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Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#111
post #52

a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) Now, you wouldn't call that slow as molasses.

No, that is exactly slow as molasses, by demonstration. It is the observed speed of a specific mass of molasses under observed conditions.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#112
post #78

One of the earliest www rabbit holes I remember visiting: https://www.chroniclesofgeorge.com/ Surprised MF has not been mentioned, yet. http://www.metafilter.com/

I had not heard of Chronicles of George. I have been laughing almost continuously reading it.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#113

TVTropes is the big one, the vortex from which all other rabbit holes stem. The SCP foundation is also excellent, and The Digital Antiquarian is my new favorite. Fallen London is a browser MMOCYOA on steroids, and it's glorious. The Jargon File (before ESR ruined it with the latest round of updates) was amazing, and still is great fun. Bash.org is another classic rabbit hole, although far from the best for that purpo…

Fallen London is dangerously brilliant - think of browser games like Kingdom of Loathing, but with a spectacular depth of storytelling and complexity. It also has an interesting rapid-feedback structure; instead of things like lengthy 'fights' everything runs on probabilistic outcomes.

...would you happen to know if Ambition: Enigma is real? No hints, but one of the devs suggested it wasn't and I'd like to at least know if there's actually something to look for.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#116
post #100

http://www.27bslash6.com/ - lots of crazy stories from David Thorne Some particular good ones are: http://www.27bslash6.com/f26a.html http://www.27bslash6.com/arguments.html http://www.27bslash6.com/covers.html

I always questioned whether his stuff is embellished, or complete fiction, but it doesn't stop me from laughing every time I read the story where he tries to pay with a picture of a spider.

As someone who personally had business dealings with a company/person mentioned in one of those stories, I can say that the story perfectly matched the personas of those involved, which has me absolutely convinced that it actually happened (at least in some form). Extrapolating this to the other stories on the site, I have always assumed that they are in reality more truth than embellishment.

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#117
Browsing medical diagnosis codes... https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coding/ICD10/2016-ICD-10-CM-and...

Some of the most mildly interesting:

V9543XD Spacecraft collision injuring occupant, subsequent encounter

W5602XD Struck by dolphin, subsequent encounter

X35XXXD Volcanic eruption, subsequent encounter

X52XXXD Prolonged stay in weightless environment, subsequent encounter

Y0881XD Assault by crashing of aircraft, subsequent encounter

Re: Ask HN: What is your favorite internet rabbit hole?

#119
The US Civil War has been mine for the last couple of years. The sheer volume of history and contributing factors, decades of build up, aftermath, affects on the US today, etc. My goodness, the economics of the whole thing are just fascinating.

All the internet debates I saw when the confederate flag came down got me really interested in how so many people could know TOTALLY different things about the most historically significant event in the country.

Now I've got about 12 books covering things in different ways (and there are so many more). Thanks to the Library of Congress and Google's efforts to scan books it's really easy to check citations as you read when you're having those "There is no way that's real" moments followed by "Holy crap! That's real?!?!"

The whole thing has sparked an overzealous interest in history, which is the subject that interested me the least when I was younger. Now I give serious consideration to pursuing a doctorate one day with the aim of being a History professor when I get closer to 50 (which is still a decade or so off).

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