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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 2:22 AM Last edited by Squidconqueror : 21st Aug 2018 at 3:00 AM.

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, Ambitions, Pets, Seasons, Island Paradise
Default How do I filter out and exclude the Sims 4 from the search results?
I find it kind of annoying that the Sims 4 stuff always finds it way in my search results and it really gets in the way whenever I try to help somebody find something that they are looking for and with the pictures so heavily photoshopped on some of them it's hard to tell which ones are for which game so is there a way to tell the Google search engine to exclude Sims 4 from the search results?
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Scholar
Original Poster
#3 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 3:02 AM Last edited by Squidconqueror : 21st Aug 2018 at 3:46 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
I hear yah. The only way I know how is to use quotes: "Sims 3" "TS3" etc... but even that is not guaranteed... Google sucks, that's all I gotta say.

I'm glad that we're on the same boat. Even the Sims 2 content a lot of times gets mixed in with the Sims 3 and 4 stuff. It's really inconvenient and annoying especially when you're on a binge.
Top Secret Researcher
#4 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 5:07 AM
DuckDuckGo is my default search engine and I leave out the space. So, I search for Sims3, Sims2. It's not perfect but better.
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retired moderator
#5 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 8:09 AM
Also, you can exclude terms from a search by using the - operator.

For example:
Sims 2 -"sims 4"
http://www.googleguide.com/minus_operator.html
Scholar
Original Poster
#6 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 12:48 PM Last edited by Squidconqueror : 21st Aug 2018 at 3:48 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Also, you can exclude terms from a search by using the - operator.

For example:
Sims 2 -"sims 4"
http://www.googleguide.com/minus_operator.html

So basically how that works is if I want to exclude Sims 3 and 4 cc from the Sims 2 cc search result and Google images do I write sims 2 cc -"sims 3" -"sims 4" -"ts3" -"ts4"?
Scholar
Original Poster
#7 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 2:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by 310175
DuckDuckGo is my default search engine and I leave out the space. So, I search for Sims3, Sims2. It's not perfect but better.

I wonder why I don't really hear much about that search engine? It seems like all I hear about is Google but hardly DuckDuckGo.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 3:01 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
So basically how that works is if I want to exclude Sims 3 and 4 cc from the Sims 2 cc search result and Google images do I write sims 2 cc -"sims 3" "-sims 4" -"ts3" -"ts4"?

Sort of, but you have a typo there. The minus operator should be outside the quotes, not inside, or else you will be searching for pages that have the literal text -sims 4 on them (minus and sims 4 all in a row, there won't be many of these).

I don't usually reach for the special operators until I see that my search results are too inclusive of things I hadn't intended to find, but maybe in this case it makes more sense to start out being restrictive.
Scholar
Original Poster
#9 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 3:50 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Sort of, but you have a typo there. The minus operator should be outside the quotes, not inside, or else you will be searching for pages that have the literal text -sims 4 on them (minus and sims 4 all in a row, there won't be many of these).

I don't usually reach for the special operators until I see that my search results are too inclusive of things I hadn't intended to find, but maybe in this case it makes more sense to start out being restrictive.

It's fixed now. I didn't really intend to make that mistake but oh well accidents happen.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 4:01 PM
Google has a series of operators, where you can for example still place asterisks (*) inside quotes. This way you can search for specific sentences while leaving the asterisked parts open to all potential results.
Example: "France has ***" returns "France has 35 other named coastlines and "France has great ambitions for international development".

The (-) exclusion operator is one of the more useful ones, though you need to use it separately for each word or term you wish to exclude.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Scholar
Original Poster
#11 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 4:04 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
Google has a series of operators, where you can for example still place asterisks (*) inside quotes. This way you can search for specific sentences while leaving the asterisked parts open to all potential results.
Example: "France has ***" returns "France has 35 other named coastlines and "France has great ambitions for international development".

The (-) exclusion operator is one of the more useful ones, though you need to use it separately for each word or term you wish to exclude.

Thanks GrijzePilion. I'll be sure to remember to include the asterisks inside the quotes.
Top Secret Researcher
#12 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 5:18 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
I wonder why I don't really hear much about that search engine? It seems like all I hear about is Google but hardly DuckDuckGo.


Because Google has taken over the world and our language? Looking something up online has become "to google". And most people don't worry too much about their online presence. Or don't even know that there are other search engines. DuckDuckGo works just as well with no tracking.
Scholar
Original Poster
#13 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 5:52 PM Last edited by Squidconqueror : 21st Aug 2018 at 6:03 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by 310175
Because Google has taken over the world and our language? Looking something up online has become "to google". And most people don't worry too much about their online presence. Or don't even know that there are other search engines. DuckDuckGo works just as well with no tracking.

Do you remember when Google was just a search engine 20 years ago and Yahoo was once the dominate search engine? I sure don't because I was just a newborn around that time.
Mad Poster
#14 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 6:35 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
Do you remember when Google was just a search engine 20 years ago and Yahoo was once the dominate search engine? I sure don't because I was just a newborn around that time.

Yeah, but there were only like 12 sites on the commercial web back then so it wasn't difficult to find anything.

Okay not really 12, but I do remember earlier than that when Alta Vista was my search engine of choice. For whatever reason, I usually seemed to get more relevant results out of it than the others. Google eventually managed to surpass it in that regard. And then there was Lycos, or rather is since it still does exist. Never really used it much, but it was cute watching the doggie go fetch the results.
Scholar
Original Poster
#15 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 7:19 PM Last edited by Squidconqueror : 21st Aug 2018 at 7:31 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Never really used it much, but it was cute watching the doggie go fetch the results.

I love how creative and original web developers were back in the day compared to now where web designers it seems are trying to cater to mobile users and as a result we lost so many beloved features and website designs are getting blander. Like remember how Youtube was like back in 2006 through 2011 not counting 2012 because that's the year where they were starting to remove key features but to a much lesser extent than 2013 (Has a Google+ Vietnam flashback.)? It used to be that you were able to make your own backgrounds and comments were sorted by pages instead of just being in just one page that you would have to scroll through to find the oldest comment in a video and disliking a comment actually worked? Why do web developers and designers now think that removing the best and functional features is the best way to go and then replace them with broken features most of which aren't even better than the old previous ones and they just keep breaking more stuff as time goes by and don't even bother to fix the new ones.
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retired moderator
#16 Old 21st Aug 2018 at 7:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
I wonder why I don't really hear much about that search engine? It seems like all I hear about is Google but hardly DuckDuckGo.

It's a secret!

But really, DuckDuckGo doesn't track you at all. That means you can search for things like 'how do I kill my wife in Sims 3 if she can get out of the pool without a ladder' and you won't have the police knocking at your door.

Most of the Google operands will work in DuckDuckGo too.

@igazor There was a promotional Lycos Dog for Sims 2; I remember he had a custom collar.
Top Secret Researcher
#17 Old 22nd Aug 2018 at 2:07 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
Do you remember when Google was just a search engine 20 years ago and Yahoo was once the dominate search engine? I sure don't because I was just a newborn around that time.


I do. I remember Netscape browser and the beginnings of Google.
I'm of the what I call pre-digital generation who basically grew into with this computer and internet stuff in her twenties. I think I had my first email address some time in the mid nineties. And I remember not so fondly the days of dial-up internet. I also remember the internet when it wasn't littered with ads at every corner. I miss those days. A lot.
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#18 Old 22nd Aug 2018 at 3:43 AM
I even remember the days when "Who could possibly need any more than 512 K of RAM?" was a valid question. (Although it probably -is- apocryphal...) And the Commodore 64 blew IBM and Apple out of the water with sound and graphics, and the Amiga blew the C-64 out of the water.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
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Mad Poster
#19 Old 22nd Aug 2018 at 4:59 AM
My first computer had no hard drive. My second one had 2 GB and I remember staring in awe at it, wondering what in the world I could possibly download (at 28k speeds) to fill it all up. That feeling didn't last very long and thankfully hooked up an 18 GB SCSI drive to expand storage capability. Uhh, that feeling of awesome space to use didn't last very long either but I did run TS1 and SimCity3K through that SCSI drive, as I recall. Or at least that was where I stored all my saved games and extra content downloads.

I just checked and I still have all of those defunct or never used search engine pages listed in my somewhat deprecated collection of imported bookmarks as I've gone from computer to computer and browser to browser over the decades. Really have to clean all that stuff out one of these days, I don't think I'm ever going to use my personalized "Excite Channel" anymore nor all those insider secrets to getting Compuserve to work better.
Scholar
Original Poster
#20 Old 22nd Aug 2018 at 10:01 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
My first computer had no hard drive. My second one had 2 GB and I remember staring in awe at it, wondering what in the world I could possibly download (at 28k speeds) to fill it all up. That feeling didn't last very long and thankfully hooked up an 18 GB SCSI drive to expand storage capability. Uhh, that feeling of awesome space to use didn't last very long either but I did run TS1 and SimCity3K through that SCSI drive, as I recall. Or at least that was where I stored all my saved games and extra content downloads.

I just checked and I still have all of those defunct or never used search engine pages listed in my somewhat deprecated collection of imported bookmarks as I've gone from computer to computer and browser to browser over the decades. Really have to clean all that stuff out one of these days, I don't think I'm ever going to use my personalized "Excite Channel" anymore nor all those insider secrets to getting Compuserve to work better.

I still remember my first experience on the internet during the dial-up days. I was trying to visit the website late at night for Rockstar's game State Of Emergency and while I was trying to connect to the internet that darn dial-up modern was so loud that I turned off the computer and went to bed. That sound made me scared of the internet for a while until we switched to broadband internet. I had found a video that has the dial-up sound and boy does that bring bad childhood memories https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0. It's hard to believe that 2.1 million still use dial-up internet https://money.cnn.com/2015/05/08/te...l-up/index.html but that article was published back in 2015 so the number might had went down since then but that fact just blew my mind.
Mad Poster
#21 Old 23rd Aug 2018 at 1:11 AM
The number of dialup users is much higher, that's only AOL dialup in particular. Other ISPs and telecoms offer it as well.

The most recent figure I saw said that over 22 million Americans live in areas not served by any form of broadband. Certainly many of them are not connected at home, but those who are would likely be using dialup. Not sure where home consumer type DSL fits into the picture or how complicated it is to get a second dedicated landline put in when your next nearest neighbor is over five miles away. Satellite is not always an option either. Other countries of course have different infrastructures and different geographic challenges.
Scholar
Original Poster
#22 Old 25th Aug 2018 at 8:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
The number of dialup users is much higher, that's only AOL dialup in particular. Other ISPs and telecoms offer it as well.

The most recent figure I saw said that over 22 million Americans live in areas not served by any form of broadband. Certainly many of them are not connected at home, but those who are would likely be using dialup. Not sure where home consumer type DSL fits into the picture or how complicated it is to get a second dedicated landline put in when your next nearest neighbor is over five miles away. Satellite is not always an option either. Other countries of course have different infrastructures and different geographic challenges.

@igazor If the number of dial-up users is that high it makes me wonder why companies like EA think the world is ready for digital only games. That's downright ignorant on their part.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 25th Aug 2018 at 9:34 PM Last edited by igazor : 26th Aug 2018 at 12:54 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Squidconqueror
@igazor If the number of dial-up users is that high it makes me wonder why companies like EA think the world is ready for digital only games. That's downright ignorant on their part.

The 22 million number is less than 7% of our population. The number goes much higher though when we add in those who have access to broadband but don't know what it is, choose to not have it, or cannot afford it.

My guess would be that companies like EA do not consider these folks as part of their target demographics even if the would-be customers consider themselves to be, in much the same way that they would regard people who do not own computers. I guess there has to be some overlap there, I wouldn't want to pay for broadband if I didn't own a device that could use it. It's been a very long time, but I do recall seeing posts from unhappy customers on places like Amazon who purchased DVD-ROM based computer games and couldn't figure out how to get them to play on their television through their standalone DVD player. What they were planning to use for a keyboard I have no idea, their remote controls maybe.

What I don't know is how long it takes to download a single-player game and all of its expansions/DLCs on a 56k or slower modem. The last time I had to use dialup myself was in 2007, when I was staying in one of those underserved remote areas for a week and it was the only way to connect as I needed to for work -- the place had cable for tv and phone so at least we could order up a pizza without having to write a postal letter to do so, but not internet. Everyone in my extended family also staying there made fun of me crawling around on the ground under what was an antique payphone that still took coins to find a modular wall port connection I could use (the coins weren't really required, anyone could use it to make a free local call) until they realized they couldn't connect to anything on their cell phones and ended up standing in line to borrow my computer and it's even then ancient modem technology. To this day they still refer to it as the time I "hacked" into a payphone.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 25th Aug 2018 at 9:39 PM Last edited by GrijzePilion : 25th Aug 2018 at 9:50 PM.
Over here Google didn't really catch on till the mid-00s, at the earliest. Google was just a thing you went to after you got bored of clicking the links on your fancy personalized homepage.
Later Google offered their own version of it - iGoogle - but as far as I remember the internet hierarchy as we know it only goes back about 10 years. No Facebook before then, no Google, no Twitter, no god knows what else. Before 2008, the internet was made up of more smaller websites and less giant corporate entities. And maybe it should've stayed that way.
Though I am glad we got rid of the ugly, narrow, low resolution web page designs that were seemingly used by everyone and everything. Just look at any major news website before 2010, they're ugly now and they were ugly then.
From the looks of it, Obama might've played a role in the internet becoming what it is today. Never before had the internet had such a profound effect on the real world, as when a politician used the internet to gain massive traction for a presidential campaign. And this was also around the time that camera phones were really popular and people were starting to use them to document their everyday lives online. I first heard of Facebook around 2008, and suddenly it was everywhere even if people didn't have phones connected to it yet.

Speaking of which, has anyone here ever heard of Nelson Sullivan? Look him up, very interesting guy. Widely considered to be the world's first vlogger, he traverses the underground scenes of New York City and much of the rest of the USA with his trusty camcorder by his side. He shows people that weren't shown, in places that weren't shown, in a format that was never shown at the time.

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( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
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