Search Engines

“Surfing” the web with a search engine is no longer a thing, top results are sites specifically engineered with search engine optimization (SEO) to appear in the top results and farm clicks, not because they are actually good.

Nowadays, The only reason you would use a search engine is to find the link to something you already know exists you when just don’t have the URL (link) memorized or bookmarked.

Large Language Models (AI Chatbots)

An AI Chatbot can be a very powerful tool, you just need to know how its quirks and limitations, treat it as a helper that knows almost everything but doesn’t know exactly what you want, make sure your prompts are as detailed as possible so you can get the most accurate reply. An LLM can be help you with troubleshooting technical issues, using various computer software and some basic research, it is not.

An LLM is just fancy autocomplete, it has no opinion and you can easily make an LLM say what you want by intention or not. An LLM can also hallucinate, It will say things that are completely made up and/or not true at all. Therefore, you should never trust what an LLM says without verification.

The other issue is that most popular online Chatbot are going to have some guardrails, they will refuse to provide information on sensitive topics, you can bypass some of these restrictions if you try to jailBreak the LLM with a special prompt but you will have limtied success, you should instead look for uncensored models or self host them yourself.

Indexers and Directories

Actually good and/or specific resources are buried under many layers of internet garbage and have become very hard to find, therefor people nowadays use website indexers, which are curated lists of websites made by real people.

The most frequently updated and popular one is FMHY, originally focused on piracy but now contains links to resources of pretty much everything, make sure to read their beginners guide and if you feel like something can be improved/added don’t hesitate to contribute.

For other lists and indexers, browse FMHY’s list

Communities and Forums

There are communities for pretty much everything on the internet, and there are many people who are more than happy to help you find what you need, you just need to find the right community.

The most popular platforms are Discord and Reddit, each have their limitations as Discord is impossible to search and Reddit can be toxic but most people are gathered there.

There are also many general and dedicated forum sites to check out.

Tips