This post is a collection of clearnet websites and networks that I frequent, sort of a “best of the surface web” bookmarks. Maybe you’ll find new and useful information to add to your own bookmarks.
Note: Many more interesting sites and networks are on the darknet, and are not listed here.
Communication
- Element – Web client to the matrix network; I use the Android and Linux desktop clients daily
- IRC – Aside from their lack of privacy, I occasionally connect to freenode and quakenet for community support on technical matters
- Mailbox.org – An encrypted email server and productivity suite
- Matrix.org – A secure, decentralized communication network
Cryptocurrency
- Coin ATM Radar – Locate Bitcoin ATMs easily
- Coinbase – A cryptocurrency exchange
- Cryptocompare.com – A decent site for comparing cryptocurrency
- Mining Pool Stats – Database of mining pools
- Monero – Home of Monero privacy cryptocurrency
- Monero.how – Helpful stats and information about the Monero cryptocurrency
- Monero Benchmarks – Database of CPU and GPU mining benchmarks
- SupportXMR – A popular mining pool site for those interested in CPU mining Monero
- XMRig – Monero mining rig software
Mobile Phones
- APKMirror – I’ve downloaded a few proprietary software APKs from this site; seems reputable
- F-Droid – Open source AOSP-compatible app repository; my go-to app store
- LineageOS – Popular AOSP custom-ROM for de-googling; it’s installed on all my mobile phones
- Tello – A Sprint MVNO; I highly recommend Tello for inexpensive no-contract mobile phone plans
- xda-developers.com – Largest forum for custom ROM projects
Personal Computing
- bspwm – My current window manager
- Debian – After using many Linux distros, I prefer Debian because it gets out of my way (mostly)
- Distrowatch – Popular site to compare Linux distributions
- FreeBSD – It will always hold a place as one of my favorite operating systems
- Gentoo – My first in-depth Linux experience; I cut my teeth on this distro; I still love how Portage is organized
Privacy & Anonymity
- Awesome Self-hosted – Often the best way to stay private is to self-host; this is the awesome list from r/selfhosted subreddit
- De-google-ify Internet – Extensive list of privacy alternatives to Google
- PrivacyTools – The best privacy resource on the internet with advice on using software and other tools
- ReverseEagle – Their mission is to help devs remove proprietary software from open-source projects
- Restore Privacy – Articles to help you become anonymous and private; the article, Alternatives to Google, helped me de-google my life
- Switching.software – Their list of privacy alternatives helped me get free from proprietary software
- Techlore – The most extensive educational resource for understanding why online privacy matters
- What the Zuck! – Rob Braxman, internet privacy guy; I follow his LBRY channel also
News
- Breitbart News Network – Always interesting political news
- Mises.org – Many years ago, I was introduced to Austrian School of Economics; changed my life
- National Review – World news commentary
- The Corbett Report – James Corbett has been exposing corruption and lies for years; excellent alt news source
- The Gateway Pundit – Interesting political commentary and ultra-conservative news source
- Townhall – Conservative journalism and commentary
Search Engines
- DuckDuckGo – Privacy-protected meta-search engine
- MetaGer – Privacy protected search hosted in Germany
- Qwant – Search engine that respects privacy
- Searx – Privacy -respecting metasearch engine
- Swisscows – An alternative data secure search engine
Shopping
- Abe Books – My go-to source for inexpensive used books
- B&H Photo Video – Best retailer for professional gear
- Bonanza – Trying to get into this marketplace as an alternative to ebay
- ebay – I really dislike this company, but still buy and sell used tech goods on occasion
- Newegg – Used to be my favorite electronics retailer; they opened up to 3rd party sellers recently
- Swappa – I have bought and sold several phones and tablets on Swappa and really like the company model and UI
- Walmart – It’s terrible, I know, but not as evil as amazon
Social
- Aether – A very unique and creative P2P social network; text-based posts live only 6 months
- BitChute – Excellent alternative to YouTube
- Flote – Social network promoting free speech and the ability to tip and earn BitCoin
- Hacker News – Not really my kind of place, but I find random samples of healthy discussion
- LBRY – High quality videos, replacement for YouTube
- Lemmy – Overbearing rules; I’m not very impressed with the content either
- Mastodon – Decentralized social network; good in theory… we’ll see how it goes
- Minds – An open-source and decentralized social network for Internet freedom
- Odysee – Improved web interface to LBRY
- Rumble – Not a fan of the platform, but several content creators I follow are posting there
- Saidit.net – Free speech alternative to Reddit
Utilities
- Desmos Calculators – Online calculators; I typically use the scientific variant
- OpenStreetMap – Community driven, open source maps used by thousands of websites and apps
- wttr.in – Local weather
What about your go-to bookmarks? Leave a comment with your recommendations.
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