🎉5 Years of The Land of Random!

The first five years . . .

5 years of writing The Land of Random.

264 issues. At least 2500 unique links.

Every Monday, since the Fall of 2019.

Wild.

This weekend was a busy one for our little household. We had family in town, helped a friend move, and my wife and I celebrated our eighth anniversary!

We look forward to many more years to come - especially the next eighteen or so as we raise our children.

By the way, those who voted for an annual magazine have won. I’ll be making a real physical magazine once a year! Time to get to work . . .

House of the Dragon has been pretty good so far - and the dragon fights are intriguing. The Eragon we never truly got.

I hope you don’t mind - but today will be a bit of an introspective/retrospective newsletter reflecting on the journey so far.

I started this Newsletter as a way to share all the crazy stuff I was finding on the internet without driving my wife, friends, and family mad.

Seriously, ask anyone I know who knew me before 2019 and they’ll tell you I was always bringing up the most random things.

“Did you hear about - no of course I haven’t, David.”

I’m proud to say that I’ve written without fail for every one of those weeks too - through sicknesses, busy weekends, moving twice, and the birth of all three of our children!

And I plan to continue doing so until I die.

Along the way - I’ve learned some interesting things about what I tend to focus on for the newsletter.

• Tech - I have an obsession with new tech. Sometimes it gets in the way of my better judgment - as was the case during my “year of crypto obsession.”

• Trend Hunting - I do enjoy getting ahead of mainstream trends, and writing about things before they get popular.

• Weird Internet - There’s something delightful about finding fun and curious things on the net. It’s like finding a wheat penny or an arrowhead in a field.

• Fun Software - I like using fun tools, and discovering new ones - like becoming a very early paid adopter of mmm.page.

• Pure Randomness - Last and not least - I enjoy writing about topics that are just interesting to me. After all - this is the “Land of Random”

🎵The Highlights

Let’s take a brief glance at some of my favorite posts from over the last five years. If you’ve only been around the last few years or so - there’s a good chance you haven’t read these yet!

The 2019 Era

45-Year-Old Soup

How far will you go for the ultimate soup? Would you even eat soup that was . . . say . . 45 years old? There lies the tale of this ancient pot of soup that has been eternally cooked for 45 years. Would you try it?

💥The 2020 Era

Died in House

This service runs a report through public data to see if . . . well . . . anyone died in your house. I bring this up whenever someone buys a new home - and I used it myself when I bought a house! (Don’t worry - no dead in my house) Check out this 2020 era article.

Alternative Smart Phones

I started writing about alternative smart phones back in 2020. Since then we’ve seen a massive resurgence of interest in using alternative phones - so much so that people are hunting down old Galaxy Folders (a smart flip phone) to use for fun phone aestheticcs, or Lightphone 3 baked in a ton of tech so they can try and make a better “minimalist” approach to smartphones. (Oh and don’t forget that intriguing Blackberry like Minimalist phone that may or may not succeed, or whatever cake.computer is cooking up). Alternative Smart Phones.

Stick A USB in The Wall

This still stands out to me as one of the most intriguing and unhinged secret social media networks around. Across the world, there’s hundreds of usbs just randomly cemented in walls. You just gotta go out there (obviously with a crap computer you DON’T care about) and find ‘em to see what people have added. The map appears to be broken (not sure why) but you can still find locations using the search field. People are still adding them too . . . The idea lives on in a more easy-to-use format with the RSS like USB club. (I still need to join the USB club). Check out Dead Drops

💥The 2021 Era

The Nonlinear Toolchest

Since 2021, I’ve been exploring nonlinear tools like mmm.page or kinopio.club. The space has evolved quite a bit since 2021 - and we’ve lost some along the way (RIP to muze.chat and e.gg) but the space continues to grow! The NonLinear Toolchest.

The Value of Forums

As we’ve watched the internet dissolve into AI-generated madness (AI SEO and fake Facebook Photos I mean you) and worthless walled gardens (Discord and Slack spaces) we think back to the glorious days of publicly accessible forums. Those places are vast resources of knowledge. Reminisce with me over the value of forums - a fact even more true now in 2024.

Dope E-Ink Tech

If the launch of the nifty Daylight e-ink tablet has taught us anything - it is that there is a real desire out there for e-ink devices. Why not an E-ink monitor? Now that I remember that these exist - I still want one someday. Check these out.

💥The 2022 Era

The Giant of Kandahar

I don’t dip into cryptids nearly as much as I should, but the idea of the US government fighting giants in the mountains of Afghanistan is one WILD conspiracy theory, and I’m absolutely here in the first row whenever someone talks about it. Read all about it.

Abandoned Railroads

I’ve yet to find the time (and a friend) to go on my great quest of exploring abandoned railroads via railroad gokarts, but one day I shall do so!!! Perhaps I’ll even build a handcar. Here’s the deets.

All That Remains is Automation

A one-off issue discussing the issues of tech and dealing with death in the digital era. Who will play “Digital Death Detective when we’re gone?” Read the piece.

💥The 2023 Era

My Plant Gary

A little April fools prank I played last year - a story about Gary, the ultimate “Home Defense plant” who will protect you! I still chuckle at how absurd it was, and the nice surprise when you click the link! Who is Gary??

Pirate FM Radio

Hats off to the mad lads and lasses who run illegal radio stations in the digital era. Surprisingly, they still exist to this day! I think this article has the most links I’ve ever put in one short article. There was just so many to explore. Can you find one?

Coffin Juice

This definitely is in the running for one of my most macabre articles. People allegedly used to drink the “coffin juice” from old Egyptian mummies . . . gross . . . I know. Read about it if you dare.

💥The 2024 Era

Retro Soda Brands

There’s something enjoyable about cracking open a can of refreshing soda - especially if it’s an “old school brand.” I myself love a can of Moxie or RC Cola when I find one at the odd gas station. What’s your state or country’s retro soda?

Glowie Petunias

Glow in the dark flowers? What can be better than that! Expensive as they may be, I think it would be great fun to grow some glowing petunias. Grow the Glow.

Holidome Adventures

I hope hotels do become fun again, especially as more and more people grow dissatisfied with the insane fees of Airbnb’s. The Holidome was an attempt in the 80’s to make fun family-friendly hotels. it’s a pretty deep rabbithole.

That’s all for this week’s introspective edition of The Land of Random. Next week we’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming - random links, and more!

If you wish to go exploring - might I suggest to you my web of random links in Kinopio?

There’s much to explore!

(perhaps too much)….