#RetroWeb

[onemillionwordsofcrap]

Want some retro internet nostalgia?? Here you go.

Search engine for Geocities gifs, courtesy of archive.org. Have fun finding those relics from middle school!

[theelusivepoetalien]

So I took a break from using google products for a while. Last year I gave in and started using Jamboard. Fortunately since then I've picked up enough html to think I can clap together a tackboard for myself with plenty of space to make it pretty later. If I want to access it from just one computer, I can leave it in the file systems and run those internal files on a browsing program (life firefox) like any other .html website. If I want to be able to access it anywhere I'm logged into my home wifi, I can host it from a turned on device (a computer or a phone), or even maybe on a hard drive plugged into the router (some mid grade to fancy ones have usb ports for simple storage) It will be kind of clunky, but a fun project to improve the look and input options over time, and as long as I back up the files periodically, I don't have to worry about people out of town adding software migrations to my life. I think it's a reasonable goal to have more direct control over more of the computing tools I use, insofar as I can. I think a lot of accessibility has been taken off the internet and out of our cultural communication about how the 'net works... and with a little curiosity and flexibility, users can add that back for themselves perhaps.

[absurdpositivity]

What's on your mind?

[carcassforager]

hey i made this it took like a week i hope you like it

[techyneedy]

Step back in time with Sprunki on Neocities! 🕹�� A fusion of vintage web design and imaginative art — perfect for those who love creativity with a nostalgic flair. Explore the magic and be inspired! 💡 Check it out

[laramzp]

Cyberdelirium (2024)

Cyberdelirium is a digital poetry collection that reflects on a nostalgic vision of the 90s internet—an era defined by hope, freedom, and personal expression. This was an internet of people, not things, where users could shape their own corners of the web with a sense of individuality and creativity. The collection explores how different web aesthetics from that time influenced our perception of digital spaces and identities.

Presented on two iMac G3s within a staged artificial environment, the interactive poems invite viewers to explore the nostalgic allure of the early web while engaging with its history. Each poem is a fragment that probes the tension between human connection, expression, and the increasing corporatization of digital spaces.

Cyberdelirium asks viewers to consider how our relationship with the internet has changed over time—what we once worshiped as a tool of freedom and expression has, in many ways, become a space of identity loss and control.

Cyberdelirium underscores that the early internet was a fragmented and multifaceted space—one where individuality flourished, even as the seeds of the current, more centralized internet were being sown. The design choices are not merely decorative but serve as a commentary on how web architecture and layout shape our perception of the internet and our place within it.

The poems engage with themes of identity, connection, and memory within the digital space. The work asks viewers to consider the ways in which design shapes our online experiences and to reflect on what has been lost as the internet has evolved.

Cyberdelirium is a digital poetry collection that critically examines the evolution of the internet, exploring the complex relationships humans have with this ever-shifting space. Through themes of nostalgia, worship, and disillusionment, the poems reflect on the way the web has changed—from its early days full of promise and personal freedom to the more commodified digital environments we navigate today.

Cyberdelirium transports viewers into a digital realm that feels as though it’s flickering between past and present.

As users navigate the interactive poems, they encounter a tension between the content and the form. The retro design, with its purposeful imperfections, reflects the fractured sense of time and space within the poems, where meaning is always slipping, always just out of reach. Cyberdelirium invites users to wander through a digital landscape of memory and loss, where the act of interaction itself mirrors the experience of trying to grasp something that is already fading away.

By embracing the limitations and quirks of early web aesthetics, Cyberdelirium captures the tension between form and content, where meaning is shaped by the very structure that presents it.

each click unravels another layer of this digital world, blurring the lines between poetry and interface, between content and design.

Cyberdelirium opens up a space where users can interpret the meaning of their digital journey, navigating a landscape that is as much about the aesthetic experience as it is about the words themselves.

Cyberdelirium is a return to the chaotic abyss of digital subjectivity.

These poems, fragments of a past that was never fully real, stand in deliberate contrast to the sleek, algorithmically driven surfaces of today. They are echoes from the collapse of a collective hallucination—the remnants of an internet that once promised liberation, only to spiral into corporate-managed enclosure.

inviting viewers to wander through the ruins of the digital age. Each click is a step deeper into this disintegration—a lost future that can’t be recovered. In this space, nostalgia and estrangement intertwine, as every fragment of the past dissolves into the digital mist.

Exhibited at LEGAL Club, Munich in October 2024

[scott17899]

A while ago I made a tool called Static Ultra to build/maintain my static website/blog. Then I stopped using it to try a different approach. Now I'm using it again! :D

[lunachats]

i think it'd be cute if people did the indie retroweb thing but like. as tor hidden services on the darkweb. just a bunch of little websites with like blog posts and pictures of cats and amateur html layouts and badges and webrings. maybe some tiny irc servers or mastodon instances. all of it running on those randomized .onion domain names, maybe even on home computers. no webhosting necessary!

[monstroso]

do the retroweb kidz know about Disko Warp. I think a midi of Less Than Three could do numbers embedded on every scriptkiddie webpage on neocities

[retronetdev]

It is unfortunate that in the time I have remaining on this plane of existence, I must put so much effort in resisting the government’s efforts to impose an onerous requirement that should not be imposed at the outset.

RetroWeb

As a technology professional who grew up alongside the industry, my experience far predates the Internet. That said, I have enjoyed the “retro-Net,” that is, the World Wide Web as it existed as an Information Superhighway packed full of authentic and accurate content, few if any advertisements, and ‘Mom and Pop’ scratching out a modest living as the purveyors of a unique offering.

Those days are now long gone.

However, the choices of how to navigate the web is little different from choosing what series of streets to take in order to reach your destination.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Few idioms are as meaningful, yet even my recent search for this term was fought with extraneous information and attacks by those interlopers who would exploit one’s quest for knowledge.

‘What if” I were to only visit those sites which genuinely provided the information I seek, free of sophistry and guile and sorely lacking in integrity? Call it, “Site A.”

From Site A my next Internet Web address might be Site C or Site F. Site C is “on the tour,” meaning, I know that a visit there will be just that. Site F, however, leads out of the RetroNet, and a visit there would be “caveat emptor.”

If I am me, and yes, I just happen to be me, I am going to actively choose the path which yields the most value over that which does not.

If there are no advertisements, there’s no income? There are advertisements, but they are non intrusive and do not manipulate people or content for any reason. In other words, I have zero concerns about visiting a website which, while it may provide one perspective on the topic, it is, at a minimum, honest, safe, and a true representation of one person freely sharing their experiences and opinions and knowledge with others.

Fortunately, I already know this concept works and works well because it has already proven itself. I have been describing a World Wide Web which catalyzed the Web we have today. The proof of concept is that empirically, this version of the internet was so overwhelmingly popular, it lead to all we have to thank for it today.

RetroWeb is not a substandard offering, and does not require that vegetables-only be eaten. But more need not be said. Everyone knows the truth of what I have been saying. It is instinctual, intuitively true, and undeniable. RetroWeb is not about making money.

RetroWeb is about communicating to people that which others know or believe to be true.

A person who owns a business based upon the propagation of truth, can never go wrong, even when wrong.

[hydralisk98]

About to reach a kiloword (2^10 aka 1024) followers...

First, thanks to all of you by so sooooo much for caring and sticking around, you are amazing sapient individuals and deserve my praise for it.

Now, I want to make myself and my income future-proof. So, don't mind if I start creating and selling a few products on a few online storefronts? I am still making free stuff for you all to enjoy, I just want to develop some more usefulness and improve upon my skills going forward.

PRODUCT IDEAS (the Nth list)

Syndicalist stickers, buttons & cutouts (derived from Kaiserreich) derived for a handful of countries in the world.

Contemporary legalism-compliant axis-victory world fan-merch (merely immersive feelies that avoid specific connotated patterns & malicious use intents)

Reprint templates for "Landlords Game" and its 1930s "Prosperity" ruleset

Custom ancients-style games & classic board games...

Memetic stylized personalized "branded" stickers

Customized iconography packs for autistic organization

Cardboard double-sided counters

Cutout sticker sheets

Memo pads & sticky note stacks

FontForge typefaces / fonts (in TTF, WOFF & OTF formats)

Artistic notecards

Regular playing cards and Tarot cards decks

Visualization decks / deques for colouring & gratitude

Animated yesteryear retroweb-like pixel assets for Neocities

Reality scripture worksheets with visualization tips & aids

New desktop theme customization packs (mostly aiming towards KDE Plasma & GTK-derived desktop environments, with limited support for macOS / Windows)

Printable stylized documents and their model source files in PDF & LibreOffice source file types form (with some Blender, Inkscape, GIMP...)

PNG / GIF / SVG graphical packs

OGG / OGV / OPUS multimedia packs (for physical media too!)

3D paper prints / papercrafts environmental packs

Hexagonal dotted grids for speculative world generation paradigms (TTRPGs-friendly)

Kid topics worksheets (w/ source files) for constructed languages & cultures...

(Add)venturing prompt / question / query modules

Construction toys & their thematic sets

TTRPG modules (game adventures, campaign settings, ruleset complements...)

Personalized computer builds (with both aesthetics and function in mind...)

Educational flashcards?

Art prints / posters?

Paper dollhouse packs?

Code snippets and scripts (GitLab / GitHub / Sourcehut)?

Visual previews for community review:

Farewell to soon!

[onemillionwordsofcrap]

Hey!!! Hey guys!! This is what the internet sounded like when I was a kid

WebTV was a little box from the 90s that you could plug up to any TV. It was basically a tiny underpowered computer that used a proprietary OS. It didn't use a mouse, just keyboard controls, but it had a web search, bookmarks, and the ability to set up and host your own website and use e-mail. I used to write stories on it by writing emails to myself because there was no word processor.

But more relevant to this video, MP3s weren't popular yet and there was no real music player, and streaming didn't exist. So WebTV incorporated a midi player with a set collection of midis to listen to while you browsed. That was it, you had that bunch of midis and nothing else, but you could at least pick which ones to put in the rotation. 😅 Turning these on still instantly puts me in childhood-brain-mode.

[thetraumatrain]

begging everyone to come to neocities and build your one shitty uncensored websites on the retroweb

With tumblr's future suddenly uncertain, i'd just like to reiterate that I would rather pull my teeth out with a blowtorch than use mastodon or fediverse.

[crxmes]

@0bscureous

[widgethunter]

hearme out, new underated aesthetic: obscure complex inforgaphic

[cyberwavebabe]

via