Fun Links!
I found these links interesting and/or fun and I hope you do, too! If you find a dead link, please let me know. There are 11 sections: Art, Audio, Humor, Interactive, Digital Museums, Old Web and Retro, Play, Practical, Science, Travel and Miscellaneous. Enjoy!
Art
- Silk - Interactive, Generative Art - draw beautiful, symmetrical patterns.
- Zoom Quilt - Infinitely zooming image of patched together fantasy images. Use your up and down arrow keys to control your journey.
- How to make a T. rex origami dinosaur - Courtesy of the Natural History Museum in London, here are instructions to create an origami T. Rex. You can use either plain paper you decorate yourself or they provide PDFs of patterned paper you can use instead. RAWR!
- 8-Bit Video Game Dress - I found this while looking for something themed to wear to an arcade/pinball convention. I never got around to making it but this is such a cool idea!
- Free Coloring Pages from Museums - this is such a cool idea. Starting in 2016, libraries and museums have created free adult coloring books and coloring pages for download. You can search by museum and also by year, as the previous years offerings are kept available for download.
- How to Crochet a Cat Hat - no, not a hat with cat ears. This is a hat for your cat, with spaces for their little ears to poke out. I can crochet a chain - that's as far as I've gotten with that particular skill. If you crochet a hat for your cat, please send me a picture!
- National Parks Crochet Patterns - yes, you read that correctly. The United States National Park Service has created 4 crochet patterns! They have: a halibut; a walleye; my personal favorite, a triops and a Lava Flow Crochet Pillow.
Audio
- Chicken on a Raft - it's a chicken ... on a raft ... sea shanty style.
- Pool Suite - Another one I'm not sure how to describe, other than fun! Click buttons, play different tunes. I thought this website might have been all in jest but apparently it was created by someone who lives in a dreary place and needed a virtual getaway. All About PoolSuite FM. If you're an iPhone user, you can even get this as a retro styled app.
- Museum of Endangered Sounds - 33 samples of sounds from the technological past. The creator made this site "as a way to preserve the sounds made famous by my favorite old technologies and electronics equipment." That rotary phone dial was a blast from the past - remember having to dial a number with a lot of 0s or 9s, messing up and having to start all over?
- Nightwave Plaza - Windows 95 themed website with vaporwave tunes. You can select from a bunch of different appearance settings - I've clicked through 40 of them and haven't reached the end yet. Just like Pool Suite, there are mobile apps available.
- tree.fm - Listen to forests around the world. People have recorded a few minutes of sound from their local forests. This is such a relaxing site!
- radio.garden - listen to radio stations from around the world!
- Dial Up Modem Handshake Sound - Spectrogram - Be sure to look at the pinned comment. Someone has gone through the video and annotated with time stamps what each sound means. Pretty cool!
- Obsolete Sounds - this site bills itself as "the world's biggest collection of disappearing sounds and sounds that have become extinct." But it's not just a collection of sounds - you can listen to the original and then a version that has been remixed by artists as a way to "reflect on how the sounds of our world are changing and being lost every day."
Humor
- Dogs in Elk - I first read this a million years ago and thought both A) this is funny as hell and B) I am so very glad I don't own dogs. At least not these dogs. This is a message thread from 1999 regarding one woman's effort to get her dogs out of an elk carcass. I know, it sounds gross but give it a read. Hi-larious!
- Dumb Cuneiform - Send them $25 and a favorite tweet or quote and they will transliterate it into Old Persian cuneiform. I have actually used this service. I know someone who often uses this Marshawn Lynch quote at work: I'm only here so I don't get fined. I had that turned into a little cuneiform tablet. Awesome deep nerd kind of present.
Interactive
- De visdeurbel - "The Fish Doorbell" - this is located on a canal in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The website is in Dutch but you can use Google translate. The locks on the canal prevent the fish from getting to where they need to go. There is a camera situated at this particular set of locks and anyone who sees fish waiting to pass can ring the doorbell. This alerts the lock keeper to check out the fish situation. If there is a large group waiting to pass, the lock keeper will let them through! Here's an article about how the fish doorbell was created.
- ACME Label Maker - Do you remember those old label makers from the 60s and 70s that had a plastic tape and a click wheel that let you emboss letters on it? I remember getting my hands on those as a kid and all of a sudden everything needed a label. They were so fun! This is a label generator - you can go old school or fancy it up with some effects and other fonts. I used it to make the Website Credits link on the home page. What a blast from the past!
Digital Museums
- Mobile Phone Museum - This is pretty cool - a museum of mobile phones through the ages. There are photos and write ups and you can search by maker or category. They accept old phones, if you have a relic you'd like to send in and they even have a list of "most wanted" phones.
- Digital Museum of Plugs and Sockets - not just a collection of pictures of plugs and sockets from around the world but more information than you thought possible to go with them! This website was started in 2009 and is still going strong.
- Electronic Handheld Game Museum - Massive collection of information, including pictures, of various handheld games. There's a cool section on handhelds used in movies (sometimes not as handhelds but just as props), scanned pages of books and magazines that had anything to do with handhelds, pictures of the inner workings of many games, pdf files of game manuals. The amount of information here is just amazing.
- Museum of Failure - A collection of failed products and services from around the world. Includes items such as the Betamax, purple Heinz ketchup and New Coke. Head to the virtual tour to see these items. It asks for an email but you can make one up if you don't want to be on their mailing list.
- Condiment Packet Museum - A historical archive of flexible portion control sauce packets. One person's obsession with collecting condiment packets. So many packets! Categorized according to type (ketchup, hot, mayo, etc) and with descriptions (what constitutes a relish, a jelly, etc). Also, very nice ROYBGIV color scheming and cute CSS styling ("tear here" appears when you hover over a selection).
- Microscope Museum - Collection of microscopes and other scientific instruments. Each entry contains several pictures of the item plus background on the maker and occasionally on what the item was used for. Did you know that meat inspectors used to have a specific microscope they would use to check for trichines in meat called a trichinoscope? There was also another type of microscope specifically made to count threads in fabrics. If you are into antique microscopes, there is a section of the site listing the various makers' serial numbers, so you can date your item if you need to. There is also a huge selection of antique catalogs and books which have been scanned into PDFs for your viewing pleasure.
- Moist Towelette Online Museum - Collection of various types of moist towelettes. Looks like an old-school site but was last updated in 2024. Bonus: if you're in Michigan, the museum has a physical site on the Michigan State University campus! Details are at the bottom of the page.
Old Web and Retro
- 404PageFound - Active Vintage Websites, Old Webpages and Web 1.0 - Great collection of websites that are still up and mostly running but haven't been updated in a couple of decades. It's like walking through an old abandoned house, peeking into the bedrooms and checking out who used to live there. You will find the occasional site that has (disappointingly) been updated.
- TV-signoffs.com - What a cool page this is! This is an archive of TV signoffs from around the country. Yes, back in the day TV stations used to end their programming at some point. Nicely categorized by state and also a section for cable station sign-offs. Update: I've had to use a Wayback Machine link as the original site seems to have disappeared.
- Rick's Cafe - Rick started his webpage in 1998 primarily for his band but he became known as an html help site - you can read his about section and he explains how that happened. This site is still going and is still being updated (at least with concert dates for his band).
- How to Send an International E-Mail (1984) - this is an interesting piece of technical nostalgia. You are shown the amazing convergence of communications and technology when the presenter uses an acoustic-coupled modem and rotary telephone to send an e-mail.
- Phil's Old Radios - Phil started his website about radios in 1995 and it's still being updated. If you are into old radios and TVs, then this site is for you. He has a vast gallery section with both pictures and information on subjects like various types of radios (Bakelite, wooden, transistors, etc), televisions, art from tube boxes. There's a FAQ section for people who are just getting into collecting radios, write-ups on several of his restoration projects. This site is truly a rabbit hole!
Play
- Whimsy.space - I'm not even sure how to describe this. Just click on it! Open the files, play the games. It's weird and it's fun.
- HyNET GEOCITY - Someone's personal webpage made to look like an old school desktop. Play with the windows! Listen to the music in the Welcome box. Click the links.
- Barry Martin's Hopalong Orbits Visualizer - I have no idea who Barry is but this is a pretty cool little website! You can change camera position and speed as you fly through a field of orbs.
- Wanderment - this game is a Particle-based 3D platformer. You are a blind kitten making your way across town to find your friend. This was made for a game jam and at the website there are links for both the original game and a longer version that was commissioned by the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. This is a very sweet, gentle, relaxing game. Enjoy!
- Adventure Time 404 Page - someone went all out creative and made their 404 page a mini game you can actually play that is reminiscent of text-based games like Zork.
- Friday Flash Fun Forever - this is a link to a Metafilter post about the Flashpoint Preservation Project that has preserved over 145,000 Flash games which are searchable and playable. This posting has a TON of links - to individual games sorted by genre, to info about Flash in general and its demise. It's very comprehensive. It's best to just direct you to the posting and then you can go to town from there.
Practical
- This to That (Glue Advice) - this site is great if you want to stick something to something else but aren't sure which sticking substance to use. You choose the type of material you want to attach and what material you are attaching it to and the website will come up with some options for you.
- Ian's Shoelace Site - this site has a listing of over 100 ways to lace your shoes. Who knew there were that many ways to tie a shoelace? Well, apparently Ian did and he made a whole site about it. Really nice with step-by-step tutorials and all the information you need to become a lacing fiend.
Science
- earth: a global map of wind, weather and ocean conditions - This is so cool. You can choose layers to view - wind speed, particulates, wave speed, wave height, temperatures, ocean currents. There are so many different ways to view this map. Data points are updated every 30 minutes to 5 days, depending on which one it is. I find this really interesting to track hurricanes. If you spot a hurricane on the globe, you can zoom into it and put the cursor on different points and it will give you the windspeed. I always get a kick out of seeing the windspeed drop in the eye of the hurricane.
- A Visual Guide to the Aztec Pantheon - Oh man, this was so cool. A wonderful description of Aztec gods and how their symbology defines their attributes. Goes into what specific elements represent - for example, a moon-shaped noseplug is a symbol of fertility and femininity. Incredibly interesting, beautiful artwork, go check this out!
- CrowTrax - this is a map to plot and track crow attacks in Vancouver. Why are the crows attacking? During the spring they get aggressive while protecting fledglings. Clicking on a crow icon on the map will give details of the attack.
- Physics Special Topics Journal - This journal is actually part of the curriculum for year 4 physics students at the University of Leicester. These are real articles postulating on problems using real science. But, with a twist. You'll find articles on topics like Charlie and the Fizzy Lifting Drink (2021), Could Bruce Willis Save the World? (2011), Green Shell Launch Velocity In Mario Kart (2023) and The Perfect Cuppa: The Search for the Best Place in the Solar System to Brew a Cup of Tea (2013).
Travel
- Dark Tourism - This site is fascinating. There is a definition of dark tourism on his site but basically it is places that have to do with death and destruction. Entries in the US run the gamut: various museums, penitentiaries, cemetaries and all kinds of other sites. There are numerous entries for countries around the world. Even if you can't actually get to these places, it might make for a very interesting time of internet rabbit holes and armchair travel.
- brr - This is the personal blog of an IT professional who spent time working in Antarctica. Lots of cool scenic pictures, interesting posts on infrastructure and how things work in Antarctica. How do you get text messages? (You don't) Postal mail? (Often!) ATMs at the South Pole? (Believe it or not, yes!)
Miscellaneous
- Found in a Library Book - Librarians at Oakland Public Library have been posting images of the items they have found over the years that have been left inside books. Lists, stickers, photos, even a crochet hook! What do you use as bookmarks? I like to use old hotel keycards.
- Chicken pdf file - I've had this sitting in my bookmarks forever and I'm not even sure where I found it. I think this is funny because my son and I have a running chicken thing going on between us- I got mad one day, stamped my foot and exclaimed something to which he replied, Mom, you sound like a chicken! and now he has made it his life goal to work chickens into our conversations. Like, if we were to hear a chicken he'd say Mom! Your people are calling you! and stuff like that. I pretend annoyance but, you know, secretly I would miss it. Anyway, this is a whole report, complete with graphs, images, footnotes, formulas - and all it says is "chicken."
- Perpetual Stew - The owner of this site (who apparently is Internet famous for being involved with something called Depths of Wikipedia) became fascinated with the idea of perpetual stew. UPDATE: so in this case "perpetual" actually meant "60 days" and the stew is now just a memory. I don't know if this was a one off or if the author will be attempting this again. I'm going to leave the link up though because I really like the story of how the stew helped to form a (temporary) community.