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Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

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61–70 of 123 posts

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#61
post #42

Few 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 )…

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#62
Not 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, ...

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#63
post #42

Earlier 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.

A link should always open in the same tab by default, unless there’s a compelling reason otherwise: for users who prefer to open in a new tab (like myself) they can use the appropriate shortcuts, menu options or click combinations. If you configure links to open in a new tab, it’s impossible for a user to open it in the same tab.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#64
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#65
post #42

Earlier 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 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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#66

Few 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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#67
post #6

Search 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…

A search for Solar Warden on DuckDuckGO [1] finds results for me, if you're referring to top results on Yandex about 'The Secret Space Program & Black Budget'?

I stopped using Google years ago as I find their search results, aside from being plagued by ads and people trying to game the results, have just become less useful. Which mainstream search engines are you referring to (I think DDG use bing).

[1] https://duckduckgo.com/q=solar+warden

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#69

Not 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, ...

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you find the weird parts of the web?

#70

> steer clear of hateful/racist/bigoted patterns of thought If you want to widen the spectrum of humanity that you're exposed to, you're inevitably going to come across these people. Personally I thought it was well worth it. Plenty of good and bad to be found.

The choice isn’t to avoid such people completely, it is impossible. The problem is minimizing contact with such patterns as much as possible, and this is getting increasingly difficult.

There is a treasure trove of amazing stuff on Reddit, Twitter etc. But finding that stuff is getting harder and harder. There is much more money in promoting hate, bigotry etc than positive, interesting stuff.

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