Ah yes... I vividly remember setting Goatse as the Internet Explorer start page on all computers in the computerlab at High School and then adding a timer that opened IE every 10 minutes or so. Good times.
Wow! Is that for real? I've never seen it before. I would say the first 'meme' is probably something like a Peace-sign or a "Shit Happens" sticker, but as far as internet-based memes go, I was under the impression that ORLY Ow, or All Your Base was the first.
Da GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
Da GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
Da GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
Ah yes... I vividly remember setting Goatse as the Internet Explorer start page on all computers in the computerlab at High School and then adding a timer that opened IE every 10 minutes or so. Good times.
One day, in late 1996 or early 1997, my afterschool file-scavenging led me to "babycha2.avi" on a newsgroup, described without context as "weird baby dancing" or something like that. I downloaded it and discovered, to my teenage delight, a hideously creepy bald humanoid CGI toddler cha-cha-ing on a black background; no music, no text, no explanation for why it existed or where it came from. The baby was extremely realistic by 1997 standards, rendered in lavish detail at 260x200/30fps, which I described as "hi-resolution" at the time. But it was the baby's cold dead eyes that shook me, the way it stared expressionless into a black void while it danced nightmarishly through the Uncanny Valley with its weird Benjamin Button body; a ragdoll flesh puppet made by sinister digital masters who forced it to twirl for their amusement. It was as off-putting as it was hypnotizing, perhaps a perfect prophetic metaphor for the shallow but novel alternate reality the internet would eventually foster. At the time though, it was nothing more or less than exactly the type of bizarre little oddity that brought morbid delight to a 17 year old boy.
I added babycha2.avi to the list of files in the carefully-curated "funny stuff" section of my personal homepage. I don't recall what else was in that prestigious link list, but the hamster dance, midi files of techno songs, and some 10-second Simpsons clips seem likely. Hosting space was always an issue in those days, and a 900k file was eating into my 10mb web storage allowance, so I eventually removed the link and added a note, "email me if you'd like the dancing baby file." To my surprise, I started getting daily emails from people who really wanted that creepy thing I'd found. I felt in that moment the same rush of narcissistic zest any contemporary meme-creating Redditor must feel upon discovering something weird or hilarious that no one else yet has: I had uncovered digital treasure, and I needed to curate it. I also needed avenues beyond my NIN page to continue practicing html, and thus, in April of 1997, The Unofficial Dancing Baby Homepage was born.
Wow! Is that for real? I've never seen it before. I would say the first 'meme' is probably something like a Peace-sign or a "Shit Happens" sticker, but as far as internet-based memes go, I was under the impression that All Your Base, or the ORLY Owl was the first.
thank mr skeltalDa GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
I can hear the song in my head
For some reason I can distinctly remember the TV spots for that episode of Ally McBeal.
Ah memories of briefly going to the toilet and not locking your account at uni.I saw a variant of this that opened it every few seconds and turned the sound all the way up with a guy yelling "hey everybody im looking at gay porno!".
I remember the dancing baby showing up in that episode of Ally McBeal.
Also:
I was a fan of the 'sewage' pipes going zig zag and up and down.
thank mr skeltalDa GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
Yeah, the real olds in this thread are remembering Ally McBeal lol.
thank mr skeltalDa GOAT, remember getting so many versions of this gif next to songs like Macarena.
Truly however, we should all thank mr skeltal
I mean there was probably earlier dumb shit but it was one of the first widely dumb things on the World Wide WebWow! Is that for real? I've never seen it before. I would say the first 'meme' is probably something like a Peace-sign or a "Shit Happens" sticker, but as far as internet-based memes go, I was under the impression that All Your Base, or the ORLY Owl was the first.