XKCD made me happy today!

[Half Man Half Wit]

With its homage to the shutting down of GeoCities. I mean, it's got everything -- animated background, broken HTML tags, annoying ani-gifs, 'under construction', netscape-style broken images, random web awards... It's beautifully done, really. Never thought I'd get nostalgic for atrocious web design... Reminds me of the X-Files fan page I made when I was around 14 (though I think that was on CompuServe's free hosting service). Those were the days, man.

[jjimm]

Beautiful. So well executed.

[Khadaji]

Part of what makes it funny is there are a ton of people (well, at least me) who wouldn't even have noticed.

[Unintentionally Blank]

Whoa.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Khadaji

Part of what makes it funny is there are a ton of people (well, at least me) who wouldn't even have noticed.

Me, too. Never even noticed the background, just went straight to the comic.

Having had it brought to my attention, I have to say that it's absolutely perfect. I feel like it's 1996 again.

[mr. jp]

It was great. I especially like the page counter with a lot of zeros.

[Mr. Miskatonic]

Ah, the broken HTML tag....memories...

I sometimes cannot believe what was on the web in its infancy.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

I was going to post this. It was great!

[Savannah]

I saw it too! Very cute. Well done, sir.

[Mahna Mahna]

I'd forgotten how annoying those damned blink tags were! Absolutely perfect... the only thing missing is the big animated "Sign My Guestbook!" logo.

It's kind of like running into a Facebook profile for the most annoying kid in your high school class, and suddenly feeling all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic about the way he used to pick his nose in math class and his scuzzy b.o.

[Electronic Chaos]

I especially love the X(KCD)10 banner at the very bottom. I was just thinking about how those infernal banners and pop-ups used to be everywhere, and now I haven't seen one in at least 7 years or more.

[dangermom]

Thanks! I get it on google reader and never go to the site.

[Justin_Bailey]

That was incredible. But my GeoCities site from 1997 never looked like that. No sir.

No really, it didn't. It was quite lame though.

[Wheeljack]

I think the internet should still look like this.

[Ximenean]

"Best viewed in Netscape Navigator 4.7 or better at 800x480"

Beautiful parody. I like how the graphics and icons are just the right kind of crappy.

[Sunspace]

OMG. I haven't thought about webrings in over a decade...

Perfect.

[friedo]

There's tons of goodies hidden in the source, too. E.g.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="QBASIC">IF $BROWSER = "IE" THEN GOTO 50</SCRIPT>

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='SCHEME'>(define (eval exp env)  (cond ((self-evaluating? exp) exp)  ((variable? exp) (lookup-variable-value exp env))  ((quoted? exp) (text-of-quotation exp))  ((assignment? exp) (eval-assignment exp env))  ((definition? exp) (eval-definition exp env))  ((if? exp) (eval-if exp env))  ((lambda? exp)  (make-procedure (lambda-parameters exp)  (lambda-body exp)  env))  ((begin? exp)   (eval-sequence (begin-actions exp) env))  ((cond? exp) (eval (cond->if exp) env))  ((application? exp)  (apply (eval (operator exp) env)  (list-of-values (operands exp) env)))  (else  (error "Common Lisp or Netscape Navigator 4.0+ Required" exp))))</SCRIPT>

And all sorts of funny HTML attributes sprinkled throughout.

[RTFirefly]

I love the banner for the "X10KCD Spy Camera."

[fusoya]

OMFG, I had that same Under Construction & NO SPAM banners on my website back in 1996.....and I know I used <BLINK> somewhere on it too.

[MsWhatsit]

I, uh, may or may not have used that spinning animated e-mail graphic on my personal homepage in 1997.

Wow. That really takes me back. Webrings!

[Ají de Gallina]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

I, uh, may or may not have used that spinning animated e-mail graphic on my personal homepage in 1997.

Wow. That really takes me back. Webrings!

I'm not crying, OK???!!!, it's that bleeping dust on my eyes......

[MrSquishy]

It needs more MIDI!

[KneadToKnow]

Pfft. Any real GeoCities site worth going to would have crashed already.

[MsWhatsit]

I was going to say that the only thing missing is one of those <hr> horizontal lines, but no, there it is! He thought of everything.

[elmwood]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

I, uh, may or may not have used that spinning animated e-mail graphic on my personal homepage in 1997.

This one?

http://i34.tinypic.com/28irwon.gif

I also wonder where middle-aged Southern women will now post glurgey poetry, prayer, "survivor", miscarriage memorial and dead baby memorial pages like this ...

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9...n125658257.jpg

[Harmonious Discord]

I always think of the sites that say:
Updated Monthly
Next Update November 2002.
The site has been there that long and not removed.

[Harmonious Discord]

That was the death of one of the greatest sites to visit "Cajun In The Kitchen". Animated swamp critters playing Cajun music and page after page of Cajun cooking. I also did the ring tours occasionally.

[Kyla]

Oh, I'm feeling all nostalgic for 1997 now. Those were the days...

[pravnik]

That's great!

[Just Some Guy]

He forgot the frames.

[Angel of the Lord]

Hey. As long as it's still up...

Here is an example of a classically bad Geocities site.

_{Why, yes, that's my old page from when I was 15...dear Og, I want to go back and smack me.}

[SenorBeef]

The 2 or 3 times I've looked at a myspace page, it looked very similar to what this page and what the old geocities pages used to look like. It hurts my brain.

This page has a bankround that scrolls as you scroll the page, which is less annoying than the old backgrounds that used to stay static as the foreground scrolled over them.

[Jeep's Phoenix]

I can't find my old Geocities page...I had pretty much deleted most of the content and abandoned it though, so it's probably gone by now. I think my worst offense was an embedded MIDI.

Excellent 'tribute' though.

[Mindfield]

I totally forgot to check XKCD today. That ... is awesome. Beautiful. All the HTML tag errors and transparent tables and gratuitous blinking and animated background and jerky scroller and awards with improper aspect ratios... awesome. The hidden HTML source shenanigans are just icing on the cake -- pure XKCD spirit.

[Idlewild]

I met my husband of 11 years in a geocities chatroom. He was going all schmoopy this morning over our old place getting torn down. I just thought it was about time!

[enalzi]

Man, it's been a few years, but I've forgotten all about guestbooks and counters on every single website. Oh, those were the days.

[dhkendall]

One of the best parodies/homages I've seen on the Internet, well, ever.

Kind of made me feel a bit guilty, though. I designed my first site devoted to the study of national anthems (I'm an anthematologist - hardcore, have been for about 20 years now) back in 1999, when that kind of stuff was still common. I also taught myself HTML back in 1994 when it was *way* more common. Sad thing is, even though I've been trying to keep it up to date looks wise (not to mention content wise, more important, n'est-ce pas?) I still notice a lot of things in its current look that today's xkcd hit a bit too close to home for my liking:

• Web award from a site no one's heard of? Check.
• MIDIs? Hundreds of em! Check. (Although, to be fair, I've always used the excuse that they take less rooom than MP3s, easier to find copyright-free versions to use, faster to download, and don't detract from the main part of the page (ie it's about the info, not the music)
• Hand coded HTML? Check.
• Frames? Check
• Out of date information? Check. (Been *way* too busy lately to keep on top of updates)

I guess I can blame it on being raised old-school (and starting the site old-school). Even though the site is often quoted as a premiere guide for anthematological research, I sometimes wonder if they're not laughing at the design behind their back.

(THis could also explain why my web design business spectacularly failed ... )

[Freudian Slit]

I don't get the nachos joke, though.

[anu-la1979]

Good but needs more midi.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

I don't get the nachos joke, though.

The girl on the phone and the roommate of the guy on the phone are playing a vs. shooter over the internet. The girl on the phone is convincing the guy on the phone to make nachos in the microwave. The microwave temporarily knocks out the roommate's wi-fi connection, disconnecting the roommate and allowing the girl on the phone to kill her avatar.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by jayjay

The girl on the phone and the roommate of the guy on the phone are playing a vs. shooter over the internet. The girl on the phone is convincing the guy on the phone to make nachos in the microwave. The microwave temporarily knocks out the roommate's wi-fi connection, disconnecting the roommate and allowing the girl on the phone to kill her avatar.

Ah, didn't even realize they were roommates. Thank you, jayjay.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

Ah, didn't even realize they were roommates. Thank you, jayjay.

The clue is that in the first panel, the guy on the phone says, "Looking for Megan? She's gaming", and the girl on the phone says, "I know". It took me about three reads to catch that myself.

[Mr. Excellent]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

I don't get the nachos joke, though.

SPOILER:

The woman talking about nachos was playing a game against his girlfriend. She made that dude hungry so he'd go nuke some nachos, thus trashing his girlfriend's wifi signal and rendering her vulnerable to a headshot. Cut-throat stuff.

[Omniscient]

I must be missing something. Where's this homage to Geocites? All I'm seeing is the Nachos strip. Is there some meta joke here that's over my head?

[WarmNPrickly]

It's gone. He took it down.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by Omniscient

I must be missing something. Where's this homage to Geocites? All I'm seeing is the Nachos strip. Is there some meta joke here that's over my head?

Before it had scrolling text and really tacky background with stars and colors. The way a horrible Geocities site would look.

[Half Man Half Wit]

Someone on the forums there was kind enough to mirror the site, anticipating the change back, so everybody can still get their retro-XKCD goodness!

[tr0psn4j]

Originally Posted by Half Man Half Wit

Someone on the forums there was kind enough to mirror the site, anticipating the change back, so everybody can still get their retro-XKCD goodness!

Oh, I thought it was all going over my head! It makes a lot more sense now.

[Harmonious Discord]

Originally Posted by anu-la1979

Good but needs more midi.

Midi without the controls enabled. Then you can't shut off the player.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Heh. I saw this first thing Monday morning, pre-coffee, and all I thought was, "What the hell? XKCD has a new site design. Sucks. Okay, here's the comic." I completely skipped over all the text, and I missed the joke. Thanks for this thread!