Where I Go Online – Maddy Ice

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
Coin Market Cap – The #1 place to research crypto projects and exchanges
Localmonero.co – P2P exchange for purchasing monero
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
What To Mine – The go-to source for choosing which alt coins to mine

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
Stallman.org – Richard Stallman’s personal homepage
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
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Online Anonymity – Extensive guide to staying anonymous
What the Zuck! – Rob Braxman, internet privacy guy; I follow his LBRY channel also

News

The Last American Vagabond – Excellent articles from true independent journalists
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
Unlimited Hangout – Whitney Webb is one of the best (and last) independent journalists
Ice Age Farmer – Christian Westbrook reports on permaculture and sustainable farming

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 Media

Diaspora.social – Federated network hosted on “pods”, part of the Fediverse
Flote – Social network promoting free speech and the ability to tip and earn crypto
Friendica – Lesser known personal social network, part of the Fediverse
Funkwhale – Decentralized open-source social platform for sharing music
Gab – free speech centralized platform; baby-boomer conservatives
Hive.blog – Blockchain based, challenging layout but has potential
Lemmy – Overbearing rules; I’m not very impressed with the content either
Mastodon – Decentralized social network, over 3 million accounts, mostly techies
MeWe – Target audience is young adults, founder seems like an okay guy
Minds – An open-source and decentralized social network for Internet freedom
Pixelfed – Image sharing, part of the Fediverse
Plemora.social – Federated micro-blogging, part of the Fediverse
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

Video Platforms

Bitchute – Popular free speech video platform
BitTube.tv – Developed for BitTube blockchain, unrestricted free speech
Brighteon – Branded as “free speech”, many posts about conspiracies
DLive – Built for gamers but lots of interesting content
DTube – Decentralized video platform built on STEEM blockchain and IPFS network
Odysee – aka LBRY; blockchain based, great content; earn native tokens called LBC
PeerTube – Decentralized video hosting, part of the Fediverse
Rumble – Canadian-based video platform, not free-speech, be careful

What about your go-to bookmarks? Leave a comment with your recommendations.