Useful Links

Published by hbm on 2023-06-01

A list of websites that I’ve found useful over the years. This page will be updated as new resources are discovered (or remembered).

Apps - Desktop

  • CDBurnerXP: Burns CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and HD-DVDs.
  • LibreOffice Suite: An open-source and compatible alternative to Microsoft Office.
  • LibreWolf: “A custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom”.
  • Linux Reader: “Access files and folders on Ext, UFS, HFS, ReiserFS, or APFS file systems from Windows”.
  • Obsidian: “private and flexible note‑taking app that adapts to the way you think”. 1
  • VeraCrypt: “free open source disk encryption software”.

Apps - Mobile

Some of the many apps that I use regularly. The vast-majority are available on F-Droid.

  • List - Android FOSS: “A list of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for Android”.
  • F-Droid: Alternative app-store, mostly FOSS apps.
  • Audio Anchor: Simple audiobook player, clean interface, progress tracking.
  • Bromite: Privacy-focused Chromium browser. 2
  • Cromite: A Bromite fork with built-in support for ad blocking and an eye for privacy.
  • Cryptomator: Encrypted file storage with Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. 3
  • Delta Chat: Communicate instantly via e-mail.
  • FairEmail: Privacy friendly email app.
  • K-9 Mail: “Full-featured email client”.
  • KeePassDX: “open source, ad-free. Multi-format KeePass password manager”.
  • KurobaEx: Browse imageboards and bulk-download threads.
  • LessPass: “Generate unique passwords for your accounts based on a master password”.
  • NewPipe: Alternative YouTube client, supports downloading videos, subtitles, and blocks all YT ads!
  • OpenReads: FOSS book and reading tracker.
  • YouTube Downloader (YTD): Supports encoding to .mp3, I use this when I want to download audio or if NewPipe is down.

Books

Various book (re)sellers and aggregate sites.

  • Abe Books: Used book seller. Often seen on BookFinder.
  • Alibris: Used book seller. Often seen on BookFinder.
  • BookFinder: Book seller aggregate website. Useful for looking up book prices and finding obscure sellers.
  • Cosmotheist Books: The book distribution arm of the Cosmotheist Community Church.
  • Freedomain Books: Books by Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio, a very popular philosophy program.
  • The West’s Darkest Hour: A blog-style site by César Tort that contains a handful of free PDFs.

Constructed Languages

Various tools and resources for creating languages.

Fonts / Typefaces

Most of my writing is done using LibreOffice Writer, with 12pt Courier Prime as my font of choice. I value regularity and readability.

  • Courier Prime: A typewriter-like font that is fixed-width, regular, and beautiful.
  • Font Library: A collection of fun typefaces with easy web font integration.

GitHub Projects

Most of these are Windows-only apps/tools/resources, but all of them are handy in one way or another.

  • List - Awesome Piracy: “bookmarks, saved Reddit posts, and GitHub stars all related to piracy”.
  • BG Remover: AI-powered background remover tool. 4
  • Bookdown: “Authoring Books and Technical Documents with R Markdown”.
  • File Converter: Convert various types of files using the Windows context menu.
  • gallery-dl: “command-line program to download image galleries and collections”.
  • hosts: Extended “hosts” files for blocking a variety of services.
  • Jellyfin: “Free Software Media System … alternative to the proprietary Emby and Plex”.
  • JPEGsnoop: “detailed JPEG image decoder and analysis tool”.
  • KeePassXC: “modern, secure, and open-source password manager”.
  • Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS): “Windows and Office activator using HWID / KMS38 / Online KMS”.
  • Steam Achievement Manager: Fix broken Steam achievements.
  • SumatraPDF Reader: Multi-format eBook / PDF reader.
  • Ultimaker Cura: “State-of-the-art slicer app … for your 3D printer”.
  • Universal Android Debloater: Removes large amounts of bloat from most Android phones.
  • Ventoy: Easy bootable USB drive; just drop in ISOs and boot.
  • Windows10Debloater: “Script/Utility/Application to debloat Windows 10”.
  • WinSetView: “easy way to set Windows File Explorer default folder views”.
  • yt-dlp: YouTube downloader; A fork of youtube-dl that actually works (plus fixes and improvements.

Web Tools

Misc. web tools for use in a variety of situations.

  • GFP-GAN: AI facial restoration and mild photo upscaling. (Demo 1 & Demo 2)
  • The Alphabetizer: Alphabetizes text, removes duplicates, separates text, etc.
  • Yandex Images: The BEST reverse-image-search service I’ve found to date. Eat your heart out Google Images and TinEye.

Notes

Special directions and notes.

  1. Obsidian: Obsidian uses Markdown formatted txt files so if you stop using it, your files are still accessible. Also cross-platform. ↩︎

  2. Bromite: The Bromite F-Droid repository is not included by default. You need to add it as a third-party repository, check here for instructions. ↩︎

  3. Cryptomator: The Cryptomator F-Droid repository is not included by default. You need to add it as a third-party repository, check here for instructions. ↩︎

  4. BG Remover: If your pictures come out blurry, make sure the app window is maximized before saving the result. ↩︎