I'd like to discuss online productivity tools. This means browser plugins and separate apps.
(Read ----> Productivity, Privacy and Modification)
I am going to start here.
Dark Reader - Firefox plugin that enchanges all website to black or white with contrast and brightness adjustment. I have been using it the past week and it works flawlessly.
(To be added here) - I am looking for a plugin to manage my toolbar bookmarks better. I havent found one (good managment, minimal distraction.)
Sidebery sidebar is a move in the right direction but I dont use it.
I Still Do Not Care About Cookies (As suggested by users here) - Another potential good one. It should automatically answer the "Accept Dialogs". Brilliant Idea since I hate clicking on the damn things.
Yes, Dark Reader is the bomb!!
I don't really tend to look at my bookmarks toolbar tbh, as I only let it be visible on a new tab. Would still be interested n any management plugins for it though!
Ublock Origin is also a big one. If you want to support people with ad revenue, you can whitelist sites or disable it for a time. To me, it is productivity enhancing because you can avoid the embarrassment of people laughing at your screen because some weird ad like 'weight loss with banana plan' or 'hot singles in your area' comes up I have unfortunately been a victim of that, and determined to always install and enable Ublock if using a device in a public area ever since.
I also developed and still sometimes struggle with RSI, so I have to use a break timer to make sure I don't overwork myself haha :') I use Workrave (app, not for browser so maybe it's not suitable to mention here ^^;) since I'm used to it from my Windows days, and it also has some nice exercises to follow during the rest breaks. You have to be physically healthy in order to be productive anywhere after all don't learn it the hard way!
There's quite a few things I use with FireDragon, but here are some of my favorite add-ons:
Tabliss: A great addon that you can customize a ton for when you open a new tab. Can add links, weather, time, todos, etc.
NextPlease: navigate most websites that have multiple pages easily. Can even customize keybinds for it.
LibRedirect: Great for redirecting to more private sites for things like Youtube, Reddit, Imgur, web searches, etc. Much more bigger site list than other similar add-ons that I've tried, and you can edit the mirror lists.
HardRefresh: Adds "hard refresh" to the right click menu. Saves you from doing the typical Ctrl+F5 keybinding for it. There's also the Hard Refresh Button add-on if you prefer that instead of a context menu option.
Fixed Zoom: I like that you can save zoom percents per site with this.
If your RSI is computer related from mouse usage, then I would highly recommend buying a high quality wireless trackball. Good wireless trackballs from manufacturers such as Logitec are not cheap, but they can save you from painful RSI such as carpal tunnel syndrome. I suffered from these symptoms as long as 25 years ago until I switched to a wireless trackball. The trackball has freed me of all pain, as it can be used in any position you like such as reclining in a chair, on the couch, or even in bed. This also saves a lot of strain on your back and neck, as you are not restricted to being hunched over a desk in the same position continuously during computer usage.
Believe me, the money for a quality trackball is well worth it, as it can relieve the pain entirely (although it may take a while to go away).
PopUpOFF removes and prevents popups, overlays and cookie notifications. I use it all of the time as it can be really useful, but there are occasional sites which don't work properly with it running. It is easily disabled if this happens.
Simple Discard Tab discards tabs that are inactive for 3 minutes [this figure can be easily changed] to free up memory, while still preserving the tabs state when you click on them again.
Cache Longer modifies HTTP headers to make your browser cache things for longer, thus optimizing browsing speed.
Select links like a Boss selects link text just like regular text, just like the old Opera browser feature.
+1 for this extension, it really is so handy. It’s pretty good about automatically redirecting YouTube links to Piped or Invidious, even embedded players, although often it will let a Reddit page through. Right-click the link and tell it to redirect and it works every time:
This is a good heads-up Colin, they should rename the extension “I don’t care about spyware” since that is what Avast is most well-known for.
Am I the only weirdo around here who actually opens the cookie settings every time and sets it to the “mandatory only” option? Most sites it is now only one click, so it’s no great hardship.
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For those that use the Joplin notes app, the Joplin Web Clipper is an amazing browser extension that allows you to quickly grab content from a web page (text selection, a screenshot, the full web page, whatever) and dumps it into your Joplin app so you can come back to it later.
Joplin itself is really great, it is plenty featureful and has a lot of sync options (the self-hosted Nextcloud option works great), it has an Android client if you need one, plus the beta appimage is pre-built in the Chaotic-AUR.
The extension does occasionally make my browser crash after I close the selection window …but other than that it’s really useful.
Woah, thanks for the recommendation! Sorry to hear that you suffered for so long though - that's not something to wish upon even your worst enemy.
Originally I was investigating the mouse-style trackballs by Logitech but still wasn't 100% convinced since I thought it would just move the strain to the thumb, all while keeping the clicky left right middle buttons I'll take another look into the wireless ones (I assume they're the ones that look more like remotes right?) - I remember Kensington was a big player in that area.
About the plugins, these are great recommendations! I'll definitely give LibRedirect a shot
If you're talking about Productivity, where do you spend your time? 40% YouTube, 40% social media, 20% work.
What will make the biggest impact is Video Speed Controller. I watch all of my videos at 1.5x or 1.8x. Cannot watch them in 1.0x slow motion anymore. Except for movies, I still watch those at regular speed.
Only thing that would improve your productivity further is a YouTube/Social media blocker.
A lot of good guides and tutorials are still on Youtube. I have conflicting Love/Hate relationship with the platform.
Why Cant anyone Organize it so that it makes sense. One of the best (If not the best) tutorials and quality content creators are on Youtube.
Why cant there be a Pro /Study / Productivity / Useful version of youtube. It takes a 8year old to realize that the platform should be split into Categories not Top 10 funny stupid videos & Doing your nails & Software development mixed in one stream.
The thing is - Of course you have more indepth materials or similar on other platforms but in many cases the alternative materials are not better neither higher quality. I think there needs to be a competitive platform like Odyssey. https://odysee.com/ (Seems slightly less distracting than YT).
Yet this would not fix the core issue… which is unorganized pot of random videos. Thats the main issue with these platforms.
Well I think you are right. Channels with 1 to 2mil subscribers seem to run into "burnout" because I guess they are under stress to perform and feed the algorithm to make it worth while.
I have seen several videos from creators who'd rather change platform. Smarter ones turned to Patreon and similar years ago to finance their work.
Edit. Well we are free to chose the platform where we create & "consume" the info. It's a means to an end but it does not really matter which platform it is while it does the job.
uBlock Origin allows you to easily block social media if you require. The following guide is a bit old but it is still valid. It is a good guide to the functionality of UBO and how to use it.
I have bee going with the well known solutions myself :
DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
Privacy Badger <--- made by "The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world."
uBlock Origin <--- Adblocker
adGuard <--- I used it before uBlock. It did its job well.
Ghostery <--- I havent used it much since the interface and options are too much for me.. I am listing it since its likely a great tool.
I started using uBlock since its looks & feels light weight and straight to the point interface. Its interesting to know that it has a lot of capabilities. It seems they are quite similar.. The privacy addons seems to do the same thing.
I have been using DuckDuckGo search for ~3+ years. Main reason is that I actually like the presentation more. Only 1% of searches I might do in google do get more results. I really do not see any significant search results difference. DuckDuckGo is so good.. I like it.
I have unfortunately been a victim of that, and determined to always install and enable Ublock if using a device in a public area ever since.
don't learn it the hard way!
…but other than that it’s really useful. 
I'll take another look into the wireless ones (I assume they're the ones that look more like remotes right?) - I remember Kensington was a big player in that area.