Here's how to use the internet to live better
Today there’s a goldmine of information, knowledge and resources on pretty much every topic imaginable available at our fingertips.
But at the same time, the technology which makes this possible can also come with plenty of distractions.
The internet has a bad reputation these days and isn’t viewed in the spirit of unlimited possibilities and wondrous exploration as it was when it became publicly available in the 90s.
However, we forget to marvel at the miracle that is the internet and have come to take it for granted. But what a gift it truly is! How much easier it makes our lives. Yet we are only occasionally reminded of its usefulness the minute our Wi-Fi stops working.
In the vast world that is the internet, it’s easy to get stuck on the same old familiar spots such as social media sites, Netflix, news websites and leave plenty of incredible places unexplored.
In this blog post, I’d like to share with you some places on the internet that has had a positive impact on my life as well as share some stuff that I have found to be useful and interesting.
These websites and apps will help you to use the internet effectively to stimulate your mind, make your life better, help you spend your time productively and of course learn plenty of new things.
Blogs & Websites
Medium
Medium is a blend of a blog and an online magazine and contains plenty of interesting articles and ideas from people around the world. It covers a wide range of topics from tech, travel, lifestyle, creativity, personal growth etc.
Anyone can write on Medium, and the platform curates the content that attracts the highest levels of engagement on its home page. The site gets more than 60 million unique visitors per month.
Raptitude
Since I’ve started blogging, I’ve come across hundreds of other blogs. But Raptitude has been the one I’ve found to be the most intriguing and thought-provoking.
The blog is run by David Cain and was started back in 2009. He defines the purpose of his blog as getting better at being human.
Farnam Street
Farnam Street is another blog that consists of some interesting and mentally stimulating content. The site is founded and led by a former Canadian spy, Shane Parrish and their aim is to help people think and perform better.
James Clear
James Clear is the author of New York Times best-selling book Atomic Habits, which has sold a million copies around the world.
He has been in the blogging scene since 2012 and publishes articles on his website, focused on personal growth and building habits. He has a great writing style and is interesting to read.
Reddit is a popular online community and discussion website.
Posts on Reddit are organized by subject into user-created boards called "subreddits", which cover a variety of topics such as science, movies, music, books, sports, fitness, cooking, etc.
Here are some interesting sub reddits to check out
Quora
Quora is a Q&A site where anyone can ask a question and get answers from people around the world. It is a great platform to understand what other people think, and to receive diverse points of view from people on various subjects.
Free E-Books Websites
The books I’ve read over the past few years have completely transformed my life and has played a pivotal role in shaping who I am.
These books have provided me with esoteric spiritual knowledge as well as some mind-boggling information on the nature of reality.
If it wasn’t for the internet, I highly doubt I would have come across or even known about known many of these life-changing books.
Here are some sites which lets you download free eBooks.
PDF Drive : At the time of writing this post, they have a staggering 85,954,081 eBooks available which can be downloaded for free. Some other sites include
Goodreads
Goodreads is the world's largest site for readers, book reviews and recommendations.
If you are looking for interesting books to read and don’t know what to read or where to start, Goodreads can be of great help. It also lets you discover lots of similar books from the same genre, and I have found it to be very useful in discovering plenty of amazing books.
Window Swap
Window Swap is something I came across recently, and it came out after the outbreak of the pandemic. This website lets you gaze out of strangers' windows across the globe, whether it is from Egypt, Ukraine, France or Qatar, you get to see some truly breathtaking views.
No downloads or subscription is needed, you can find a new window to gaze through, whenever you click a button at the bottom of the screen.
View from La Boule, France (source)
Wikipedia
When it comes to great places on the internet, Wikipedia is a no-brainer and needs no introduction. It’s a great place to acquire plenty of knowledge on just about everything.
However, as with the information you come across through Google, it is important to note that it need not always be accurate or infallible.
Noisli
Nosili is something I occasionally use while I am write. It provides relaxing background and ambient noises (such as the sound of the rain falling, wind blowing, streams flowing) which helps to boost your concentration and productivity.
Video Content
Ted Talks
Ted Talks consists of short and powerful speeches (18 minutes or less) and covers almost all topics - from science, business, and entertainment to global issues.
They are popular due to their inspiring, and thought-provoking content, usually conveyed through engaging stories. You can find their content on their YouTube channel or on their website.
Here are some interesting Ted Talks to check out,
Insightful as well as absolutely hilarious!
London Real
London Real has been around since 2011, but it’s only been over the last year I’ve begun watching some of their content. They have some truly amazing and mentally stimulating in depth interviews with successful individuals from diverse fields.
The show hosted by Brian Rose boasts of close to 2 million subscribers on YouTube. What I personally like is the fact that the host is a great listener and he allows his guests the freedom to go on without interrupting.
It covers a wide range of topics such as business, personal growth, finance, health, psychology, bitcoin, investment, fitness etc. (It’s available as a podcast as well)
Impact Theory
Much like London Real, Impact Theory is a similar interview show and includes content on similar topics. They bring in plenty of well-known personalities who have some great wisdom to share, and it’s one worth checking out.
Justin Guitar
Playing the guitar was something I wanted to learn, since I was a kid. And thanks to the internet as well the Justin Guitar website, in particular, it was something that I finally got round to making a reality.
His lessons are fantastic and easy to grasp. And to top it all it’s completely free. You can access them on his website as well as on his YouTube channel. If you are looking at learning to play the guitar, his beginner’s course is a great place to start.
Documentaries
Most documentaries may last only little more than an hour, but they can be so powerful that they completely change your understanding of certain subjects forever within that short time.
The information in the mainstream media and news outlets are highly controlled and suppressed to an unimaginable degree due to lots of vested interests. (There are plenty of books, documentaries and disclosures on the internet which reveal this fact in startling detail with irrefutable evidence.)
Most documentaries free of such bias and vested interests can offer eye-opening information on a wide variety of topics.
Watching the documentary The Secret almost a decade ago opened into a world of new possibilities for me. More recently watching documentaries like What the Health and Forks over Knives have influenced me to make changes in my diet.
Here are some sites that let you watch documentaries for free
Applications
Pocket, previously known as Read It Later, is an application and website that acts as a platform where you can save articles and videos so you can view them later.
Being someone who likes to read up about stuff a lot, it’s a handy app to have so that I don’t procrastinate too much and get lost in a loop of endless content.
Duolingo
Duolingo Is one of the best apps out there to learn new languages. As of October 2020, the language-learning website and app offered 98 different language courses in 38 languages.The app has over 300 million registered users across the world
Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing is a platform that allows travellers the opportunity to meet up and even stay with locals free of charge. It’s a great platform to use if you are interested in travelling or solo travelling in particular to gain a more rich and authentic experience of the places you visit.
The app also allows you to host and meet plenty of travellers as well. Though I have only used it once, it’s something I defintely look forward to using again.
Headspace
Headspace is a smartphone app full of guided meditations, which can make it easier for anyone to meditate especially for those starting out. It contains guided meditations of varying duration starting from 1 minute to 5 minutes and even for half an hour.
Magzter
Magzter is the world's largest digital newsstand with thousands of magazines and newspapers in its catalogue. Subscribing to Magzter Gold, gives you unlimited access to over 107,000 issues of 5,000+ magazines at a very economical price.
Thanks to the internet, we have a tremendous advantage over all of the previous generations that lived before the existence of this amazing invention.
But the question that is worth pondering over is, are you making the most of it and using this gift wisely?
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