What are your favorite websites?
Number One
I feel like I am Google’s older sister, because I started using the web before even Yahoo! was invented. I used dial-up America Online when I was 15, but when I was 18-19, my friends Joe and Luke (both IT Geeks- Joe was actually a linux sysadmin) said that if I was only using the gateway to things like AOL and CompuServe, then I wasn’t really seeing the web. They taught me to put AOL down on the taskbar as soon as the modem connected and switch to Netscape Navigator (precursor to Firefox). That I needed to type in the URL to get what I want, and Tim Berners-Lee was a genius (he didn’t invent the Internet in terms of computers sharing information, but what is now called the “World Wide Web.” There, now you know what www stands for. 🙂 When I got on “the real web,” I immediately gravitated to the design of it. A Jakob Nielsen disciple of the first order, thanks to my friend Chason. Nielsen was all about simplicity. The design on this web site is Nielsen-inspired, because for all practical intents and purposes, it looks like something a disciple of his would build. It is simplicity. I don’t even make people click “more” (and I could). The First Lesson is that without search engines, you can’t do anything else, because I wouldn’t have been able to learn how the Internet works without them. Back then, I used Yahoo! or Ask Jeeves. Now, the Google algorithm is so good that I can’t justify using anything else. I am sure that will change with Microsoft and ChatGPT, but it’s not there yet (IMHO. YMMV. Internet slang from the 90s and 2000s. You probably already know “in my humble opinion.” The other is “your mileage may vary.”). ChatGPT is interesting. I have created several pieces of artwork (cartoons) with it, and it’s not bad. I have never beat “Jesus Flipping Over Tables.” It’s from another dude who said that to ChatGPT and it looks like Jesus is doing bullet time over the table in The Upper Room. I would put it here, but I just hate WordPress now. Just hate it. They fucked me up with blocks, because it’s counterintuitive to everything I’ve coded my whole life. It won’t do true page layout and wraparound text.
Number Two
WordPress is my second favorite because I can hate it all I fucking want and I still have to use it. There should be an open source project for the classic version of WordPress so that the security updates are intact, but the graphical user interface goes back to something workable. You can create a table with an image on one side and text on the other, but you cannot say the things that are most important, like float this paragraph to the left of the image so that the text flows around it and put 5 pixels of space around it- and put a solid dark gray 3 pixel border on the image, thanks.
I am sure that if I paid for the business version of WordPress (only $300/mo, cutting out most writers who would use it), I’d be able to add all the Cascading Style Sheets I want, but for now, “it’ll do, pig. It’ll do.” The part that hurts is that WordPress itself used to be something you installed on your own server and you could do whatever you wanted with it.
There was no “WordPress.com.” It was a software package for a web server and that was it. They weren’t selling server space and plugins except to pay the artists who set their own prices on their themes. Pretty sure the open source community should take it over. Give it a new name. I’ve said it once already, but it bears repeating. It’ll be the Aldi version of Twix at first, but we’ll get there (if you think the Aldi version is better, that’s the point of open source- “free” as in “free beer” and “free speech-” change whatever you want and make it work for you.). If I could actually write in something like Python, it would be done already. I’m only asking a favor because I am creative autistic and not STEM autistic. 😉 Nerds, do what you do.
Number Three
YouTube is in the Big Three because I use it for everything from “hey, I think you might be autistic” to “I want to watch someone restore a car.” Jason Hibbs, Laura Kampf, Tyler & Todd, Get Hands Dirty, FourEyesFurniture, and Chip Channel Restorations compete for my favorites, as well as old episodes of Graham Norton from both his talk shows (and his appearance on Sanjeev’s in “The Kumars at No. 42, which defies all description and you should look it up.). The best one I’ve watched is a very old clip of Roseanne Barr on “So Graham Norton,” where they prank call a hotel in Germany, I think, because the name of the town is “Fucking.” Roseanne is just sitting there dying as Graham says stuff like “do you have a Fucking hotel?” And as he says, “this is not new or clever.” I died for a second. Also, Rowan Atkinson explaining that the more he tried to convince someone that he was, indeed, the actor who played “Mr. Bean,” the more the man insisted he wasn’t. The man keeps encouraging him, telling him that he could make real money being an impersonator at hen nights (in the US, bachelorette parties). Atkinson walked away when he realized the conversation was absolutely pointless…. as are some YouTube videos, but for the most part I treat it like university. Chip Channel restores toys, and you see every kind of making there is- wood, rubber, metal, 3D printing filament, etc. YouTube will up your game quick- on anything. Literally.
Number Four
Facebook is the only social media platform I really use, with reddit being a close second because it’s long form as well. I don’t speak Tweet. Therefore, I’m obsessed with it, just not like everyone else. If I get enough followers and reactions, I’ll be able to monetize my author page. I make the effort to reach out to authors no matter how many followers, because a rising tide lifts all boats. We’re all working from one pot of money- the amount people spend on books, blog/YouTube subscriptions, and Patreon. It’s a solid choice for me when most people who read me share on Facebook. In the last year, I have gotten readers from all platforms, including Instagram and Threads. Autistic people hate change, therefore I’ve never learned to write 240 characters at a time and I’ve never become obsessed with taking pictures of my life except for myself. I have a subreddit, but it’s not really populated. Self-promotion on reddit is generally “frowned upon in this establishment,” but occasionally people will say it’s an all call and to leave your URL. But that’s not a thing, really, because your URL gets lost in a sea of others and you’ll be lucky if anyone sees it. I also don’t want to get involved in having my work ripped apart on reddit, because everyone, and I mean everyone, will go for blood. It’s not a web site, it’s The Colossseum. For right now, I’m staying in my lane, and that lane is “reactions.”
Number Five
Goodreads is where my Kindle syncs and it’s invaluable because I often trade people books for a review (and have one in process, my friend John Merullo’s “Behold All the Dwellers Upon Earth.”) The reason it’s invaluable is that all Kindles run a lite version of Android so they support Bluetooth keyboards. That means I can highlight and look up what I’ve highlighted, and if I choose to make a note, all those get synced, too. It’s a quick and easy way of getting information, because I have stopped handwriting things. I can do nothing with data I have to retype, because I won’t.
Number Six
Reddit is up there, because even though I don’t use it for writing, I’ve met cool people and look forward to reading lots of subs.
- r/aita (Am I the Asshole?)
- r/itap (I Took a Picture)
- r/showerthoughts
- r/autism
- r/homeland
- r/washingtondc
- r/maryland
- r/writing
- r/maliciouscompliance
Here’s the short list of things I read frequently. I am getting so tired of web sites that steal from reddit and post it on their own pages. People will rip AITA questions from reddit and post them wherever, so you never know how and when something will go viral…. and you won’t know it until someone else tells you they saw your handle (dcargonaut). I shouldn’t mind, but I do. Reddit is a community. It would be like assuming it’s okay to steal my words verbatim without attribution AND my profile was locked down with my friends list because you think you’re writing to your friends and you could become a laughingstock if anyone recognizes you. On Facebook it’s just easier to find people because they use their real names. I say stupid shit all the time, but it’s reddit. We all say stupid shit all the time.
Number Seven
The Washington Post is my news source, and their web site is pretty great. I love Shane Harris (national security desk) and Greg Miller (Chris Hayes-type character, wrote a book about the former president called “The Apprentice.”). They make my life better because I know I’m reading writers I unabashedly respect and support. As I have said many times, I would pay my subscription fee to Harris personally if that was a thing you could do. I’m friends with him on Twitter, but because I don’t use it, we don’t run into each other that often. In fact, I don’t generally log into Twitter because all I use it for is to post my blog links and WordPress has a plugin for that. But if you want to follow me on Twitter, that handle is @lesliecology. I would have been @theantileslie or @revargo, but I didn’t think of that first. Rev. Argo is what Bryn calls me because I did her wedding years ago. It says everything about me, really, which is why I’m glad that when Bryn thought of that particular term of endearment, it took my two biggest interests and put them together…… preaching/doing weddings and my favorite movie bar none are rolled into one.
Number Eight
NPR is on here because yes, it’s terrestrial radio… but you can also get a livestream there. Wait! There’s more! Most podcast clients have access to the iTunes store so you can search for podcasts. Some don’t, although this is more and more rare. I have spent HOURS AND HOURS copying over NPR show rss feeds, what drives your new episode notifications. Speaking of which, if you’re still into RSS, I have a feed for it (RSSOwl is my client of choice). However, it’s not a podcast feed. It will download my entries as they come out.
Number Nine
Gmail.
The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. I have solid memories of e-mails I’ve gotten, but web-based mail is invaluable for when you’re away from your own desktop client (I use Evolution, the Open Source version of Outlook in the Ubuntu repositories.). I would recommend creating a BitWarden account as well, so you can log into your password vault as well. My password for all Google services is 22 characters, which is not impossible to hack, but it would take a supercomputer and perhaps years. Just make sure you have your phone on you, because Google requires two-factor authentication. If you don’t have your phone, you are not getting into that suite. I only use Gmail, though, because I can do everything in a text editor that’s maybe three megabytes of space on an Android, so Google Docs is just repetitive. But when I say Gmail, I mean all the functionality of Outlook- calendaring, task lists, and contacts as well. I do not know what I would do without it, honestly…… and I don’t mean the brand. I don’t use Outlook for the web, but I would if I had to. It’s the fact that web-based versions of what Outlook can do are plentiful…….. though I could lose the constant reminders to buy more server space or pay for the professional version of Office. I have LibreOffice and a 6TB hard drive…… and I know how to use them, thanks.
Thus endeth the reading.
Stories That Are All True 