Sometimes the most fun is not knowing what you’re going to see next
With so many modern Web sites hyperactively focused on being portals or providing access to media of all varieties, it’s easy to forget that the Internet was invented to make it easier for people to share information. Now, sometimes, information is the hardest thing to find.
You could search for something using Google or some other search engine, or you could look for something in long established indexes like Yahoo!. But, what if you don’t know exactly what you are looking for? What if you’re not looking for something in particular, just something new?
That’s where randomwebsite.com comes in.
The site has a straightforward premise: you go to its home page, click on the randomlink button, and the site launches another, random Web site. The result can be anything from the dormant Web site of a long defunct Indie band to a scientific paper on the synthesis of human growth hormone.
Along the way, you’ll come across more than a few advertising sites, which the owners of the site work hard to purge, and sometimes you’ll come across some adult content, but more often than not, you’ll find you’re looking at a site that makes you at least want to scroll down to see what it’s about.
If you click enough times, you’re almost sure to come across a site you’re really interested in and want to come back to. I know I have come across easily half a dozen writing sites that I still visit from time to time.
And that’s the point, right? To put the information back into the Internet, even if you do it randomly.
Here is some other randomness on the Web
http://www.random.org/ –Provides truly random numbers generated from atmospheric noise.
Random quotes –Get a list of random quotes from The Quotations Page.
A random Yahoo! link –Links to a random page from the Yahoo! index.
Have ideas?
Do you have an idea for a future Tech Talk? Let me know at dhitzeman@sinclairclarion.com