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I was working in a psychiatric forensic centre a while back. A smart, manic, patient noticed my magazine, Wired I think it was, and said "Have you seen my website?" When I said no, he said the address is www.crazypatient not calm! If you say it aloud it makes sense.
[2000-04-17]
Keith Dawson <dawson at world dot std dot com>This amusing but serious-minded campaign was widely covered a month ago. In the Industry Standard, Alex Lash chalked it up to "class resentment over San Francisco's techno-elite and its yuppie accoutrements." (These sentiments can't have been eased by the recent opening in Multimedia Gulch of the hot new hotel W, with its restaurant XYZ.) An unknown outfit plastered San Francisco's south-of-Market area with stickers and posters, each one featuring a single bogus Web address with a sharp point to it. Each was signed "KilltheDot.com" and/or "BlowtheDotOutYourAss.com." Among the more printable of the bogus addresses were these:
- ButIdon'tNeedMyToothpasteDelivered.com
- AnythingIFoundInMyGarageForSale.com
- AllthePornYouCanEat.com
- ShredsOfSomeonesSoulForAuction.com
The paper-based slogans didn't last long on the SOMA streets, but all are preserved here.
[2000-02-11]
Randy Cassingham <arcie at thisistrue dot com>Another sighting from Randy Cassingham, perpetrator of This Is True, pulled from a November 1999 issue of Robert Seidman's Online Insider. (Cassingham adds, "And yes -- ahem -- I am a teeny bit behind in my reading!!)."
[1999-12-13]
Lisa Hass <lisa at corp dot bla-bla dot com>Ms. Hass forwarded this odd but peculiar site, perpetrated by one Brian Rosenthal. When he reserved the name thegoodnamesweretaken.com two years and two days ago, the name was not in fact true, but now it is. (If Rosenthal had instead reserved allthegoodnameswillbetaken.com, it would be true at all times if it was, is, or ever shall be true.) The obvious variants, allthegoodnamesaretaken.com and allthegoodnamesweretaken.com, are both available at this writing.
[1999-09-04]
Ann Wendell < annw at oz dot net>Ms. Wendell passed along this thoughtful article by Chris Maher on the subject of that much over-used Web beacon, "community." In the article Maher kiddingly claims to have reserved the name www.sexstocksandjocks.com. In point of fact no one has, yet.
[1999-08-24]
Jeffrey Chadwell <jchadwell at us dot lhsgroup dot com>
Last Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a button that says http://www.senseless-waste-of-time.com. I don't know where she got it but I thought it was pretty good comment on much of the Internet.
[1998-12-17]
mathew <meta at pobox dot com>mathew writes:
A cheesy gift catalog I received in the mail was selling sweatshirts with <mom@stressedout.com> or <dad@stressedout.com> on the front. You've guessed it, it's not registered. Call me a twisted prankster, but I did think how much fun it would be to register stressedout.com and make it a porn site. Can you imagine the conversation at the next PTA meeting when the last mom to find out walks in wearing one of the shirts?Update: On 1998-09-30 stressedout.com was registered to one H. Parker of Lansing, MI, USA. As of 1999-11-19 the address is stil not in use on the Net.
[1998-12-08]
Robert Ellman <rellman at calicotech dot com>Robert Ellman forwards this snippet from Brian Murphy's "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" column on the ESPN Web site. On 1999-08-21 the domain name was registered to one Joe Crosby of Moscow Mills, MO. As of 1999-11-19 the site is hosted but empty.
Bengals fans, fed up with a 2-10 season going into their home game with Buffalo, rallied a petition with 5,000 signatures condemning the reign of bumbling GM Mike Brown. They sold Mike Brown, Step Down, You're a Clown buttons at the stadium. An enterprising fan, cognizant of the technology era, hung the season's best sign. It read: www.sorryassteam.com. And they planned a massive, mid-game walkout to symbolize their displeasure.
I saw this bogus-looking domain name painted three feet high on a grimy, working pickup truck in Chelsea, MA. Many of the contractors working on Boston's interminable Big Dig are headquartered in this gritty town adjoining the airport. But dirtpile.com turns out to be a quite legtimate supplier of contracting services and equipment to large construction projects.
<ramsway at juno.com> reports seeing a tractor-trailer with the above written across the back -- presumably by smearing away the grime. The domain name washme.com was unclaimed when this note was originally added; it was reserved in April 1999 by an Ontario outfit called Flight of Fantasy. The page's owner, <dwyn at campus dot ca>, grabbed the name seemingly for much the same reason I grabbed this one: to document the spread of a meme, and to celebrate the curdling at the edges as the Net spreads into mainstream culture.
- www dot crazypatient not calm
- KilltheDot.com
- www.wowamilazy.com
- www.thegoodnamesweretaken.com
- www.sexstocksandjocks.com
- www.senseless-waste-of-time.com
- stressedout.com
- www.sorryassteam.com
- dirtpile.com
- www.washme.com
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Most recently updated 2000-04-28