Jim Regan - Site Reviews
The 404 Research Lab
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On the Web, we hate "404 Not Found" messages. They're a roadblock to our explorations, they question the accuracy of our typing and deny the permanence of our bookmarks. And yet, there are exceptions -- and although you may not spend an hour there, The 404 Research Lab offers the best chance of turning '404 Not Found' into a positive experience.
For the most part, the 404 Research Lab is a diversion, and the design of the site is appropriately basic, with everything the Lab has to offer listed on the home page. Principal areas are designated by laboratory flasks, while a column of secondary information runs down the right side of the page.
The first stop for most visitors will be Area 404, a collection of over 100 'non standard' Not Found pages, and if all you've encountered so far are generic grey pages with black type, these links may come as a bit of a revelation. Some examples generate random, Web-relevant Haikus, others decorate the messages with everything from armadillos to 50's TV style 'Technical Difficulties' screens, HAL appears twice, one site provides the 'secret history' of Room 404 at Switzerland's CERN Lab, and by the time you've finished with Deconstructed 404, you may forget what you were looking for in the first place. (Visitors can also submit their own discoveries at the bottom of the page.)
History of 404 reveals such titbits as the meanings behind each of the three numbers in the code (quick translation, "It's all your fault, it may be your spelling, but who knows, if you try again, it just might work.") and the status code for an error-free page (200 OK, which of course, we never see, since everything's...OK).
404 Purgatory is a heartfelt and moving essay in defence of this unwelcome message. As the author says, "404 doesn't ask you to 'Click Here' or 'Visit our Sponsor'. It's perfectly satisfied if you just sit there and do nothing. 404 doesn't care how many visitors it's had since 8/1/96, and it's not tracking your click-through rate...404 is easy to get along with."
Other areas include 404 for Webmasters, (how to make your own site's 404's more interesting and effective) Yikes! 404! (advice on how to get around a Not Found message) and, naturally, a 404 of the Week.
It seems fitting that this homage to an error should have a few errors of its own. Some of the recommended destinations in Area 404 appear to have changed, and no longer match their billing. Additionally, the promise that the 404 messages will open in a new window only holds true for visitors with 4+ browsers - users of 3.x browsers will have to open the new windows 'manually'. (The home page of the creators of the site, Plinko, is similarly 4.x dependant.)
The "404 Not Found" message may seem an odd subject to deserve its own website -- after all, ideally, we'd never see the thing. But we will see it, and since -- like commercials -- we can't avoid 404, we can at least appreciate those who give us the bad news with a bit of style.
The 404 Research Lab can be found at http://www.plinko.net/404/. Probably.
Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e-Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.