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I like brutalist websites because they remind me of those weird passion projects you find on the web from time to time ... Netochka Nezvanova [1] Ted's Caving

by JackC 9y ago

I like brutalist websites because they remind me of those weird passion projects you find on the web from time to time ... Netochka Nezvanova [1] Ted's Caving Page, with the story of his discovery in a local cave [2] TempleOS [3] Jon Bois' Future of Football [4] They have the vibe of one person with a keyboard and a strange dream, and that's what I love about the web. I feel weird about a UX design shop critiquing this aesthetic, because they're such different worlds, and I don't want the professionalized web shutting down the personal web. But maybe that's the point: web brutalism is a cool, freeing thing in projects that really are personal, but risks becoming selfish or self-indulgent when applied to the wrong project. [1] http://web.archive.org/web/20121023110850/http://www.salon.com/2002/03/01/netochka/ http://web.archive.org/web/20121023110850/http://www.salon.c... [2] http://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/page1.html http://www.angelfire.com/trek/caver/page1.html [3] http://www.templeos.org/ http://www.templeos.org/ [4] https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football

quake 9y ago
TempleOS is one of the strangest projects I've ever seen, and the creator is likely a schizophrenic, but I'm incredibly impressed that he managed to make what he did all on his own. I can't claim to have made a compiler from scratch while on the run from my own hallucinations
- madamelic 9y ago
  He is schizophrenic. He used to run around on HN but he gets banned pretty quickly apparently. He might pop in.
scyclow 9y ago
Wow, these are great. Especially Ted's Caving Page. It's too bad these sorts of websites are mostly gone...
b4ux1t3 9y ago
Ah, Netochka Nezvonova. I remember being supremely attracted to her in high school. By all accounts, she was either insane or just a troll, but there was something alluring about her, like the article mentioned. A large part of why I ended up where I did in life has to do with that early-2000s internet culture. I never realized how seeing sites like these could bring so much nostalgia.
- JackC 9y ago
  > either insane or just a troll I think "artist collective with various goals among the members" might be closest? No idea how accurate it is, but there's some interesting speculation about various people behind the NN persona in the Wikipedia talk page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Netochka_Nezvanova_(author)#Additional_context_and_article_criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Netochka_Nezvanova_(autho...
  - b4ux1t3 9y ago
    You're absolutely right. I meant to say "a bunch of trolls" but wasn't paying attention. I just meant that if she _was_ a real person, and she certainly felt like it to high school me, she was exciting and not just a little intriguing.

by JackC 9y ago

quake 9y ago

TempleOS is one of the strangest projects I've ever seen, and the creator is likely a schizophrenic, but I'm incredibly impressed that he managed to make what he did all on his own. I can't claim to have made a compiler from scratch while on the run from my own hallucinations

madamelic 9y ago
He is schizophrenic. He used to run around on HN but he gets banned pretty quickly apparently. He might pop in.

scyclow 9y ago

Wow, these are great. Especially Ted's Caving Page. It's too bad these sorts of websites are mostly gone...

b4ux1t3 9y ago

Ah, Netochka Nezvonova. I remember being supremely attracted to her in high school. By all accounts, she was either insane or just a troll, but there was something alluring about her, like the article mentioned. A large part of why I ended up where I did in life has to do with that early-2000s internet culture. I never realized how seeing sites like these could bring so much nostalgia.

JackC 9y ago
> either insane or just a troll I think "artist collective with various goals among the members" might be closest? No idea how accurate it is, but there's some interesting speculation about various people behind the NN persona in the Wikipedia talk page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Netochka_Nezvanova_(author)#Additional_context_and_article_criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Netochka_Nezvanova_(autho...
- b4ux1t3 9y ago
  You're absolutely right. I meant to say "a bunch of trolls" but wasn't paying attention. I just meant that if she _was_ a real person, and she certainly felt like it to high school me, she was exciting and not just a little intriguing.