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A long long time ago... (piefed.cdn.blahaj.zone)

submitted 3 weeks ago by LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/memes@lemmy.world

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[-] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 85 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

You could also get a private E-Mail address that doesn't scan all your mails to make money out of it. Google tries to enprison you in it's ecosystem by "facilitating" logins and so on. If you don't pay with money, you pay with your data.

mailbox.org
posteo.net

Both are great alternatives for only a couple of bucks a month.

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 21 points 3 weeks ago

Huge vote for mailbox.org. They have calendars, contract lists, online storage, etc. I've been able to get rid of Google/gmail almost entirely from my phone.

[-] gigachad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Also ~~free~~ included video conferences!

[-] DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz 10 points 3 weeks ago

I don't know anything about mailbox.org, but I'm sure it's way less sketchy than Google. It's just interesting you would praise their free video conferences after posting "if you don't pay with money, you pay with data."

[-] Player2@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago

Should have said 'included' rather than 'free' since it is a paid service

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[-] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 63 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Yeah, I got my name when gmail was 'invite only' :/

It actually kinda sucks. At any given time I have between 3 and a zillion idiots around the globe who, for months or years on end, keep buying concert tickets, airline/vacation bookings, get job hits, legal firm or health-care notifications ... using my email (jbloggs@gmail.com) instead of (jbloggs999@gmail.com) or whatever variant they actually signed up for, since I got 'just my name' and they keep. forgetting. their. own. bloody. email.

And most of the time this shit is sent from a 'noreply@wherever.net' so I can't even tell them they have the wrong email address. Grrrrrrr.

[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 15 points 3 weeks ago

I really hope that is not your real email

[-] fartsparkles@lemmy.world 37 points 3 weeks ago

Joe Bloggs is the UK equivalent of Joe Shmoe, John Doe etc - a common placeholder name for the average person.

[-] WolfmanEightySix@piefed.social 5 points 3 weeks ago

It was also a clothing brand.

[-] tetris11@feddit.uk 6 points 3 weeks ago

or real name.

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[-] toynbee@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

I never thought I'd meet the inventor of blogs!

[-] loutr@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 weeks ago

Same, the best one was the dude who created an account with my email but his own phone number. So I text him to try and scare him with the fact that some random dude got hold of his private info. He was unfazed and replied "my nephew set it up for me, guess we've got the same email address"...

[-] Brewchin@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

Same here. And the reasons you mention are exactly the reason I deleted that account a few years ago when I switched to Fastmail.

A couple of my friends are willing to put up with it, but always mention the volume of spam they deal with.

I've had my new email address for 6-odd years and only have one regular spam source - from a hack of an online shop - but as I used a username+shopname email alias for it, it's easy to detect and automatically handle.

Now I use Fastmail's "Masked Email" feature for each online account. When (not if) a site gets hacked, I just change the site to use a new masked address and block/delete the old one, and then it's useless to scammers/spammers.

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[-] TabbsTheBat@pawb.social 45 points 3 weeks ago

I made a gmail with my name like 2 years ago, I just have an uncommon name ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago

I've tried using my name in email/accounts for decades and never got it. I have a name so common people think I'm making it up when I tell them. It also makes me not too worried about posting it online, because even if you knew it and my location you still probably couldn't find the right person.

[-] TheBat@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago

Nice to meet you John Smith.

[-] TabbsTheBat@pawb.social 4 points 3 weeks ago

Nice x3

I wish I had a slightly more common name sometimes tbf, cause it never appears on coke bottles or any other novelty that includes names lol. Googling my name just gives a result for a prince from the 14 century, and the year I was born there were only 3 other people with my name according to a naming website haha, not including my last name of course which is also one of the rarer ones from what I gather, so ye

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[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 36 points 3 weeks ago

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 3 weeks ago

I was there when it was invite only, child. They used to have an IM chat too.

[-] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 12 points 3 weeks ago

Google still has a chat embedded in Gmail, but because Google is grotesquely incompetent they've never succeeded in making a good messaging service. I think they've had like 15, but they are too fucked up to just make one work.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/a-decade-and-a-half-of-instability-the-history-of-google-messaging-apps/

One of the things I bring up if someone says "we should run the government like a business"

[-] unmagical@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 weeks ago

The hangouts app was actually sick. You could connect to Google voice and your actual phone number allowing you to:

place phone calls from voice on your computer or phone
place phone calls from your actual number on your phone
send text messages from voice on your computer or phone
send text messages from your actual number on your phone (and possibly computer)
send ims from your computer or phone

It was available within gmail or on its own dedicated site, and it automatically collated conversations regardless of send medium.

It made communication free and easy regardless of what device I was using--then they rebranded it and made it IM only--then they killed it.

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[-] deepus@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

Oh shit yeah! I remember begging a friend who got one to send me an invite. Didnt you only get like 3 invites to begin with or something?

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 weeks ago

I wanna say it was more than that, I don't remember the number but I remember saying "damn that's a lot." I wanna say it was maybe like 10?

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[-] AstaKask@lemmy.cafe 31 points 3 weeks ago

I own the domain for my last name (firstname@lastname.countrycode) and get people all the time insisting it can't be my real email. I also own a short domain based on my last name (like last.nm) which is very useful and techy people think it's pretty cool.

[-] starman@programming.dev 5 points 3 weeks ago

May I ask, where do you come from? I use firstname@lastname.dev domain, and even elderly people never question it. When I bought it, I was considering .pl (my country's TLD), because I thought that people would be suspicious of the .dev, but suprisingly they aren't.

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[-] Goun@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago

That's neat. I had my email on a .social domain and many websites would say it was not a valid address. Now I'm back to my firstlast@gmail.com, fuck everyone.

[-] GiveOver@feddit.uk 27 points 3 weeks ago

Sounds good until dozens of people around the world all use it as their email too. So many receipts and job applications. I have enough documents for an Australian with the same name as me, I could easily steal their identity. A 12 year old in England set up an Instagram with my email and I ended up with access to their full account. Also had some fun the time I was included in a maga family email chain.

[-] IcyToes@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago

Same for me. The lack of email validation is ridiculous.

[-] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 4 points 3 weeks ago

hah ! that's funny as hell.
There's a guy carrying my name, he works as something of an art dealer, don't know the specifics. I have been included in many conversations. The price some paintings go for is... surprising. Oh and one of the same bunch also runs a christian scouting club or something.

[-] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

One of my impostors signed up for adult friend finder and tinder using my address. Try explaining that to the wife. I also get important mortgage documents, consulting invoices, family gathering plans, you name it. The ones in Austin TX and London are especially egregious.

[-] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 3 weeks ago

And of course, gmail is the only email provider.

(/s)

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[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago

I got my Gmail account because someone gave me one of their early adopter invites LOL.

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[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 3 weeks ago

do you mean the holy grail of

firstname@gmail.com

or the slightly uncommon

firstnamelastname@gmail.com?

[-] Wolf@lemmy.today 27 points 3 weeks ago

I got firstnamelastname@gmail.com when gmail was still 'invite only'.

The one drawback to that is there is a General in the U.S. Army with my exact name who doesn't understand how email works and apparently gives out my email address as his. I wish I knew what his actual email address was so I could let people know what it is. I bet he's missing out on a lot of VA functions and barber appointments because he couldn't be assed to remember his actual email address.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I have first name lastname too. And tbh… It’s a bit of a curse.

I have 2 swedish people wirh the same name as me give it to whatever websites they sign up for at random.

(I’m pretty sure its two people, but oculd also be one person)

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[-] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 weeks ago

If he's active duty Army, try firstnamelastname@usa.army.mil firstname.lastname@usa.army.mil. if it's a somewhat common name try adding .1 after the name and incrementing up if necessary.

As a General, he's likely in charge of some really big organization, like a whole military base or CCMD (combatant command). Try looking through the emails you get to see if you can find some context for where he might work, then search for an about page or contact page on the public web. You won't get him directly but someone who knows how to route the information up to him.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 3 weeks ago

I know somebody who got his first name on Xbox Live. And he didn't even make an account until he got a 360.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Same thing happened to my friend xfggxil65

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[-] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

“Do not cite the deep magic to me…”

[-] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 3 weeks ago

When I was growing up, this was all fields.. gestures towards ocean

[-] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago

Old Man Peabody owned all of this!

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 5 points 3 weeks ago

Twin Emails Mall

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[-] ConstantPain@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

First name guy right here. Bow before me, peasants!

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[-] sexual_tomato@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I have a somewhat common word as my last name.

My first two initials are 'al', which means "to the" in Italian.

My email is al.lastname@gmail.com

I get Italian train ticket reservation info about twice a year.

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[-] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Tbf im the only person on the planet with my name. I think that’s pretty neat.

For context, I have a made up last name so I know entire on earth with my family name

[-] cobysev@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago

In my 40+ years alive, I've never met anyone with my first name, although I know they exist; a quick Google search shows me at least a handful of people who have it.

My last name is an Americanized spelling of a Danish pronunciation of a Norwegian farm name. There are very few people who have my exact last name, and every one I've ever spoken to has been a descendant of my ancestral family who immigrated to America a century and a half ago.

Combine the two, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the planet with my specific name. I've never had a problem making accounts with my first.last name anywhere.

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[-] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 7 points 3 weeks ago

When gmail was invite I got my name, my ex wife's and both my kid's. I also got a couple of regular words, for other uses. I get a ton of mail for other people with the same last name.

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[-] saimen@feddit.org 5 points 3 weeks ago

I had firstnameLastname@gmail.com but deleted my account recently.

[-] lichtmetzger@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

And here I am, with a firstname@lastname.de address, running my own mail server.

People sometimes act like this is pure magic
Some providers only allow popular mail services on signup (fuck those), so I had to set up a GMail address that just redirects to my actual one
My last name is really hard to spell, so it probably wasn't the best idea, since I always struggle communicating that address verbally

The pain of running this still beats having to deal with a free provider out there that either spams my inbox with their own BS or just skims through the data to serve me ads.