If you've ever checked out the numerous “Best of the Web” lists floating around the Internet, you've probably come to one conclusion:
“The Best” does not always mean interesting and funny. More often, it means educational and dry.
Perhaps it’s time to recognize the other 99 percent of Web sites — the Internet castaways that have no real purpose, but are just so quirky you can’t ignore them.
Since the mid-1990s, the Useless Pages has been the one place on the Internet to document these less-than-perfect pages.
It is important to note, however, that you’re never going to find Yahoo or ESPN.com among the Useless Pages (no matter what you think of their functionality.
Instead, the Useless Pages site features whole sections devoted to the Uselessness of Elvis and the Uselessness of Spam. Other “Useless” categories include Web sites devoted to everything from cars to pi.
Among the (rather odd) highlights features on the Useless Pages:
— Molecules with Silly or Unusual Names (http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/MOTM/silly/sillymols.htm): Among the site’s silly monikers are Arsole, Buckminster Fullerene, Megaphone and Moronic Acid. And, yes, Virginia, all those names are the real deal.
— Pick up the Phone Booth and Die! (http://spatch.ne.mediaone.net/games/play.cgi?game=putpbad): A throwback to all those text-based computer gamers, Pick up the Phone Booth and Die! has to be the most useless text game ever. I bet, without ever looking at the game, you can figure out exactly what happens.
— Welcome to Nounour’s Cam! (http://www.chez.com/nounourscam/cam.htm): Cute, clever (but still useless), this teddy bear has apparently been around the world and back — and still has time to pose for his personal webcam. Watch Nounour brush his teeth! Watch Nounour play cards with his friend Furby. Watch Nounour be useless! ... Oh, wait. I think that’s the point.
