      I'm coining a new term: "web conservatism".
Zoepfli 13y ago
Doesn't work for me neither. Might be because I'm in Europe. The given URL redirects to www.google.de
- stingraycharles 13y ago
  I'm in The Netherlands, it redirects to .nl, and it works for me.
- djhworld 13y ago
  I'm in the UK, works fine for me
- program 13y ago
  I've noticed that is doesn't work if you aren't connected with your google account.
  - rplnt 13y ago
    I'm logged in, have regional redirect disabled (i.e. I use .com) and it still doesn't work for me.
  - aestra 13y ago
    Never connected with my Google account, always works for me (define:) the timer didn't though.
- runarb 13y ago
  Works for me when I am not logged in (Chrome incognito mode).
  - darkbot 13y ago
    I tried incognito mode. Didn't work.
Sarkie 13y ago
some·thing /ˈsəmˌTHiNG/ Pronoun A thing that is unspecified or unknown: "we stopped for something to eat". Adverb Used for emphasis with a following adjective functioning as an adverb: "my back hurts something terrible". Synonyms pronoun. anything - some - somewhat - any adverb. rather - somewhat - some More info - Wikipedia - Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster
bartoszpietrzak 13y ago
Doesn't work for me as well.
netcan 13y ago
Didn't come up for me on .com, only on .ie. I'm not sure why exactly, but I really hate this. I hate it that sometimes results have a news link and sometimes they don't. I hate that youtube suggestions are tailored to me. There are rational reasons. I want the thing I use to be there when I try to find it. But, I dislike it beyond the inconvenience. It just feels wrong, like I'm being probed.
- san86 13y ago
  I think the "tailoring to me" problem can be solved by logging out of google and doing the search (or search in incognito mode if you are a chrome user). However, I wish there was a way to turn off personalized search. That way, Google can remember what I searched (when I am signed in) for but not give me tailored results..
  - thisisnotatest 13y ago
    FYI, you can quickly and easily toggle between "private"/"personalized" results and "global" results, right on the search page, by clicking the toggle button with the person and the globe to the top-right of the search results: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2410479?hl=en https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2410479?hl=en
mherdeg 13y ago
Ha, yeah. When I'm in the US, I deliberately navigate to a European Google site (usually google.co.uk) in order to get their onebox flight schedule search results. I really enjoy seeing a full timetable of published flights for the week when I do a search for "[flights lhr fra]". Doing the same search in the US, and seeing the new Google Flights ad instead of the old timetable onebox, is infuriating.
- dergachev 13y ago
  I noticed that Google Flights ad box only pops up when your query is served by Google Flights (eg it starts in north america). So "flights to LON" will not bring up a schedule, while "flights from LON" will. And for most of my purposes, I only care about the destinations, not exact times, so this works fine.
- slacka 13y ago
  I got this working by creating a new user in Chrome and searching from my default local https://www.google.com.hk/ https://www.google.com.hk/ site. The following attempts all failed: logging out, a different browser, /ncr , incognito, and tor browser. The US site on the new user account also didn't work. Interestingly, all of the u/jfoster examples worked the first time.
  - darkbot 13y ago
    My experience is the same.
- tripzilch 13y ago
  That's actually pretty ridiculous if you think about it. Almost any other website displays the same info wherever you're from and if it doesn't, it's considered an anti-pattern (and rightly so). I remember, back in the day, Google didn't used to do this. That was 8-10 years ago, though. At first it was interesting, a curiosity, seemingly clever. But from the start it was annoying (at least, it was, in a global community centred around ways to search the web) because there is no easy way to select what "view" of the website you want to see. (there were ways but they kept changing, and I didn't keep up) Maybe that is the worst anti-pattern. Most websites that change their entire behaviour depending on what IP you came from, at least offer the option to select a different behaviour, or specify from what locale you want your perspective. Best would be if one could simply link to such a perspective, so that this article would actually make sense to everyone, instead of just the people that live in the "correct" part of the world ... :)
aeon10 13y ago
quick tip : google.com/ncr for no country redirect.
- Spittie 13y ago
  Never knew it, thanks! You don't know how many times I struggled with getting good result, because I was searching for something in English and Google keep redirecting me to my country's edition (and thus searching on webpages from my country/with my language).
  - aestra 13y ago
    When I was overseas, I just used google.us, which redirects to google.com, since I only searched in English, I didn't speak the language of the country I was living in.
- Lewton 13y ago
  This is something different than just being redirected to a different domain. I already have it set up so google.com/ncr is my main google page It doesn't work on .com for me, it doesn't work on .dk (I'm from denmark). Doesn't work on .nl which someone reported worked for him. It's weird Also tried it in both firefox and chrome. And someone else mentioned it didn't work for him without a google account, I've tried both logged in and logged out
- epsylon 13y ago
  It doesn't work when logged in to google services. (I think it's been 2 years or something since it doesn't work anymore in that case)
- piyush_soni 13y ago
  Thanks for that tip! I never knew about it!
jpswade 13y ago
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define:something https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define:something Works fine for me.
- qqg3 13y ago
  no colon needed
aptwebapps 13y ago
Didn't work for me when logged into Google Apps but did in another browser.
Pxtl 13y ago
They've been playing with the "define" feature for a while. It was gone for a bit, but it works for me now. The colon is now optional, which is weird.
- mintplant 13y ago
  The colon has been optional for a long time now, as I've been using this feature for years without it.
malandrew 13y ago
On the subject of definitions, I wish I could set up OS X's 3-finger tap dictionary lookup to give me definitions in other languages. It would be one of the most useful things ever for learning another language. I could start trying to read French or German and triple tap a word and have it give me the translation to English and the dictionary definition in German (which would pop up a window where you could three finger tap again for a word in the definition that you don't yet know)
- mietek 13y ago
  Wish granted: Open Dictionary.app, go to Preferences, and select extra reference sources. German and French are included, among others.
thisisnotatest 13y ago
Google software engineer here. These gripes are legitimate. We want our users be able to depend on our features and services, and if you can't do that, we're letting you down. But I would beg for a bit more patience and understanding on this one point: it's not like we have one server that all our users connect to. When new features roll out, it's inevitable that some users will see the new features before others do. Also, there are often complex legal issues affecting how products are released in different countries. Okay, that's two points. :-)

by Lewton 13y ago

rorrr2 13y ago

It still works for me, I use it constantly.

rfergie 13y ago

Have you blocked javascript? All that kind of stuff disappeared for me when I installed noscript

Amadou 13y ago
Have you blocked javascript? I believe you have identified the cause. Switching javascript off and on between queries makes the define: operator stop working and then return to working. I block cookies and don't log into google in both cases. Silly, lazy, javascript-loving google, it used to work just fine without javascript and I don't see anything particularly special about how it works now that should require javascript either.
- annnnd 13y ago
  I don't think laziness has anything to do with it - they want you to have JS turned on. For instance Google Analytics, their powerful tracking tool, is crippled without it.
- hnriot 13y ago
  you need javascript to use the modern web. If you turn it off, stop whining that you've lost functionality. You didn't lose anything, you turned it off.
  - coldpie 13y ago
    It's fine when the functionality actually requires JavaScript. The trouble being discussed is when displaying plaintext requires JavaScript for no particularly good reason.
    - packetslave 13y ago
      It's 2013. I don't think it's especially unreasonable to assume JavaScript is universally available when developing a feature. As hnriot said, if you choose to browse the web with JavaScript disabled, you accept the fact that large swaths of the 2013 web will not work.
      - Amadou 13y ago
        It is 2013 and the 4th most popular add-on to Firefox is NoScript. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=users https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=us... Essentially all of the browser exploits over the last decade have had javascript as a necessary component. Irresponsible use of javascript forces your users to expose themselves to attacks for your convenience. That is abusive and is the kind of thing that will drive away your most sophisticated users who are likely to be be adoption trend-setters for any endeavor not primarily pop-culture oriented. Google's inertia means they don't have to care, but nearly everybody else has a lot more to lose from alienating those users.
- kllrnohj 13y ago
  > Silly, lazy, javascript-loving google, it used to work just fine without javascript It used to not be interactive, either, yet now it is. JavaScript used to not be a core web technology, yet now it is.
  - saraid216 13y ago
    I'm coining a new term: "web conservatism".

Zoepfli 13y ago

Doesn't work for me neither. Might be because I'm in Europe. The given URL redirects to www.google.de

stingraycharles 13y ago
I'm in The Netherlands, it redirects to .nl, and it works for me.
djhworld 13y ago
I'm in the UK, works fine for me
program 13y ago
I've noticed that is doesn't work if you aren't connected with your google account.
- rplnt 13y ago
  I'm logged in, have regional redirect disabled (i.e. I use .com) and it still doesn't work for me.
- aestra 13y ago
  Never connected with my Google account, always works for me (define:) the timer didn't though.
runarb 13y ago
Works for me when I am not logged in (Chrome incognito mode).
- darkbot 13y ago
  I tried incognito mode. Didn't work.

Sarkie 13y ago

some·thing /ˈsəmˌTHiNG/ Pronoun A thing that is unspecified or unknown: "we stopped for something to eat". Adverb Used for emphasis with a following adjective functioning as an adverb: "my back hurts something terrible". Synonyms pronoun. anything - some - somewhat - any adverb. rather - somewhat - some More info - Wikipedia - Dictionary.com - Answers.com - Merriam-Webster

bartoszpietrzak 13y ago

Doesn't work for me as well.

netcan 13y ago

Didn't come up for me on .com, only on .ie. I'm not sure why exactly, but I really hate this. I hate it that sometimes results have a news link and sometimes they don't. I hate that youtube suggestions are tailored to me. There are rational reasons. I want the thing I use to be there when I try to find it. But, I dislike it beyond the inconvenience. It just feels wrong, like I'm being probed.

san86 13y ago
I think the "tailoring to me" problem can be solved by logging out of google and doing the search (or search in incognito mode if you are a chrome user). However, I wish there was a way to turn off personalized search. That way, Google can remember what I searched (when I am signed in) for but not give me tailored results..
- thisisnotatest 13y ago
  FYI, you can quickly and easily toggle between "private"/"personalized" results and "global" results, right on the search page, by clicking the toggle button with the person and the globe to the top-right of the search results: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2410479?hl=en https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2410479?hl=en

mherdeg 13y ago

Ha, yeah. When I'm in the US, I deliberately navigate to a European Google site (usually google.co.uk) in order to get their onebox flight schedule search results. I really enjoy seeing a full timetable of published flights for the week when I do a search for "[flights lhr fra]". Doing the same search in the US, and seeing the new Google Flights ad instead of the old timetable onebox, is infuriating.

dergachev 13y ago
I noticed that Google Flights ad box only pops up when your query is served by Google Flights (eg it starts in north america). So "flights to LON" will not bring up a schedule, while "flights from LON" will. And for most of my purposes, I only care about the destinations, not exact times, so this works fine.
slacka 13y ago
I got this working by creating a new user in Chrome and searching from my default local https://www.google.com.hk/ https://www.google.com.hk/ site. The following attempts all failed: logging out, a different browser, /ncr , incognito, and tor browser. The US site on the new user account also didn't work. Interestingly, all of the u/jfoster examples worked the first time.
- darkbot 13y ago
  My experience is the same.
tripzilch 13y ago
That's actually pretty ridiculous if you think about it. Almost any other website displays the same info wherever you're from and if it doesn't, it's considered an anti-pattern (and rightly so). I remember, back in the day, Google didn't used to do this. That was 8-10 years ago, though. At first it was interesting, a curiosity, seemingly clever. But from the start it was annoying (at least, it was, in a global community centred around ways to search the web) because there is no easy way to select what "view" of the website you want to see. (there were ways but they kept changing, and I didn't keep up) Maybe that is the worst anti-pattern. Most websites that change their entire behaviour depending on what IP you came from, at least offer the option to select a different behaviour, or specify from what locale you want your perspective. Best would be if one could simply link to such a perspective, so that this article would actually make sense to everyone, instead of just the people that live in the "correct" part of the world ... :)

aeon10 13y ago

quick tip : google.com/ncr for no country redirect.

Spittie 13y ago
Never knew it, thanks! You don't know how many times I struggled with getting good result, because I was searching for something in English and Google keep redirecting me to my country's edition (and thus searching on webpages from my country/with my language).
- aestra 13y ago
  When I was overseas, I just used google.us, which redirects to google.com, since I only searched in English, I didn't speak the language of the country I was living in.
Lewton 13y ago
This is something different than just being redirected to a different domain. I already have it set up so google.com/ncr is my main google page It doesn't work on .com for me, it doesn't work on .dk (I'm from denmark). Doesn't work on .nl which someone reported worked for him. It's weird Also tried it in both firefox and chrome. And someone else mentioned it didn't work for him without a google account, I've tried both logged in and logged out
epsylon 13y ago
It doesn't work when logged in to google services. (I think it's been 2 years or something since it doesn't work anymore in that case)
piyush_soni 13y ago
Thanks for that tip! I never knew about it!

jpswade 13y ago

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define:something https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define:something Works fine for me.

qqg3 13y ago
no colon needed

aptwebapps 13y ago

Didn't work for me when logged into Google Apps but did in another browser.

Pxtl 13y ago

They've been playing with the "define" feature for a while. It was gone for a bit, but it works for me now. The colon is now optional, which is weird.

mintplant 13y ago
The colon has been optional for a long time now, as I've been using this feature for years without it.

malandrew 13y ago

On the subject of definitions, I wish I could set up OS X's 3-finger tap dictionary lookup to give me definitions in other languages. It would be one of the most useful things ever for learning another language. I could start trying to read French or German and triple tap a word and have it give me the translation to English and the dictionary definition in German (which would pop up a window where you could three finger tap again for a word in the definition that you don't yet know)

mietek 13y ago
Wish granted: Open Dictionary.app, go to Preferences, and select extra reference sources. German and French are included, among others.

thisisnotatest 13y ago

Google software engineer here. These gripes are legitimate. We want our users be able to depend on our features and services, and if you can't do that, we're letting you down. But I would beg for a bit more patience and understanding on this one point: it's not like we have one server that all our users connect to. When new features roll out, it's inevitable that some users will see the new features before others do. Also, there are often complex legal issues affecting how products are released in different countries. Okay, that's two points. :-)