HACKER Q&A
📣 amar-laksh

How do you use the internet in unusual ways?


As an example people seem to have started using reddit for product reviews.

Here are mine:

- I tend to add "github" or "gitlab" to my searches to find a webapp/app so I don't have to deal with Adtech.

- Going to google scholar to search for meta-analysis studies in order to form an opinion on a thing.

What's your unusual hack for the internet?


  👤 nicbou Accepted Answer ✓
I use image search to help me draw things. I am colourblind, so I import the images in Procreate and use the colour picker to create a palette from them.

I ask questions on reddit and quote the answers as a source on my website. It adds backing and extra context to things I know but can't prove. For example, the finer details of German work culture.

I use Wachete (a page change monitor) to track changes in German laws and keep my own content up to date.


👤 mod
It still feels unusual to me, but google lens is basically a life hack. It's good at a bunch of things that still make it feel magical. I'm still sleeping on its uses, honestly.

I use site:news.ycombinator.com sometimes for tech-related product recommendations. I bought an office chair based on a thread here. I think a laptop, too.

I have an ATM, and I built a script to watch its balance and notify me when it needs a refill. I have a couple more similar scripts related to my brick & mortar business.


👤 scottmcdot
Sometimes I invent something in my head and use Google images to confirm that my invention already exists. Then I buy it.

👤 lurker137
It’s not very unusual but putting filetype:pdf at the end of a search works great for finding papers, notes, books or any other pdf resources