My new website is open: microwaves (and color tvs) closed!

microwaves (and color tvs) is a site of daily-updated music video web zen, akin to explodingdog or daily dose of imagery. is a site of music video web zen. It’s also a meditation on the future of the web.

Some of the pages are puzzles, as indicated in the page title. Here are the official instructions. I've posted 5 pages to start with.

Any feedback is much appreciated! If anything, I'd like to know if the site works best as an art site, a game site, or if I should just churn out screen caps (without the words). At this early stage things are a bit experimental.

         

hm, i dont get it. whats the deal with the aliens? im intrigued, but i have the same problem i always have with the radiohead site: i just cant find what i was looking for ;) sorry, just gave it a quick glanze, maybe i missed it. andrej

         

Kev: icedtea is right. The new site is tough to make sense of. Unless people share in the same desire to unpuzzle a music video, I don't know why they'd peruse.

You mention DDOI which I think is a much more accessible, much more awesome approach to a "daily-updated music video web zen". Maybe a sidebar can be a section filled with puzzles as opposed to an entire puzzle site. yes/no?

         

Right, I get what you mean.

That's the crux of it so far, and I hope to get more input before I make changes..

I have a very strong urge to make a game out of culture or the Internet somehow. Turning Google searches and clips of videos into one massive RPG or something like that, but maybe that's what Web 4.0 (or 5.0 or whatever) will be anyway. It's not my idea, but I'm trying to help it along.

Anyway, a lot of that is beyond me: the site may become, as you say, a DDOI-style mv-worship site. Good enough for me!

         

kevathens: there's clearly a lot of importance put on ease of use that in my opinion is not necessary.

I say keep up your approach. Lack of transparency is what art is made up of (often). The internet is such a practical device but bending it will make it more interesting.

In short, I think it can be a good thing to get lost.

         

Thanks :) I'm also interested in making art out of stupid html, helps vent frustration. The blog format gets soo dull. Okay I'll stop commenting now. Hopefully more ppl will chime in..

         

• don't show the answers in html
• give more purpose to the g-spot (just randomly fingering a photo feels too stupid)
• make the amalgams a little less obscure to start out (or maybe levels?)
• you are aware that nearly noone on the planet has your mv proficiency/urge...?

         

Yep to the last one.

         

kev: knowing your contributions to antville, I for one would love to see you do the DDOI or APOD of mv. Keep the fat screencaps; add some minimal navigation, a feed - small concessions to casual readers. Then puzzle us all with occult captions.

         

Navigation is in the works. The redesign will appear this weekend.

The big question is whether I should go literal, or stay kinda mysterious. I think images can be very mysterious things, but I don't want the site to be too masturbatory or self-promotional. APOD is a good reference for that idea, actually.. It's got that Web 1.0 vibe that is totally killer, and kinda what I'm going for.

         

UPDATE: Navigation may not be in the works. Today's page is a signal of where I'm headed, but I'm still tinkering with the site's overall concept.