There is so much to know and see and learn from being on the web. The amount of apps and sites to visit is endless. And so much traffic is overrun by nonsense that lead to red herrings on ways to spend a good life. T
That is why it is so important to share the places we should see that don't have enough spotlight. More often than not we're missing the best the web has to offer. So let's talk amongst ourselves.
Redditor u/SauloJr wanted to shine a light on a few online sites that need some worthy attention, by asking:
What useful unknown website do you wish more people knew about?
I don't have a ton of sites I visit. The internet unnerves me, but I'm willing to learn from those who navigate it. So give me some ideas. My pen and paper are ready.
Strikes
Vintage Vhs GIF by vhspositive
Giphy
"https://www.blitzortung.org/ This one lets you see where lightning strikes in real time! Can be reassuring to see the lightning get further and further away, it's also pretty neat in general!"
- Nihil921
Say Cheese!
"Tineye and Foto Forensics. Do you want to know if an image is shopped, cropped or otherwise altered? Using these two tools you've got a good chance of finding out. Tineye is reverse image search on steroids and foto forensics provides free image analysis tools."
- jekylphd
Literature
"Project Gutenberg. Taking all the books that are copyright free and making digital copies available. In college and the school wants you to buy the complete works of Shakespeare for $40? Forget that noise! Free! https://www.gutenberg.org/"
"See also: Librivox, for free audiobook versions."
- Cocreat
Secure Away
"ID Ransomware https://id-ransomware.malwarehunterteam.com/ - If you ever get Ransomware in your computer you can take a encrypted file and out it into this website and it will tell you if any security researchers have cracked it so you can get your files back. And if it hasn't been cracked you can sign up for email notification so when it is cracked you get an email. I haven't used it but someday it might save me or you."
- ICE0124
Do you understand?
In Love Flirt GIF by Originals
Giphy
"Deepl.com - Best translator I've found. It's quite intuitive and even translates idioms and slang. They've got around 20 languages as of their most recent update."
That lightning strike thing is a great idea. Not that I dodge strikes often, or that I need shelter from them but I it's good to know how to avoid them. And always good to translate. Continue...
Read Through
Oh No Help GIF by CBeebies HQ
Giphy
"Terms of Service, Didn't Read summarizes terms of service and rates them for privacy."
Do you Hear what I hear?
"I ADORE mynoise.net. It's an archive of customizable sound generators with everything from music, nature sounds, sound cancelling, ambiances, and meditative drones etc. I focus best with some kind of white noise, and this website has a ton to choose from and it is free."
"My favorite feature is the customizable, animated sliders so you can listen to storms that ebb and grow automatically. It is great for TTRPGs too. The sound engineer who runs it has put together all kinds of specific settings like churches, cities, forests, faires, dungeons, etc. Seriously, people should check it out."
Linguistics...
"If you're interested in languages or trying to learn a new language I recommend Forvo.com, you can look up a word and hear native speakers pronounce it. It's based on volunteers uploading their recordings of the various words. It's pretty useful for when you're working on your pronunciation."
"https://forvo.com/word/gnocchi/ - https://forvo.com/word/g%C3%B6teborg/ - https://forvo.com/word/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%AC%E1%83%95%E1%83%A0%E1%83%97%E1%83%9C%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98/"
Finding the X
"https://www.rome2rio.com Gives you full directions from any two places from door to door including trains, busses and ferries. With options to fly to nearby places and take transit to get to your final destination."
"I was pretty surprised when it even had local bus companies in out of the way place in Philippines. I use it in all my travel planning now. Extra bonus for me, as it's Australian."
- DotDamo
Wash Away
erase men in black GIF by Animation Domination High-Def
Giphy
"remove.bg is a great way to remove any background."
"I was gonna write this, but then I saw your comment. Absolutely amazing website, works very well."
- csuvi98
SYNC
"twoseven.xyz -Allows you to watch and sync netflix, prime video, downloaded videos, streaming from browser, youtube with your friends while opting to be on voice/video call with them for FREE and NO ADS. Prime video is kinda glitchy in this website tho. The rest seem perfect."
"PS: Both you and your friend need a netflix account. Basically, both cannot use the same account if the subscription is for a single device only."
Goldmine
"Enjoy cartoons? Please enjoy every cartoon ever made all in one place! - https://www.wcofun.com/playlist"
"End of Evangelion and Death & Rebirth in the OG English dubs and not the horrible netflix redubs. Haven't been able to see these since I lost my dvds years ago. You just made my day thank you so so much. ❤️"
Reading is Fundamental
"https://openlibrary.org/ - You can borrow books across a crap ton of different library systems without having to register for them."
- rednoise
"Our fourth grade teacher made all the nerdy way-above-everyone-else-in-reading bookworms in our class (including me) use this site, bc the one everyone else used was targeted to younger kids, like fourth graders. It's amazing to say the least."
Louder
"everynoise.com : This website contains every obscure sub genre of music imaginable. You can find some great music you've never heard of there."
"Also music-map.com : Search an artist/band and it generates a map of similar artists/bands with proximity indicating more fan base crossover. I've tested it with the most obscure stuff I know and it always finds suggestions."
- Tor-Pedo
"insert email"
Danny Devito Work GIF by QuickBooks
Giphy
10 minute mail provides a temporary email address for you to cut and paste into those pesky "insert email" to sign up or read the rest of the story or whatever. https://10minutemail.com/"
From all over...
"http://radio.garden/visit - you can hear radios live from all around the world. (I recommend accessing on computer or installing the app on mobile)"
- VRicci92
"I love this site and was just about to post it when I saw you already did! This is one of my favorite rainy day websites, where I just scroll around through radio stations in England and Ireland and Australia and Japan and so forth. Great recommendation!"
Birdseye
"Depending on who you are determines if its useful or not, but https://rsoe-edis.org/ is a very informative site of the on-goings of the world. The event map is interesting to explore."
"Such a tragedy: "Traffic incident - Public road accident United Kingdom - M6 fire destroys lorry full of Birdseye potato waffles." Edit: For anyone concerned here's more information and some photos from the scene"
- design_jester·
The Best Bypass
"https://12ft.io/ It bypasses all paywalls and removes all ads from any webpage I have found. Show me a 10ft paywall, I'll show you a 12ft ladder. No install, just copy and paste your link."
"Creator of 12ft.io here! Thanks for all the interest in the site. I know, it's not perfect. I'm going to continue developing it. Y'alls support is greatly appreciated. Here's what i'm trying to do."
"I believe that ads and SEO killed the soul of the web. Websites can throw on popups, email captures, newsletters, inline ads, etc. We have to wade through all this crap just to find out the content is some click bait optimized garbage. It's abuse of your brain. As users of the internet, we have no recourse."
"We have to wait until a new site the publishes similar content to come up, and just hope to god that they aren't as bad. It's completely one sided. I want 12ft to be the suite of tools that allows us users of the internet to fight back against these malicious practices. It starts with a Chrome extension, but it'll grow to much more as long as y'all want it."
- thmsmlr
Follow the Data
Happy GIF
Giphy
"https://haveibeenpwned.com - Allows you to see if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. You can also get email alerts if you've been in a breach."
- j8hny
Find the Knowledge
"Sci-hub get (almost) any research paper for free, just copy the link/DOI of the document and it'll show you the pdf."
"Library genesis free pdf's of math/physics/chemistry/biology/medicine/etc, finished my degree thanks to this one, a bunch of times a book of a course was just too hard to find or incredible expensive to but, but in libgen I got the digital pdf of the book in a few seconds, very neat."
If someone can read my terms of stuff, I'll pay everything. These are great ideas and sites to have on hand. Make a list. I did. Just in case.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
The dogs owner shared the video along with a post asking professionals to shed some light on why he does what he does.
Owner-obliviousness as they gushed about how adorable it was made the awkward even better.
The owner explained the Frenchie often makes aggressive eye contact and licks his lips while he "plays air guitar"—which is what the family calls it—and how cute & funny they all find the behavior.
GiphyThe video was the dog, casually chilling, using his paw to rub the tip of his penis while staring awkwardly at the camera and licking his lips like a pup possessed.
Three hundred and fifteen laugh-reacts—at the time that I saw it—and only three comments:
1. a vet explaining that the behavior showed in the video was the dog masturbating while making direct eye contact
2. the owner giving a simple "thank you" and
3. the admins of the group closing the comments.
So, why am I sharing this with you?
Because Reddit user Drakmamman asked:
"Dog owners of reddit, what the dog doin?"
... and so now you get this whole article just so I had an excuse to tell y'all about a furiously fapping Frenchie, 'cause somebody else needed to know about him.
I cackled for a good 20 minutes imagining the family getting all giddy about their dog "playing air guitar"—making the little air guitar meedly squeedly noises while he played, maybe even playing along thinking they're enjoying a fun little game—but they're really just been giving a hair metal soundtrack to their dogs stroke sesh.
Something tells me now the owner knows what "air guitar" really is, they're not likely to rush and tell Reddit all about how they've been gathering as a family to watch cause it's just so cute.
That's what I'm here for.
Anyway, here's the stuff other people's dogs are up to. It's not fapping—or if it is, the owners aren't telling Reddit.
Partner Preference
Giphy"Wife just came home with the baby. Dog is acting like she's been abandoned for years running up and down, barking and jumping on everything."
"They'd only been out an hour and I was with her the whole time." - Single_Goose7015
"My dog does this too when my wife comes home. Like what am I, chopped liver?" - jackof47trades
"I feel your pain. My dog started howling mournfully when my partner went back to work last week… I was right there!" - TreatOutside
"Staring at the door waiting for the only human he cares about to come home (obviously not me)" - SnarkyRedhead
Herding Cats
Giphy"Probably trying to herd the cats."
"He's a border collie mix who's afraid of goats and sheep, but even after six years of living with them he still thinks he can control where the cats go."
"He's a good boy, he's very persistent, but not terribly bright sometimes." - TokesNotHigh
"After 8 years our border collie still herds the cats, and the vacuum." - psychologicaluse28
"Big heart, small brain. I have one of those dogs too. They are the sweetest." - Technobucket
Wretched Existence
Giphy"She has flung herself flat across the bed and is playing dead, quiet except for the occasional pitiful whine. Every now and then she lifts her head up and fixes a desperate look upon me, silently begging for release from her wretched existence."
"She's a bit overdramatic about having to wear a cone. The issue is an abrasion on a toe that she won't stop licking, which is making it worse."
"I've been alternating between bandaging it and having her wear a cone. She's been consistently a drama queen." - halfinboxes
One Hour
Giphy"Staring at me because their dinner time is in one hour and they need to start letting me know that, in an hour, they need to eat...in an hour, so I better not forget...cuz they're hungry, which is why they're staring at me...and it's almost dinner time."
"Just one more hour, And they want to make sure I don't forget. Because maybe I will."
"So, they need to remind me. By staring at me. Every day. One hour before dinner." - MotherOfFred
A Little "Light" Exercise
Giphy"Mine loves light reflected off watches or phones. And loves lasers."
"It's sunny and he sees light on the wall so he is bothering me to use my watch or phone so he can chase the light. I've spent the last hour doing it."
"I even got him a cat laser toy that's automatic for him and he runs himself tired as all hell with it. But he is STILL asking for it."
"Used the laser toy also too, so he is panting dripping tongue and still wants to play more..." - boomgoon
Vicious Predators
Giphy"Last night my dogs chased down and killed a rabbit in the backyard. They are usually so gentle; this was weird and unexpected."
"I watched the whole thing helpless because it was so fast. The rabbit screamed, it was insane."
"Now, I'm watching them sleep on my couch and can't help but think they just murdered someone."
"They are just vicious predators, right here, in my house. On my couch."
"But they snuggly as f*ck. This trips me out." - Atheist_Redditor
A Problematic Princess
Giphy"We have two chihuahuas. One is a 15 year old (quite appropriately) named Princess and one is a one year old named Charlie."
"Both have their own dog beds on the couch since they are spoiled."
"When Princess is feeling particularly moody or like asserting her dominance, she will drag Charlie's bed into her bed and lay on top of BOTH of them and snarl at him if he comes close to her personal space bubble/bed mountain."
"And when we tell her she can't have both beds and put his bed back to the side, she just glares at us. Lol." - mslm90
Shoe-nanigans
Giphy"She's currently in her cage resting after her great adventure."
"She managed to get upstairs and grab a hold of one of my shoes. Not just any old shoe, but one of the shoes I am planning to wear this weekend for my wedding."
"After running around, she dropped the shoe to chew on a shirt - at which point she was cornered, and then brought downstairs."
"Pup and shoe are both unharmed and doing well. My nerves, not so much." - still_interesting23
So ... what's YOUR dog been up to lately?
Want to "know" more?
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.