Despite all the hate being leveled at Google from Uncle Sam, various startups and rival companies (I’m looking at you Apple!), I’m a passionate fan of the numerous Google services available, including Gmail, Google Voice, Google Chrome, Google+ (note: here’s my profile link), AdSense, Analytics, Search (of course!) and Android (note: I’m still not ditching my iPhone, but I do love some of the features available to Android, especially regarding third party apps).

However in the past few weeks months (or months?) I’ve started to use other services instead, some of which ironically are not attempting to compete with the Google Goliath. Here are just a few that I’ve started using instead of the Google alternative.

Out: Google Calender, In: Remember The Milk

Why?: If it weren’t for Remember The Milk’s (or RTM for short) iOS app I probably wouldn’t even consider ditching Google Calendar in the first place (as I loathe RTM’s web interface). However the startup has released a slick to-do list that is not only easier to create alerts upon, but also has simplified the process when it comes to creating events. Even better I can easily schedule events on every second Tuesday without having to dig too deeply into the “events” section.

I’m now subscribed to their premium service (which costs $25/year) and while I have tried rival to-do list managers (including Google tasks), few were as elegant as well as powerful as RTM.

Out: Google Docs, In: Evernote

Why?: Even though Google Docs is far more powerful than Evernote, the latter is far easier to use when it comes towards creating notes and “documents” than the former. I also enjoy the fact that I can record audio notes straight from my iPhone into my Evernote note (which comes handy when you’re in a lecture or meeting and the main speaker is speaking way too fast).

I also love the ability to easily clip web pages into Evernote, and highlight relevant content for a friend to checkout or even for a blog post. Of course Google Docs isn’t completely useless to me, as I still need a simple spreadsheet solution that doesn’t rhyme with the word Excel.

Out: YouTube, In: Qik

Why?: There are only 2 reasons why I prefer Qik (the premium version) over YouTube right now. The first is that I can broadcast live video for up to 90 minutes (note: YouTube also has live video but they have yet to roll it out to my account) and the second is Qik’s iOS app that allows you to apply effects upon the video as you’re broadcasting live.

Unfortunately not many people inside and outside of the geekverse use Qik (most are on Ustream, Viddy, Vimeo, etc.). Since Microsoft technically owns Qik (as they inherited the service after purchasing Skype) I’m hesitant about relying entirely upon the service so as a precaution I am automatically porting all of my Qik videos to YouTube as I’d rather be safe than sorry).

Out: Picasa and Picnik, In: Instagram

Why?: At the end of the day all I want to do is quickly edit a photo that I’ve taken on my iPhone. While both Picasa and Picnik are powerful tools to edit images with, they are often too slow for my taste, especially if I want to post something while on the go.

Instagram is probably closer to Flickr than its Google rivals, although truth be told it’s a lot more fun to use than any picture service that I’ve tried. Unfortunately Instagram is only available for iPhone users, so I’ll continue to use Picasa as well as Picnik until Instagram launches a decent web app as well a desktop app.

What about _______?

There are a few other services I am testing out as “Google replacements,” but as of now Google is either providing a superior service or the rival services are too expensive for my taste.

Is there a service that you use instead of Google? And please don’t say Bing! (as we’ve had a falling out since the hiybbprqag scandal).

Update (8/11): For those of you seeking invites, you can now click on this link which will invite up to 150 people at once. If this maxes out, let me know and I’ll put up another link.

________________

In order to prevent my inbox, SMS, tweet stream (or rather direct messages) and Facebook inbox being flooded with requests for Google+ invites from friends, family and strangers, I’m going to stream line the process so that I can retain my digital sanity.

I’ll send the Google+ invites ASAP and yes these are free (so please avoid the scams on eBay).

Yeah, it’s just a T-shirt, but truth be told I’m crazy about Gmail.

Of all the dozens of email clients that I’ve tried, Gmail (or Google Mail for those of you in Germany) is my favorite Google product which rescued me from Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail & Juno eons ago (in geek time).

It’s awesome spam filters coupled with Priority Inbox have made email fun again (not to mention useable) unlike many of their rivals.

Despite the fact that other companies offer more space (like Yahoo), I have thus far refused to switch as Gmail is the only player to solve “the email problem” (which is “help me read the emails that I love and ignore the ones that I loathe”).

Anyways the company was holding a Haiku for a T-shirt competition on Twitter, and for fun I decided to submit this Haiku to them expecting to not make “the cut.”

Haiku @Gmail:
Spam free email plus | Priority inbox is |
Why I love Gmail!

The T-shirt should compliment my Blogger beanie (yes folks, despite using WordPress, I’m still a fan of my first geek love, aka Blogger).

After it arrives I’ll take a picture with me wearing it. Too bad they don’t actually have a real bow tie with Gmail in the center.

–Posted from my iPhone

Okay, for those of you who exist outside of the geekverse (or at least the twitterverse you stubborn Facebookers–I say that in love) it looks like the world’s number 2 search engine has decided to lay the smack down against the “search engine that shall not be named!” (via Gizmodo)

Lets ignore the fact that iGoogle exists, which Google launched in 2005 (and officially gave it the name iGoogle in 2007) which already helps users clutter up their homepage to their hearts content.

Why should I trade a site that takes me places (and in theory helps me become more productive) than one that is full of distractions from the 4 corners of the Earth?

Come on Yahoo!, the portal world died out with AOL! Why are you trying to resurrect that dead beast?

Why not instead focus on what you’re good at? Like Flickr (especially the video aspect), Yahoo! Search BOSS (which is totally awesome) and whatever else is left in your portfolio (sorry, your rivals have out shined you elsewhere).

Truth be told if I want to view info from “everywhere,” all I have to do is check out Twitter and Google Reader, or open up Facebook if I want to hear from my non-geek friends.

Instead of mocking Google, why don’t you do something instead like highlight why users should choose your various sites (like Flickr), without showing bitterness towards your rival.

That strategy didn’t work for Apple (as Window powered PC’s are still on top) and it won’t work for you either.

Highlight your products. Tell us what they do and why we should use them and your glory days will return again.

But if you choose the way of the dark side, you will only end up fighting against a zillion Google fan boys, and shouting back in a noisy crowd full of deaf ears.

I love Google! I really do! Never has one company had so much impact upon my life (for the positive) and I doubt I’ll find another that will.

So why am I migrating away?

Answer: it isn’t wise for me to put all of my eggs in one basket.

On the rare occasions when Google was down/inaccessable, 90% of my geek life suffered sending me into nerd panic mode.

After much internal debate I have been slowly moving my life off of Google’s servers & choosing alternatives.

Here is my list thus far (with reasons to boot):

Blogger.com –> WordPress (self hosted)
• Reason: wanted anti-spam comment protection minus the word puzzles. Also plugins & pages were a plus.

Picasa Web Albums –> Facebook
• Reason: Much more interaction with friends, plus the fact that Facebook is much more mobile friendly (at least for the iPhone, Blackberry & Palm Pre).

Google Voice –> Skype
• Reason: Skype is an actual stand alone phone service, where Google Voice just rediects. Both are cool though!

Google Checkout –> PayPal
• Reason: PayPal is a lot more flexible. & I like their guarentees better.

Picasa (Destop Software) –> Paint.NET
• Reason: Paint.NET has a lot more features. Microsoft really needs to hire this guy.

That is it thus far, but I am going to be seeking out more alternatives (as the competition has drastically improved in the last few years).

Other Google services I’ll probably never leave (like YouTube, Gmail, Google Chrome, Google Reader, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Analytics, AdSense, Google News, etc.) while others I might consider (replacing Google Docs with Zoho, & Google Search with Bing).

And for you Android fans out there, I’m probably not going to use those phones (& before you whine about openess, the iPhone is only a jailbreak away).

If anyone has other suggestions for Google alternatives, feel free to let me know in the comment section below.

– Posted from my iPhone

I hate to dissappoint the fan boys and girls on both sides of the fence, but this is not a post bashing one side or the other.

Rather it is simply my reflection of two of the most popular blogging services, Blogger (as well as it’s eternal beta Blogger in Draft) and WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com, which I would not recommend using due to it’s limitations, which I’ll explain below).

Where WordPress Excels

What I love about WordPress can be summed up in one word: design.

You’ll won’t find a larger collection of beautiful themes outside of this platform, which probably explains why do many Blogger themes are imported from WordPress.

While there are plenty of free WordPress themes out there, I would recommend purchasing a premium theme (like Elegant Themes which is inexpensive).

Another thing I love about WordPress is that it is comment friendly. Instead of using CAPTCHA’s or weird puzzles, WordPress users can use Askimet (spelling?) which uses geek magic to decipher between the spammers and the humans (WordPress.org users I would recommend using WP Spam Free which is better–and free!).

These anti-spam plugins keep make the WordPress commenting design much friendlier–unless of course you are a spammer.

Last but not least the ability to add pages is a plus, which allows you to create an “about me” section, making your blog much more professional.

Where Blogger Excels

Owned by Google, Blogger is the most popular blogging platform online. If I could sum up Blogger in one word, it would be this: freedom.

When it comes to posting media content (whether images, video or iframe documents) Blogger has IMHO no close rival. Users are allowed to embed content from anywhere, without the fear of it being blocked due to “security reasons” (which is why I don’t use WordPress.com).

You can also embed content from Google Docs, a feature I found to be lacking in WordPress (both of them).

Over in the Blogger in Draft arena, users can easily adjust the position of the image within the post by simply dragging it, a feature that makes “dressing up” the post all the easier.

This one feature saves me a lot of time, as I don’t have to muck with the code in order to find the perferct picture placement.

Users can also upload video directly into Blogger, without the need to upload it on YouTube or elsewhere, which is great way to keep the video on your blog instead of infront of the public masses.

Last but not least Blogger’s widgets make it very easy to add, adjust or remove content from your blog, without the need to enter within the admin arena.

Conclusion

While I could have mentioned other items (like WordPress Plugins or specific Blogger widgets), these above pretty much sum up the major differences between the two.

Since neither WordPress or Blogger are meeting my complete needs, I’ve decided to use both platforms until one of them steps up their game. I already have 8 blogs (4 on Blogger, 2 on WordPress.com and 2 running WordPress.org on my own server).

Both WordPress and Blogger are excellent services, although if you are short on cash I would recommend using Blogger (as you can blog on your own domain for $10/year) although if you prefer to host you own blog on your own server, I would suggest using WordPress.org.

–Posted via iPhone

Wow, talk about weird. Basically in Google Chrome (version 2.0.160.0) if you open up a previous post within Blogger in Draft (to edit), it “reinterprets” all of your previous text.

I’ve tested other browsers (Firefox and Opera) and none of them are showing the same error.

Hopefully Google can take a look at this and fix it before they release 2.0 to the masses.

Okay, before this reaches Techmeme, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not suing Google, rather I am VERY frustrated that one of their online office suites, Google Calendar will NOT stop sending me text messages reminders despite the fact that I sent the STOP command, and even turned off reminders in my gCalendar event.

I thought this was an isolated case, but it seems that numerous folks are experiencing the same thing, on various carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile).

Since these texts are costing me money, I am going to ban Google indefinitely until this problem is either resolved, or Congress grants me a personal bailout.

Note: For those of you suffering under the same thing as well, just simply call your provider and have them block 483-68.

Okay, for those of you who have no idea what GrandCentral is, it is like the Gmail for voicemail, organizing your calls and even blocking telemarketers/spam (giving them a “this number has been disconnected” message–heh).

Here is a video explanation below (I think before Google bought them out).

Unfortunately with the recent shutdown of several Google services, some are wondering whether or not Google will be shutting down other services like GrandCentral (which I use on my iPhone thanks to GrandDialer).

Even though GrandCentral is currently free, I am perhaps one of the many users who would be willing to pay a monthly fee to keep it alive.

While Google has not announced any plans to cut any other services, I am attempting to start a mini blog/twitter campaign in order to keep GrandCentral from falling under the Google Axe.

GrandCentral is not only one of the few Google projects that has the potential of revolutionizing its respective arena entirely (in this case voicemail), but also pull its own wait (with a premium feature).

So Google, if you are reading this, please DO NOT DISCONTINUE GrandCentral!!!

Pretty please? :*-(

I was wondering if anyone would


Update (1/27): It looks like Google has some big plans for GrandCentral. Stay tuned!

What took them so long?

(Google Photos Blog) Okay — on to photo editing. A new text tool lets you add text to your pictures, and lay it out exactly as you wish, at any transparency level. We have also created a new retouching brush to take care of unsightly blemishes, camera dust, damaged photos, and the like. The red-eye removal tool does a lot of its work automatically now — there’s no need to draw boxes around people’s eyes. Our crop tool will also recommend interesting starting points to crop, based on faces and objects in your photos. (As you might’ve guessed, we’re using some of the technology from our name tags feature in Picasa Web Albums to make Picasa 3 smarter, which means less work for you.)

Note: Emphasis mine.

The inability to post text upon images is what drove me into the arms of Paint.NET, which is currently being developed by one lone person.

While this feature will help me take a second look at Picasa (or at least the beta), I will probably cling to Paint.NET for awhile–at least until they release a Mac version (as I plan on purchasing the rumored Mac tablet that is suppose to come out later this year).