Full FeedOddball Tech: Geocities is toast, watch the dead via the web, and sentient trains in Japan
Geocities to become a ghost town
Yahoo announced on Thursday, April 23, 2009 that Geocities is going ka-put this year. I know what you’re thinking - Who the hell cares? Yep. The Internet is littered with old, old Geocities pages from long ago.
Let me take you on a trip back to the 90s. Back then, we didn’t have Facebook pages or blogs. Then, we had something known as “webpages.” You would edit HTML and make navigation via static HTML pages. That’s where Geocities came in. You would be able to create your website and have it hosted for free at Geocities. Then Yahoo bought them in a fit of acquisitions that led to nowhere.
Will anyone miss Geocities? Maybe a few people. Yahoo will still be offering paid hosting plans if you really have your heart set on having your info on a Yahoo server somewhere in the world. [Source]
Watch the dead
I guess people will watch anything on the Internet these days. Over in that boot-shaped country, Italy, there’s a town that will offer webcams in their graveyard so you can not only see the deceased, but you can also pan over to see the scenery. Apparently, lots of people want their bodies to decompose in Pollica, Italy and want their relatives to see. For those of you wondering, the cameras will be above ground because cameras inside a casket is just silly. [Source]
They’re coming
You know how we all fear that we will no longer be the dominant beings on earth because robots will take over? Well, looks like that’s happening right now.
Japanese trains are alive. A train that had no passengers nor a conductor decided to go for a 5 mile trip. The official story is that the train did not have its brake correctly applied. However, I think we all know what happened.
Even stranger, this is the second train in recent history to do take a roll. A similar incident happened in 2006 when another train gained sentience (the official story is that the conductor didn’t put the wheel chocks in place). Good luck to you all. Remember that trains fear small children. Why else did you think that so many people carry babies on their backs or in slings? [Source]
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WTF?
on May 1, 2009 at 02:03 AM - LINKDon’t forget the “Cities” and the community structure that GeoCities had before Yahoo! came and dismantled it all.
Man, I wish I had more internet access in 1997 - then I would have been able to make a GeoCities site and keep it… sigh…
on May 1, 2009 at 03:07 AM - LINKI think Geocities had it’s 15 minutes of fame. I wish I had been involved more in the new trend that was called Internet and saw the potential of websites and revenue.
on June 17, 2009 at 06:17 AM - LINKThey could have survived if they would have brought a CMS up like wordpress or blogger but that’s life - you learn from your mistakes or people just like web hosting plans more and put up websites on personal domains.