| COBOL ON COGS [jump here] | ||
| IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. Should you ever find yourself needing to deploy a web framework on a 1960s IBM mainframe, fret not, here is your answer. DATA DIVISION. This is a small website imagining how it might be, were these two disparate worlds to merge. (And if you want a real COBOL web framework, someone has built one here). |
|
|
| Heaviness: Light | Eccentricity: 10/10 | |
| Submitted: 22/02/2022 | Visit COBOL ON COGS | |
| SHA-256 Algorithm Explained [jump here] | ||
|
A visualisation of how a SHA256 digest is born. This interactive page reveals the process in all its gory details with pretty colours.
One may input any text phrase and let the algorithm play to completion, or view the process step by step. After seeing this, you'll have an appreciation of the effort required to design clever algorithms that encrypt our passwords and verify our files haven't been tampered. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Medium | Eccentricity: 4/10 | |
| Submitted: 20/02/2022 | Visit SHA-256 Algorithm Explained | |
| CoolText.com Wall of Text [jump here] | ||
|
CoolText.com allows one to generate stylised text, intended for web pages. Think of it being like WordArt but with many more colours and styles. Here, you may see a waterfall of all the text that is being generated in real time. I noted a few including "Merry Christmas", "Dem Moves" and even random Arabic phrases. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Heavy | Eccentricity: 6/10 | |
| Submitted: 16/12/2021 | Visit CoolText.com Wall of Text | |
| Webamp - Winamp 2.0 in your browser [jump here] | ||
| Winamp is the media player I missed. I began playing MP3s with the inferior counterpart named 'RealPlayer'. But I've since learnt more of the legend of WinAmp. Here, the venerable 2.0 version has been recreated in a browser, complete with a classic desktop. Fully functional; it plays real MP3s! It has the transcendental visualisations you'd expect. They even may be made full screen if you're called to DJ in a hurry. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Pure Loaded! | Eccentricity: 7/10 | |
| Submitted: 30/11/2021 | Visit Webamp - Winamp 2.0 in your browser | |
| andai.tv [jump here] | ||
|
This site has some quaint in-browser games and demos. I had fun with the robot walker and cruelly left him upturned on the ground. Then I played as a small fish, scouring the depths. You may also create your own (hopefully polite) animation before growing your own bonsai tree. I recommend a visit, it's like a bustling day at a science fair. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Modest | Eccentricity: 5/10 | |
| Submitted: 06/09/2021 | Visit andai.tv | |
| Velodius [jump here] | ||
|
A period website of an upstart flash animator. Sadly, we can't see the flash animations now, but the drawings are still present. In fact the whole site was meticulously-styled to look like a sketchbook, presumably with the pages coming alive (were Flash still present!). Favourite quote: "Eminem vid: I hate this and I don't like Eminem either, but some people wanted to see it." These old sites make me wonder: is the author still an artist today? Did he go on to find a place for his talents? |
|
|
| Heaviness: Light | Eccentricity: 7/10 | |
| Submitted: 06/09/2021 | Visit Velodius | |
| Cameron's World [jump here] | ||
| Flood your web browser with a deluge of GeoCities. Animated GIFs, a MIDI soundtrack, mystery beckons. Click anything on the page to warp back in time. This page persuaded me that I wasn't the only one who recalled the haphazard, DIY spirit that characterised my early days online. It is sincerely a work of high aesthetics. May it abide forever. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Pure Loaded! | Eccentricity: 8/10 | |
| Submitted: 28/08/2021 | Visit Cameron's World | |
| Windows 93 [jump here] | ||
| Windows 93 is the peculiar counterpart to Windows 96. The desktop has been themed by someone who just discovered vaporwave and has decided it is forever. It is littered with icons for heaven-knows-what, I'll leave them for the brave to uncover. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Pure Loaded! | Eccentricity: 7/10 | |
| Submitted: 28/08/2021 | Visit Windows 93 | |
| Windows 96 [jump here] | ||
| Someone has recreated the Windows 98-2000 desktop experience in the browser. This is worth a look for the trip down memory lane if you can't be bothered firing up a VM. |
|
|
| Heaviness: Heavy | Eccentricity: 3/10 | |
| Submitted: 28/08/2021 | Visit Windows 96 | |
