# Websites you associate with the early internet **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459 "2015-01-21T05:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/21 "2015-01-21T09:30:25Z")
I can remember the [first animated gif](http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Cats/Felix_thinking.gif) I ever saw. 1996 I think. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/22 "2015-01-21T12:04:25Z")
[A Frightened Boy](http://www.rathergood.com/vid) - the first…well, something, that I remember. I guess it was the first extended video meme (beyond something like hamsterdance) I remember. I think it was the first time I thought about the fact that people were creating art and entertainment content specifically for the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/23 "2015-01-21T12:11:01Z")
A trio of websites with fan-written rules for 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 and associated games on them. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/24 "2015-01-21T12:33:48Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > [suck.com](http://suck.com) This is the first thing I thought of. I also think of Canadian web comics (in the sense of comics scanned and posted on the web) like Space Moose and Bob the Angry Flower. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/25 "2015-01-21T12:50:37Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > I had purchased a computer that came with a CompuServe disk, so I used it to get on the internet (dial up). I ended up in several CompuServe chat rooms and then switched to their forums. > > The first month was so heady I was online every spare moment, hardly ate, lost weight and began finding articles on internet addiction on my desk at work. 😃 Oh yeah, many of us have been there. I love this song. It’s from **1989!** > [@](#): > > "As the people here grow colder > I turn to my computer > and spend my evenings with it > like a friend > > … [after discovering a creepy/soothing new program] > > Well I’ve never felt such pleasure > Nothing else seemed to matter > I neglected my bodily needs > > I did not eat > I did not sleep > The intensity increasing > 'Til my family found me and intervened > > …" [“Deeper Understanding”](http://youtu.be/-wDDxM1F4xY) - Kate Bush ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/26 "2015-01-21T12:56:25Z")
In addition to Altavista, Lycos, Geocities, Hotmail, Yahoo search, and the Hampsterdance, there’s was [Mirsky’s Worst of the Web](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirsky%27s_Worst_of_the_Web) and the [Cool Site of the Day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_Site_of_the_Day). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/27 "2015-01-21T14:04:15Z")
[The Spot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spot) ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/28 "2015-01-21T15:01:51Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Anyone remember this guy? > > [Mahir](http://mahir.faithweb.com/original.htm) That was my first thought when I read the thread title! “I KISS YOU!” Also rotten .com; Ask Jeeves, and Bianca’s Smut Shack (the first chat room I ever went to.) There was a site that had live cams from safari parks in Africa and if you were lucky you’d see giraffes or something. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/29 "2015-01-21T15:03:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Also, the way [Yahoo](http://www.electronicproducts.com/images2/fajb_popular_websites_07_feb2012.gif) used to look. Man, you never see the change from day to day! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/30 "2015-01-21T15:24:06Z")
Ask Jeeves makes me think of the 90s. It was the first search engine I used. I didn’t realize that it was a search engine really, mainly cuz I didn’t know what the hell a search engine was. I thought Jeeves was a gimmick that you could ask him about the future, for advice, etc. and he would “answer” you. I would type things in like “When will I get laid?” “Who will win the World Series this year?” “Should I ask \_\_\_ out?” Never got good answers. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/31 "2015-01-21T15:25:07Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > There was a site that had live cams from safari parks in Africa and if you were lucky you’d see giraffes or something. I had forgotten about this - I watched it all the time! There was also a site with several streaming web cams from Paris that was fascinating. I remember the absolute JOY of moving from dial-up to DSL. Suddenly all the image-heavy sites were viable options. Fifteen years later I still visit [this site](http://demeures.com/titre_en.htm)regularly. When I win the lottery I plan to buy a castle in France. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/32 "2015-01-21T15:40:45Z")
Who can forget [Mr.T Ate My Balls](http://flamesgif.com/archive/ate_my_balls/mr_t.html)? The first real internet lunatic I remember coming across was Steve Lightfoot, who thinks that Stephen King murdered John Lennon. And he’s [still at it](http://lennonmurdertruth.com/). ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/33 "2015-01-21T15:46:00Z")
How about [Craigslist.org](http://craigslist.org/)? It worked fine in 1995, so why change it? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/34 "2015-01-21T16:07:36Z")
[The Really Big Button That Doesn’t Do Anything](http://stefangagne.com/spatulacity/button.htm), which is still there (!) and hasn’t been updated in 15 years (!). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/35 "2015-01-21T16:09:27Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > [The Really Big Button That Doesn’t Do Anything](http://stefangagne.com/spatulacity/button.htm), which is still there (!) and hasn’t been updated in 15 years (!). Well…how often do you have to update a button that doesn’t do anything? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/36 "2015-01-21T16:21:56Z")
[Darwin Awards](http://www.darwinawards.com/). Snopes. Anything AOL. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/37 "2015-01-21T16:23:25Z")
Alta Vista, Excite. Usenet Newsgroups. Yahoo (which I still use). Geocities and Tripod. Brunching Shuttlecocks was my [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) back then. Hell, I have been a lurker here since the late nineties. Joined officially in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/38 "2015-01-21T16:27:30Z")
IMDb has been around since the dawn, I think, and for many years I used it as the poster child for what the internet could be all about and aspire to. I suppose Wackopedia has replaced that in most ways, but at least IMDb is moderated/curated. I can’t think of any other “signature” pages from those earliest days. I was never too much into exploring the web just to see how much weirdness I could find, or following strange little pages the way FB is followed today. I had a largish circle of relevant pages (several of them mine) and only occasionally followed “look at this weirdo/idiot/inept fool” pages. Hamsterdance, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/39 "2015-01-21T16:34:21Z")
Moving from Cafe Society to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459/40 "2015-01-21T16:40:05Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Ask Jeeves makes me think of the 90s. It was the first search engine I used. I didn’t realize that it was a search engine really, mainly cuz I didn’t know what the hell a search engine was. I thought Jeeves was a gimmick that you could ask him about the future, for advice, etc. and he would “answer” you. > > I would type things in like “When will I get laid?” “Who will win the World Series this year?” “Should I ask \_\_\_ out?” Never got good answers. In this respect, Ask Jeeves (now [Ask.com](http://Ask.com)) has never changed. **Quimby** – Brunching Shuttlecocks! Yes! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/websites-you-associate-with-the-early-internet/710459.md?page=3)