this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2024
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cozy 90s BBS forums, obscure blogs, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
[–] AllYourSmurf 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Came looking for zombo.com. Was not disappointed.

But then, zombo.com is the old Internet.

[–] mycodesucks 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 60 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Aw i miss when website tracking was only "xxxx users have visited this page" and it was just a simple counter that counted up.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I remember being so proud when I implemented that on my first website.

[–] masterbaexunn 11 points 2 months ago

THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Don't forget signing the guest list.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I haven’t visited in a long time – but I can’t imagine Craigslist has changed much.

[–] astanix 20 points 2 months ago (5 children)

It has not, though there really isn't much posted there anymore. Facebook marketplace has replaced it for most stuff. :(

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

This was mentioned on another post a few months ago, but it depends on your locale. In some places, it's Craigslist. Others, FB Marketplace.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago

It's not obscure, but, for me, Wikipedia is the ultimate example of the old internet that still persists today.

Free to use, no account required, ad free, non-corporate, multilingual, heavily biased toward text, simple and utilitarian design. Hyperlinks concatenate relevant pieces of information, which serve as the means to navigate the site. The code is very simple (seriously, view the page source of a wikipiedia article). It's based on the human desire to learn and share knowledge with others, and has remained resilient to corruption by commercial interests that pervert that desire for monetary gain. It's a beautiful thing.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

https://neocities.org/

Really awesome old school sites. Crazy gifs, web rings, etc.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Kernel.org, home of the Linux kernel, hasn't changed much.

Kernel.org today:

https://kernel.org/

Kernel.org in 1998:

https://web.archive.org/web/19980130085039/https://kernel.org/

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (2 children)

https://www.spacejam.com/1996/jam.html

I’m pretty sure spacejam.com showed that page up until the sequel supplanted it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

From a time when websites used <table> or position: absolute; to place elements on the screen. That website is just one big table.

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[–] EleventhHour 18 points 2 months ago

Florida’s unemployment website

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

All of them, if you browse with Links.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

LYNX v2.9.2 released in May 2024.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Not a website, but since you mention BBSes...one thing that would look pretty familiar to a 1990s Internet user would be most of the text-based MUDs, the ancestor of MMORPGs, that are around.

The MUD Connector is still around, and still has a list of active MUDs.

While I suspect that most dedicated MUDders use dedicated clients, the base protocol is still normally telnet, and you can use a plain old telnet client to play...a protocol that predates Internet Protocol itself.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

I still mud on occasion. I used TinyFugue back when i started mudding in 88 or 89 (maybe lot was 89/90). I then used zMUD and later cMUD for years. Now I use MUDlet.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Your way back search engine https://wiby.me It even comes a surprise me button

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I have the suprise page set as start page in my browser, so i get a surprise website, when i open a browser window.

[–] davidgro 15 points 2 months ago

If you want one that isn't actually from that time, just feels like it, I'd say https://tildes.net/

[–] JDPoZ 15 points 2 months ago

How is it that 2 days after this posted no one has said “Craigslist.”

[–] rottingleaf 15 points 2 months ago
[–] ivanafterall 14 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

https://wwww.badgerbadgerbadger.com

Except my browser blocked the audio by default, wtf.

Also YTMND

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago
[–] Akinzekeel 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ebay

I imagine their source code is such an unmaintainable mess that it’s impossible to modernize

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[–] mycodesucks 13 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] marlowe221 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] surfrock66 10 points 2 months ago
[–] Peffse 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The Fighters Generation

gradients, animated GIFs, "best browsed on", and a frame once you click enter. Only thing it's missing is an index page.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

frame

Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time.

Story time: In the super old days, I want to say 1996? 1997? I wrote a four or five line HTML that would split the screen into two horizontal frames, then split those each into vertical frames, then those horizontal -- ad infinitum.

I don't think there were any browsers that didn't fail that test. I'm sure I only checked IE3 or IE4 and Netscape. One of them locked the computer up and had to be killed via "close program." The other one locked the machine up and it became completely unresponsive, needing to be hard booted.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I get most of the stills for my Star Trek memes from trekcore.com which has a pretty old-web feel to it.

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[–] HidingUnderHats 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

https://www.pizzajerkpdx.com/

They are trying to be 90s, but I love it. I thought they had a site counter at some point, but maybe I am misremembering and it was just the guest book.

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[–] the_toast_is_gone 8 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)
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[–] mojofrododojo 7 points 2 months ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

https://search.marginalia.nu/ is a search engine for non-commercial content and is pretty great regarding the old-school factor :-)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

TIL Timecube is no longer up. That was my go to site for what the internet used to be like.

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[–] Brkdncr 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My healthcare services websites. Their website and mobile app require separate logins. The website logs in then redirects to a completely different website.

They have a tax-free “store” that feels like a completely different website.

Everything is laid out using what seems like the idea of middle management and not modern design philosophy.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

LaserDisc Database

Extremely useful website for collectors of dead media formats (LD, D-VHS, HD-DVD, CED, VHD, etc.) Still has an old style interface with priority given to function and utility over styling. Also has a storefront where you can buy and sell discs.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

4-ch.net (not to be confused with 4chan) is a 90s BBS that is still online and occasionally active. It's neat to see posts from the 90s still on the front page.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

I'm on a couple forum sites still (both phpbb I think). I still read fark.com but rarely if ever comment anymore.

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