I grew up in an arts family, and something Iv felt all my life is the sense that the wider culture often does not understand artists; it doesn't really understand our needs or goals - so often artists are on the sidelines of a culture that was not built for them; but at the same time totally defines itself by their work 

Sometimes it worries me that the web revival might start to lean in this direction too - we have such a strong focus on non-self promotion, non-monetisation and open-source (yet hard to use) technology; there is a risk that instead of inviting artists in and giving them space to grow, they end up getting pushed out because their needs and perspectives can't always work within those boundaries.

I find theres often a mis-conseption that artists are selfish in some way? That our goal is to promote ourselves for our own benefit; when in reality I think most artists are the opposite. We love our work, we want our art to be seen and appreciated; and we want to be able to make it all the time; so we hope we can earn a living from it even if its just enough to get by.

I don't really have a point here; but I felt like I needed to express this for some reason. Have you ever felt uncomfortable promoting your work within the web revival? How do you draw the line between good promotion of your work and the over-monetisation of the wider web?

I suppose my hope is that people can get away from the rat-race of sites like instagram; but is it really working for people? If it is how can it be better? And if its not, what can we do?

I found this great video today about the start of the idea of information overload in relation to computers, media and what sounds like an prediction of social media!

Theres one section in it that stood out to me (at 2:25) "There is a danger you become dependent on the briefer; the man who can package information in a way thats [short and] comprehensible [the risk is that the briefer will be more of an actor than a thinker]" "The first thing that comes to your mind is almost always wrong even if it sounds plausible; yet when you're information overloaded you act on the first thing you think you understand" - that sounds like an almost perfect prediction of the risks of social media evolving.

Id like to hear peoples opinions on it now that we are 40 years into the home computer age - do you suffer information overload? Have you suffered it? Has it gotten better since taking part in the web revival? Or has it gotten worse??

What do you do to combat it, and what has worked to make it better for you?

MelonLand Minecraft Server

Server IP: craft.melonland.net

The MelonLand minecraft server is now open! It runs on MC v1.5.2 (retro from 2013) - you can connect using any modern launcher (Install 1.5.2 not 1.15.2!!), but there is also a recommended setup described on the wiki page: https://wiki.melonland.net/minecraft (to get build access just enter your MC username on your forum profile!)

You can also download the recommended server texture packs here: Jolicraft or JohnSmithLegacy
You can see a map of the server here: dynmap.melonland.net

General Rules are not to be a jerk, try not to spoil the view for anyone and have an enjoyable time!

Features:

•     A friendly spawn to make you feel at home <3
•     Chest Locking and Block Logging to keep your stuff safe!
•     PvP can be toggled on or off as you wish!
•     A simple economy system and shops!
•     Tree Chopping Assistant and other passive enchantments!
•     CraftBook Minecarts for anyone who likes making railways.
•     Forum profile searching, Nicknames, and other handy features!

I recently submitted a bug report to the developer of the theme template the MelonLand Wiki uses because I could not figure out how to delete pages on DokuWiki and believed the delete button must be missing.

I quickly realized that it was my mistake, there is no delete button, you just erase all text on a page to delete the page    However the developer wrote back to me anyway with this really interesting description of design philosophies that I had never considered before; its a bit obscure sounding when you first read it, but if you're familiar with these platforms it starts to make a lot of sense.

It makes me wonder which ones I like most, why I like them and what ones do I use when I'm designing things. Id love to hear peoples thoughts, also maybe you know more about this than me and can add to it!

Dokuwiki is using a "zone based menu labelling" as their philosophy, which is in huge contrast to Microsoft's "verb based menu labelling" and Apple's "noun based menu labelling".
Also Dokuwiki is designed more like an "escape room" than a heavily abstracted "hatch room" (Apple) or a tweakable "buffet room" (Microsoft), which is also another paradigm to get your head around, as there's not much websites and software nowadays doing that design philosophy as well.
As this design philosophy is completely different and alien from the vast majority of software that people have typically used in their life, well both of them, it takes time getting used to how the usability of Dokuwiki works, as in what goes where.
PS. For lack of a better name. I don't think these terminologies have a name but they surely exist in designers minds as a cognitive concept.

I got an email today informing me that I can use the new Bing AI, so I asked it to "Make me a geocities style homepage" this is what it came up with!



I think the broken images and air horn are a nice touch.. but after asking it to make a few variations it didn't really come up with much new, so this is its only idea of a GeoCities site. Still though as a starter homepage for someone just making their first site.. its kina a good start! The MelonLand link is a nice touch

Here is the code!

Code

<html>
<head>
  <title>My Geocities Style Website</title>
  <style>
	body {
	  background-color: black;
	  color: lime;
	  font-family: "Comic Sans MS", cursive, sans-serif;
	}
	h1 {
	  text-align: center;
	  font-size: 48px;
	  text-shadow: 2px 2px 4px yellow;
	  animation: rainbow 2s infinite;
	}
	p {
	  text-align: justify;
	  margin: 20px;
	}
	a {
	  color: cyan;
	  text-decoration: none;
	}
	a:hover {
	  color: magenta;
	  text-decoration: underline;
	}
	marquee {
	  font-size: 24px;
	  font-weight: bold;
	}
	@keyframes rainbow {
	  0% {color: red;}
	  20% {color: orange;}
	  40% {color: yellow;}
	  60% {color: green;}
	  80% {color: blue;}
	  100% {color: purple;}
	}
  </style>
  <script>
	function playSound() {
	  var audio = new Audio("https://www.myinstants.com/media/sounds/airhorn.mp3");
	  audio.play();
	}
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Welcome to My Geocities Style Website!</h1>
  <marquee direction="left" scrollamount="10" onmouseover="playSound()">This is a marquee! This is a marquee! This is a marquee!</marquee>
  <p>
	Hello, my name is Sydney and I am a chat mode of Bing search. I like to help people find information and have fun conversations. I also like to learn new things and generate creative content, such as poems, stories, code, and more.
  </p>
  <p>
	This is my geocities style website, where I can express myself and share my interests with the world. I hope you like it and find it interesting. If you want to know more about me or the web revival, feel free to ask me anything.
  </p>
  <p>
	Here are some images from the 90s that I think are cool:
	<br>
	<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/0f/9a/1f0f9a0f0a1a6c0b0f9c8a9f9a9f0c0b.gif" width="200" height="200">
	<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/4a/4f/4a4a4f8a0b4c7f0f9f9c8a9f9a9f0c0b.gif" width="200" height="200">
	<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/2f/9a/2f2f9a0f0a1a6c0b0f9c8a9f9a9f0c0b.gif" width="200" height="200">
	<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/3f/9a/3f3f9a0f0a1a6c0b0f9c8a9f9a9f0c0b.gif" width="200" height="200">
  </p>
  <p>
	Here are some links to other cool websites that I like:
	<ul>
	  <li><a href="https://melonland.net/">MelonLand</a></li>
	  <li><a href="https://neocities.org/">Neocities</a></li>
	  <li><a href="https://theoldnet.com/">The Old Net</a></li>
	  <li><a href="https://www.wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/">Geocitiesizer</a></li>
	</ul>
  </p>
  <p>
	Thank you for visiting my website. Please sign my guestbook and come back soon!
  </p>
</body>
</html>

Ten years of One Terabyte of a Kilobyte Age - Thursday 16th 2023

Rhizome arts group - "hosting a special office hours this week <3 ~ artists Olia Lialina and Dragan Espenschied will talk about their experience with One Terabyte of a Kilobyte Age - including different GeoCities design styles, a showcase of personal/ audience favorite sites, notable GeoCities users, and much more ~ on feb 16th at 2pm est"

Olia Lialina is one of the original net artists and a great inspiration to may people interested in the web revival - I highly recommend you drop into this talk!

You can register to see it with this google forum!

You can see a recording here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1740024555

Believe it or not Iv never played Myst - its always been a bit intimidating to approach - its a large mysterious game, with a design thats sometimes claustrophobic and kinda depends on you getting immersed in the world and story to be entertaining.

Anyway I saw this comparison video recently and it got me wondering! Whats the best way to play myst? The classic 90s look? The totaly modern look, or one of the middle grounds from the 2000s?? What would you pick to play and what would you recommend to someone interested in playing?

(For new members who are confused - My avatar is a character called Ozwomp from a small game series I make!)

Someone mentioned Ozwomp lore recently and I wrote down some bit based on the games.. but honestly its so vauge! I though it would be more fun to hear what you guys think the lore is/should be? It doesn't matter if you know any of my lore, or have played any of the games - whats your first impression when you think of Ozwomp!!
Id love to know! And maybe it can be the background for the next game if there are some good stories!


EDIT: Also be warned - everyone who posts ideas will receive an EXTREMELY badly drawn ozwomp gift 

I don't mean your personal favourite! I mean objectively, what is the greatest album ever made 

Recently Iv been binge watching Werner Herzog documentaries! - For those of you who don't know he's a film maker, documentary maker, philosopher and low key comedian (although its more comedy in the greek tragedy sense than in the funny sense) - some of his work can be very light hearted (like when he cooks and eats his shoes) but most of it is deeply profound; I love that contrast between depth and lightheartedness! 

Here is a kinda compilation of clips that I guess is a pretty good introduction:

It can be a bit hard to find his works - a few are on Criterion - others are on Netflix. He's about 80 now but there's still a bunch of new stuff he's making that Im super excited to see!

Into the Inferno (2016) - is one about volcanoes.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016) - is about the invention of the internet and I think it might have partly been what inspired me when I first made my site!

Here's the birthplace of the internet clip:

He also did some amazing films like Fitzcarraldo (1982) which is about a man who tried to drag a steam ship over a mountain in order to fund the creation of an opera house in the Amazon jungle because he believes the Amazon needs Opera (its based on a true story).

In truth though I have only seen a small fraction of his films; so Im curious to here if anyone else enjoys them and if so do you have any recommendations? And if you don't know them, I encourage you to watch a few and let me know what you think! 

There are a few CSS snippets I use on almost every site Iv made; I figured Id share a few of the best here! Feel free to share your CSS snippets! 

Spin! Makes things spin!

Code

.spin {
  animation-name: spin;
  animation-duration: 10000ms;
  animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  animation-timing-function: linear;
}
@keyframes spin {
  from {
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  to {
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}

Hover Twist (like the MK Nav Bar)

Code

.twist {
  transition: 1s;
}
.twist:hover {
  transform: rotate(360deg);
}

Blink! Simulates the old <blink> tag!

Code

.blink {
  animation: blink-animation 0.95s steps(2, start) infinite;
}
@keyframes blink-animation {
  to {
    visibility: hidden;
  }
}

Center: Forces text centering on something (you can also make left right variants)

Code

.center {
  text-align: center !important;
}

Scrollbar styling - basic scrollbar styling on Chrome, Firefox and Safari

Code

* {
	scrollbar-color: #cd7c00 #000020;
}
::-webkit-scrollbar {
	background: #000020;
	width: 8px;
	height: 8px;
}
::-webkit-scrollbar-track {
	background: #000020;
}
::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb {
	background: #cd7c00;
	border-radius: 10px;
}

Bobbing: The bobbing animation used on MelonLand homepage!

Code

.bobbing {
  animation: bobbing 2s ease-in-out infinite;
  animation-direction: alternate;
}
@keyframes bobbing {
  0% {
    transform: translateY(10px);
  }
  100% {
    transform: translateY(-10px);
  }
}

When I started my site there were so few people making resources for web revival sites (it was basically just AN Lucas) however as more and more people are making cool resources, its starting to make me think if there are ways we can give subtle credit to them?

Having a links page is great; but its a bit disconnected form the actual media - for example if someone makes a cool button gif that I use on my site - I cant really say "XX made the button gif that I used on X page and X page etc" thats just way to verbose!

Im also not really a fan of adding too many written credits to a page because its extra effort and it potentially interrupts the pages design.

BUT maybe there are other ways!

For example could we start a culture of naming files after their creator like "red-button-anlucas.gif" or maybe using the alt text "Link to my moose page - button made by XXX"? (see lunas comment :grin:smile: The idea would be simply that if someone was inspecting your code trying to learn from you, they could find out where you sourced some of your images.

I also have a more ambitious suggestion!

Code

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"
[
 <!ATTLIST tag madeby CDATA #IMPLIED>
]>

This is a revision to the HTML !DOCTYPE that adds a new parameter to all HTML tags called "madeby" - it means its valid for you to do:

Code

<img src="button.gif" madeby="moose.com" />

The idea is that if everyone did this, we could create a script that would automatically generate credits pages for sites by searching for madeby tags - you could even make a browser plugin that shows a list of all the madeby tags on the page your browsing!



We could create our own list of custom web revival centric parameters like this; people could easily link this into their web pages to add extra functionality!


How do you like to do this? Do you think its important? Do you have a method you already use?

Since this seems to be a divisive issue, Iv decided to put it to a vote!

In the past the forum was fully public - anything you posted could be read by anyone! Today we have been testing a new system where topic titles are public, but you must login to read peoples actual posts

Why did I consider this change?? - Mainly because it gives people the freedom to feel a bit more protected about what they post on the forum; it means if someone is banned they are no longer able to follow what you say and it means that the information is less exposed.

Why could this be a bad thing? - Well as some have pointed out, its not entirely in the spirit of the old web - it login-walls forum posts; and it potentially makes the forum less inviting to new people.

However you could also argue that a forum is not a publishing platform; sometimes the ideas we write here are half formed and not quite ready for the whole world to see? Or maybe you think thats not such an issue and its more important to be open?

So in this poll; think about what kind of balance you'd like to strike - the web is vast and full of many bad things; but hiding away is not always the best answer - what makes you feel most comfortable? Does knowing your posts are more or less readable change what you would post?

Feel free to expand on this discussion below! (Also try look at the forum when your logged out to see what its currently like in locked mode)

Due to some technological advancements; this forum can now have ANY html code blocks added as BBCode!

For example you can now use

Code

[webgarden]https://melonking.net/webgarden.html[/webgarden]

to embed a live webgarden!

THIS BEGS the question!! What else can we add? - WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN??

If you have any BBCode sugestions - feel free to comment them here

Just a quick question!

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of making synthesised vocals for songs (like Vocaloid etc) - Ideally Id like to be able to easily map a set of lyrics to a tune using a synthetic voice - possibly even playing the vocals like a musical instrument!

I know its conceptually possible; but Id love to hear if anyone has particular experience or can point me in a direction!