disclaimer: i'm in no way an expert at cybersecurity, and this is just a (non-exhaustive) list of the knowledge i've accumulated over the years. i really dislike the direction the internet is going, and i want like-minded people to know how to make it more tolerable for themselves.

Basics

• uBlock Origin: best adblocker ever
  • Avoid uBlock (without the "Origin"). It used to be uBlock Origin, but it was acquired by a shady company (the people behind the "AdBlock" extension)
• If you're not using Firefox or any Gecko-derivative browser, change browsers right now!! It's the only browser that the original uBlock Origin is available on anymore
  • If you're the average user who isn't too tech-savvy, Firefox is a good choice. I recommend tweaking some of the privacy settings before you use it.
  • If you're also willing to spend more time setting things up, then try tweaking vanilla Firefox with Betterfox
  • Firefox on Android can run extensions too, so switch to FF there too and installing uBlock Origin if you haven't already
  • Librewolf is an good alternative for more privacy-conscious users who want their browser to be configured out of the box
  • I'm a Floorp user myself, I mainly use it for easy customization and power user-y things

Search Engines

• uBlacklist: uBlock Origin, but for search engines
  • Super SEO Spam Suppressor
  • AI Blocklist (also works with uBlock Origin)
• Google
  • Write "before:2022" after your query to filter out AI-generated imagery and sites
  • Refer to Ten Blue Links for setting Google without AI Overview as your default search engine
• DuckDuckGo "AI Features" settings
  • Duck.ai: Off
  • Search Assist: Never
  • Hide AI-Generated Images: On (this doesn't always work though, so I recommend using the AI Blocklist to supplement it)

Finding Media

• For YouTube users: turn off your watch history, use your subscriptions tab, avoid Shorts, and deliberately search for the kind of videos that you'd want to see.
  • You can either use the Unhook extension or custom uBlock Origin filters to hide distractions on your browser of choice.
  • If you use Android, then I also recommend getting ReVanced Manager, patching YouTube, and immediately going to the settings to hide the Home and Shorts buttons + set the default page as Subscriptions. The alternative is using uBlock Origin filters on Firefox.
• Human-curated lists are your friends, and these platforms have plenty of them
  • Rate Your Music
  • Letterboxd