There is this really cool place called Lemmy, I’m sure many people here have heard of it but not anyone I ask in other places. It’s like Reddit, it’s a forum-esque place where people can exchange their thoughts. The people are a little biased on the extreme Marxist side of things, but overall it’s pretty nice.
We don’t need this reddit-level comment here.
MetaFilter! It’s an old-school text-only community blog that’s been around since 1999. I love the variety and depth of posts on the front page, and the AskMetaFilter Q+A section is super useful.
Metafilter has some good conversations and unique content for threads.
From the same era, and with similar interesting levels of content was kuro5hin.org (aka. corrosion , Now offine) and everything2.com (a massively interlinked set of nodes created before wikipedia).
What’s the difference between this and any other link aggregator, like the one we’re on now?
It’s an organic community, small enough and long-lasting enough that it’s easier to get to know people as people instead of as names on a screen you’ll see once and likely never again. The admin team is similarly small and easy to talk to, not an algorithm or a faceless corporate enforcer. The mods are paid professionals funded largely by community donations. The site is also in the process of transitioning to a non-profit management, so less risk of selling out or enshittifying itself. I like the posting and commenting culture – text-heavy, minimalist style, and a wide variety of topics often deeply researched and explored in lengthy posts by people passionate about the topic, rather than 24/7 outrage-bait headlines and viral videos. And the subsites are really fun – I mentioned AskMeFi, but there’s also a place to share one’s music, personal projects, discuss media, organize meetups, etc. I also appreciate how the mods and guidelines take a strong stance against bigotry and microaggressions – hate speech and spam are virtually unheard of. Very refreshing when the bigger platforms seem intent on pursuing growth at all costs and minimizing administrative overhead. Overall, a cozy, human-scale community that seems more and more like a throwback that we should be moving back to.
GPL interactive flash animations.
This was fairly cutting edge around 98 or 2002 when I first saw it. Really clean.
Not sure how any of the levitated Flash content can be shown now, but it appears that the creator Jared Tarbell is creating new works at infinite.center under MIT licence.
These look to be some of the best digital artworks available today.
Plenty of people know of it, but more people should: isthereanydeal.com
It lets you keep a list of games you want to buy, showing you all the legitimate stores and the best prices, lets you set up notifications based on different parameters, lets you import your Steam wishlist, shows what sites have bundles, coupons, giveaways, etc. I check it for every game I want and have saved hundreds.
A variety of neat activities and educational pages.
OG movie script/screenplay database.
Dudes been running this place since 95, which is doubly impressive that he never got popped for copyright shit. There was a pretty crazy stretch where he was releasing scripts before they were even produced. Like I got to read the actual screenplays for flicks like Intolerable Cruelty, Lost Highway (movie makes more sense as a screenplay, btw) and even Beavis and Butthead Do America before they even hit the theaters.
If you like to play chess, check out www.lichess.org
It’s free and open source, and it’s very easy to find a game there, no matter what level you play.
It doesn’t display annoying ads.
All of the games ever played on lichess along with puzzles, evaluations etc are also open and free to download at database.lichess.org
The site’s founder and lead developer Thibault also often streams the development of the site on his Twitch channel!
I’m honestly suprised sometimes at how free, open and transparent this site is, truly an inspiration for anyone looking to build an ethical platform.
It always makes me sad that chess.com was the site that blew up. I always had to convince my friends to use lichess when I played back in school.
