Really neat things from the internet

[AJ_Katz]

As vast as the internet is now, I often get bored going back to the same things (kind of like shopping in the grocery store!).  I'm sure there is a lot more out there that I just haven't tried yet.  So I ask for your suggestions on "really neat things form the internet".  It could be something very specific to your interests or of general interest to all, both are welcome.  Share your favorite things, websites, resources here.

[onthefringe]

For sf fans, the Tor publishing site (essays about speculative fiction, free short stories, info about upcoming releases).

For people who want to go down a link-by-link time suck regarding popular media TV Tropes.

For people who want to find new authors based on authors they like the Tourist Map of Literature.

For people who want an (admittedly left leaning) in-depth discussion of US politics ElectoralVote.com

A random assortment of things you might not otherwise see at Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently

I may be back with more...

[mamselle]

Relaxing, interactive, sometimes a bit of drama:

Otters: Here: (Aty, Ui, and Mr. Cat) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv5S-RMzKl4

            Here: (Kotero and Hana): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iykZyi_Na64

      and Here: (Loutre): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqSNQkN7ON0

Goats : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRZWDqAEWvE

There's also some kind of hoard of English folk who are all fixing up French chateaux at the moment.

I don't watch them all, but this one isn't too bad (although her French pronunciation is a bit weird):

   https://youtu.be/mIQebMZ3Ibk

One or two at a time is enough, just to wind down.

M.

[sinenomine]

Terriblerealestatephotos.com is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I can get immersed for hours on Google Earth.

[kaysixteen]

Uncle Earl's Classic TV channel:

https://solie.org/alibrary/index.html

Oodles of classic shows and movies totally free for the screaming.   And his wrestling stuff, if you care for that....

[ergative]

Uncle Earl's Classic TV channel:

https://solie.org/alibrary/index.html

Oodles of classic shows and movies totally free for the screaming.   And his wrestling stuff, if you care for that....

Wow, this is really great!

My suggestion is Archive of Our Own (aka AO3). It's a massive repository of fan fiction, very neatly organized by fandom (Star Trek, Miss Marple, Jeeves & Wooster, Aubrey-& Maturin--whatever you can imagine is probably on there), and with a good selection of tags so you can select exactly what types of tropes or plot elements you're interested in reading about. Yes, there's a lot of smut (because fanfiction), but there's also a lot of non-smut, and some screamingly funny.

As an example of the breadth of offerings in even the tiniest niches, there are currently 22 fics set in the world of FAQ: The Snake Fight Portion of your Thesis Defense, which I'm sure we all know and love. This one is brilliant (I may have posted it here before), but if your tastes lean to crossovers, you can get a combination of the snake fight world with Gideon The Ninth, Good Omens, Miles Vorkosigan, or Norse mythology.

I find that fanfiction can be a really wonderful thing: There are some outstandingly good writers, and because every fic assumes a fairly extensive familiarity with the fandom in question, they can dig quite deep down into questions of lore, characterization, what-if, bonkers goofiness, heartbreak (and, yes, smut) that are simultaneously cracking good reads and also well-informed explorations of a fandom's subtleties. It's rare for a traditionally published work to show that kind of engagement with a work we all know and love (although Ben Schott's Jeeves & Wooster books, or Claudia Gray's The Death of Mr Wickham do it brilliantly), but it's very common in fanfiction. Sometimes, if you're read a book you adored, and want more more more right now, the best thing you can do is head over to A03 and seen what is up there.

[onthefringe]

My suggestion is Archive of Our Own (aka AO3). It's a massive repository of fan fiction, very neatly organized by fandom (Star Trek, Miss Marple, Jeeves & Wooster, Aubrey-& Maturin--whatever you can imagine is probably on there), and with a good selection of tags so you can select exactly what types of tropes or plot elements you're interested in reading about. Yes, there's a lot of smut (because fanfiction), but there's also a lot of non-smut, and some screamingly funny.

As an example of the breadth of offerings in even the tiniest niches, there are currently 22 fics set in the world of FAQ: The Snake Fight Portion of your Thesis Defense, which I'm sure we all know and love. This one is brilliant (I may have posted it here before), but if your tastes lean to crossovers, you can get a combination of the snake fight world with Gideon The Ninth, Good Omens, Miles Vorkosigan, or Norse mythology.

Ok, this is amazing! I was aware of Archive of our Own, but had no idea it extended to my beloved Snakefight FAQ!

[Parasaurolophus]

I feel much the same way about the internet, and I'm glad I'm not alone! Thanks for asking!

I recently discovered Mark Witton's blog, and I've been thoroughly enjoying working my way through every post. He's a palaeontologist and palaeoartist, and the posts basically discuss (in gory detail) how one should go about thinking about representing the soft tissues and behaviour of prehistoric creatures, based on palaeobiology and biomechanics. The posts are well written, very informative, and the art is cool. There are also occasional reviews of palaeoart books, interviews with palaeoartists (including Emily Willoughby!), and (really quite astute) dinosaur film reviews. But really, the reflections on palaeoartistic methodology are the coolest part.

[mamselle]

Yes, all those hands on the cave wall still get to me--more directly communicative somehow, as if, "here we are, we were here..." touching the same rock face over the millennia.

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yes, all those hands on the cave wall still get to me--more directly communicative somehow, as if, "here we are, we were here..." touching the same rock face over the millennia.

M.

Ah, yes--but this is about contemporary restoration of extinct creatures like dinosaurs, rather than prehistoric art!

[Cheerful]

Uncle Earl's Classic TV channel:

https://solie.org/alibrary/index.html

Oodles of classic shows and movies totally free for the screaming.   And his wrestling stuff, if you care for that....

Thank you for this treasure trove, kaysixteen!  I am sharing with others who will appreciate this very much.

[mamselle]

Yes, all those hands on the cave wall still get to me--more directly communicative somehow, as if, "here we are, we were here..." touching the same rock face over the millennia.

M.

Ah, yes--but this is about contemporary restoration of extinct creatures like dinosaurs, rather than prehistoric art!

Interesting. I thiiinnnk (but I could be wrong) art historians refer to early art using the same terms.....hmmm.....gotta go look it up (but not now)....

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

Yes, all those hands on the cave wall still get to me--more directly communicative somehow, as if, "here we are, we were here..." touching the same rock face over the millennia.

M.

Ah, yes--but this is about contemporary restoration of extinct creatures like dinosaurs, rather than prehistoric art!

Interesting. I thiiinnnk (but I could be wrong) art historians refer to early art using the same terms.....hmmm.....gotta go look it up (but not now)....

M.

IIRC, art historians sometimes call parietal art paleolithic art, and thus there's sometimes some confusion about palaeoart (/paleoart).

(If you'd asked me what palaeoart was prior to this deep delve of mine, I'd also have thought it was paleolithic stuff!)

[kaysixteen]

Earl Oliver is a really good guy-- when I saw his site on some FB post last fall, I was immediately enthralled, and I confess I watch stuff there almost daily now, both shows I have seen before and many I have never seen (some I have never even heard of).   Oliver is a professional folk musician, amongst other things (I am not a wrestling guy, but he is too, an inheritance from his uncle who was apparently an old-time pro wrestler).  I had actually seen Earl many years ago on one of the great PBS Great Railway journeys shows-- Oliver spent many years doing on-train music on a scenic railway in Northern Calif.-- but I did not recall his name till I read his Wikipedia page after discovering his site.   I have corresponded with him several times since last fall.   He also invites viewers to send him broken links from his site and quickly fixes them.   50 years from now, assuming a collapse of civilization as we know it has not yet occurred, people are going to be looking at this site and happily seeing how tv used to be.   Indeed, the historian in me is having fun looking at old shows and seeing, ahem, just how much things have, ahem, well...

[poiuy]

Literature Clock:
https://literature-clock.jenevoldsen.com/

This has quotes for every minute of every day, so that whenever you click, you will find an appropriate snippet.  I have not looked at it for literally all the 24 hours so I don't know (1) how repetitive it gets - I imagine that some is inevitable and (2) it must draw almost entirely from European / Western literature.

But it's fun while it's new-to-you.