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Aw, man! I really don't have anything substantial to say, but this is incredibly refreshing: No dark patterns, no marketing ploy, no signup, no bullshit. No li

Aw, man! I really don't have anything substantial to say, but this is incredibly refreshing: No dark patterns, no marketing ploy, no signup, no bullshit. No licenses, no traps, no business interests! Javascript not required, but smooth UI & UX! Just pure knowledge. API access; millions of files! Works right down to Lynx, an has a 3D previewer which is smooth and gentle to my mid range laptop. I think this is gonna be my new example if someones says that commerce & ads are the backbone of the internet. If anyone of the responsible people happens to read HN, please continue to do good in the world!

zacharycohn 7y ago
This is a great example of tax dollars at work. The Smithsonian is part of the United States government.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- wpasc 7y ago
  It's a 501c3 which is ~half funded by taxpayers and half funded by philanthropy. Almost like it forces you to recognize the benefits of both types of funding
  - xxpor 7y ago
    I think it's more complicated than a pure 501c3. Their vehicles get US Gov licence plates from the GSA.
    - TkTech 7y ago
      Indeed, the Smithsonian is completely unique under US law[1]. https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory
- kbutler 7y ago
  The Smithsonian is unique. If interested in the history of how it came to be, Mike Rowe tells the story well in "The Illegitimate Son-of-a-Smith" podcast: http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/episode-135-the-illegitimate-son-of-a-smith http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/episode-135-the-illegitim... The Institution is 62% federally funded (a combination of the congressional appropriation and federal grants and contracts). ... the Smithsonian has trust or non-federal funds, which include contributions from private sources (endowments; donations from individuals, corporations and foundations; and memberships) and revenues from the Smithsonian Enterprises https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/smithsonian-institution-fact-sheet https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/smithsonian-instituti... From https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory created by Congress in 1846 to exercise the authority of the United States in carrying out the responsibilities Congress undertook when it accepted the bequest of James Smithson "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."... ...the Smithsonian is not an agency or authority of the Government... ...the Smithsonian is so "closely connected" to the federal government that it shares the immunity of the United States from state and local regulation...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
saberworks 7y ago
Are we on different websites? I used the search box to search "cat" and the "enter" key doesn't work to perform a search, I have to mouse over and click the magnifying glass to get it to work. It takes about 45 seconds to load about 2 screens of cat pictures. I have to scroll down and then click "Show more" to get some more. There's no indication of how many times I have to click "Show more" to get all the cat pictures. Once I click "Show more" it appears that nothing is happening, but about 30-45 seconds later the screen starts blipping and then another couple of screens of cats start popping into view. Clicking on an image takes another 30 seconds and then it brings you to a slightly bigger view, and then clicking it again shows another slightly bigger view but trapped into some weird-scrolling viewer with 3 layers of vertical scrollbars. The back button is also broken, having to click it multiple times to escape the single-image screen. I think a simple pager with a fixed number of images on each page would have been a much better experience. It would also let me link to specific pages so I could share the page I'm viewing. EDIT: I'm leaving the post above but right after submitting it I felt regret because it sounds really harsh and I didn't mean it that way. I love the fact that the images were released and I hope government and private institutions continue to do this. I have very minor gripes about the ui but that shouldn't take away from the accomplishment.
- lifeisstillgood 7y ago
  On iphone, type "cat", hit enter key, see 2657 cat photos (possibly worlds smallest online collection of cat photos but still...) This is cool, and reminds me of the book illustrations and images released last month - there seems to be a corner turned in opening up collections, in as GP implies, knocking holes in the walls of the gardens. I am impressed by this too. Kudos to the big museum in DC. As for your experience, well perhaps a cat was sitting on your keyboard while you searched? They can be annoying like that
  - yorwba 7y ago
    > On iphone, type "cat", hit enter key, see 2657 cat photos Did you actually see all of them? Using Firefox Preview on Android, I got told that there were this many results, but I was only shown a handful before I had to tap on "view more".
shanecleveland 7y ago
It's great that a government website is receiving praise, but not really fair to compare them to the needs of a for-profit enterprise that needs to generate revenue.
klingonopera 7y ago
> commerce & ads are the backbone of the internet I'm sorry, what? Everyone uses Wikipedia, and probably so much, that they don't consciously realize it...
- oska 7y ago
  I think what the GP is referring to is the dominant narrative over the last 15+ years that every website has to be 'monetised' with varying degrees of advertising based user abuse. Wikipedia has obviously been a conspicuous counter-example to that but it's been the large exception that proves the rule (in terms of narrative). It's always refreshing to see new examples of the web being used as a medium to freely disseminate information and culture without any form of user abuse attached. Commerce is fine but I personally see any form of push advertising as user abuse (even without the user tracking that nearly always comes with it). Edit to add: I see that another reply (from jimmaswell) is still running the advertising 'business model' narrative.
  - klingonopera 7y ago
    ...the dominant narrative of people who want to sell you advertising technology, yes. A shopping website will want to do two things: Provide the customer with the most comfortable shopping experience while cutting down the cost of providing it. Advertising is a null-sum game in this case (cuts down costs by adding additional revenue, but makes user experience worse, thus leading to fewer customers), so it only makes sense if that's all you're selling. How the internet nonetheless became "infested" with ads is obviously a mystery to me...
  - jimmaswell 7y ago
    Categorizing ads as "user abuse" is hyperbolic and I doubt any significan fraction of users feel they're being abused when they see a banner ad for potato chips. Bringing customers and companies together is a basic and necessary aspect of living in a market economy. I've seen commercials for new food offered at restaurants, wanted it, gotten it, and felt good about the whole chain of events; have I been abused? Further if "tracking" makes ads more relevant then all the better for everyone involved. Some electrons in a server in a rack on the other side of the country, that you'd never know existed if people didn't stir up a hysteria over, not even directly correlated to your real identity or containing anything more important than a preference for high end silverware, can't hurt you and have no just cause to be demonized.
m463 7y ago
Normal people not on lynx will see doubleclick, addthis, forsee, google analytics, etc on the pages. Just saying...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
hesarenu 7y ago
Is it smooth though? Very slow to load, but i am in a different continent.
gambler 7y ago
Reminder to myself: donate to them when I get home.

zacharycohn 7y ago

This is a great example of tax dollars at work. The Smithsonian is part of the United States government.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
wpasc 7y ago
It's a 501c3 which is ~half funded by taxpayers and half funded by philanthropy. Almost like it forces you to recognize the benefits of both types of funding
- xxpor 7y ago
  I think it's more complicated than a pure 501c3. Their vehicles get US Gov licence plates from the GSA.
  - TkTech 7y ago
    Indeed, the Smithsonian is completely unique under US law[1]. https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory
kbutler 7y ago
The Smithsonian is unique. If interested in the history of how it came to be, Mike Rowe tells the story well in "The Illegitimate Son-of-a-Smith" podcast: http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/episode-135-the-illegitimate-son-of-a-smith http://thewayiheardit.rsvmedia.com/episode-135-the-illegitim... The Institution is 62% federally funded (a combination of the congressional appropriation and federal grants and contracts). ... the Smithsonian has trust or non-federal funds, which include contributions from private sources (endowments; donations from individuals, corporations and foundations; and memberships) and revenues from the Smithsonian Enterprises https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/smithsonian-institution-fact-sheet https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factsheets/smithsonian-instituti... From https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory https://www.si.edu/ogc/legalhistory created by Congress in 1846 to exercise the authority of the United States in carrying out the responsibilities Congress undertook when it accepted the bequest of James Smithson "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."... ...the Smithsonian is not an agency or authority of the Government... ...the Smithsonian is so "closely connected" to the federal government that it shares the immunity of the United States from state and local regulation...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

saberworks 7y ago

Are we on different websites? I used the search box to search "cat" and the "enter" key doesn't work to perform a search, I have to mouse over and click the magnifying glass to get it to work. It takes about 45 seconds to load about 2 screens of cat pictures. I have to scroll down and then click "Show more" to get some more. There's no indication of how many times I have to click "Show more" to get all the cat pictures. Once I click "Show more" it appears that nothing is happening, but about 30-45 seconds later the screen starts blipping and then another couple of screens of cats start popping into view. Clicking on an image takes another 30 seconds and then it brings you to a slightly bigger view, and then clicking it again shows another slightly bigger view but trapped into some weird-scrolling viewer with 3 layers of vertical scrollbars. The back button is also broken, having to click it multiple times to escape the single-image screen. I think a simple pager with a fixed number of images on each page would have been a much better experience. It would also let me link to specific pages so I could share the page I'm viewing. EDIT: I'm leaving the post above but right after submitting it I felt regret because it sounds really harsh and I didn't mean it that way. I love the fact that the images were released and I hope government and private institutions continue to do this. I have very minor gripes about the ui but that shouldn't take away from the accomplishment.

lifeisstillgood 7y ago
On iphone, type "cat", hit enter key, see 2657 cat photos (possibly worlds smallest online collection of cat photos but still...) This is cool, and reminds me of the book illustrations and images released last month - there seems to be a corner turned in opening up collections, in as GP implies, knocking holes in the walls of the gardens. I am impressed by this too. Kudos to the big museum in DC. As for your experience, well perhaps a cat was sitting on your keyboard while you searched? They can be annoying like that
- yorwba 7y ago
  > On iphone, type "cat", hit enter key, see 2657 cat photos Did you actually see all of them? Using Firefox Preview on Android, I got told that there were this many results, but I was only shown a handful before I had to tap on "view more".

shanecleveland 7y ago

It's great that a government website is receiving praise, but not really fair to compare them to the needs of a for-profit enterprise that needs to generate revenue.

klingonopera 7y ago

> commerce & ads are the backbone of the internet I'm sorry, what? Everyone uses Wikipedia, and probably so much, that they don't consciously realize it...

oska 7y ago
I think what the GP is referring to is the dominant narrative over the last 15+ years that every website has to be 'monetised' with varying degrees of advertising based user abuse. Wikipedia has obviously been a conspicuous counter-example to that but it's been the large exception that proves the rule (in terms of narrative). It's always refreshing to see new examples of the web being used as a medium to freely disseminate information and culture without any form of user abuse attached. Commerce is fine but I personally see any form of push advertising as user abuse (even without the user tracking that nearly always comes with it). Edit to add: I see that another reply (from jimmaswell) is still running the advertising 'business model' narrative.
- klingonopera 7y ago
  ...the dominant narrative of people who want to sell you advertising technology, yes. A shopping website will want to do two things: Provide the customer with the most comfortable shopping experience while cutting down the cost of providing it. Advertising is a null-sum game in this case (cuts down costs by adding additional revenue, but makes user experience worse, thus leading to fewer customers), so it only makes sense if that's all you're selling. How the internet nonetheless became "infested" with ads is obviously a mystery to me...
- jimmaswell 7y ago
  Categorizing ads as "user abuse" is hyperbolic and I doubt any significan fraction of users feel they're being abused when they see a banner ad for potato chips. Bringing customers and companies together is a basic and necessary aspect of living in a market economy. I've seen commercials for new food offered at restaurants, wanted it, gotten it, and felt good about the whole chain of events; have I been abused? Further if "tracking" makes ads more relevant then all the better for everyone involved. Some electrons in a server in a rack on the other side of the country, that you'd never know existed if people didn't stir up a hysteria over, not even directly correlated to your real identity or containing anything more important than a preference for high end silverware, can't hurt you and have no just cause to be demonized.

m463 7y ago

Normal people not on lynx will see doubleclick, addthis, forsee, google analytics, etc on the pages. Just saying...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

hesarenu 7y ago

Is it smooth though? Very slow to load, but i am in a different continent.

gambler 7y ago

Reminder to myself: donate to them when I get home.