reasons to love the cybernet

I hate almost all of commercial cyberspace.

Call me a pinko-commie-tree-hugger, but before the Web came a long, I hated advertisements (with very rare exceptions and I'm not talking about "where's the beef" or spuds mackenzie) and I hated telemarketers and people who say, "excuse me ma'am, would you like to apply for an American Airlines Platinum card to receive free miles?" Back then, though, I could avoid most ads, by not watching television.

But now, I sort of live and breathe the tedious beta version of the Metaverse and am bombarded by inline ads (skin crawls just saying it), banners, interstitial ads, and spam. I can't get away from it. It makes me angry. It makes me hate and seethe.

And then I bump up against a site that is truly entertaining, engaging, utilitarian, or just funny, and it makes it all better.

This post is an ode to the sites I love. I'm going to name a couple here. I was hoping that if anyone actually reads this post, they could post a reply with a couple of their favorites. I'm not talking about things like Google or IMDB, which we all know and love, but those little sites you bumped into and felt like you found something made just for you. Like the time I turned a corner in Portland, Oregon and found a closet-sized video arcade that specialized in 80s video games (and not just the ubiquitous Ms. PacMan or Galaga) and Asian candies and snacks. I hung out for about 2 hours playing Tempest and eating Pocky Sticks.

The Weight Watcher's Cards circa 1970
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html
I can visit this site every 24 months and laugh myself sick even though the content never changes. Maybe it is the ceramic animals? Maybe because I did weight watchers, not in the 70s mind you, but the nutrition/recommended meals still had this strange sort of internal logic unto itself that wasn't entirely gourmand-friendly.

The Kook's Museum
http://www.pacifier.com/~dkossy/kooksmus.html
I think MV's bro found this first, back in like '94, but I think I love it more than he did. Whenever I feel crazy, I go read the writing s of one Francis E. Dec (Esquire), where he exposes "the worldwide deadly Communist Gangster Computer God," and I feel much, much saner. It's all relative baby.

The Hamster Dance
http://www.webhamster.com/
It's the music I think. Such a classic waste of space and time. It makes me positively gleeful. Like go-sing-in-an-actual-glee-club-gleeful.

http://buyblue.org/
I was sitting at work one day wondering in what small ways I can live with more integrity and I received an e-mail with a link to this site. Now I know when I spend money that goes to the Republicans. I haven't made much headway on the integrity thing, but it's useful to know that it isn't only for reasons of taste that one should eschew shopping at Victoria's Secret.