Web Wanderings #19
Rediscover the joy of online exploration! Web Wandering shares a hand-picked selection of the most awesome websites you won't find anywhere else.
I’ve been busy in the last few weeks and wish I could spend more time on Cloudhiker. The time I have is used for submission reviews and rebuilding the exploring to include the new AI toggle. This takes a lot longer than expected. “It’s just one option, why is it such a hassle“ you may ask. Well, that’s software engineering. Sometimes you have a feature that looks incredibly complex but is actually done in like 1 hour. And then you have features like one more option which requires to restructure large parts of the application. 🫠
Anyway, it takes time. I have actually tried letting Codex do the heavy lifting, but I’m really torn on whether to use that or not. The exploring is the most important part of Cloudhiker and I would like to 100% understand what is happening and why. Throwing AI on it solves the problem, but introduces holes in your knowledge and the maintainability of the application.
Let’s see how it turns out in the following weeks.
PS: Cloudhiker was featured on PCWorld.com! 😍
This edition is also available on Cloudhiker as a Collection so you can find, like and collect the sites of this Edition: Web Wanderings #19
Picture of Hot Dog
https://www.pictureofhotdog.com
A hot dog is basically a precision-engineered meat tube whose entire reputation depends on casing snap, fat emulsification, and whether the bun survives contact with steam. The sausage is a finely blended mixture of meat, fat, salt, and curing agents stuffed specifically to create that little structural pop when you bite it, which people treat as normal instead of scientifically fascinating. Even the toppings are weirdly regional and ideological: Chicago turns it into a full vegetable event, while New York acts like mustard and onion sauce are enough. At some point, the hot dog stops being a snack and becomes a very efficient collaboration between meat science, bread physics, and public willingness to eat a warm cylinder outdoors.
Kitten War
It’s not what you think, I swear! Kitten War is really just a website where the cutest kitten photos battle for votes. 😻
Isopods of the World
I admit, I do not deem isopods cute and cuddly like kittens, but there’s a deep fascination for all small things, especially if inspected under a microscope. And the pictures you’ll find on this website are indeed stunning!
Yahoo Pipes
I have never used Yahoo Pipes, but this website made me wish I did. Maybe some of you even remember this early connect-everything-tool. IFTT is probably something that comes close, and I loved using it for a lot of different stuff. Today, there are hundreds of solutions, both commercially and for the average dude. And yet somebody at Retool remembered this ancient software and decided to dedicate it a website.
Weeks of your Life
It must have been around 2010 when I found this neat little website where somebody shared a PDF containing a lot of small circles. Actually, 52 per line, with 100 lines in total. The purpose: check a circle for each week of your life already completed.
It’s kinda worrying to see how much of your life might already be “over“. Yet I loved the idea.
Do you like all those websites and want to explore more? Cloudhiker has 30,000+ sites all waiting for you to be discovered! Totally free, no account needed.
Minimum Wage Clock
https://moonbase.lgbt/blog/minimum-wage-clock
Ever wondered how the money you actually earn tickles into your wallet? This website shows the realtime earning for UK and US minimum wages, and you can put in your own hourly salary. And because rich folks are assholes, the site also shows how disgusting much money Zuckerberg and Co earn.
Pinball Map
I love how people put together maps of all sorts of things. This one displays locations all over the world where you can play on a pinball machine. 📍
One Night on a Private Garbage Truck in New York City
https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/nyc-garbage
I promise this website definitely is worth a click! May sound like garbage first (haha!), but the way they tell the story of a cute garbage truck making its way through NYC is fascinating! This is just such a great example for how complex our world has become. This is just about garbage collection. Something most people don’t even think about. Yet the logistics of managing the wast of millions of peoples in narrow streets cannot be understated.
Anti-Personality Test
https://antipersonality.webflow.io
I wanted to share this. Not because it’s incredibly helpful, or funny. But because something about the questions reflect in me. Go find out for yourself
Awesome Cars
https://awesomecars.neocities.org
Let’s end this edition of Web Wanderings with a special site. A site, probably nobody understands except the maker. It’s bizarre, has no purpose. A site, that is just there. A site so weird, that it just deserves a spot on this list. Have fun!
Thanks for reading through Web Wanderings #19.
I would like to ask you for feedback. Hearing what you think, what you like or dislike, help me making Cloudhiker and this wonderful Web Wanderings series better and better. If you want to be notified on new editions of Web Wanderings, subscribe here:
When you’re done with this episode, why not hop on Cloudhiker and see what weird and wonderful corners of the web you can find? 👀