Pat's Picks from /r/ForgottenWebsites @ November 25, 2015

• True Old Web

  We begin with a tour of good ol' early web kitsch...

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/

     Every page in this collection is from an archive of the ForgottenWebsites subreddit, as archived on 24 Nov 2015.

     Here is what the front page of /r/forgottenwebsites looked like on that day.

  2. http://toastytech.com/evil/

     http://toastytech.com/evil/

     Internet Explorer is EVIL!

  3. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/discover/1994/

     https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/discover/1994/

     There was a time when corporate websites were done right. And wow — "If your browser doesn't support images, we have a ++text++ menu as well." Thanks, Microsoft!

  4. http://stefangagne.com/spatulacity/

     http://stefangagne.com/spatulacity/

     A moment of silence for the "Officially -- get this -- NOT UNDER CONSTRUCTION" announcement.

  5. http://www.techtales.com/

     http://www.techtales.com/

     Oh the telephone ring.aif! Someone pick it up!

  6. http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/pindan/main.htm

     http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/pindan/main.htm

     "FLIP TILL YOU FLOPOVER 257 PINBALL MACHINES!"

  7. http://www.chaos.org.uk/~altman/mp3mobile/

     http://www.chaos.org.uk/~altman/mp3mobile/

     All they wanted was an MP3 player in their Mazda MX5...

  8. http://www.ufomind.com/area51/

     http://www.ufomind.com/area51/

     "Aliens on Earth.com — for Those Who Are Stranded Here."

  9. http://home.earthlink.net/~gsmithhart/

     http://home.earthlink.net/~gsmithhart/

     Bonus Old Web: Check out Greg's link to "Ghost Towns of the US and Canada".

  10. http://www.keyflux.com/lucastan/

      http://www.keyflux.com/lucastan/

      "Lucastan is a de-centralized dictatorial democracy where the Emperor rules with absolute authority, but everyone does what they want anyway."

  11. http://burlingtonks.com/

      http://burlingtonks.com/

      The color on that link roll. 🌈✨

  12. http://amasci.com/

      http://amasci.com/

      Amateur Science, Cool Science WeIRd ScIEnce, we got em all.

  13. http://www.parsonsclassof1964.com/

      http://www.parsonsclassof1964.com/

      What neural net birthed this glorious sight?

  14. http://peepresearch.org/

      http://peepresearch.org/

      Taken from the 1998 CNN article linked from this site—"ATLANTA (CNN) -- Inspired by a sugar rush after consuming several of the ubiquitous Easter confections known as Peeps, Emory University scientists James Zimring and Gary Falcon decided to try to find out just what it was they were eating."

  15. http://phobialist.com/

      http://phobialist.com/

      "Please don't ask me about curing phobias because I know little about them. My interest is in the names only."

  16. http://www.digitald.com/

      http://www.digitald.com/

      No Frames, No Glory.

  17. http://www.southampton-vikings.co.uk/brick.htm

      http://www.southampton-vikings.co.uk/brick.htm

      27 years and counting? Hm... 🤔

• Fan Pages

  This is a subcategory so glorious, it deserves a list of its own. Behold, the fansites...

  1. http://www.hulkhogan.co.uk/

     http://www.hulkhogan.co.uk/

  2. http://nothing.nin.net/

     http://nothing.nin.net/

     Honestly, this design is holding up to the test of time pretty well, imo. Also, wow, the photoshop-generated difference clouds!

  3. http://ilovejarjarbinks.tripod.com/

     http://ilovejarjarbinks.tripod.com/

     The soundtrack really adds to the browsing experience.

  4. http://home5.swipnet.se/~w-52838/gnfnrs1.html

     http://home5.swipnet.se/~w-52838/gnfnrs1.html

  5. http://www.jackiechan.com/

     http://www.jackiechan.com/

     Why does the officialy website of Jackie Chan look like a Microsoft Sharepoint intranet portal of some forlorn corporate hellhole?

  6. http://www.lost-world.com/ingen/

     http://www.lost-world.com/ingen/

     Not technically a fansite, since it was commissioned by Universal Studios to promote Jurassic Park, but this peek into the fictional intranet, InGen, of Jurassic Park really does weave a narrative as you poke around in it...

     The original warc only contained a few pages from this site, I have patched it Webrecorder's patching functionality so the whole "intranet" should be accessible.

  7. http://www.kolumbus.fi/jedi.akatemia/englanninkielinenpaasivu.htm

     http://www.kolumbus.fi/jedi.akatemia/englanninkielinenpaasivu.htm

     By Kars Skywalker!

  8. http://www.kryptonsite.com/loisclark/

     http://www.kryptonsite.com/loisclark/
• A New Old Web

  And then, there's the new old web, new(er) sites that speak the wild vernacular of the early web.

  1. http://www.lingscars.com/

     http://www.lingscars.com/

     Crazily enough, there is actually a real car leasing business behind this site.

  2. http://yvettesbridalformal.p1r8.net/

     http://yvettesbridalformal.p1r8.net/

     Sound effects on scroll — what we all we really need but do not deserve.

  3. http://cachemonet.com/

     http://cachemonet.com/

     Sound on for this one too please.

  4. http://www.404pagefound.com/

     http://www.404pagefound.com/

     An of course, even a directory of the outdated has no immunity against becoming itself outdated.

  5. http://www.wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/index.php

     http://www.wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/index.php

     And of course, a tool like this was destined to appear at some point...

• Personal Websites

  No forgotten web tour is complete without personal websites emblazoned with apologies for the lack of maintenance. It's almost impossible to highlight any one site in this category without feeling the guilt of excluding 100,000 others.

  But here's my top 3, from this /r/forgottenwebsites warc...

  1. http://pixyland.org/peterpan/

     http://pixyland.org/peterpan/

  2. http://www.emotioneric.com/

     http://www.emotioneric.com/

  3. http://deepcave.com/pages/3/index.htm

     http://deepcave.com/pages/3/index.htm
• Indie Animations

  This is a list of indie animation sites the used to be really popular. Consider a time sink warning officially issued.

  1. http://joecartoon.com/

     http://joecartoon.com/

  2. http://www.encyclopedia-obscura.com/

     http://www.encyclopedia-obscura.com/

  3. http://www.monkeymofo.com/

     http://www.monkeymofo.com/

  4. http://www.stickpage.com/

     http://www.stickpage.com/

  5. http://illwillpress.com/vault.html

     http://illwillpress.com/vault.html

  6. http://www.homestarrunner.com/

     http://www.homestarrunner.com/

  7. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/

     http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/
• Some Stay Forgotten

  At the end of the day... some websites are destined to remain as hazily-recalled memories.

  These websites, never again to be revisited via browser, can now only be accessed by way of a collective memory, living out their days ahead as folklore from an old web.

  1. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../nickelodeon_blabatorium_chat_room_anyone_remember/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/comments/1v5ysx/nickelodeon_blabatorium_chat_room_anyone_remember/

  2. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../does_anyone_remember_starterupstevecom/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/comments/1v5r6y/does_anyone_remember_starterupstevecom/

  3. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../breedster_does_anyone_else_remember_it/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/comments/2q5jug/breedster_does_anyone_else_remember_it/

  4. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../trying_to_remember_an_interactive_question_and

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/comments/3skj6d/trying_to_remember_an_interactive_question_and/...

  5. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../amanda_bynes_1_fan_forgot_about_her_website/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/duplicates/2npwgb/amanda_bynes_1_fan_forgot_about_her_website/

  6. /r/forgottenwebsites/.../ya_remember_a_few_weeks_ago_when_i_tried_to_find/

     https://www.reddit.com/r/forgottenwebsites/comments/2gyeej/ya_remember_a_few_weeks_ago_when_i_tried_to_find/

     Often, rediscovering one artifact only opens up more pursuits for half-forgotten relics of the yesterweb...