Unguided Blog

Back in the days when the Internet was young and the fastest connection 56 kbps (I almost wrote 14, because I continued to use it long after 56k modems had been available), virtual travelers used to surf in cyberspace. Surfing! A new sport that your board was your computer and packets of data your wind. The world of the electron![1]

Numerous vibrant communities cropped up everywhere. From ASCII art to bulletin boards, from Usenet to various scenes and text files, it was a never-ending expedition full of surprises. You usually started from somewhere and ended up at a completely different place at the end of your journey. It was different from today.

Nowadays, people usually stick to a site, I think using the term portal will not be wrong here, and the content, whatever that is, is pushed to users. It is as if you are an (it is correct, it is not an on) island in the middle of nowhere and everyday a cargo aircraft dumps a load of web sites, videos, music etc, on you, all tailored to your preselected preferences for you to consume. The exact opposite of surfing.

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I am not a big fan of Flash, but when done properly it creates wonders. This one showed up in my mailbox a few minutes ago. The sender, a close friend of mine only asked to visit a site [star28.net] and press the submit button after writing my name. And I did (one of the advantages of using Linux, you can occasionally be adventurous).

The animation was sweet and the finale was really good. However, a better way of doing it, with a message to your loved ones is also possible and I would like to share it with you. I naturally chose this site’s name, “Guide for Unguided” as the message part, have a look at it first. Then, you can change and send it your friends with a message of your own, courtesy of the lovely penguin.

Nicely done!