These Are the 10 Sites I Use When Amazon and eBay Don't Have What I Want (makeuseof.com)

 When it comes to finding unique items, Amazon and eBay simply won't have what you want. Sure, they have heaps of stuff from almost any walk of life, but sometimes, you need something even more specific.

So, if you can't find what you want on eBay or Amazon, check out these unique and niche shopping sites instead.

1 1. Etsy: Discover Handmade and Vintage Treasures from Global Artisans

Etsy is a haven for lovers of handmade crafts, vintage items, and artisanal goods. Founded in 2005, the platform allows small business owners from around the world to sell unique items that can't be found in mainstream stores. Whether you're looking for one-of-a-kind home decor or handmade jewelry, Etsy is the place to find it. Plus, Etsy's clean and easy-to-navigate interface makes shopping a breeze. Be sure to check out seasonal sales for additional discounts on unique finds.

2 2. Newegg: Your Go-To US Tech and Electronics Superstore

Newegg is a tech lover's paradise, specializing in electronics, computer hardware, and gaming gear. Whether building a custom PC or hunting for the latest gadgets, Newegg's vast inventory and competitive pricing make it a go-to site for technology enthusiasts, ensuring you can pick up your PC's most important parts at a competitive price. With detailed product descriptions and customer reviews, Newegg helps shoppers make informed decisions.

Newegg offers a student discount, so if you are a student, check it out!

3 3. Uncommon Goods: Shop Creative and Ethical Gifts That Inspire

If you're looking for thoughtful, creative, and ethically made gifts, Uncommon Goods is the site for you. Featuring a curated selection of handmade, recycled, and eco-friendly products, the site allows you to shop with a conscience. From personalized gifts to home decor, Uncommon Goods offers items that are sure to inspire and delight.

4 4. Sideshow Collectibles: Premium Collectibles for Pop Culture Fans

Sideshow Collectibles is a dream come true for pop culture and superhero fans. Specializing in premium-quality collectibles, the site offers action figures, statues, and memorabilia from beloved franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, and DC Comics. Each item is crafted with attention to detail, making it a must-visit platform for collectors and fans alike.

5 5. Poshmark: A Social Marketplace for Second-Hand Fashion in the US

Poshmark is a popular platform where users can buy and sell second-hand fashion, from everyday clothing to high-end designer pieces. The app allows shoppers to follow sellers, share listings, and even join virtual "Posh Parties" to discover curated collections. It's a great way to find unique fashion items while also being eco-conscious by supporting the resale market. As a note, this site does require an account to access its listings.

Use Poshmark's "Offer" feature to negotiate a better price on items you love.

6 6. Bookshop: Support Independent US Bookstores with Every Purchase

Bookshop is a socially conscious online bookstore that allows shoppers to support independent bookstores across the US with every purchase. The platform offers a vast selection of titles, from bestsellers to indie reads, and a portion of every sale goes directly to local bookstores. It's the perfect alternative for those who want to buy books online while helping small businesses thrive.

Get 5% off your order when you subscribe to the email newsletter.

7 7. Cratejoy: Discover the Best Subscription Boxes for Every Niche

Cratejoy is the ultimate marketplace for subscription box enthusiasts, offering curated boxes for every hobby and interest. Whether you're into fitness, crafts, beauty, or snacks, Cratejoy has a subscription box tailored to you. The platform also features one-time purchases, making discovering and trying out new products from small businesses easy. Be sure to check out the customer reviews of crates to help make sure the subscription box will meet your needs!

Many subscription boxes offer discounts on your first purchase, so take advantage of trial deals.

8 8. HobbyTown USA: A Leading US Retailer for Hobbies and Model Kits

HobbyTown USA caters to hobbyists of all kinds, offering everything from model kits and remote-controlled vehicles to train sets and puzzles. With both online and brick-and-mortar locations, HobbyTown USA is a one-stop shop for hobbyists looking to fuel their creative pursuits. They even offer DIY kits for all ages, making it a great destination for family-friendly fun. HobbyTown is a great place to find some of the best remote control cars out there!

9 9. Discogs: Discover Rare Vinyl Records and Music Memorabilia

Music lovers and vinyl collectors will appreciate Discogs, a platform dedicated to buying and selling rare and hard-to-find records. The site also features music memorabilia and compact discs (CDs), making it a great resource for building your collection. Discogs' massive database allows users to track their collections, buy from global sellers, and discover new music. This marketplace is a testament to why CDs are still worth buying!

10 10. Fat Brain Toys: Educational Toys and Games That Encourage Learning

Fat Brain Toys focuses on providing educational and fun toys for kids of all ages. With a commitment to learning through play, its selection of puzzles, games, and science kits encourages critical thinking and creativity. Whether you're shopping for a birthday gift or looking to enhance your child's learning experience, Fat Brain Toys offers something for every curious mind.

Sign up for the Fat Brain newsletter to receive exclusive deals and parenting tips on educational play.

These ten platforms offer unique alternatives to Amazon and eBay, covering everything from tech gadgets to rare collectibles and educational toys. Whether you're looking to support small businesses, find something truly unique, or fuel a new hobby, these sites are your new go-to shopping destinations.

Before making your purchase, be sure to check for first-time buyer discounts or third-party coupon codes to make the most of your online shopping experience. Happy shopping!

Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/best-unique-alternatives-to-amazon-ebay/

4 ad blockers that still work with Chrome

The popular uBlock Origin will stop working in Chrome soon, but there are options that will keep going under the new standards.

Google is changing how Chrome extensions work on the desktop and Chromebooks. While the Manifest V3 changes are billed as ways to improve safety and efficiency, the way they also limit how adblocking extensions like uBlock Origin currently work has drawn a lot of criticism. 

I’m sure the fact that Google is the world’s biggest advertising company has nothing to do with it. 

Personally I’d recommend changing browsers. Chrome has been getting under my skin lately, so that’s exactly what I did, and there are plenty of alternatives that will remain compatible with current Chromium extensions for longer than Chrome itself.

But if you want to stick with Chrome (or you’re using a Chromebook and you don’t really have a choice), here are four alternatives that have already been upgraded to the new standard. They’re losing some capabilities due to Google’s more restrictive implementation, but they should still block the majority of advertising on the web.   

AdBlock Plus

AdBlock Plus

AdBlock Plus is probably the most popular ad-blocking extension for Chrome, if only because it’s the first one that pops up when you search for blockers on the Chrome Web Store extension repository. It’s been going for over 20 years, and has one of the best setups for comprehensively blocking advertising across the web. 

The extension has all the basics covered, including an allowlist that lets certain websites display ads by default, the ability to subscribe to public lists of blocked domains, and blocking advertising cookies and other background trackers. AdBlock Plus has already been updated to be compliant with Manifest V3, so it’s good to go. 

AdGuard 

AdGuard

AdGuard is the blocker I use in my browser, because it’s easy to set up a “reverse allowlist.” This lets me toggle ad blocking on only for websites that are particularly sketchy (or annoying). It’s particularly effective on YouTube, as I’ve explained before. 

AdGuard will flat-out refuse to connect to websites known to be malicious for phishing attacks or spreading malware, and it’s good at collapsing the elements of the page that normally display ads, making formatting much less cluttered. AdGuard’s Manifest V3 version is currently in beta testing, and should be transitioning into the primary extension long before the time it becomes mandatory. 

Ghostery 

Ghostery

Ghostery is a blocker and service that’s all about blocking tracking and providing privacy. Unfortunately, the developers say that Manifest V3 will make that a lot harder, as it seems designed to benefit Google as an advertiser far more than Chrome users. 

All that being said, Ghostery version 10 is compliant with V3. But the company maintains that Firefox, the only major independent browser not based on Chromium, is a better alternative if you want to make maximum use of its privacy-preserving features.

uBlock Origin Lite 

uBlock Origin/Raymond Hill

The three ad-blocking products above — all of which offer a commercial upgrade — are complying with Google’s Manifest V3 ultimatum, because they have to. But uBlock Origin is a product with a single developer, who doesn’t sell an upgrade. A lot of people switched over after AdBlock Plus started “selling” access through its Acceptable Ads program. 

But developer Raymond Hill has made something of a protest against the more restrictive Manifest V3. Instead of updating the original uBlock Origin to be compliant, he’s created a second version, uBlock Origin Lite. It will maintain most of the original’s functionality, but may be less effective due to V3’s lack of access to the network layer. 

Other options 

If you want to stick to Chrome and still block ads, there are other options. Most ad blockers also have a separate program implementation, an app that runs outside the browser and blocks ads on all applications that access the internet. AdGuard offers this on Windows, and there are plenty of choices on mobile.

You can also block advertising at a more fundamental level by using a VPN, which will filter all the traffic coming into your PC. You could even extend this to every device in your house with a VPN running on your web router itself, or routing traffic through a DNS server. If you do this at the router level with something like a Pi-hole, it will have the bonus effect of blocking ads on other devices, like your smart TV. 

It’s possible to block ads on a network level, though it comes with fewer customization options.

Aquarius Studio/Shutterstock.com

VPN and DNS-based blocking and blocking tends to be much broader, and since it’s accomplished by routing your traffic through a remote server, it’s harder to filter what gets in and what doesn’t. OS-based blockers run into a similar problem, because they block based on domains rather than page elements. So websites that route advertising traffic through their own services, like Facebook, Amazon and (eventually) YouTube, may be able to serve up ads unimpeded.

Realistically, there’s no way to avoid advertising in every part of your digital life. And it’s not as if I can claim to be impartial here — most of the money that pays my salary at PCWorld comes from either advertising or affiliate revenue, and the same is true for almost all sites that cover technology news and reviews. But these tools should go a long way towards making the web easier and safer for you to navigate.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2429437/four-ad-blockers-that-still-work-with-chrome.html

How To Use Gemini AI with Google Workspace - Gmail AI, Docs AI, Sheets AI...

 

Google is killing uBlock Origin in Chrome, but this trick lets you keep it for another year

 BY Martin Brinkmann, Aug 15, 2024

Google is switching the ruleset for extensions in Chrome soon. The updated version is controversial, as it will end several popular extensions for Chrome, including the world's most popular ad-blocker uBlock Origin.

Note: these changes will also impact other Chromium-based browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Opera, or Vivaldi. Brave is special, as the developers announced that they will continue to support uBlock Origin and several other extensions (but not all).

The ad-blocker will stop working in Chrome and most Chromium-based browsers once Google launches the change. Any other extension that has not been updated, or cannot be updated because of the changes, will also be disabled by Google.

There is a way to keep on using the classic extensions for longer. While Google turns off support for home users immediately, it is giving Enterprise customers an option to extend support by one year. Good news is that you can also utilize this to extend support.

How to extend uBlock Origin support in Chrome by one year

The policy in question is called ExtensionManifestV2Availability. It defines support for classic extensions in Chrome.

The policy has the following values:

• 0 - Default behavior, determined by Google Chrome and Google.
• 1 - Manifest V2 is deactivated. This means that uBlock Origin won't work anymore.
• 2 - Manifest V2 is enabled. This extends support by a year.
• 3 - Manifest V2 is enabled for forced extensions only. This limits the extensions to addons specified by an administrator.

Windows users can set it in the following way:

1. Activate the Start button.
2. Type regedit.exe.
3. Load the Registry Editor.
4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome.
   1. Note: some of the keys may not exist. In this case, right-click on the previous key, e.g. SOFTWARE and select New > Key. Name it accordingly to create the path.
5. Right-click on Chrome and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
6. Name it ExtensionManifestV2Availability.
7. Double-click on the new Dword and set its value to 2.
8. Restart the PC.

This enables the Enterprise policy on the system. Chrome will not disable the old system for extensions this year, because of it.

Tip: you can load Chrome://policy to verify that the extension is set correctly.

Linux and Mac users may want to check this Chrome support document for instructions on setting policies on their devices.

Which extensions are affected?

It takes a few seconds to find out. Google has started to display incompatible extensions on Chrome's extensions page.

You load chrome://extensions/ and check "These extensions may soon no longer be supported" at the top.

Tip: if you do not see this yet, load chrome://flags/#extension-manifest-v2-deprecation-warning and set the value to Enabled. Restart Chrome, and you will see the warning at the top of the page.

What happens to extensions once the change lands in Chrome?

Google Chrome will disable extensions like uBlock Origin once the change lands. The extensions are not uninstalled, at least not immediately. The screenshot above shows the disabled uBlock Origin extension. The toggle to enable it is inactive, which means that you cannot enable it anymore in the browser. The only options provided are to view the details and to remove it.

Most users of uBlock Origin may notice quickly that the extension is disabled. Websites and services will start to show advertisement again.

Source: https://www.ghacks.net/2024/08/15/google-is-killing-ublock-origin-in-chrome-but-this-trick-lets-you-keep-it-for-another-year/

Chrome Is Top Dog, but Firefox Is Still My Favorite Browser

 Google Chrome is undoubtedly the most used browser. Statistics suggest it makes up more than 65% of the worldwide browser market share. However, there are a few important areas where Chrome falls short, which is why I prefer using Mozilla Firefox, which covers just over 2% of the browser market share.

1Built-in Screenshot Tool

If you’re like me and always need to take screenshots, Firefox comes with a built-in screenshot tool that’s really helpful. While you can download a dedicated screenshot tool, it will just take up extra space on your system. Instead, you can use Firefox, which lets you take screenshots in addition to browsing the internet.

To use the Firefox screenshot tool, you can either press the Ctrl+Shift+Escape shortcut or right-click anywhere blank on the webpage and choose the “Take screenshot” option.

The screenshot tool will appear, giving you three options for taking a screenshot. First, you can manually select the area you want to capture. Second, you can click “Save Visible” to take a screenshot of the entire visible screen. Lastly, you can click “Save Full Page” to take a long, vertical screenshot of the whole webpage.

2Private Browsing

Mozilla Firefox offers a private browsing feature that you can use to browse the internet anonymously without anyone seeing what you’re actually looking at. You might wonder how Chrome’s Incognito mode compares, since it seems to do the same thing. It’s true that Chrome Incognito mode has a similar function to Firefox Private browsing. However, a lawsuit was filed against Google in 2020, alleging that the company monitored users’ browsing even in Incognito mode.

The way Google tracked browsing in Incognito mode deserves a whole article, but the bottom line is that Google was found guilty and ordered to delete billions of Incognito browsing history records.

Given that history, I prefer to use Firefox’s Private browsing feature whenever I need to browse something I don’t want to be tracked.

3Stop Videos From Playing Automatically

There are a lot of websites that insert ads on their web pages in the form of videos. The worst thing is that whenever you land on a webpage that contains that video, it starts playing automatically.

In Google Chrome, you don't have any option other than to download a dedicated extension to stop the autoplay of these videos. On the other hand, Firefox provides you with an option in its settings to stop these videos from playing automatically.

To stop videos from playing automatically on Mozilla Firefox, open the Firefox settings menu, choose "Privacy & Security" from the left sidebar, and click "Settings" next to Autoplay.

Click the drop-down icon next to the "Default for All Websites" option and select "Block Audio and Video." Then, click "Save Changes." Now, the videos will not play automatically, and you will have to click on them if you want them to play.

4Firefox Blocks Third-party Cookies By Default

There had been news circulating for a long time that Google might block third-party cookies in Chrome. However, these turned out to be just that—rumors. Google released a blog post stating that they are not going to block third-party cookies.

It’s important for a browser to block third-party cookies because these cookies track your online activity so that companies can show you ads based on your preferences. You've probably noticed this in action when you search for a product on Chrome and then start seeing ads related to it on a completely different platform, like YouTube. These cookies can sometimes collect confidential data that you might not want them to, posing a threat to your privacy.

Unfortunately, Chrome doesn't block third-party cookies by default, but Firefox does. This means you can browse anything on Firefox without worrying about a random company spying on your browsing through cookies.

5More Privacy Features

In addition to blocking third-party cookies, Mozilla Firefox offers several other privacy-related features that make it the go-to browser for privacy-conscious users. First, Firefox has a built-in Phishing and Malware Protection feature. This setting checks each website you visit against a list of reported malicious sites to ensure the website is safe.

Firefox has enabled DNS over HTTPS by default and uses Cloudflare as the provider. This means all your DNS queries are encrypted, making it extremely difficult for anyone to snoop on your web traffic as it leaves your computer.

In addition to all these features, Firefox collects very little data compared to other browsers, and even the data it does collect is automatically deleted after 13 months.

6Consumes Less Resources

One of the main things you need to be aware of with Chrome is that it uses a lot of system resources. While you might not even notice it on a high-end device, you could have a really bad time using Chrome on a low-end one. Things can get even worse for your system if Chrome is set to start up when your computer boots, as it will dramatically increase your boot time.

If you notice Firefox is using up a lot of your computer's resources, you can use its built-in task manager to find the tab using the most resources and close it if you don't need it anymore. To do this, click the hamburger icon in the top-right corner, then select "More Tools" and choose "Task Manager."

In the Firefox Task Manager window, click the cross icon next to the tab you want to close.

---

Firefox is great, and the above are some of the main reasons for using it over Chrome. However, nothing in this world is perfect. There is definitely room for improvement in Firefox as well. For instance, Firefox has yet to introduce a built-in AI feature. However, there is a very real possibility that the team is already working on it, and that they will introduce this and many more interesting features in the browser in the coming days.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/chrome-is-top-dog-but-firefox-is-the-best-browser/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=HTG-202408101500&utm_source=HTG-NL&user=amltLm5hZ3kyQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ&lctg=02f46df6687a5c6b6c6a51453f460af32dc1bbe4d7321e3d7b193ec97761583e