Most Internet users agree that the Internet is, in fact, huge. Containing nearly 8 billion websites, it is the largest network of information known to man. But those same users’ purview of the Internet is most likely very small. The average user will check Facebook, make a Google search, but what else? This list is to help you broaden your scope of what the Internet has to offer by showing you what useful services modern man has devised.
To the common user, Fyels appears to be just another cloud storage service. What sets this one apart from others like Dropbox or Windows Skydrive? The most notable feature is the unlimited file storage. Unlike Dropbox, Fyels does not have any desktop applications to use to prevent having to open their webpage. Such a hindrance does not beat the fact that the service is completely free. Users are encouraged to donate, but at no point are they required to. The only limitation is on file size, but with a 11Gb maximum per file. Keep in mind though, anyone can see the files you upload, and files are deleted after seven days without a download.
Sometimes, you have a link that’s just too long to remember or give to someone else. Bit.ly solves that problem for you. This service allows you to put in any web address and create a page under the bit.ly domain that redirects to your really long web address. When you create an account, or log in with Twitter or Facebook, you gain the ability to change your shortened URLs to anything you want. Several Firefox and Google Chrome extensions are also available to shorten a URL with just one click of a button.
Uploading images to the Internet can be a pain; most image hosting website have some fee or limit on what and how much you can upload. With imgur, you can host your cat photos without having them disappear after 12 hours. Imgur also has a feature to automatically generate BB codes, HTML codes, email codes and many more for you to place your images in any format you want.
Many times, when you sign up for an online web service, they ask you for your email. With this, they tend to send you spam every few minutes to make you spend money on their products. You can’t give a fake email though, because a verification email is always sent to make sure your email is legit. GuerrillaMail solves that problem. It will give you a fake email address on a random server that only lasts for 60 minutes. This is enough time to get your verification email, and have the email account destroyed before you are guilted into spending $10 a month to save a child in Africa.
Many people find they can’t focus on any sort of work for an extended period of time, myself included. So when you start feeling your mind drift, take a break over to Procatinator. This site will immediately pair an animated cat .gif picture with a catchy song that will captivate you for hours on end. Have you already gotten bored of your cat/song pairing? Click the button in the top left corner and you’ll be rewarded with a brand new one.
As far as remaining anonymous goes,The Onion Network (TOR) network will serve you the best. By routing all of your data requests through a network of relays, all hosted by volunteers, it ensures that no one tracking you knows who or where you are while you browse the Internet. By using multiple proxy servers as well, it makes it all but impossible to trace the connection back to you.
Say your friend sends you a .tiff image file that is purportedly the most amazing photo on the entire Internet. You’re about to open it, only to realize that you have no idea what a .tiff file is. To fix this problem, just upload your file to Zamzar. This service will convert almost any type of file to almost any other type of file, from videos to archives to documents. Just send your file, pick a format to output to, hand them your email (from GuerillaMail, perhaps?), and you’ll have your reformatted file in minutes.
If you have a computer, then you most likely already have a calculator. The limits of this calculator are often pretty extreme though. SpeedCrunch gives you the option to do so much more. The calculator can do most scientific functions, as well as many trig functions. One of the most useful features though is its massive list of constant variables, from Avogadro’s number to the Planck length. This calculator will never leave you without the answer to your terrible math problems.
Sometimes, you see some software you want, but it either costs too much or doesn’t have all the features you need. To find alternatives to that software, just hit Alternativeto. This site will take any software or service that it has stored in its massive database and compare it against the program you want. On top of that, you can also filter by distribution license, platform, and popularity.
Vector images are images that don’t store info on individual pixels, but rather how and where lines are drawn on the image. This makes vectors images infinitely scalable. To obtain a vector image from any other format, just upload it to VectorMagic. This site will read the image and determine how to make it a vector image while you watch, and will allow you to make basic edits to it afterwards right in your browser. Just be sure to download your image right away, because the vectors aren’t stored on their servers forever.
As far as studying goes, nothing makes it easier than Quizlet. All you have to do is input information for two sides a flash card, and it will auto-generate tests, give you a printable set of flash cards, and even create several games for you to play that will help you memorize the information. More info at https://www.themycenaean.org/2011/12/a-new-way-to-study/
Everyone has used Google. It’s almost impossible not to. But what many people may not know of is how many other services Google offers besides just the basic search funciton. Google Docs is one of these services. It allows to make your own online documents and presentations, or upload them from Word documents or Powerpoints. Not only can you now edit these from your browser, multiple people can make edits at the same time. All you have to do is add their email in the list of shared users, and you can both be working on your massive project for school that’s due in 40 minutes.
Pastebin is a very single purpose web service. What it does though is incredibly important. Pastebin allows any user to paste any text or code into the site, and have it hosted for pretty much forever. With its tiny URLs, this gives you the option to share whatever you want with all your friends. You don’t have to have it up forever though; you can set your paste to only last for a set amount of time.
The average computer user will never need to use Hamachi; it’s just not practical. But if you ever need to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between you and a friend’s computer, Hamachi does the job. By creating another network interface, you might as well be on a LAN network. The free version supports up to ten users per network.
Speedtest is one of the only services on the web that can accurately measure your Internet speed. The site will choose a server close to you, and measure how fast you can upload and download packets to and from that server. It also provides a map of the area between you and the server, so you can trace where your packets are at any point in time. You can also go to pingtest.net to measure your ping.
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