However, apart from a few known websites we seldom venture into the wilderness of the vast internet. And as expected most of the times, we end up missing out on the interesting and useful ones. Here, we have rounded up a few useful websites that you probably might not know about, and in the process discover a whole different side of the internet.
1. Noisli
If the sounds of rustling leaves or the whirr of a fan help you increase your focus, then there’s no better app than Noisli. The site contains a number of backgrounds noises like pouring rain, a bustling coffee shop or plain white noise, to help you relax and increase your productivity levels. What’s more, you can even create your own clip by mixing and matching a couple of backgrounds scores. Noisli also contains a Google Chrome extension, so that it’s right there beside you when you are working.
2. Video to Animated GIF Converter
GIFs are the latest fad on the internet. From memes to advertising campaigns, almost everything ‘online’ will have at least one GIF. What’s interesting is that these GIFs can be created quite easily from a video. And one of the best sites to accomplish that (apart from Giphy) is Ezgif. This site has a horde of tools for editing purposes such as adjusting speed, color filters, and GIF optimization options, among others. All you have to do is upload the video from your computer or paste a URL, make the necessary adjustments and you’ll have a cool animated GIF ready in a few minutes time.
3. Mental Floss
If you are one who likes to stay well ahead of others when it comes to facts and happenings around the world, trust the Mental Floss website to take care of that. This site contains a slew of stories behind any happenings, whether it’s a know-how on why your dog eats so much or a long-form article on Black holes. Trust me, once you start following Mental Floss, you’ll fall in love with it.
4. AirConsole
AirConsole explores the gaming world in a tad different manner. It is a browser based gaming platform that lets you repurpose your phones as game controls. Yep, you read that right. So the next time you have your buddy over for a gaming session but lack a secondary controller let AirConsole weave its magic. All you have to do is open the site on both the device and computer, enter the code and that’s it! Your phone is already a neat little gamepad.
5. Forgotify
Did you know that Spotify contains millions of songs which haven’t been played, not even once? Sad, isn’t it? Well, Forgotify aims to change it. It sifts through Spotify’s playlist and lists songs which have had no plays till now. In other words, Forgotify gives every song a second chance and hopes to bring it to the forefront.
6. Pricetrak
As suggestive of its name, it tracks the product prices and notifies you when the price drops below a certain limit (courtesy sales and discounts). All it needs is the URL of the product and your email ID. Once the price drops, you’ll be informed of the same.
7. Snappa
Social Media management is the new ‘It’ these days. And to reach the right target audience, you’d need a snappy image alongside your content. And few other tool handles that better than Snappa. Snappa is a free website that lets you create images in myriad forms, whether it’s for blogging purposes, social media ads or YouTube thumbnails. The features library is immense filled with attractive background images, a large collection of fonts, patterns, graphics, etc.
8. Unsplash
A cool social media content would certainly need an even cooler image as a backdrop. If you are looking for one, Unsplash is the go-to site for free unlimited high-resolution pictures. It has over 200,000 beautiful pictures with new pictures being added every day. Plus, it has around 41,872 photographers whom you can follow to get your daily dose of inspiration.
9. National Coffee Association
My day doesn’t start until I have had a good mug of strong black coffee. And if you look around, that’s the story of most of us. Though brewing the right cuppa is no rocket science, but it’s not less either. And if you are looking for a guide to make the right cup, trust the National Coffee Association site to give you a detailed guide of the whole process. From the Coffee-to-Water Ratio to the Brewing Time, this is the all-you-want-to-know site for coffee.
10. Print What You Like
Sure, ads bring revenue to online publications. But when you need to print out web pages for references in a case study or offline reading, you wouldn’t want the ads gaping at you, right? Meet PrintWhatYouLike, a website that prints only the good part of any web page. The best part of this site is that it lets you select which web component you’d like to have and which to remove. All you need to do is feed the URL, edit/remove the ad components and save it. Simple, see.
11. Above the Fold
Above the Fold is a news aggregator website which gathers the top headlines from the major news outlets in the world. In short, you can visualize it as the upper half of all the major news papers under one single roof. The news sources include Politico, The Guardian, CNN, Fox News among others. If you are forever on the run, this is the best website to be abreast of all the recent events in the world.
12. GuruShots
If you are just starting out as a photographer then you are going to love this website. GuruShots host an open photography competition where you get to showcase your photos and win awards worth several hundreds of dollars. At the same time, you can receive feedbacks from the gurus of photography and move up the ladder of the photography world.
13. Alternatype
Looking for the free alternatives to commercial fonts? Meet Alternatype. It does a very good job of finding similar fonts. All you need to do is type in the font name and the free alternative will be made available to you right away.
14. Keybr
The aim of Keybr is simple — fasten your typing pace. It has a series of lessons and exercises on quickening your typing speed and it has different parameters to measure them such as words per minute or characters per minute. What’s more, it has a few exercises on Touch typing. For starters, it’s the ability to use muscle memory to find keys fast, without relying on eye sight.
15. The Onion
If you are of the opinion that world news is unhappy enough and you don’t need a second website to make it grimmer, say hello to The Onion. The Onion has a satirical take on every news coverage, however grim or serious the topic is. Be it politics or sports news, trust the Onion to deliver satire at its best.
That’s a Wrap!
Phew, that was quite a list, isn’t it? Next time before you aimlessly browse through your Facebook feed, do make it a point to remember that there are websites more worthy of your time and energy. See Next: 15 Most Unique Sites to Find the Best Free Kindle Ebooks The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
