gopher

Surf the Net like it's 1991 with Gopher

Gopher was an information search and retrieval system that became available the same year as the World Wide Web. Developed by the University of Minnesota, it presented information in a standard format that was much less flexible than HTML, but much easier to set up. However, as the need for images and ads, and cascading style sheets took over, Gopher died.

The University of Minnesota open-sourced its Gopher implementation in 2000 and has since shut down its Gopher server. But Gopher is not dead! Enthusiasts keep its spirit alive, claiming it provides a much cleaner and more efficient way of … Read more

Happy 15th birthday, WWW

Fifteen years ago yesterday, the World Wide Web became official and was put into the public domain. In honor of that fact, one of our colleagues at frog (thanks Ben Tomassetti!) brought in a birthday cake for it today:

Note the nerd humor with the binary numbering of the years... I can't say that it actually was the "moistest cake I've ever tasted", but, like the web, it was free, so I'm not going to complain.

This blog post at SiliconValley.com from yesterday sums up the situation nicely:

It could easily have gone differently. … Read more

'Solar chaser' vows to drive gophers nuts

It's a painful subject, but some of us at Crave have had an ongoing domestic problem--with moles and gophers. We've tried just about every deterrant on the market, short of weapons of mass destruction, to no avail.

So it is with commensurate skepticism that we convey this latest so-called remedy for the perennial lawn intruders, but more power to you if it actually works. At the very least, both environmentally sensitive and animal-loving neighbors won't object because this anti-rodent device runs on solar energy and is meant to drive the dastardly beasties away, rather than dispose of … Read more

Late night food runs 2.0: GopherNow

GopherNow is a simple mashup--mix maps with store hours to help people find eating establishments that are open or delivering late. The service is aimed mainly at teenagers and college students, but for many, the long days of summer can bring unexpected late eating.

Users can search by keyword and location, and a Google map will show up with various restaurants, listing their hours, delivery availability, and for a select few--complete menus. If a restaurant is missing, users can add it in, along with their personal review.

Yelp actually added a similar feature early last month that lets you filter … Read more