๐ฅ๏ธ WELCOME TO THE PROGRAMMING ZONE ๐ฅ๏ธ
๐ฅ HOT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES ๐ฅ
Check out these RADICAL programming languages that are totally going to be huge!
๐พ SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS ๐พ
UNDER CONSTRUCTION - New downloads coming soon!
๐ WEB DEVELOPMENT TIPS
Master the art of creating AMAZING web pages!
PRO TIPS:
- Use <BLINK> tags for important text!
- Background images make everything better
- More colors = more professional
- Animated GIFs are the future of web design
๐ฎ GAME PROGRAMMING
Create the next DOOM or QUAKE!
๐ต WINAMP: IT REALLY WHIPS THE LLAMA'S ASS ๐ต
OK so I finally got WinAmp 2.91 running with my custom skin and it looks SO AWESOME!! If you are still using Windows Media Player you are seriously missing out because WinAmp has an EQUALIZER and a visualization plugin called MilkDrop that does fractal animations synced to your MP3s!!! Plus you can get like a million skins from winamp.com -- I am currently using the "Matrix Green" skin and it matches my desktop wallpaper perfectly!!
;; NOTE TO SELF: Remember to seed back on Napster after downloading!! ;; Also ask Dad if we can upgrade to a 56k modem so downloads are faster
๐น๏ธ FLASH GAMES: THE FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT ๐น๏ธ
OK so I know some people say Flash is a "security risk" but those people are WRONG and probably use Internet Explorer anyway LOL. Newgrounds and Miniclip have the BEST free games on the entire internet and you do NOT need to pay $50 for a CD-ROM when you can play right in your browser!!! I have been addicted to Stick RPG for THREE WEEKS and my mom is starting to get suspicious about the phone bill from all the dial-up time.
<!-- note to self: ask Dad if we can upgrade to 56k so games load faster -->
If Flash ever stops working I am moving to a cabin in the woods and never touching a computer again. Macromedia Flash 5 is the pinnacle of human achievement. You cannot change my mind. Tom Fulp is basically Thomas Edison but for stick figures.
๐๏ธ NEED FOR SPEED II SE: THE ULTIMATE RACING EXPERIENCE ๐๏ธ
OMIGOD YOU GUYS!!! I JUST GOT NEED FOR SPEED II SE AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!! This game is literally the COOLEST thing since DOOM!!! I spent like 20 minutes just customizing my first car and I felt like a TRUE RACING DRIVER!!!
THE GRAPHICS ARE SO SICK!!! The cars have like 100% more polygons than the original Need for Speed and the tracks are totally rad!!! I especially love the Sunset Run track - the way the sun sets over the horizon while you're doing 180mph is literally MIND-BLOWING!!! The weather effects are totally unreal too - racing in the rain with those reflective puddles is next level stuff!!!
THE SOUND is absolutely SICK!!!! The engine noises go "vrrrroooom" and the exhaust pops are so realistic!!! I have my WinAmp right next to me playing Harder Better Faster while I race and it's literally the perfect combination!!! TURBO MODE ACTIVATED!!!
I've been spending HOURS on the TIME TRIAL mode trying to beat my friend's time of 1:34.5 on the Coastal Highway track!!! I'm currently at 1:38.2 and getting closer EVERY DAY!!!! The physics are so realistic - you can literally feel the weight transfer when you brake going into those hairpin turns!!!
MULTIPLAYER mode is totally RADICAL too - I linked up with my cousin over our 56k modems and we raced head-to-head!!! His Porsche vs my 911 Turbo was literally like something out of a movie!!! The lag was a BITCH sometimes but totally worth it!!!
;; NOTE TO SELF: Need to beat my cousin's time before Thanksgiving!! ;; (he thinks he's so good with his Nissan 240SX...)
๐ต RICKROLLING: THE GREATEST PRANK OF ALL TIME ๐ต
OH MY GOD GUYS have you SEEN the ULTIMATE prank that's been spreading across the internet?? It's called Rickrolling and it's absolutely GENIUS!!! You just send someone a link that says it's something totally different, but when they click it - SURPRISE! It's Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video!! I've been rickrolling my friends for WEEKS and they still fall for it EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!
This prank is getting so popular that I saw a guy get rickrolled on a billboard in Times Square!!! The guy driving stopped his car and was like "NOOOO" out loud and everyone around him started laughing. UNDER CONSTRUCTION status because it's still EVOLVING and getting BETTER EVERY DAY!!!
๐บ REALPLAYER: THE STREAMING KING ๐บ
DUDE!!! Have you TOTALLY figured out RealPlayer yet??? This thing is absolutely AMAZING for watching streaming videos and listening to Internet radio stations!!! Back when everyone thought streaming was impossible, RealNetworks made it happen and now I can watch CNN live or listen to my favorite MP3s without downloading them first!!! My bandwidth meter goes CRAZY when RealPlayer starts buffering but it's TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!
The BEST PART is the "Shuffle" feature that plays random songs from your playlist!!! I made a killer mix of grunge, techno, and classic rock that plays while I code!!! Also the visualizations are SICK - way better than WinAmp's offerings!!! ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for any serious multimedia enthusiast!!!
๐พ NEOGEO PETS: VIRTUAL PET HEAVEN ๐พ
DUDE!!! Have you adopted your own Neopet yet?? This is absolutely the COOLEST virtual pet website EVER created!!! You get to adopt these ADORABLE creatures and take care of them by feeding them, playing games with them, and dressing them up in crazy outfits!!! My purple Lupe named "Sir Barksalot" is level 50 and has won like 200 gold trophies in the Battledome!!! I spend HOURS every day just clicking refresh to see if I won any of the random events!!!
The best part is collecting all the LIMITED EDITION items that come out for special events like Altador Cup and Yooyuball season!!! I stayed up until 3 AM just to get the Secret Laboratory Map piece that was only available for 24 hours!!! My friend Jessica traded me her Rare Paint Brush for my Uber Spork and I literally SCREAMED with joy when the trade went through!!!
๐ฑ NOKIA 3310: UNBREAKABLE LEGEND ๐ฑ
BRO!!! Do you remember the NOKIA 3310??? This phone was literally UNBREAKABLE and could survive a nuclear apocalypse!!! My friend dropped his in the toilet and it still worked after drying it out for a week!!! Plus it had the most ANNOYING but iconic ringtone of all time - "Nokia Tune" (actually "Gran Vals" by Francisco Tรกrrega but who cares!)!!! You'd hear that "doo-doo-doo-DUUUH" anywhere and instantly knew someone's parents were calling them!!!
The best part was playing Snake II during boring math class and trying to beat your high score without getting caught!!! My record was 287 points and I bet nobody at school could beat it!!! Also the battery lasted like 2 weeks and the torch (flashlight) was perfect for late night chats with your dorm mate!!! LEGENDARY DEVICE status confirmed!!!
๐ LOCK PICKING: THE LOST ART ๐
Check it out!!! I've been teaching myself this TOTALLY LEGAL hobby of lock picking and it's absolutely MIND-BLOWING how mechanical locks work!!! My dad left his old toolbox unlocked and I found a set of lock picks from the 70s that I've been practicing with!!! Started with simple padlocks and now I can pick my bedroom door lock in under 30 seconds!!! Just don't tell my folks I'm practicing on their stuff ๐
The coolest part is understanding how each pin tumbler works and feeling the subtle feedback when you get it right!!! There's this AMAZING community on the early internet (before it got all commercial) where locksmiths would share techniques and designs!!! Some guys could open safes just by listening to the clicks!!! MECHANICAL ENGINEERING at its finest!!! Definitely not for illegal activities though - that's just STUPID and illegal!!!
๐ฅ DOWNLOAD MANAGERS: SAVE YOUR DIAL-UP LIFE ๐ฅ
OMG!!! Have you been using the built-in browser downloader still??? You're MISSING OUT on the AMAZING POWER of download managers!!! With my GetRight 4.5e setup, I can download like 5 files at once and if my connection drops, it RESUMES AUTOMATICALLY!!! Saved my sanity during those painful 28.8k modem days when a single MP3 would take 3 hours to download!!! My dad doesn't even know I'm using 80% of his bandwidth for LEGAL DOWNLOADS ๐
The BEST FEATURE is setting up a download queue and letting it run overnight!!! I'd queue up all the latest WinAmp plugins, desktop themes, and game demos before bed and wake up to a treasure trove of COOL STUFF!!! Plus with connection resume, if America Online decides to kick me off randomly (which they did ALL THE TIME), I wouldn't lose hours of downloading!!! ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVE for anyone serious about downloading!!!
๐ป 56K MODEM: THE SOUND OF THE FUTURE ๐ป
BACK WHEN BROADBAND WAS A DREAM AND EVERYONE WAS STUCK WITH A 56K MODEM, GETTING ONLINE WAS AN ADVENTURE!!! You'd pick up the phone and hear that GLORIOUS SYMPHONY OF DIGITAL INSANITY - the handshake sequence that lasted like 30 seconds of absolute chaos before you could finally start downloading that 64KB webpage you spent hours crafting!!!
THE MODem GOES: EEEE-YEEEE-OOOO-AHHH-BEEEP-BOOOP-WHEEEEP!!! It's like your telephone is having a seizure mixed with a alien abduction experience! Mom would pick up the other extension and scream "GET OFF THE PHONE!!!" while I'm trying to connect to BBS systems and download the latest demo screens from Altavista!!!
CONNECTION ESTABLISHED - 57,600 BPS - That's basically light speed compared to my previous 2400 baud Hayes modem! I can finally load those game demos in "only" 10-15 minutes instead of an hour!!! The sound of the modem connecting is honestly THE SOUND OF MY YOUTH - every beep and boop takes me back to Saturday nights spent refreshing GeoCities pages waiting for images to load!!!
REMEMBER: No matter how fast your 56k modem claimed to be, YOU WERE ALWAYS GETTING 28.8K IN PRACTICE!!! The phone companies lied, the infrastructure was old, and rainy days meant NO INTERNET FOR YOU!!! But hey, at least we survived the dial-up era to see the internet we have today!!!
;; NOTE TO SELF: Ask Dad if we can finally get ISDN next year lol ;; (he said "maybe in 2001" - RIP that dream)
๐น LOLCATS: I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER??? ๐น
OK I literally cannot stop laughing at this website called icanhas.cheezburger.com that someone linked in my AIM chatroom last Tuesday and I have now wasted FOUR HOURS of study time going through every single page!!! The concept is SO STUPID but also SO GENIUS -- you take a photo of a cat doing something funny and then you add MISSPELLED TEXT in big Impact font like the cat is actually talking!!!! My mom walked by and saw me crying laughing at a picture of a fat tabby and she asked if I was okay and I couldn't even explain it to her!!!
The LOLspeak language is spreading EVERYWHERE now -- my friend Jenny wrote her entire AIM away message in lolcat and her mom called to make sure she wasn't having a stroke!!! I've started thinking in lolcat during algebra class and wrote "I R CONFUZ" on my homework and my teacher did NOT think it was funny but honestly she just doesn't understand HIGH ART. STILL REFRESHING PAGE every 20 mins for new posts!!
๐ฌ AIM AWAY MESSAGES: THE ART OF BEING AWAY ๐ฌ
OK so real talk -- your AIM away message is basically your soul on the internet right now and if you are still using the default "I am away from my computer" message then honestly I don't even know what to say to you!!! A good away message is part LYRIC DUMP, part cryptic inside joke, and part passive-aggressive message to that one person who KNOWS who they are!!! My current away message has gotten four IMs asking "are you ok?" and that is exactly the right number!!!
The PROFILE is equally important -- mine has my top 8 friends listed (Sarah you got bumped to #9, you know why), a counter showing I have been online for 14 hours straight, and a GIF of a spinning star I found on Geocities that I am pretty sure is haunted!!! Also if someone sends you a nudge during a serious conversation you have EVERY RIGHT to block them, that is just basic INTERNET ETIQUETTE!!!
๐ COOL LINKS
๐ง CHAIN EMAILS & URBAN LEGENDS
WARNING: FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO 10 FRIENDS OR YOUR SCREEN WILL BE COVERED IN GREEN GLYPHICS!!! I received this from my cousin's neighbor's step-son and it's ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!!
I also love reading the AMAZING urban legends section where people claim they saw Bigfoot running across the IRC channel late at night!!! My favorite is the one about the guy who downloaded a "screen saver" and it actually hacked the FBI database LOL!!!
๐ง CONTACT INFO
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