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Ghost Sites 07
----- GHOST SITES #7 [October 1, 1997]
----- by Steve Baldwin
(steve_baldwin@hotmail.com)
Although the World Wide Web is in perpetual flux, the one constant we
can all count on is the existence of "Ghost Sites". These neglected,
never-updated electronic Web phantoms provide a vital, and occasionally
uncomfortable window into the Web's own recent past. Join us now for a
sampling of some recently exhumed Web fossils: these truly are the sites
that time forgot.
*---- THE PRINCE OF WALES BUSINESS INFORMATION ----*
----- http://www.oneworld.org/pwblf/
It's certainly time to be kind to Prince Charles, but let's be brutally
honest: his ability to neglect important things seems to know no bounds.
This tepid, self-promotional site, launched in 1996 to serve as a
cyber-springboard for a vague "Millenium Agenda for Business as Partners
in Development", has never experienced a single update, and is so long
in the tooth that it gives good will a bad name.
[4 GHOSTIES] Site is Dead, shows advanced Decay
*---- MONDO 2000 ----*
----- http://www.mondo2000.com/
A virtual museum of 90's Los Angeles Kitsch, this long-dead print zine
was once Wired Magazine's only real stylistic competitor, and is now
entering its second year of lifeless suspension in cyber-amber. LA-punk
haircuts, the philosophy of Yoko Ono, and bandwidth-bursting JPEGs are
all on display at this site, and I predict Mondo2000 will soon be
considered a true retro classic, unless, of course, someone pulls the
plug. If they do, it will deal the Early 1990's Style Revival movement a
mortal blow.
[5 GHOSTIES] Site is Stuffed, Embalmed, and Ready for Internet Museum
*---- ANNALIVE (ANNA NICOLE SMITH) ----*
----- http://annalive.com/
A breathless announcement in late 1995 that Anna Nicole Smith was "going
live on the Web" must have made Net testosterone levels jump for joy.
The curvaceous Smith was even going to deign to make weekly visits to
the site to chat with her legion of male admirers. More than a year
later, however, all the air has gone out of this pneumatic site, Smith
has moved on to greener offline pastures, and Net men are looking
elsewhere for their excitement (possibly at Carpoint.Com).
[3 GHOSTIES] Site is Dead, but Well-Preserved
*---- INTERNET UNDERGROUND ----*
----- http://www.internet-underground.com/
Nothing remains of this anorexic 'zine, which purported to cover the
"dark side" of the Net - not even a DNS entry. An obscure and
agonizingly unsuccessful attempt by trade giant Ziff-Davis to break into
Wired's turf with something trendy and profitable, Internet Underground
quickly became neither. Obviously sensing their own looming execution,
IU's editors began a series of bizarre content experiments in the
magazine's final months, which culminated in a groundbreaking report on
Net Spam based entirely on the comments of Hormel meat packers.
[5 GHOSTIES] Site is Stuffed, Embalmed, and Ready for Internet Museum
*---- ELECTRIC MINDS ----*
----- http://www.minds.com/
Electric Minds - an ambitions attempt to make "Net community" pay for
itself, is still afloat, but its founder, Howard Rhinegold, seems to
have been tossed overboard. Well-heeled visitors with an urge to chat
are instead greeted by the visage of one "Harry Pike, AKA Maddog" - who
doesn't look like much of a conversationalist. No sign of Rhinegold's
distinctive flashy clothes and toothy grin remain to give this fee-based
schmoozefest and life at all.
[2 GHOSTIES] Site is Dying in ICU
*---- THE PEOPLE ON DELPHI ----*
----- http://people.delphi.com/
Delphi -- once a proud online service in pre-Web days -- is all but
gone, but an early home page hosting site remains for historians to
study. Like minnows darting among the bulkheads of a great wreck, many
die-hard Delphians continue to keep their pages current, which might be
inspiring if it weren't so sad.
[2 GHOSTIES] Site is Dying in ICU
*---- THE SITE ----*
----- http://www.thesite.com/
Can a cancelled cable TV show live on as a web site? Don't count on it.
Friends, it's time to fire up your copy of Web Whacker and preserve this
doomed site while it lasts - you won't see the likes of this convergence
experiment again.
[2 GHOSTIES] Site is Dying in ICU
*---- INDEPENDANCE DAY ----*
----- http://www.id4movie.com/gateway.html
Might it be time to declare your independence from last year's Hollywood
hype? Sure, everyone in America saw ID4 last year, but is this film
really a classic? Enough already, 20th Century Fox - I'm reporting this
site to the Internet Bandwidth Conservation Society!
[3 GHOSTIES] Site is Dead, but Well-Preserved
*---- JINGLE ALL THE WAY ----*
----- http://www.jinglealltheway.com/
The domain for last year's Christmas flop now hosts, of all things, a
site devoted to another bygone movie: Broken Arrow. I suppose Hollywood
can justify keeping promotional sites like this one around, to bump up
interest in the Broken Arrow Video. But action movies seldom look better
on the small screen - and this one really tanks on a 14-inch monitor.
Related URLs: http://www.jinglealltheway.com/brokenarrow/index.htm
[4 GHOSTIES] Site is Dead, shows advanced Decay
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The website edition includes images, a nice design, and all the latest
news about Ghost Sites. Go there to read the latest:
http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/
Copyright 1996-1999 Steve Baldwin Associates.
Webdesign, hosting and publication by Disobey.
http://www.disobey.com/
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