While I think the other suggestions here are more what you're looking for, https://neocities.org have managed to grow a community of sorts with a 90s/early 2000s "home page" feel to them.
Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
81–90 of 123 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#82Not to diminish the quality of the content in the answers of other respondents, but don't link directories and self hosted HTML blogs filter for a certain potentially unwanted writer bias? i.e. 30-something, male, agorist, nostalgic for the old internet, oddly niche hobbies, English as first or second language, ...
>but don't link directories and self hosted HTML blogs filter for a certain potentially unwanted writer bias? i.e. 30-something, male, agorist, nostalgic for the old internet, oddly niche hobbies, English as first or second language I suspect the bias is wanted, consciously or not. Part of the nostalgia for the 'old web', which this specific thread is a subset of, is for a return to the sense of homogeneity and commu…
If anything the opposite. The goal is to return to a web before facial verification was required to create accounts and before everyone knew you were a dog.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#83Not to diminish the quality of the content in the answers of other respondents, but don't link directories and self hosted HTML blogs filter for a certain potentially unwanted writer bias? i.e. 30-something, male, agorist, nostalgic for the old internet, oddly niche hobbies, English as first or second language, ...
> don't link directories and self hosted HTML blogs filter for a certain potentially unwanted writer bias? i.e. 30-something, male, agorist, nostalgic for the old internet, oddly niche hobbies, English as first or second language, ...
Why is this? (genuinely asking)
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think trust people to know and do what they want: left click or middle click. The problem with making the new-tab choice for them is they can't click in such a way as to keep the same tab. I have literally written browser extensions to fix auto-new-tab links, it's that frustrating.
This is a compelling enough argument for me to switch the default.
Another data point: I open almost every link in a new tab, but I also find it very frustrating when a link opens in a new tab by default.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#85Few ways, in no particular order: - are.na seems to attract people who have odd interests and it’s full of quirky websites - webrings are still a thing and there’s a bunch out there worth checking out - directories like https://512kb.club/ are usually full of interesting sites - by following links on blogs and sites you find interesting - some cool forums are still out there ( https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php )…
Do you or anyone else have webrings that are interesting for someone who is into programming, math, fantasy, and sci-fi ? I knew a few were still around, but I'm not aware of any that are actively maintained. I'm aware sci-fi is technically fantasy, but that categorization has never sat well with me.
sci-fi is technically fantasy
Interesting you’re looking for niche stuff then un-niche-ing SF and fantasy, when you could so easily go many parsecs down that rabbit hole. Here’s one guide to their subgenres - https://larawillard.com/2014/12/10/guide-to-sff-science-fict... - and there are many.
You could do this for almost any topic. Drill down down down. Fungi and unsolved math puzzles and flatbread and occlupanids.
Get far enough down and you’ll find people discussing and writing. These are the hedgerows of the Internet. Nerds are in the details.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is the idea that the u.s government has a secret space program that is flying around the universe under our noses with godlike technology hateful/racist/bigoted? Is it now racist/hateful/bigoted to believe in alien technology conspiracies just because anything that's not official government information can be automatically labeled as such? I think the whole solar warden thing and the universe of b.s around it is…
Its the new communism. Anything I do not like is racist/hateful/bigoted .
It's the new nationalism.
Anything that wasn't in an official press release from my government, party, or King is foreign subversion.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#87The other day I casually found Neocities... a sort of Geocities revival that I found interesting: https://neocities.org/browse
I also like Fosstodon, a FOSS-oriented Mastodon instance. Plenty of interesting people to browse and follow: https://fosstodon.org/explore
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#88You have to join the hidden un-Googleable communities where the people who create such things gather.
Yes, this. I've recently been reading a lot about OSR and indie zine-like TTRPGs. Almost indiscriminate link-clicking seems to be the safest way to end up in the weird zones of any hobby. The beauty of it (in this specific case) is that the farther you go from mainstream, the more you encounter people who create stuff. Weird, wonderful stuff.
the farther you go from mainstream, the more you encounter people who create stuff
Well said and often true. There are quiet corners.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
theforest feedback: I like link sites to open in the same tab, like HN
Interesting. You’re the first person to ask for same tab opening. But it might make sense for this particular case. I’ll have a think.
I'm the opposite. I actually wrote a small browser extension to make HN links open in a new tab because it annoys me so much.
I can't disagree with what others have said about making it user-choice though. Maybe some kind of toggle switch that lets users set the behavior one way or the other would work?
Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?
#90Search for strange and controversial topics on http://yandex.com . The results are totally different from the mainstream search engines which try hard to prevent fun "misinformation" by always sending you to the sites that never say anything strange. For example, try "solar warden" (not the video game or the novel which is what the mainstream sites want to tell you about) on Yandex if you want to go down a fun rabbit…
I like that the mAiNStrEaM SIteS actually provide relevant results instead of placing fringe, absurd conspiracy theories first. Seems in line with Russian destabilisation campaigns though so maybe that on purpose? And providing rt.com's propaganda as #2 on "Ukraine invasion"? Totally not suspicious. OP asked for "manages to steer clear of hateful/racist/bigoted patterns of thought" though.
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