The Death of the Cyberflâneur • Hacker News Board

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#51

Post by unimpressive » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 2:12 AM UTC

monknomo wrote: post #4

alva wrote: post #3

The joys of the world wild west are still out there for curious surfers. Admittedly it does require a lot more effort, especially for a younger generation who may not remember what the early web is like and how you would traverse it. I still get a thrill finding 'hidden' communities on the internet.

I'm a fan of finding odd corners on the 'net, what's your technique?

Sometimes people will deliberately manufacture an experience like this for a creepy story/etc, which can be fun.

Internet mythmaking in general ('creepypasta'/etc) is a fun rabbit hole to go down. Most are mediocre, but a handful of stories are genuinely brilliant:

http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Psychosis

http://thebooksofsand.blogspot.com/

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#52

Post by ernestosoo » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 4:22 AM UTC

kazinator wrote: post #41

> While not deliberately concealing his identity, the flâneur preferred to stroll incognito. ... > However, anyone entertaining such dreams of the Internet as a refuge for the bohemian, the hedonistic and the idiosyncratic probably didn’t know the reasons behind the disappearance of the original flâneur. If the flâneur is operating incognito ... how the hell can you be sure he is actually gone? Maybe he just upped hi…

You are missing the main point, man. I am sure you never experience the internet in the 1990's or early 2000's. You must live in a very parochial place! You don't know anything about arts, films, music.

This website is one example. I like this website because there is something that is "HIS". He owns his individuality.

http://www.novaexpresscafe.com/main.html

It is not just about information. It is about aesthetics! The fun of flaneuring! Surfing the internet for spontaneity!

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#53

Post by jack_rabbit » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 5:02 AM UTC

busterarm wrote: post #44

jack_rabbit wrote: post #31

The article is totally wrong. The internet is now more than ever a good place for this kind of thing. > Hardly anyone “surfs” the Web anymore. Doesn't the whole click-bait "industry" specifically because people are surfing? What's more, even on social media, things like "Weird Facebook" come into existence. Huge groups form with no clear purpose other than seemingly to be exactly the kind of internet "arcades" that t…

I'm not sure I agree. I think the whole idea of a flâneur or "surfing" the web is that you choose where you go. There's an illusion of control. The whole click-bait industry depends on you browsing within walled gardens (facebook, reddit) and being on the conveyor belt of places your attention has to go. A flâneur or surfer can just go somewhere else. There's only so much physical real estate you can own. There isn't…

Yeah, I understand your argument. I think it's not a bad one.

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#54

Post by jack_rabbit » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 5:04 AM UTC

kazinator wrote: post #41

> While not deliberately concealing his identity, the flâneur preferred to stroll incognito. ... > However, anyone entertaining such dreams of the Internet as a refuge for the bohemian, the hedonistic and the idiosyncratic probably didn’t know the reasons behind the disappearance of the original flâneur. If the flâneur is operating incognito ... how the hell can you be sure he is actually gone? Maybe he just upped hi…

Hackernews is itself one of these arcades that have supposedly disappeared. We're the flâneurs.

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#55

Post by ernestosoo » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 5:47 AM UTC

The Facebook technically kills the whole internet. (http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/facebo...). It tries to copy other startups, so people can stay on its platform and watch more "ads". Instead of surfing idiosyncratic webpages, flaneur now surfs facebook. It is like going to Paris and one only sees McDonald and Starbucks. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-death-o...)

In addition, nowadays, people do not create webpage for fun. They want to commercialize their online presence. Everything, including oneself, is a brand now (http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/50-tips-to-brand-yoursel...). This leads to the totalitarianism of minimalism (https://www.sitepoint.com/less-minimalist-websites-still-rul...) where they want to people to "see" their webpages "efficiently". People are wearing a mask in and out. There is no authenticity and honesty.

The internet was the place for playfulness and wonder. DeviantArts, Rate Your Music, Geocities were really fun.

Now, the internet is full of BS. Startups are full of BS ("This is a site that spits out whole websites of fake bullshit web companies. Hit "get started" to refresh. http://tiffzhang.com/startup/?s=243648772317). Reddit is a rare phenomenon because it was founded by Aaron Schwartz and he never got any credit. And I am pretty sure Aaron Schwartz would never go to “Hackathon”, “Entrepreneurial leadership at Stanford”. They are full of BS. No one has a deep passion for truly improving people’s lives. Everything is for efficiency.

Palo Alto becomes a dead place now. There is only one bookstore in Palo Alto area and no students ever visit. Stanford students do not love to learn at all. They are “excellent sheep”.

The dark net is okay and it becomes boring after a while.

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#56

Post by ernestosoo » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 5:59 AM UTC

nosuchthing wrote: post #46

Take a break from surfing, and start diving. See how far the rabbit hole goes.... http://i.imgur.com/BLJl7f0g.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pdJsQDh.png http://i.imgur.com/UaWoV.jpg

This is so funny! You must know the internet!!! Do you know any of these?

Obscure Music Blogspots, IRC chats, usenet, ASCII art, Slsk, DC++, penpals in Finland, Botwana, Iceland, and Uruguay, grainy and idiosyncratic university-websites, Tunak Tunak Tun, Albino Black Sheep, Zombo.com

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#57

Post by ernestosoo » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 6:09 AM UTC

jack_rabbit wrote: post #54

kazinator wrote: post #41

> While not deliberately concealing his identity, the flâneur preferred to stroll incognito. ... > However, anyone entertaining such dreams of the Internet as a refuge for the bohemian, the hedonistic and the idiosyncratic probably didn’t know the reasons behind the disappearance of the original flâneur. If the flâneur is operating incognito ... how the hell can you be sure he is actually gone? Maybe he just upped hi…

Hackernews is itself one of these arcades that have supposedly disappeared. We're the flâneurs.

Yeah! But there is no aesthetics here at all! There is no sense of wonder and magic whatsoever!

This is a cool website here!

www.davidrumsey.com

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#58

Post by kazinator » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 6:31 AM UTC

ernestosoo wrote: post #52

kazinator wrote: post #41

> While not deliberately concealing his identity, the flâneur preferred to stroll incognito. ... > However, anyone entertaining such dreams of the Internet as a refuge for the bohemian, the hedonistic and the idiosyncratic probably didn’t know the reasons behind the disappearance of the original flâneur. If the flâneur is operating incognito ... how the hell can you be sure he is actually gone? Maybe he just upped hi…

You are missing the main point, man. I am sure you never experience the internet in the 1990's or early 2000's. You must live in a very parochial place! You don't know anything about arts, films, music. This website is one example. I like this website because there is something that is "HIS". He owns his individuality. http://www.novaexpresscafe.com/main.html It is not just about information. It is about aesthetics!…

> I am sure you never experience the internet in the 1990's

That sort of guessing tends not to pan out very well around here. I used Mosaic under XWindow in 1993.

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#59

Post by AndrewUnmuted » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 2:08 PM UTC

ernestosoo wrote: post #55

The Facebook technically kills the whole internet. ( http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/04/facebo... ). It tries to copy other startups, so people can stay on its platform and watch more "ads". Instead of surfing idiosyncratic webpages, flaneur now surfs facebook. It is like going to Paris and one only sees McDonald and Starbucks. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-death-o... ) In…

To be fair to the "hackathon," it was a concept started by the devs at OpenBSD.[0] Not exactly a bunch of poseurs, that group.

[0] https://www.openbsd.org/hackathons.html

Re: The Death of the Cyberflâneur

#60

Post by greenshackle » Wed, Sep 14, 2016, 2:11 PM UTC

Karrot_Kream wrote: post #36

greenshackle wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, dating five people if you're (mostly hetero) female; dating one or two people, who are each dating five people, if you're (mostly hetero) male. Edit: Arguably, this is a better outcome than monogamy in a highly gender-skewed community (e.g. 1 in 2 het men dateless).

Source? (I'm not being argumentative, just genuinely curious if this is anything but anecdote.)

Anecdote, i.e. me dating a girl with 3 boyfriends in the Bay Area.