Interesting Links
Sites
TV Tropes
A wiki website that collects and documents descriptions and examples of plot conventions and devices, more commonly known as tropes, within many creative works.
tvtropes.orgSCP Wiki
A collaborative writing wiki centered around supernatural and paranormal phenomena and the secret organization who contains this phenomena.
scp-wiki.wikidot.comThe Cutting Room Floor
A site dedicated to unearthing and researching unused and cut content from video games.
tcrf.netSmithsonian Open Access
The Smithsonian's open access library, containing millions of digital assets under a creative commons license (you can even use them for commercial work)!
si.eduThe Lost Media Wiki
A community led wiki website that categorizes and tracks down lost or hard to find media!
lostmediawiki.comInternet Archive
A digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge" containing millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
archive.orgWhoSampled
A database of information about sampled music or sample-based music. Who sampled what songs and that sort of thing!
whosampled.comWe Become What We Behold
A short, five minute game about news cycles, vicious cycles and the hold they have over us as people.
ncase.itch.ioElder Scrolls Lore Guide
A really cool guide that outlines the lore within the Elder Scrolls universe. From history to cosmology.
ladynerevar.com/lorebuffWikivoyage
The free worldwide travel guide. An official, non-commercial sister site of Wikipedia for sightseeing, activities, cuisine and accommodation around the world.
wikivoyage.orgSounds of the Forest
A website that lets you listen to the sounds of different forests around the planet. A forest sound map.
timberfestival.org.ukMIMO - Musical Instrument Museums Online
The world's largest freely accessible database for information on musical instruments held in public collections, containing the records of 64166 instruments and rising.
mimo-international.com/MIMO/The Old Net
Surf the early web again! This site allows you to view websites all across the internet, but if you were back in the days of Web 1.0!
theoldnet.com/fallen.io
An interactive documentary that puts the casualties this world sustained during the Second World War into a chilling perspective. It's got some inaccuracies here and there, but cool none the less.
fallen.io1 Pixel Wealth
An interactive website that puts the staggering amount of wealth a small group of people in our society have into perspective. Do you know what the difference between a million and a billion dollars is? About a billion dollars.
mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/Abundant Music
A procedural music generator that doesn't require any musical knowledge to generate music.
pernyblom.github.io/abundant-musicDouble Pendulum Playground
A simple physical system that exhibits rich dynamic and chaotic behavior with a strong sensitivity to initial conditions.
theabbie.github.io108 Keys
An webpage that's all about the first 108 key piano that has ever been constructed, called The Beleura
www.stuartandsons.com/108keysTemplate Maker
A large collection of easy-to-follow templates for folding your own boxes, frames, bags, envelopes, trays and more!
templatemaker.nlCover Your Tracks
Test your browser to see how well you are protected from tracking and fingerprinting
coveryourtracks.eff.orgTV/Monitor Viewing Distance Calculator
Optimal viewing distances to see benefits of High Resolution TV/Monitors
stari.coOpen Source Alternative To
Discover 400+ popular open source alternatives to your proprietary SaaS
opensourcealternative.toUrban Dictionary
A must have if you are over the age of 25 and still want to keep up with understanding current slang.
urbandictionary.comXenharmonic Wiki
An incredibly robust resource on alternate musical tunings, how they work and even guides on dipping your toes in on how to play within them and on how harmony moves within them.
en.xen.wikiInteractive Skyrim Map
An interactive map of Skyrim, one of the provinces that is central to the Elder Scrolls franchise.
srmap.uesp.netMusic Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom
A completely free (and well written) online music theory text book written for learning music in the context of the modern day, by Robert Hutchinson.
pugetsound.eduLOTR Project
An interactive map of Middle Earth, which lets you view events, points of interest, timelines, paths taken by characters and much more!
lotrproject.comJuchify
A music streaming website that focuses on music from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
juchify.comHow a Car Works
An educational website full of pictures, illustrations, videos and more explaining the ins and outs of how automobiles function.
howacarworks.comHook Theory Chord Progression Trends
An interactive online dataset, which allows you to view the most common patterns and trends within chord progressions, as analyzed from the Hook Theory dataset
hooktheory.comErowid
An educational, non-profit that documents both legal and illegal psychoactive substances, citing published literature, experts in related fields, and the experiences of the general public. They act as a publisher and a library.
erowid.orgHALOME.NU
Have you ever left a Halo title running on your TV, just to listen to and watch the main menu? Now you can relive your favorite Halo title menu in your browser.
halome.nuRunning Reality
An interactive map that lets you explore any date in the history of human civilization from 3000BC to today.
runningreality.orgWhat's Your Vote Worth?
An interactive, educational website which highlights how undemocratic the United States really is and how broken the electoral system is
petrichor.studioScaruffi's Alternative Canon
An alternative canon of challenging albums from outside the mainstream of rock music. Also available in classical and jazz flavors.
scaruffi.comA Study of Musical Scales
A study of musical scale, in which every possible combination of note is analyzed
ianring.comNew Whirling School
An annotated compilation of the 36 Lessons of Vivec (more Elder Scrolls lore)
newwhirlingschool.comRaga Junglism
A great resource for guitar players looking for new ways to play. Host to over 100 alternate tuning schemes.
ragajunglism.orgSciHub
A controversial non-profit org dedicated to the free access of scientific information for everyone
sci-hub.seLearn DVORAK
A typing website that allows you to learn DVORAK, an alternative keyboard standard that is designed to reduce wrist injury over time and improve efficiency.
learn.dvorak.nlHow Much Money is That?
A site which volumetrically visualizes what large sums of money looks like.
howmuchmoneyisthat.comFrontend Mini Challenges
Collection of frontend challenges for learning and machine coding round interviews
github.comDigital Maps of the Ancient World
A compendium of maps from and of European antiquity
digitalmapsoftheancientworld.comThe /r/place Atlas
An interactive, online atlas of /r/place, a collaborative online canvas, explaining each of the regions and iconography.
draemm.liMap of Science
ETO's Map of Science collects and organizes the world’s research literature, revealing key trends, hotspots, and concepts in global science and technology.
sciencemap.eto.techSix Degrees of Wikipedia
Inspired by the concept of six degrees of separation, you can traverse Wikipedia hyperlinks to find the least number of clicks it takes to navigate between any of it's nearly six million pages.
sixdegreesofwikipedia.comTry Colors
An online color mixing tool that allows you to match Hex, RGB, HSV or CMYK colors with real world paint colors.
trycolors.comSea Level Rise Viewer
View sea level rise and potential coastal flooding impact areas and relative depth.
coast.noaa.govArticles
Building a Second Brain: An Overview
A methodology for saving and systematically reminding us of the ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections we’ve gained. It expands our memory and intellect using the modern tools of technology and networks. It's not only for preserving those ideas, but turning them into reality.
fortelabs.comThe Town That Went Feral
When a group of libertarians set about scrapping their local government, chaos descended. And then the bears moved in.
newrepublic.comCelebrating Plantasia
“Plantasia at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden,” was an evening of multi-sensory experiences inspired by Mort Garson’s 1976 album Mother Earth’s Plantasia.
moogmusic.comHow Far Cry Primal Brought Ancient Languages Back To Life
Far Cry Primal features reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language, spoken by everyone in the game. Ubisoft hired a team of linguists who brought the ancient language into the game.
player.oneUSSR VS ADSR - Soviet Synths
The history of the once thriving Soviet Union synthesizer industry and their use among electronic musicians in the Soviet Union. They also highlight some of the more notable synths from this era.
musictech.comA Guide Through the Darkened Passages of Dungeon Synth
A Bandcamp article outlining the history of Dungeon Synth and how it's evolved as a genre along with tons of listening recommendations.
daily.bandcamp.comHow Many Scales Are There?
An article that answers the fabled question in music; How many possible scales can exist?
fromthewoodshed.comA Brief Guide to Metal In China
A scene report from Bandcamp that talks about the numerous underground/DIY Metal scenes in China
daily.bandcamp.com/scene-report/metal-in-chinaA General Guide to the Nature Documentary Music Score
An incredibly interesting article that outlines the methodology behind writing a score for a Nature Documentary.
emily-stewart.com/The Defender
A large biography on the fascinating life of NBA player Manute Bol.
magazine.atavist.com/the-defenderYour Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed
An article, both bitter and sobering, that discusses how the heavy degree to which the system we have found ourselves in has shaped our daily lives and how our culture and lifestyles have been used as weapons of oppression against us.
raptitude.comNineteen Seventy Three
The cybernetics program in Salvador Allende's Chile, in which they used a combination of supercomputing and primitive machine learning to create a highly efficient decision support system for resource distribution, very similar to the systems used by corporations such as Walmart and Amazon today.
damninteresting.comDesigning Freedom, Regulating a Nation
An academic research paper that dives further into the details and technical makeup of Chile's Project Cybersyn.
homes.luddy.indiana.edu/Fractals: A Mathematical and Technical Exploration of Infinite Complexity
Fractals are fascinating structures characterized by self-similarity and infinite complexity. Their presence is pervasive in nature, art, and computer-generated graphics, with applications spanning diverse fields. This essay examines the mathematical principles behind fractals, their generation through iterative algorithms, and how they have revolutionized computer graphics and complex systems modelling.
medium.comFive Notes
A musical study on how the Pentatonic Scale Guided the Evolution of Contemporary Classical Music. It's commonly known of it's influence on traditional musics and music as a whole, but seldom is spoken of it's influence on European Common Practice music.
interlude.hkThe Pencilsword: On a plate
A webcomic that talks about how different upbringings and environments shape a person's future from birth and the false perception people have on working hard being a guarantee for success.
www.rnz.co.nzEvery Noise At Once Genre Study
A study on musical genre as a whole coupled with an analysis of Spotify's genre statistics.
puddlegum.blogMicrosoft Japan's 4-day work week study
An article about an experiment Microsoft did with a 4-day work week in its Japan office that saw productivity jump by 40%.
businessinsider.nlThe Protected Class
An examination of the first documented gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
knock-la.comRichard Dadd and the magical genre of Victorian fairy painting
An article that examines and explains the history of the fairy painting, a specific trope found throughout art.
artuk.org/discoverDo Chinese People Lead More Nuanced Emotional Lives?
A study in cross-cultural psychology that examines the differences in how the west and the east view emotional nuance in their lives.
priceonomics.comUntreated Mental Illnesses: The Causes and Effects
An essay on the pandemic of untreated mental illness that plagues our country and world at large, as well as how it effects us on an individual level.
pphr.princeton.eduWhy Fantasy Matters
A fantasy author talks about why they write fantasy and why it's important for young readers.
wired.comBeatport Analysis
A musical analysis of the top 100 tracks on Beatport, an electronic music outlet
edmprod.com/beatport-analysisBathory: the triumph and tragedy of the man who invented black metal
Bathory mainman Quorthon pioneered black metal and Viking metal. But he was an enigma in life and death.
loudersound.comMastodon Guitarist Talks Economic Realities of Band Life
An article in which a touring Metal musician outlines the harsh reality of economic struggle that comes with being a full time musician.
metalsucks.netThe Racist Roots of Gun Control
A write-up on the history of how restrictive firearms legislation has been used numerous times in the United State's past to oppress racial minority groups.
extranewsfeed.comFrom Middle-earth to the Middle Kingdom
An article on how Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' found its way into Chinese culture.
theonering.netHow Russia keeps the memory of heroes of the Great Patriotic War alive
An article discussing the immense ceremony in Russia commemorating veterans of the Great Patriotic War (the eastern front of the second world war).
rbth.com/historyThe Paper Billionaire Argument
A short piece of writing from the same author as '1 Pixel Wealth' that dispels the notion that "the wealth gap does not exist because no one that rich could afford to liquidate their assets!". One of the most educational and informing pieces i've read for being so short.
github.com/MKorostoff/Tolerance is not a moral precept
An article discussing paradox of tolerance, in which if one is tolerant of intolerance, intolerance inevitably stifles tolerance.
extranewsfeed.comComplex Systems Theory: How Science Solves Social Issues
A new discipline called complex systems theory uses scientific approaches to understand and predict social issues. This emerging field gives us concepts and tools to help us navigate our world, which is growing more connected and therefore more challenging to navigate.
northropgrumman.comIBM and the Holocaust
A bone-chilling exposé by Edwin Black on the pivotal role that IBM played in the computerization of the Holocaust, and the millions of dollars in profit they made off of these atrocities.
besacenter.orgDinosaurs and the Anti-Shrink-Wrapping Revolution
An article discussing the poor paleo-art around dinosaurs and the misconceptions they have lead to. Dinosaurs didn't look how Jurassic Park told us they did!
blogs.scientificamerican.comInside The Battle of Hayes Pond
When 500 Indigenous Americans Chased The Ku Klux Klan Out Of North Carolina
allthatsinteresting.comTolkien's Paintings
The paintings, maps and illustrations of J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
www.tolkienestate.comRPGs were around hundreds of years before D&D
A historical article that catalogues the rich history of storytelling, parlor games, war gaming and tabletop role-playing that D&D traces its roots through.
dicebreaker.comThere's no speed limit
There is a path laid by those who have come before. You can walk it or you can run it. There is no speed limit. Creating new things (research or art) is what takes time.
sive.rsMedicare for All Would Save the U.S. Trillions
Medicare for All Would Cover Everyone, Save Money and End Medical Debt, The Numbers Don't Lie
citizen.orgThe Chinese ‘Debt Trap’ Is a Myth
The narrative wrongfully portrays both Beijing and the developing countries it deals with.
theatlantic.comThe hell bangers of Botswana’s underground metal scene
Botswana’s heavy metal culture gets hyped for all the wrong reasons, but, beneath the surface is a DIY subculture uncorrupted by the outside world.
huckmag.comTo be creative, Chinese philosophy teaches us to abandon ‘originality‘
A philosophic writing that offers an alternative perspective on creativity to help us see it as a standard thing that everybody participates in, rather than an extraordinary gift only enjoyed by a few.
psyche.coAll Programming Philosophies Are About State
A short read, which describes the manner in which all programming philosophies are concerned with state.
worldofbs.comCyberpunk Needs a Reboot
Cyberpunk once stood out as a vital genre of anti-capitalist fiction. Now, it’s been reduced to a cool retro aesthetic easily appropriated by the world’s richest man to sell ugly Blade Runner–esque trucks.
jacobin.comAnimals Think And Feel. Here's How We Know.
A National Geographic article that investigates the notion that some people have that animals do not think or feel (crazy if you ask me).
nationalgeographic.comIs poverty the mother of crime?
A scientific research paper that goes into detail on the roots that most crimes have in poverty
ncbi.nlm.nih.govWorker Cooperatives Are More Productive Than Normal Companies
When maximizing profits isn’t the only goal, companies can actually work better.
thenation.comCreating a game for Atari 2600 in 2022
A fascinating article that highlights how, if one desired, program a game for the Atari 2600 in the modern day
medium.comWhy people adore the Polivoks Synth
The history of the Soviet-made Polivoks synthesizer, known for its unique tone and design
rbth.comThe Nitrous Oxide Philosopher
A deep dive into psychedelic drugs, what they can mean for human mental health, as well as human spiritual connection to the world
theatlantic.comVagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain
A scientific research study on the Vagus Nerve, the actual 'mind-body connection' in all of our bodies
frontiersin.orgYour Brain On Art
How music, dance and poetry can help your brain. The idea that art has a measurable effect on the brain and its structure, has support from a growing number of scientific studies.
npr.orgA Beginners Guide to Noise Music
An attempt to sketch out the contemporary noise scene and (very briefly) link this cultural space to a few foundational historical scenes and moments.
thehardtimes.netWhy People Misperceive Crime Trends
Did you know that Chicago is not the "murder capital of the US", as commonly claimed? That it's not "worse than Afghanistan", as has been claimed?
nytimes.comMeet the Night Witches
A historical look at the 'Night Witches', who were an all-woman Soviet bombing regiment, who used old school bi-planes to stay quiet and escape detection.
history.comThis Teenager Killed Nazis With Her Sister During WWII
A historical telling of Freddie and Truus Oversteegen, who assassinated several Nazi officers during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands
history.comLake Baikal
Read about the world's oldest and deepest lake, so big that it is often misconstrued as the sea. It holds 20% of all freshwater on earth and home to thousands of species found nowhere else.
livescience.comHow Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations
How western intelligence agencies manipulate and control online discourse using some truly despicable tactics, similar to those utilized during COINTELPRO, such as the FBI-King suicide letter.
theintercept.comThe Door Problem
“So what does a game designer do? Are you an artist? Do you design characters and write the story? Or no, wait, you’re a programmer?”
lizengland.comThe Last Auchwitz Liberator Drove a Tank Through It's Barbed Wire Walls
An interview with David Dushman, a former Red Army solider, who was the last surviving liberator of Auschwitz, before his death. The article also details various members of the Red Army's first hand experience's during the liberation of the camp.
washingtonpost.comGoldman asks ‘Is curing patients a sustainable business model?’
Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address their [shareholders] concerns that cures could be bad for business in the long run. How sad for them.
cnbc.comZak Kiernan, maker of dungeon synth and comfy synth
An interview with Zak Kiernan, a black metal, dungeon synth and comfy synth artist shedding some light on the genre for the general public.
chicagoreader.comGlobal 4-day week pilot was a huge success, organizers say
33 companies and 903 workers trialed a 4-day work week, after which, they decided they would never go back. Productivity increased, worker quality of life increased. Wins all around.
cnn.comThe stories of China's bowed string instruments
One article from a series of articles talking about the stories behind how China's traditional instruments were developed!
cgtn.comA surprisingly strong link between altitude and suicide in the U.S.
Over the past two decades, researchers have observed that people living at higher altitudes have an increased risk of suicide. Why is this?
bigthink.comEvidence That Short People Live Longer: What We Know
Research indicates a possible link between above average height and specific diseases, as well as longevity potential.
healthline.comUndergraduates' Work Blames Comet For 6th-century 'Nuclear Winter'
Scientists at Cardiff University believe they have discovered the cause of crop failures and summer frosts some 1,500 years ago – a comet colliding with Earth.
sciencedaily.comAmbience as an Instrument
A short, interesting article about an electronic music microgenre known as 'Mallsoft'
www.ultimate-guitar.comMusic Genealogy
Music Genealogy is, in short, the study of music genre. It's the field that studies the pattern of musical genres that have contributed to the development of new ones!
musicmap
An interactive educational resource on most major genres of music and their descendants and predecessors!
musicmap.infoMap of Metal
An interactive website focusing specifically on the evolution of Metal music!
mapofmetal.comIshkur's Guide to Electronic Music
An interactive website focusing specifically on the evolution of Electronic music!
music.ishkur.comEvery Noise at Once
A website that scrapes large amounts of music from Spotify and sorts them into their niche sub genres for you to explore.
everynoise.com/Space Photography
Hubble's Hidden Treasures
The results of the ESA's competition for astronomers, both amateur and professional, to submit their picks for the best deep cut from Hubble's image archive.
theatlantic.comPhylogeny
The Tree of Life! I've always been curious about the fossil record and what evolved from what. These are a few sites to help you navigate what we know!
OneZoom
Allows you to explore the tree of life in a way similar to a geographic map, but using fractals
onezoom.orgLifemap
Another 'map-like' explorer, it includes a lot of extinct species, but lacks further information on a lot
lifemap.univ-lyon1.frOpen Tree of Life
A popular data source for this kind of thing, even utilized by other members of this list, presents in a horizontal list view
opentreeoflife.orgInteresting Wikipedia Links
- Models of DNA evolution
- Works Based on Dreams
- Pando - The world's largest organism
- List of Common Misconceptions
- List of Cognitive Biases
- Tsutomu Yamaguchi - The only person to be officially recognized as surviving both atomic bomb strikes
- List of Unusual Deaths
- List of Fallacies
- Comparative Mythology -
- List of Emerging Technologies
- Recuperation
- Johnson County War
- Clement Vallandigham
- Biodiversity Hotspot