It’s days like this which restore my excitement about the web. I rarely ever sit in front of the computer for hours randomly following links anymore, but today I did. Here are a few of my major starting points:
- International House of Zzyzx
- California Highways Home Page
- US Highways: From US 1 to US 830
- 3-Digit Interstate Highways
Yeah, I’m a nerd and I’m comfortable with that. This is the kind of stuff I read for entertainment. It’s the kind of stuff which got me excited about the web to begin with: obsessive information sites on obscure topics done by actual individuals with no corporate funding nor stock offerings to be seen.
I like to think I made my contribution to this field with Folsom Street in the 70s. And I’m working on a few more in my spare time, including a “Streets of San Francisco” page (on the TV series, not the actual streets) and some “then and now” photographs of certain cities.
This is self-publishing in its purest form: total narrowcasting which doesn’t attempt to reach everyone on the planet and doesn’t rely on slow-loading animations and other superfluous gadgetry to convey its message. These sites are about information, not flash. They’re about personal interests, not profit.
And Microsloth will probably never try to buy them out. Many of them, like Planet SOMA, have been sailing along in realtively low-tech bliss for years. Their creators don’t get paid to maintain these sites; they do it because they enjoy it. Here are a few which might be worthy of your attention:
- Project: Denny’s
- Fabulous Ruins of Detroit
- C’mon Get Happy
- White Castle
- New York City Subway Resources
- Simpsons Archive
- South of the Slot
Check ’em out on your way to whatever “dotcom” is having the most exciting IPO of the week…