I set out to discover something. I didn’t know what it was that I was looking for, but knew that if it was out there, I would find it.
I started by searching for “the edge of the internet” and began to explore. After a brief jaunt through the ad-littered street of google, I turned down a long-defunct alleyway with a glowing sign: ShepWeb. I had found it: The edge of the internet. http://www.ashep.com/sw/edge.html
The curiosity was too great to avoid the link’s pull, so I clicked. After a brief fall, I found myself looking at a package of words.
YOU HAVE REACHED
THE END OF THE INTERNET
You have clicked on way too many links
and there are no more web pages left.
Please shut down your computer,
back away from the monitor,
and go find some sunlight and fresh air.
It was a bit of a disappointment.
As a result, I turned back and walked once again onto the dingy asphalt of the ShepWeb.
After a brief gaze down it’s corridor, I noticed a door marked “The Best Cool Top Hot Fame Page” It sounded like a bar.
Inside, I realized just how long it had been since someone else had set foot in here. One bottle on the bar’s dusty shelf read:
Best of the Web
The BoWeb `94 awards were a one-man project. This year Brandon Plewe has realized he can’t produce BoWeb `95 alone. On temporary hiatus until more support comes.
The bottle had been expired for 23 years.
There was a profound loneliness in this area, as if time itself had forgotten the alleyway of “ShepWeb.” I pondered for a moment on whether the man who built it was even still alive. I couldn’t find his gravestone, so I assumed he was.
There was an ad posted on the wall of the alleyway: it read “fun” http://www.ashep.com/sw/fun.html and had directions to a few different entertainment venues. After a brief peruse through them, I set off for “The world’s smallest website” http://www.guimp.com/
Once I arrived, I found myself immediately challenged to a game of table tennis by one of the patrons. He smoked me. Disheartened, I decided to try and find out what the word was around this place.
To my surprise, after a brief survey of the room I realized that there was very little to do in the realm of conversation. A hanged man swung from the ceiling like a fleshy chandelier. His choice I guess. http://www.guimp.com/sc_anton_badmood.html
A man played with a dog.
And there was not much else.
A door led to an entirely different experience. Art saturated the walls as a curator pointed to moments in a work that she appreciated with fervor:
“We don’t condone punching bears, but we do like the work of US artist Ahren Hertel.”
“Love this. Croatian agency Bruketa&Zinic&Grey created a concrete book holder that reacts to water. You’ll have to invest in the project to get one, but still, great idea and execution.”
I wondered aloud what I was doing here, and just like that I was home again.
