What is Manifest V3 and why is Google pestering me about it?
If you've ever dug into the underpinnings of a browser extension, or maybe even created one yourself, you've seen the
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Let's google "a failure to communicate"
2 years. 1000+ users. 4.5 rating. Then Google freezes my browser extension without a clear reason. It was a frustrating waste of time trying to work with them, and reminded me how badly the behemoth of tech stinks at dealing with people.
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Replacing Google Analytics, respecting user privacy, and owning your data
If you just want simple stats about your blog or site (i.e. popular pages and referrals), you don't need Google Analytics - the data is already on your server! You just need a tool that can display it nicely for you, and there's a number of privacy-minded alternatives.
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How to find the iCal address for a public Google calendar
Behind every great Google calendar URL is an equally amazing iCal file. Here's how to find it.
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Replacing Gmail (and its office suite) with Mailbox.org
Google provides some amazing tools, but at what cost to privacy? One of the biggest blockers in eliminating them has been finding a reliable and affordable replacement for email (and ideally, calendar, documents, tasks, etc too). Well I may have finally found it, in Mailbox.org.
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How to backup Google Photos to your PC now that Google Drive doesn't sync
Google stopped syncing pictures between Photos and Drive because ... reasons. So why's this a pain? Well, they have a nice utility called Backup and Sync, which backs up Drive (and thus your photos) to your PC. Photos don't sync anymore, so it no longer backs them up. Let's look at workarounds.
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Managing your books and shelves with the Google Books API
The Google Books API provides access to Google Books, which lets you search for any book and, at a bare minimium, see meta data about it. Depending on copyright status, you might also be able to see sample pages or read the entire book. You can also buy books.
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Accessing directions, coordinates and more with the Google Maps API
The Google Maps API is a series of APIs for multiple platforms, each focused on a small set of tasks. At first it all seems a bit overwhelming, but each of them is pretty easy to use. Let's check a few out!
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