Old Man Reviews the World

I dug into these four: BitChute, D.Live, D.Tube, and Odysee (the LBRY crew)—plus a bit of online buzz and what folks are chatterin' about on X. I kept it real: no fancy spreadsheets, just honest takes from an old guy who's watched enough cat videos to know a good upload spot when he sees one. Let's dive in, have a laugh, and see which ones might be worth your time (and hard drive space).

BitChute: The Scrappy Free-Speech Scruff

Picture this: YouTube but it grew up in the garage, learned to share files like a BitTorrent pro, and decided rules were for suckers. BitChute runs on peer-to-peer WebTorrent tech, so videos get spread across users' computers instead of one big central server. That means it's tough for anyone (govs, corps, whoever) to yank 'em down. Launched back in 2017, it's built its rep on "no censorship, period"—perfect if your content's a little spicy or just doesn't play nice with mainstream policies.

Pros? Uploads are dead simple, donations flow straight to creators (PayPal, crypto, whatever), and it's ad-light or ad-free depending on the day. Videos load via the network, so bandwidth costs stay low. Online reviews call it a haven for "unfiltered perspectives," and yeah, it skews toward the controversial side—think stuff you'd never see on YouTube without a strike.

Cons? The interface looks like it hasn't had a makeover since flip phones. Video quality can cap out around 480p in spots, load times get wonky if peers aren't seedin' strong, and some folks on X gripe it's "a mess" or too political.

One recent post summed it up: "BitChute is a mess" while another recommended it alongside Odysee as the real deal for ditching YouTube's "twats." @HeadZonkStudios

It's not gonna win beauty contests, but if you're tired of feelin' policed, it's got that rebel charm.

BitChute's like that uncle who shows up to Thanksgiving with no filter and a six-pack. You might not agree with everything, but damn if it ain't refreshin'.

D.Live: The Live-Stream Crypto Party Bus

If you're more into livestreamin' than polished pre-recorded vids, D.Live's your blockchain-powered hangout. It's built for real-time stuff—gamers, chatty creators, crypto talks—using decentralized tech (roots in LINO/TRON blockchains) so viewers and streamers both earn tokens just for showin' up and participatin'. No heavy ad overload; instead, it's all about rewards, tips, and keepin' more cash in creators' pockets.

Pros: Super community vibe, low platform fees, and that "your stream, your rules" energy. It's got merch stores and incentive programs that feel fresh. Online chatter positions it as a Twitch alternative for folks banned elsewhere or wantin' crypto upside.

Cons? It's niche as heck—mostly live, not great for evergreen uploads—and reviews are sparse or mixed (one Trustpilot sit-down at 2.1/5). X users call it "dead" or "nothing but politics" in some threads, and it hasn't blown up like the big boys.

@RisingPhoenixTV If your thing's pre-recorded tutorials or vlogs, this might feel like showin' up to a karaoke night when you just wanted to watch a movie.

D.Live's like invitin' the neighborhood to a blockchain BBQ—fun rewards for everyone, but you gotta show up live or miss the tokens.

D.Tube: The Comeback Kid That Went a Little Mainstream

D.Tube started as the ultimate decentralized dream: Steem/Avalon blockchain + IPFS storage, zero fees, crypto rewards for uploads and views. It was YouTube but with actual ownership—no central overlords. Then December 2025 hit, and they relaunched as a slicker, ad-supported platform with just a lightweight WebTorrent P2P layer for delivery. Dropped the full blockchain rewards and crypto wallet stuff for a more "normal" experience.

Pros: Modern dark-themed UI that's actually pleasant (multi-language too), easy discovery, and that P2P backbone still keeps it somewhat censorship-resistant and cheap to run. No more fiddlin' with tokens if you don't wanna.

Cons: Feels less "decentralized" now—more like a polished indie YouTube clone. Older reviews loved the crypto upside; new ones note it's easier but lost some rebel edge. Not much fresh X buzz specific to it, but it pops in "Web3 alternatives" lists as solid for creators wantin' simplicity without the full blockchain headache.

My take: It's the guy who tried the hippie commune life, then got a real job but kept the beard. Still cooler than straight YouTube, just not as wild as it once was.

Odysee (LBRY): The Smooth Operator with Staying Power

This one's my personal porch favorite. Built on the LBRY blockchain, Odysee stores content decentralized-style so it's damn near permanent—no "oops, your channel's gone" surprises. Creators earn LBC crypto for views/tips (plus newer options like memberships and direct support), no forced ads, and the whole thing screams "we're here for creators and viewers, not billionaires." UI's clean, app's solid on mobile, and they've even teased embeddin' YouTube videos inside Odysee (keepin' earnings with creators).

Pros: True ownership (your channel's basically a crypto wallet), strong free-speech rep, and it's survivin' SEC drama and company changes like a champ. X posts from the Odysee team highlight integrity—"only Odysee and BitChute have it"—and users recommend it for hatin' what YouTube's become.

Cons: Smaller audience means slower growth (one X creator noted alternate platforms "crater" compared to YouTube), and crypto stuff can feel fiddly if you're not into it. Still, it's evolvin' with new monetization that's less token-heavy.

Odysee's like the reliable neighbor who built his own shed instead of buyin' from the big-box store—solid, independent, and it'll still be standin' when the corporate ones get torn down.

The Bigger Picture Chatter

Hoppin' around online reviews and X, the vibe's consistent: These spots shine when YouTube feels too corporate or censored, but they all struggle with "where's the audience?"

BitChute and Odysee get the most love for integrity and free speech; D.Live's live-only crypto niche; D.Tube's the easiest on-ramp post-relaunch. Broader decentralized talk mentions stuff like PeerTube (federated instances you can even self-host) as super-open-source cousins, or Theta/Livepeer for the tech nerds wantin' even more blockchain video compute. But your list nails the practical ones for everyday creators.

X threads show folks multi-postin' to these plus Rumble or X itself, but complaints about discovery and "Big Tech still wins" pop up a lot. Still, the excitement's there—Odysee's YT-embed news got solid likes, and plenty say "goodbye YouTube" while cross-postin' to BitChute/Odysee.

Old Man Rankings (Out of 5 Porch Chairs)

I ranked 'em based on ease, decentralization chops, creator love, and "would I actually use this?" fun factor. Purely my two cents after pokin' around:

Odysee (4.5/5) – Best all-rounder. Clean, resilient, and actually feels like the future without makin' you learn crypto 101. If I had fresh grandkid videos to share, this is where they'd live.

BitChute (4/5) – Free-speech champ for the unfiltered crowd. A bit rough around the edges, but tough as nails.

D.Tube (3.5/5) – Easiest to jump into now, modern feel, but lost a bit of that wild decentralized soul in the relaunch.

D.Live (3/5) – Great if live streams are your jam and you dig rewards, but too niche and quiet for most uploaders.

Bottom line, friends?

Decentralized YouTubes ain't perfect yet—they're smaller ponds with bigger fish sometimes—but they're proof you don't gotta feed the Google machine if you don't want to. Upload a test vid, see how it feels. Me? I'm rootin' for 'em all to keep the web weird and free. What about you—got a favorite, or somethin' I missed? Drop it in the comments (or better yet, on one of these platforms).

Stay curious out there!

A long time ago, I tried studying for a doctorate, but I was the first candidate of that new program and I was a guinea pig. They imposed crazy requirements. I didn't graduate. I finally got burned out in my thesis, after finishing all the coursework. Chapters 1-3 were approved. Chapters 4-5 were where I crashed and burned... Qualitative research isn't easy. (I'll write about it some day.)

Next, I guess I tried Logseq ... it did not work for me. It was too heavy for my old and aging laptop. But it had a lot of rave reviews.

Finally, I had also tried Anytype, a long time before. There was a recovery phrase. I was surprised by that. I didn't think that I would need one. It was a bit heavy for my old laptop as well. Took a while for the loading time.

Having tried all of it, I still stuck with Obsidian. It starts up quickly. That's a major concern for me, when I'm stuck with an old laptop. And it's not heavy on the resources. But the winning part of the app is the plugin ecosystem. It's great because of all the plugins.

My favourite plugins from Obsidian are: Excalidraw (SVG drawings); and tables. (Sortable tables, etc.)

Today I also came across Anytype's community website. One of the interesting discussions involves how people want to organize their notes.

Some of the useful ideas include P.A.R.A. This means, organizing it under Projects, Area/Context, Resource Pro, Resource Personal, and Archives.

Even though it's for a different app, I think ideas can be shared freely.

Someone else used an "indexing" method, i.e. mapping content. Here was his method:

The first way is links where we make a MOC (map of content) or index as some call them. This is just a page with links like a book index without the page numbers. An index can be simple or beautiful, build however you like. THe most simple and most popular is an outline index. For example:

Personal (header)

Health

Sport

Hobby

Finance (header)

Bank

Shady profits

Crypto

Work (header)

Important documents

Tasks

Boring stuff

Below each heading are links that take you to other MOC/index pages of the important topics in your life or notes. The cool thing is that if you add an index page to the sidebar, you kinda get the tree-like structure. These links could also be sets which brings my to the second way of organising via SETS.

Sets are a query based on a relation or type where Anytype pulls all the notes out of that big black void to organise them in a set view of your choice (list, table, kanban or grid). You can then filter and order them as you please.

The cool thing about sets is that ones they are set up, they add any new note that meets the requirements of that set. For example, you made a set based on the Movie type. Now it shows all Movie notes. If you add a new note with the type Movie it instantly shows up in this set.

Something I would advice is to make a set based on a relation that all notes have by default, for example creation date. Then make a list view and sort it by date opened or date last edit, this way you have a place to find all your notes, specially those you used recently. It’s an easy way to find notes you created on accident as well.

There are lots of useful things to be learned. Anyway, I also figured out something, that I would like to use Dokuwiki to share my personal knowledge base from now on. Dokuwiki is an ideal Wiki system because it is lightweight (always an important criterion).

It is also flat file and you can just copy out the TXT data files, and port them over to another installation of Dokuwiki.

Here is a quote from his website (2014, now unavailable):

How it works Hawk describes four types of cards in his system:

The Record Card. 📝 He describes it as “a diary, note, account, health, weather, cook, any kind of records about us belongs to this class.” I’d say this is the incoming “stuff” of the day: appointments, notes to follow up on, etc.

The Discover Card. 🔍 Hawk describes the Discover Card as “Things from my brain, mind, spirit, anything emerge from inside me, are classified into this class.” This is the result of a mind dump. Don’t worry about classifying when filling out a Discover Card. Just get whatever is on your mind out and onto paper.

The GTD Card. 📆 Here he combines the title of a project and several actions that pertain to it (here’s a look at the template in English). This reminds me of the “Hipstper PDA Template” I used religiously about 10 years ago.

The Cite Card 💡 captures other people’s ideas that warrant attention. He says, “Important here is distinguishing ‘your idea (Discovery Card)’ and ‘someone else’s idea (Cite Card).’ Source of the information must be included in the Cite Card. A book, for example, author, year, page(s) are recorded for later use.”

ISOTOPE by MetaFizzy

While checking out websites that were using WPDataTables, I came across City Colleges of Chicago website. They were using this for their course search page. You can have build filters to easily identify the relevant data from the non-relevant.

DataTables.net

This tool is free to use, and converts HTML Tables to searchable ones. However, the HTML table must have the tags, <thead> and <tbody>. The <table> must also be identified as having an "id", and a class of "display". I think this has a lot of potential, but you need to convert data to HTML format. That would mean CSV to HTML, and ensuring that the HTML has the proper tagging.

GRID.JS

This is a really nice Javascript library that I'd like to use, if I could. It's free and open source. I think there are some premium tutorials written by an Indian guy, on how to incorporate it into a Wordpress site. The data should be in JSON format. It would load faster then JQuery DataTables. I think I like this a lot.

Tabulator

An open source project with many plugins, it seems that it's great for use in a Wordpress site. But I'm not sure how many rows it can handle.

FooTable

A useful Javascript table framework built for Bootstrap. It's not the only one, but it was a good effort. My concern for this is how to input the data and how many rows it can handle.

Bootstrap Table

This is the other one that was built with Bootstrap in mind. Now that Elon Musk has taken over Twitter, I'm not sure about the future of Twitter Bootstrap. But it's a good project that has given a lot of help to web developers. I hope that Bootstrap survives Elon's reign.

Datasette

Not sure if Datasette is a Javascript framework that I could use easily, but it powers certain high profile websites, like the LAION database website. That is the data set that powers Stable Diffusion, so it's a pretty big deal. Might be the most complex, yet high impact, tool of the lot.

Conclusion

Retable - a cheaper version of Airtable

Airtable - if you can afford it, it's pretty versatile

NocoDB - Airtable alternative with free tier; can be self-hosted

Baserow - can be self hosted; Airtable alternative; has a free tier

Grist - can be self hosted; has a free tier

Rows.com - has a free tier

SeaTable - has a free tier; can be self-hosted

Rowy.io - has a free tier, can be self-hosted