My Cyber Trek

Since I’m now laid off for the season (it’s difficult to roof in the winter) and I have way too much time on my hands I thought I would take a leisurely cruise through the interwebs and explore the scenery. However I was not satisfied with taking one of the more traditional routes. No, I did my exploring off the beaten path and what I discovered ranged from amusing to strange to downright creepy. It’s little wonder why few folk venture where I did. So without further delay, here are a few places of interest I stumbled upon during my travels on the internet bush roads.

Area 404 is part of a site known as 404 Research Lab which documents everything you could possibly want to know about 404s. Area 404 is sort of a repository of the various 404 error pages they have collected. Most of them are somewhat amusing while a few downright bizarre.

This most strange area of the web is where I encountered numerous pages all claiming to be the last page on the internet. It’s a good thing I hadn’t tied into the whiskey yet. You can see some examples of what I mean here, here, here, here and here. There’s more – many more. Draw your own conclusions.

Here is a variation of the last page on the internet scheme, this one called Turn Off the Internet. It’s simply a flash object set to a black background and yes it is interactive and no I didn’t push the button. I like my computer.

This is the logo for Hell.com. Yes there really is a Hell.com and I found it. Not knowing what to expect, as I had been taught hell was a scary place, I carefully entered the site with both java and javascript disabled but to my surprise found nothing but a Google search box set to a black background. All smoke and mirrors.

This place is scary. Downright frightening. The Death Clock describes itself as “the Internet’s friendly reminder that life is slipping away… second by second. Like the hourglass of the Net, the Death Clock will remind you just how short life is.” I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

After my quick exit from the Death Clock I wandered into this site and was greeted by the most bizarre page I had ever encountered. Click the image below to enlarge.

Though you can’t tell from the image above, the strange little characters blinked annoyingly in my browser. You can see for yourself by visiting the actual site. Curious as to the meaning of this odd yet annoying blinking page I checked the source code. Yikes! Check the image below to reveal what I discovered.

What could it be? A coffee maker? A pump? Something more sinister? I never did figure out what that object is but it is totally benign. The site was put up by the family of Dutch web designers as a joke. If you click around you’ll find many more odd things, all of which are harmless albeit annoying.

Of course my journey would not have been complete without visiting the First Page of the Internet.

originally published 19 Dec 2007