3 ms·

I've been on a rant lately about how much I miss the wild west days of the web, 33k connections and all. I used to visit a blog (it was basically a blog, but pr

by Pigo 8y ago

I've been on a rant lately about how much I miss the wild west days of the web, 33k connections and all. I used to visit a blog (it was basically a blog, but probably 5 years before I'd heard the word blog) written by a guy who was chronicling the government controlling his mind with electricity. It was endlessly fascinating, and I can't even find it now. I miss finding the unexpected. I don't blame javascript, I blame businesses for swallowing everything in an attempt to make money. I think I miss it because people mostly created pages out of passion or curiosity, and they hung out on IRC because they didn't care if everyone could see how poignant their comments were.

krrrh 8y ago
I think I remember the blog you’re talking about, and now I’m wishing I could find it too. Everyone knew about the Time Cube guy, but the guy whose brain was being controlled by government electricity, that took your links page to another level. I distinctly remember getting sucked into it and then having the realization that a percentage of the population were paranoid schizophrenics and that they could publish now. He helped me build some armor (and compassion) for the social media age.
- Pigo 8y ago
  Man, I'm really glad to have some confirmation that I'm not crazy and that page really existed. I recall spending hours reading his reports, it always sucked me in somehow. I think he was actually a good writer.
paulddraper 8y ago
> I miss finding the unexpected You could try Reddit
- Pigo 8y ago
  Yes, we all use reddit. But it makes me sad that all the content is located in a handful of places. And all of that content is regulated by the reddit company. /b/ is much closer to what things used to be like, but since there was more places it was easier to avoid edgelords.
tomjen3 8y ago
It can't have been more than five years ago or so that I was browsing Usenet (through an actual server, not a web interface) and there were definitely a collection of, shall we say, interesting characters.

by Pigo 8y ago

krrrh 8y ago

I think I remember the blog you’re talking about, and now I’m wishing I could find it too. Everyone knew about the Time Cube guy, but the guy whose brain was being controlled by government electricity, that took your links page to another level. I distinctly remember getting sucked into it and then having the realization that a percentage of the population were paranoid schizophrenics and that they could publish now. He helped me build some armor (and compassion) for the social media age.

Pigo 8y ago
Man, I'm really glad to have some confirmation that I'm not crazy and that page really existed. I recall spending hours reading his reports, it always sucked me in somehow. I think he was actually a good writer.

paulddraper 8y ago

> I miss finding the unexpected You could try Reddit

Pigo 8y ago
Yes, we all use reddit. But it makes me sad that all the content is located in a handful of places. And all of that content is regulated by the reddit company. /b/ is much closer to what things used to be like, but since there was more places it was easier to avoid edgelords.

tomjen3 8y ago

It can't have been more than five years ago or so that I was browsing Usenet (through an actual server, not a web interface) and there were definitely a collection of, shall we say, interesting characters.