2022-12-22 (updated sporadically)
Here is a growing collection of websites I like/use/want to revisit. "Why not just save them in your bookmarks?" Well, this way, you can have them too! Plus, I can direct people here if I reference one of these sites in conversation. At the time I started this page, I was introduced to several of these [sites] by the YouTuber, Matty McTech.
Data
The information you've always wondered where they get on Shark Tank when discussing "market size": https://www.statista.com
Quick way to (sometimes) get a ballpark number on a company's recent annual revenue: search Google for "<company_name> zoominfo" (e.g. the first link that results from "coca-cola company zoominfo")
Amazing compilation of shipping and import data, searchable by company name (find out how active company X is): https://www.importyeti.com
See the rank of the most visited websites on the internet and rank-changing behavior of websites: https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/
Country-level data on a wide range of market sector "indicators": https://data-explorer.oecd.org but I'm not sure if there's a difference from https://data.oecd.org
Wide range of USA data: https://data.census.gov (for example, I found info about the annual total wholesale sales)
Free Tools
Check an email address to validate it for deliverability, without sending an email that gets bounced/rejected: https://gsuite.tools/verify-email
Check to see if your website's DNS settings (e.g. CNAME, MX, TXT, A, etc.) are properly configured and accessible accross the internet: https://www.whatsmydns.net
Custom box templates in SVG for [laser] cutting projects: https://cutgen.io
Wide variety of single-function calculators, from IRA growth to BMI: https://www.calculator.net/sitemap.html
Variety of graphing, scientific, and even 3D calculators; simple user interface: https://www.geogebra.org/classic
Adobe Photoshop-like editor: https://www.photopea.com
Remove voice from MP3s, download separate MP3 files: https://vocalremover.org
Deep-fake text-to-speech audio generator: https://fakeyou.com
Send your friends here to help make them more efficient communicators: https://nohello.net/
Make QR codes that also depict an Ai description prompt: https://huggingface.co/spaces/huggingface-projects/QR-code-AI-art-generator
Read the most important/interesting sections of a terms of service (that's way too long to read): https://tosdr.org/en/frontpage
Find a phone number more likely to reach a human: https://gethuman.com
Make posters without large paper, by formatting images to print across multiple pages of typing paper: https://rasterbator.net
Convert a 3D (CAD) object into a 2D shape, print-out-able, and foldable-back-into-the-3D-version: https://pepakura.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura_designer/
Find learning resources for lots of topics (but your topic has to be auto-completable in their database): https://learn-anything.xyz
Cool Websites
An online library, created by Letterform Archive, of high quality images of period-specific print and typographical arts: https://oa.letterformarchive.org
The Library of Congress has an amazing collection of scans/photographs of old documents, including printed ads, maps, newspapers, magazines, etc. Highly searchable by century, decade, and year: https://www.loc.gov
Interactive map of the world— as it was known— at any point in history: https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/history/regions
Learn how to fix any vehicle-related issues you're having: https://www.startmycar.com/us, and maybe also: https://www.1aauto.com/videos
Internet Tricks
Get behind paywall to view online articles: In the URL of the protected article you want to read, add "archive.is/" after the "https://" and before the "www."
For example: change "https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/dining/perfect-scrambled-eggs.html" to "https://archive.is/www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/dining/perfect-scrambled-eggs.html", and then click one of the mirrors (assuming one exists). In this example, the URL you'd actually access after this little trick is https://archive.is/JEZ3R.
Get behind paywall to view online articles, route 2: go here https://www.archivebuttons.com and enter the URL to the guarded article you wanted to read.
Get free shipping supplies from UPS (yes, it's real-- I tried it!): https://youtu.be/7mq0kY2t6K0?si=YrwSekwhn6tiy0IS
For example, I used this UPS offer to get free 4x6 thermal printing shipping labels for my Etsy shop!
Watch YouTube videos without ads, for free (really), multiple ways:
Just add a "-" between "yout" and "ube" in the URL.
For example: change "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiDgpbWiKvo" to "https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=hiDgpbWiKvo"
Copy the link to the video you want to watch, and paste it here: https://skipcut.com
Get just the recipe from a webpage that includes tons of stuff other than the recipe (for no obvious reason): just add "cooked.wiki/" before the "http" in the URL.
For example: change "https://www.thecountrycook.net/the-best-southern-fried-chicken/" to "cooked/wiki/https://www.thecountrycook.net/the-best-southern-fried-chicken/"
Talk to Amazon customer service ON THE PHONE. Assuming you're already signed into your Amazon account, this link should allow you to input your phone number and receive a call from a human customer support member:
Try: https://www.amazon.com/hz/contact-us/express-c2c-phone or https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/express/c2c/popup.html
If those don't work, you may be able to visit this link to initiate a chat; and then navigate through the Ai bot until it leads to an option to input your phone number for a call: https://www.amazon.com/hz/contact-us/foresight/hubgateway-issues-10
YOU'RE WELCOME.
Talk to YouTube customer service:
Try: https://tv.youtube.com/learn/nflsundayticket/
Even though that's a link for football streaming, there's an option at the top of the webpage to call a number or "chat now." The agent in that chat can redirect you to another chat team if your issue doesn't fall within their purview.
Update: I thought this was clever, but they've not responded; so maybe this doesn't work.