Category:
Strange Websites

Infinite Conversation

an AI generated, never-ending discussion between Werner Herzog and Slavoj Žižek. Everything you hear is fully generated by a machine. The opinions and beliefs expressed do not represent anyone. They are the hallucinations of a slab of silicon.

infiniteconversation.com

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 04, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Philosophy, Strange Websites

The Traffic Cone Preservation Society

The purpose of the Traffic Cone Preservation Society is to preserve and study these "Helpers of Humanity" in order to allow future generations "the opportunity to enjoy these magnificent creatures in their natural habitats."



The society (and website) was created by Amy Winfrey back in the late 1990s. So in Internet years it's ancient. It's nice that she's kept the website up all these years.

When she created it she was a student at UCLA. She's now a professional animator who's worked on shows such as South Park and BoJack Horseman.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 23, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Strange Websites

The Burnt Food Museum

It was founded in the late 1980's by harpist Deborah Henson-Conant. She writes:

Deborah put on a small pot of Hot Apple Cider to heat, then received an unexpected . . . fascinating . . . and very long phone call. By the time Deborah returned to the kitchen, the Cider had become a "Cinder" and thus the first, and perhaps still the most impressive, exhibit: "Free Standing Hot Apple Cider" was born.

The museum still seems to be going strong, though its website specifies that it's a private museum, which means that you need to arrange personal tours in advance to see it. A price of $3500 is quoted. For that amount, I'm sure Paul and I could arrange something if you wanted a behind-the-scenes tour of WU.





Boston Globe - May 13, 2001

Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 18, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, Strange Websites

Most Exclusive Website

Mostexclusivewebsite.com boasts that it only allows one visitor on the site at a time, which is what makes it so exclusive. However, it has a waiting area, which is where you first arrive. So really, only part of the website is exclusive. Each visitor is allowed 60 seconds in the exclusive area.

However, the exclusive area is almost exactly the same as the waiting room. The only difference is that you can post a message once you arrive at the exclusive area. Hardly worth the wait.

The maker of the site should have added fireworks, a cool background photo, or something special to the exclusive area. Still, an interesting concept.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 17, 2018 - Comments (4)
Category: Strange Websites

Mail-Order Foliage

The website shipfoliage.com, created by Kyle Waring, will ship hand-picked New England leaves to U.S. customers. For $19.99 you get three leaves — 1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 mixed-color. The site's "foliage experts" make sure that only perfect leaves are shipped.

$19.99 seems like a lot for three leaves. For instance, that's not enough leaves to decorate a Thanksgiving table (which I imagine could be one reason people might want leaves). Also, I'm pretty sure you can buy fake leaves that look pretty convincing at most craft stores.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 15, 2015 - Comments (13)
Category: Business, Strange Websites, Postal Services

Learning Urinal Simulator

Urinalman.com describes itself as a "learning urinal simulator":

You have to go pee, you come to a public washroom and some toilets are used, which will you use? This simulator simulates this critical life desision and will let you know where you "stand".


Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 09, 2015 - Comments (7)
Category: Body Fluids, Strange Websites

60x1.com

The lengthy url http://www.111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111.com/ takes you to a website created by artist Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung. He refers to the site as "60x1.com." Elsewhere he explains that the site is an artistic experiment in bad website design:

60X1.com is a website whose sole content consists of splash pages — the opening pages for most websites, usually containing a small amount of graphics. After clicking through all the splash pages the spectator will find there is actually no core content, opening the question of definition regarding content in web pages.

60X1.com is designed to be user-unfriendly, aiming to serve as a counter structure to the model of most successful websites — portal sites where all the links are contained in one interface in order to generate a maximum number of hits, instead 60X1 is designed to generate a minimum amount of hits with it's long domain name, one way navigation and it's big file sizes of images, existing as an experiment to test viewers' patience and expectation, as well as calling the internet into question as a forum for communication.

The challenge, as you click through the splash pages, is to find the word "enter" which is hidden somewhere on each page. Until you find that word, and click on it, you won't be able to get to the next page. I got about five pages in before I gave up. So I guess his experiment in bad site design worked! I've reproduced a few of the splash pages below.





Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 14, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Art, Internet, Strange Websites

Kim Jong-Il looking at things

Kim Jong-Il may have died recently, but on this site he continues to look at things every day. Lots of things: tanks, sewing machines, rope, etc.

Of course, one thing he wouldn't be looking at today (if he were alive) is wikipedia, reddit, or boing boing -- all of which have gone dark to protest the SOPA/PIPA legislation. So you can now look at Kim Jong-Il not looking at these sites.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 18, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Politics, Strange Websites





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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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