Cool Websites

I stumbled across a blog article a while ago that I wanted to share with my work about Fuck Off Contact pages. While I liked the low-res look and feel of the post, I did not realize that the entire site is amazing.

It's got that retro charm for people who grew up with ANSI terminals and low-res web experiences, (think 16 colour 640x480 pixels on a CRT). I saved up for a card that was capable of 256 colours to get a better web experience. ANYWAY, the site loads fast, looks great and really shows what you can do with a little know how. I'd love to emulate that for my personal site. I'm still learning though and have a focus/time issue that I'm still working through.

This is the web I want to get back to and I'm not the only one. I'll have some other links to share about that soon, I want to finish reading them myself first.

There's a Youtube video that discusses the purpose of this website here. Well, not really as I started this last year and only watched the video today. Actually,

Here's the embed:

Turns out there's a geocities clone called neocities. This is great, fantastic even. I would rather go here than Reddit, (though I really digg that digg.com is back! Seriously, check this shit out. Make a website, get off the platforms! Reach out to me and I'll help you get set up. I love this kind of technology and this is what started my love of networking. All the cool things.

Once again, I regret not saving previous versions of my websites. I would love to have that little time capsule. I didn't see my GeoCities account on archive.org and I'm not entirely sure of the address anyway.

This video also informed me of a neat project, a web server powered by solar energy that seems right up my alley. It's tech, sustainable, and DIY all in one site.

This is a cool website. Do you recall seeing the 1995 classic movie Hackers? This website mimics the UI that our hackers used to hack the Gibson.

All kinds of awesome.

I found this via HackerNews or Kottke. At least I thought that I did. I can't find the source. Regardless in the last few days I saw this and bookmerked it. It hasn't changed. This is the first page on the Internet. Ever. It's being served via HTTPS, which I expect was a change. However, this was not the way HTML was originally displayed in 1989. This is a closer experience.

Absolutely brilliant. Reminds me of Telnet sites. I miss the old ways sometimes. It could be that I'm level 50 now, and this might be the age where I reminiss about the good old days with really rosy glasses. I am also reminded of BBS' and the cool ANSI/ASCII art scene that propagated through them.

Oh Kottke. How I missed you when you were on hiatius a while back. In November Jason posted this link. The link goes to a fantastic article at Talking Points Memo.

Go on, read it. It's insightful. Private Equity Firms are buying up all sorts of businesses and enshittifying them. It's not just new outlets. Funeral parlours, local malls, small businesses. Even fucking dentists are not safe. It's crazy to think that your dentist could be shut down because it missed it's numbers or as this article described, it's more profitable to shutter it. Where does that leave everyone who needs braces, dentures, or a tooth extracted? My brain immediately went to Johnny Silverhand and his disdain for "Corpos". Science Fiction could have been a warning, not a roadmap.

Regardless, it is what it is. I don't have a solution, I'm screaming into the void. Maybe more local support is needed. Let's get off Social Media and into Real Life™. I know it's going to be painful. I know it is going to suck. I've lived with the breakup from Social Media. I still access it, it's only a little bit more inconvenient now to find out what's going on, and a lot more convenient to get off when you don't have an account.

Here are some links I came across today that I found interesting in my RSS Feeds:

• Time to start de-Appling. Beth and I are going through how to best de-couple ourselves from the mega-corps. This article affects me more than it does her, though it matters more to people whom live in the E.U.
• The Joy and Pain of Learning New Things as an Older Human. Kotke posted this on his blog in June. It;s been sitting in my tabs waiting to be shared, here you go.
• Why Doctors Hate Their Computers. Another (even older) article that I came across recently. I like it becuase it aligns with my views about technology getting in the way of getting things done. This one is from the New Yorker and may be paywalled. I don't have a subscription.
• You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why. Kotke strikes again. I haven't watched this video yet though I aim to. As soon as I put down the phone.
• Just a Little Longer. Another summer discovery. This is a post about the Chapter. I found it interesting to read and wanted to share with anyone who's reading along with me.
• Greatest irony of the AI age: Humans being increasingly hired to clean AI slop I am amused by this story and I recall seeing Cory Doctorow a few weeks ago talkign about the AI bubble. I'd like it to come sooner rather than later.
• I Am An AI Hater. I agree with Moser here. I highly recommend that everyone read this story.

Most of these links come from Hacker News and other blogs that I follow (like Kotke).