Roy blogged about switching browsers and search engines and I thought “Hey, I have nothing better to do with my life, I’m gonna try it – again.”
And so I did and I’m quite pleased.
Over the past 30 years I’ve tried just about every web browser and search engine that came out (remember Netscape?) and email service (remember hotmail?). I’ve always been an early adopter – if I read about it and I could access it, I tried it.
I made the switch from Chrome/Google to Opera as my browser and Duck, Duck, Go as my search engine. This is not my first go-round with these two products and I have to say they are greatly improved since the last time I tried them.
Opera has more stuff on it than I need and configuring it down to the bare bones was a tad time consuming but not difficult. The only thing I am having a problem with, and it’s hardly a problem, is that everything is on the left side whereas in Chrome everything was on the right side. I’m a right side sort of person. (Yes, I know my sidebar on the blog is on the left, it looks weird on the right – sue me!)
As for Duck, Duck, Go – much improved. In times past an inquiry brought back zero hits but doing the same inquiry in Google gave me the answer I was looking for and then some. It’s the ‘then some’ that is so annoying with Google plus its tendency to show you ONLY what it thinks you want instead of what you DO want.
Search for anything that in anyway resembles something in pop culture and that’s all the hits you will get. I’m hard pressed to give you an example at the moment but there have been times when I has to rephrase an inquiry to be as specific as possible to access the information I wanted.
So for now – Opera and Duck, Duck, Go are working quite nicely for me.
Other Fun Stuff
I got a hint on Ancestry.com that led me to this photo:
First off – the grave is in a cemetery in Queens and my father’s family always lived in the Bronx.
Calvary Cemetery – “Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Maspeth and Woodside, Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. With about three million burials, it has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States. Established in 1848, Calvary Cemetery covers 365 acres and is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and managed by the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral”
I think that Wikipedia is wrong about it having the most internments, other sites say it is the 6th largest. That is an easy rabbit hole to tumble down (I’ve just spent close to a half hour on it).
Here’s what I found funny:
Gennaro – my great grandfather
Teresa (Dafeo) – my great grandmother
Filomena – my Aunt – lived only one day.
Kate (Beradi) – my grandfather’s first wife, died in childbirth or soon after, her daughter was my Aunt Kate.
And then we have – Antonio. Antonio Torre. Tony Torre – Oh my word! I have no idea who Antonio Torre is but I find this funny.
Especially in light of the jokes we used to make about silly names. My brother always said if he had a daughter he would call her Victoria then she would be Vic Torre. I suppose the same would hold true if he had a son and named him Victor. Just this moment it crossed my mind – why did my brother go straight to a ‘daughter’ instead of a son? Well no matter, my brother didn’t have any children so it’s a moot point.
If I had the money to blow I would hire a genealogist to track my family because I have discovered over the years, finding information here and there, that almost everything I was told are LIES.
Liar, liar, pants on fire could be my family motto!
Subject to Change Without Notice 
I occasionally use DuckDuckGo for privacy reasons, but I find Google gives me much better results. Whenever I've tried doing image searches on DuckDuckGo, it's been totally useless.
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I'm pleased so far…I go back and forth comparing results and I'm good with DDG.
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I tried looking up my genealogy on my father's side. Even armed with the correct name, and aprox. date of my great grandfather's arrival in San Francisco in the late 1800's, I hit a brick wall. I think the San Francisco fire may have destroyed the paper trail. Not helping is that my name, which is Italian, is one of those two-parters and there must be a dozen ways to spell it. I've been using DDG since I posted about it–no complaints so far. As far as image search, I like that it allows you to click through to the original JPG, which Google doesn't do anymore. Did you look at dogpile.com?
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I hadn't looked at it before but a quick look since you mentioned it would have it be a total no-go. None of the tech sites recommend it. I'm good with DDG and Google.
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Does one have to pay someone, or does it just involve an interested researcher with a lot of free time? I had no idea there were people who do this and get paid. Except for those DNA tests like Me and 23 and some such. I am adopted so I think about doing that now and then. -Melissa
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Yes, there are professional genealogists. For adoptees there are many free resources and groups who help people find their people.Once you get the DNA test done then Ancestry and 23 and Me sites can be helpful. Ancestry has the biggest data base and it is a pay site if you want to see the records. Family Search.com is run by the LDS and is a free site but I don't think they do DNA matches. Since my family emigrated from Italy in the late 1890's there's not a lot of info – not even their 'real' names. I could buy access to European records via Ancestry but I don't speak or read Italian very well and quite frankly I wouldn't know where to start because I have no idea where in Italy my family is from other than probably some villages outside of Naples and maybe Palermo. Depending on what state you were born in/adopted in and what paperwork your parents have on your birth family – it might be quite easy to find your bio family.
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I'm always so impressed with your computer skills! This past week I've been trying to teach my mom basics like just access email and on my first day back she texted that she couldn't even turn it on. She's 77 but Jerry hogged the computer so she is proficient with iPad games but the computer is completely foreign to her. Ugh! I attempted to pull up family history on Ancestry since my aunt said she had it all mapped out on there but I couldn't find anything. Maybe I have to pay for it? My mom's family came here from the UK and Czechoslovakia and my dad's from there and Germany but I'd like to know more. One day I'll try it again and see what I can find.
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G and I joke that if I die first he will be up shits creek without a paddle. while his job involves databases and spreadsheets he doesn't really understand them, he just memorized how to do the work and any deviation flummoxes him. I manage every aspect of our lives, including the all important financial aspects, via computer, he can barely turn his on! The reason you can't access your aunt's family tree is exactly that – you have to have a paid membership to Ancestry.com to see other people's info.
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Grace, would you like to be part of the small team of observers and commenters l have inside the Earthly Comfort's blog? Currently although in silent private mode whilst the blog is built and content added, l have 7/8 friends on board who have been on board from January of this year when the first one joined to last month when one other joined. They tend to watch the blog as it is being constructed. I create between – 1- 3 admin only posts per week which outline the work done that week and ask questions. There is some gallery feature content already in archive which started way back in January 2021 which can be viewed. Mostly their role is to watch and observe from the 'blog perspective' over that of readers from the feed or reader perspective. But l just wondered if that is something that might appeal to you a sort of front row ticket before the blog goes into live audience mode? Rory
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Absolutely if you think I could be of any help or use, I'd love to. I have a WP account but no blog there (I still read and comment on WP blogs). Let me know what you need from me.
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Excellent – if you have a WP account then you can l believe still access me and request an invitation to view the blog. I receive an email and then grant the access and you can then view me in both the reader as well as direct on the blog. If you can find my avatar on another person's blog which is basically like that of the Guy blog's original avatar in orange but this one is yellow. Below is a link to a blog where you should see me in the LIKES section But if not, you are looking for the 'The Autistic Composter' which is my avatar handle. https://allmyheartsees.wordpress.com/2022/05/30/keep-humming/ then press the avatar and it'll takre you to my 'private site page' 🙂
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That just brings me to your Gravatar page and there is nothing on that page that links to you or your blog…
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Strangely l don't know why that happens. But l do know l have just granted access to your request 🙂
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I guess if you just click on an avatar it brings you to the avatar page. I saw that you had commented on a post by Ashley and when I clicked on your name it brought me to your blog page. Anyway, all is sorted now.
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I use Duck, Duck, Go but not Opera. The last time I tried a new browser I became irritable and moody and totally dissatisfied. I suspect it had more to do with me than the browser, but I say when I doubt, blame the machine. Cool about learning more of your family history.
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It can be aggravating setting up a new browser…I had to ditch Opera even tho I liked it very much – it was so secure I couldn't log into some sites I use all the time and I couldn't figure out how to turn certain security features off. I did some more digging into my family background and none of it makes any sense!
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