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Ask HN: What websites simply make you happy to visit?

31 points by jordanmorgan10 ↗ HN
Simply put - what websites make you happy when you visit? Perhaps they inspire you, you learn something - whatever it is. Is there one you'd go to on a bad day that might cheer you up?

For me it's the SNES Manual Archive[1], which is a way to browse nearly every single SNES manual. It's the nostalgia angle for me, and I love showing my oldest boy how gaming used to be.

So I'm curious, what are your website "comfort foods", it could be anything inside tech or maybe something completely beyond it. I'd love to find some to add to my bookmarks.

[1]: https://sites.google.com/view/snesmanuals

29 comments

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fuckcensorship
As I mature as a web developer, I become increasingly fond of simple, functional, and minimal JavaScript sites like nearlyfreespeech.net[1]. It always loads quickly, it’s easy to find what you’re looking for, and I find the simplistic styling of the site visually appealing.

[1]: https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/

rolph
Flat Text

its not a popular opinion, but java is not neccesary to handle a webpage. if i see an unfamiliar webpage i will cURL it instead of http GET-ing it.

at this point in the game im familiar enough with code that it reads easy as, often easier than a blog.

webpages are served out to be read by people, if a webpage demonstrate primary purpose beyond/other than this, it is webkrupht.

[in adndm]

before the question if it should come to mind; Yes i am about 2secs away from giving up on browser entirely and just going back to basic CLI surfing.

smt88
> java is not neccesary to handle a webpage

I assume you mean JavaScript, which has no relationship to Java.

Unfortunately it is necessary depending on what you need the page to do. It's badly overused, it's abused by AdTech, and it's often unnecessary, but it is part of the web and some things just can't be done without it.

Forms are a good example. They're one of the core features of websites, and they're much more useful with JavaScript (live validation, dynamic show/hide of certain fields, saving progress, etc.)

rolph
yes i did mean javascript, and its not all gloom, after all linux can interpret ascii text as executable code if you let it, those were fun times when that was a prevalent issue.

interactive/reactive pages are good things when you want them.

one of the most useful things for me working on a plaintext basis is winlink

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winlink

its best to attach an flat ascii file due to the way it will probably be used, by analogue radio systems in the group.

its a ham radio thing, and is as close to whats left of the original BBS scene.

nowadays certain LoRa WAn antics will open a portal as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRa

mdolah
As silly as it sounds, I'll browse the wikipedia page for "list of decepticons" Often, I'll name various drives / devices on my home network after them, but it's just fun to see the names that the creators came up with

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Decepticons

MisterJoe
Not exactly anwering your question, but I think you will enjoy reading this: it's about a father who goes through video games history together with his son. I will do this in a few years :)

https://medium.com/message/playing-with-my-son-e5226ff0a7c3

jordanmorgan10
Amazing! It's insane how much of that industry has changed. My son was amazed that to get a video game growing up, I had to go Wal Mart, hunt down an employee, have them get the keys to the glass and then pay for it. Then drive home, take it out of the box and play it.

But there was nothing like that feeling. Ripping open the shrink wrap. That was simply the best.

pleb_nz
Hackernews for sure.

Simple and to the point

lastangryman
A bit odd, but I love the Redis docs. The list of commands, going through each of them and reading the implementation details and possible use cases.

I am not as up to speed since the RedisLabs sponsorship, but Redis as a whole used to feel like a very pure expression of lost programming ethos. Small, complete, not a gazillion dependencies and frameworks needed. Just well written software, well documented with none of the marketing rubbish (why is everything "Blazingly Fast") and services upsell with other tools.

batisteo
For me it's http://perdu.com (lost dot com in French) witch a I use as connection checker. It has been online for years, decades actually.
khaledh
For me it's bitsavers.org. It's a treasure trove of old computer manuals and publications. I'm always fascinated by the original ideas and products that had a lasting impact on how things are done today.
muzani
TV Tropes. Design patterns for entertainment. It triggers the part of my brain that enjoys learning something new, as well as the part of my brain that loves junk.
octokatt
Schlockmercenary.com — a very silly sci-if comic that for decades updated every day. The writer reached the end of his arc in 2020, and I lost my favorite morning start-up page.

I still go there and hit the Random button, but it’s not quite the same.

If you’ve never read it, I highly suggest it. He won a Hugo award.

ampham
Neal.fun — just for fun at the end of the work day when I can no longer concentrate.