Ever since my family got Internet access in the mid-90s and our ISP gave me space to host a web site, I’ve fought with HTML, CGI, CSS, and then eventually led to the inevitable conclusion that JavaScript is terrible and weird and web development will never be for me.

Remarkably, I managed to keep pretty decent copies of the various web-sites and stylings from 1999 to 2004 and have curated them here. Each page has some lovingly hand-crafted JavaScript injected to help make the experience more enjoyable. The JavaScript adds:

  • A floating, expandible info bar at the top with the site name, approximate original publish date, developer commentary, and a list of links on the page.
  • Handling of dead links to save the viewer from trying to navigate to pages/sites that no longer exist.
  • Other tricks to try to get these old, dusty pages to appear to come back to life.

Links to the web sites are below. Bon appétit!

Detonate

c. 1999

detonate

Nathan Johnson’s page

c. 1999

the_cage

gerbil.dhs.org (Swedish Flag version)

c. 2000

gerbil__swedish_flag

Naked Singularity

c. 2000?

naked_singularity

gerbil.dhs.org (Brown version)

c. 2000

poop

Nathan’s Site (Blue version)

c. 2000

nathans_site__blue

Nathan’s Site (Green version)

c. 2000

nathans_site__green

the gerbil cage

c. 2000

the_gerbil_cage__blue

Review Site

c. 2000

review_site

gerbil.dhs.org (Purple)

c. 2000

gerbil__purple

Nate’s Web Server

c. 2001

nates_web_server__screenshots

Relay For Life

c. 2001

relay_for_life

gerbil? Curly? Light/Dark?

c. 2001

light_dark

Nate’s Spot [on the Web]

c. 2002

nates_spot__picture_icons

Curlysoft (PHP Site Original Theme)

c. 2003

curlysoft__php_theme_2

Curlysoft (PHP Site)

c. 2003

curlysoft__php

Nate’s Spot (Colorful buttons version)

c. 2004

nates_spot__colorful_buttons

Nate’s Site

c. 2004

nates_site__green_background