"Always on" - another Google turn-off

I hate to break the "lyrical" mood apparently introduced by the previous post (and thank you, Natalya, for yor kind words!), but I just have to vent my latest grievance agaist Google.

A few minutes ago, literally in the middle of the night, I noticed that the Google results display was somehow different to what I was used to. There was a side bar on the left side of the screen, that I've never seen before.

There wasn't much to it, even though the first line said, cryptically, "everything" and just underneath it, "more".
(Yes: first "everything", and then you get even "more" than everything... I wonder, do the Google people - maybe we should call them "goople" - ever realise the unintended ironies of their logically challenged onscreen lingo?)

The rest were the usual options, the ones you are used to seeing just below the search box, plus "more search options".

At first I thought I had inadvertently clicked on a wrong button, so I tried to click it back to the standard view.
It didn't work.
So I turned to - who else? - Google and searched for the origins of this silent novelty and, more to the point, for ways to make it disappear.

I found all of it here.

According to this article, "Google is quietly conducting an experiment where the search options side-bar is automatically opened every time search results is shown. In current Google search results interface, which in fact has already been enhanced with the search options, the sidebar opens the left only when clicked."

Yes, well, I don't like "quiet experiments", especially not at the expense of my wits and time (= the time I have to spend searching for disabling techniques instead of doing things I enjoy.)

And, rather typically, "unfortunately, Google does not provide a single switch or option that can turn off and disable the always-on sidebar layout on its search results page".

But they are using cookies to determine whether you'll keep it or switch it off.
(Guess what my cookies told them?)
So, if you want to get rid of it permanently, you have to delete the cookies related to Google.


FIREFOX users:

Go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy tab. Click on remove individual cookies link. Expand the Google domain which display the new “always-on” sidebar (such as google.com), highlight the cookie named PREF and click on Remove Cookie button to delete the cookie.

OR go to Tools -> Clear Recent History. Choose Everything, and then Cookies, then press Clear Now button.

INTERNET EXPLORER users:

First, go download Flock or Firefox or Opera or even Chrome and set it to be your default browser - then we can talk... :)



I like novelties. I cherish and welcome (and even suggest) them - provided they are useful or at least amusing.
This one is neither.

And to me, the addition of "more search options" - all of which are really just dumbed down search practices that any user with some experience and/or logical abilities would be performing by themselves - confirms my suspicions that Google is not only accepting the global "dumbing down" of internet audiences but is also actively encouraging it.
I am not a conspiracy fun; there is no sinister design behind it (pun originally unitended) - unless you consider Google's harnessing the power of the growing functional illiteracy to generate ever more money for them sinister.

I do.


UPDATE:

I am sorry to report that the solutions presented above do NOT work in any of the browsers we use. After every restart, the cookies are reinstalled as soon as you hit the WWW. So much for "silent" experiment...

I'll continue to search for a solution.
And if you have one, do let us know.


ANOTHER UPDATE:

Apparently, the "Always on" is now to be - always on. Permanent.
If you dislike it, there is a petition you can sign and share.


And you can do what we've done: go off Google.
There are other options.

This is one:

FREE RICE

And this is another one (unlimited):

GOOD SEARCH

And of course, there is the (ever increasingly attractive-looking) Bing:

The BING

I know this much: shrugging is NOT an option for us here.

The Little Green Stick

Underrated websites, I

Have you ever felt the need to send a beautiful photo or picture in the guise of a custom-made ecard?

If so, you probably found, sooner or later, that there are very few sites that offer a simple customisation procedure and non-cheesy editing - AND actually deliver (pun intended)?

We discovered this site a few months ago - and we thought (still do) that it's absolutely superb.

ECARDSTER

The editing is extremely simple, it offers a good selection of styles, the end result looks quite elegant and striking, not cheesy at all (although that would depend on the picture, I imagine) - and the notification is delivered immediately.
(When I say "immediately", I mean quicker than it takes one to close the browser tab and return to the inbox.)

Also, we haven't noticed any spyware or malware or any problems after visiting it, both as senders and as recipients.

Furthermore, you can add your images to the (so far rather modest) gallery if you wish.
(To do so, tick the appropriate box. And by the way, do NOT tick it if the image you're using isn't yours to give!)

Needless to say, the use of the website is absolutely free of charge.
Also, you don't need tor register to use it.

And yet, apparently, only about 11 ecards a day are sent from this site (as per their stats).
Why?
Who knows.
Perhaps the marketing is faulty.

But as long as it stays as it is, we will be glad to use it.


N.B. None of the team members of this blog, or any of its associate blogs, is in any way associated with either the website or its owners. We simply like it and think other people should know about it.

A sample ecard from Ecardster

P.S. The "I" in the title doesn't refer to yours truly (even in a modestly phrased plural) but rather to the fact that collectively we have encountered quite a few websites that should be more visited than they are, so wel'll probably be adding to this category.