Some of my favourite useful websites:
oceanofpdf: find books you can't find anywhere else (or for a reasonable price), for free. This website has CHANGED MY LIFE, especially since I got an eReader. And if you think it is unethical, know that I mainly use it for books from authors that are dead OR huge assholes (I am looking at you, Neil Gaiman, great author and terrible human being), and also, that it is not very different from getting them second hand, except i don't clutter my bookshelf or de-clutter my bank account
drawingbook: same as the former one, but for books on drawing!
wordhippo: this one's for you writers! Gives you the word(s) stuck on the tip of your tongue, just by providing it with a small description, and voilà, pure magic. It does a lot of other things too, but I will let you find that out for yourself
speedtest: allows you to test your internet connection to make sure it is running as fast and smoothly as it should, so if it's not, you can confidently call your operator and, well, rat your way into a commercial gesture
characterdesignreferences: does exactly what it says on the tin
scholar.google: filters out dubious shitty websites for you so you can research topics of your interest more academically
archive: the Internet Archive is an obvious one, and very well-known, but I still must put it here, in case some of you didn't know about it. It will change everything for you: allow you free access to articles, books, movies, shows, documentaries, etc, that you couldn't find anywhere else. You can even download most everything you find (you do need to learn the workings of it, but it is worth it)
music-map: type in the name of a musical artist, and it will give you a map of arstists you might like based on them. Very fun to try when you're bored!
pixlr editor: good free alternative to get acquainted with the wonderful world of graphic design. Been using it since I was 12, gets you used to the photoshop tools until you can get the real thing, and is way less scary
ADDITIONAL NAVIGATION TIPS:
Add doctype:pdf when researching a topic/book and you need to get the book in full, or specific articles on your topic of interest
Add before:2021 to any internet search, and avoid AI-generated bullshit of any kind
Reduce the preposterous amount of AI images on Pinterest by heading to your Settings -> Refine your recommendations -> GenAI interests. It won't get rid of everything, but since I've done it, I haven't seen even half as much AI crap as I used to over there
writewithharper is a writing checker that prides itself on not using AI and respecting your privacy. Apparently, you can even add it to Obsidian (I am looking at that one friend who recommended this writing app to me hehe). Grammarly is shit, so I'm taking this one out for a spin instead
