Diversifying My Internet Stack
as i navigate what i perceive as an emergent post-large platform era, i witness an internet commons under the pangs of metamorphosis. surveilled, codified, socially engineered, what do I really want out of the internet these days. what can I do without? does my environment spark joy? curiosity? musings on how im making the internet work (or not) for me.
Me
5/18/20241 min read
I live in New York City. Being off the internet, let alone being off grid -- is a pipe dream for many; not necessarily desirable even for the average luddite/anarchist. However divestment is surely on the minds of many a netizen.
Things I've replaced, things I've gone without:
Navigation - HereNow - a UK based map app with driving, commuting, & real time traffic info. I like the color scheme. (screw google)
Email - Yes Gmail is hard to beat. But yahoo mail offers 1TB of storage (overkill, but way better than google); and the app/web interface feels just as accessible at this point. Ad emails are no worse than google atm.
Notes - People like notion, i like obsidian
Calendar - Have been trying out Across (for the widget) and Lightpad (visual based time blocking for m adhd ass)
Browsers - Attached to chrome extensions? Brave. Privacy focused? DuckDuckGo. Somewhere in between? Sidekick seems promising.
Texting - Use signal. Just do it.