Random Site of the Week Archive

Where some ideas are stranger than others...	RANDOM SITE ARCHIVE at the Moonspeaker
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PREVIOUS RANDOM SITES OF THE WEEK The links below all open in the same window or tab as this page by default. Clicking the star (★) at the end of the entry will open the headline link in a new window or tab instead. This seems to me to be the best way to make it a bit more convenient to visit random sites without closing or losing this page while not making it a surprising or annoying default. Based on my tests so far, the new tab should pop up to the right of the parent tab, and the new window on top of the parent window. Another thing to draw attention to is that this feature began in 2018, and so some sites have changed a great deal over the past several years. If you want to be sure to get a sense of the version of the site that originally featured on The Moonspeaker, it is worth looking the link up on the wayback machine and dialling back to at least the year of the random site date. This is especially important for multi-author, political projects and their associated blogs, which will inevitably reflect changes in personnel and other outside pressures. With politics also come accusations of various types of malfeasance, which may or may not be well-grounded when made or at the time the site was encountered, so it is all the more important to check the source. So far sites hosted by companies such as ghost, substack, patreon, or beehiiv haven't made much of an impact here. This is not due to any particular political or ethical position against them as such, though substack in particular has been denounced from time to time due to how friendly it is or at times is perceived to be to creators flogging poisonous ideologies. In the main I tend to favour smaller sites that today's advertising companies masquerading as search engines punish for being small and not a part of some centralizing platform. This does not rule out larger sites and archives nor more mainstream sorts of sites, but it seems to me those have considerable profile and more search engine favour, so it seems less interesting or important to add them here. Finally, there are now so many random sites that it was well past time to split the original page up into several separate pages mostly by year. I may add a thematic sort later in a separate set of pages. Current \| 2008-2014 \| 2015-2016 \| 2017 \| 2018 \| 2019 \| 2020 \| 2021 \| 2022 \| 2023 \| 2024 \| 2025 Griselda Pollock (2026-10-02) : Storied Feminist art historian who has helped make it much more difficult to pretend there are no brilliant women artists. Pollock is also an artist herself as well as a prolific writer, including early work in video, audio, and still images. She is also creating an online archive, though it will be curious to see how it develops considering her citations of the execrable duo of Foucault and Derrida. ★ Salvo (2026-09-12) : The dubiously united kingdom is a more obviously precarious political and economic arrangement. More and more scots are interested in restoring their country's independence, and among them is this group striving to restore knowledge of the history of the original "union" of scotland with england and the impacts of it in law and on scotland's constitution. ★ Amarylli - Bringing Poetry to Life Through Music (2026-09-12) : A wonderful musical partnership between vocalist Hannah Grove and lutenist Elizabeth Patten, specializing in unique performances of interleaved music and poetry from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Besides being wonderful to listen to after taking a few minutes to adjust to the vocal style of the period, it is an interesting expression of english concern to reclaim their own culture. ★ Luteweb (2026-09-12) : Professional lutenist Elizabeth Patten's wonderful site, which is quite interesting to read and listen on even for non-lutenists and non-string instrument players in general. People keen to become lute or guitar players can also arrange to have lessons with Patten, online or if their location allows, in person. The very interested may also wish to look at the next random site. ★ Sovinform (2026-09-12) : Regular visitors will be familiar with the growing selection of random sites to make you go, "hmmmm." This site, passion project of Saed Teymuri, definitely counts as one of those. He seems to be posting primarily on asocial media and sending out a newsletter these days rather than adding to the site. Readers familiar with Gabriel Rockhill's work may find opportunities for comparison and contrast in terms of primary source analysis and write up. ★ Asciimation (2026-08-28) : There are still many wonderful things on the web these days, including this extraordinary ascii art-based animated version of much of the first half of the first filmed and released star wars movie. Produced as a clever silent film with game-style side to side scrolling by Simon Jansen, it is a tour de force not to be missed. ★ Palestinian Museum (2026-08-25) : An absolutely critical project pursued by Palestinians in their homeland and in diaspora to preserve accurate information about their history and culture. It includes a downloadable, ready to print and set up exhibit about Gaza. Of course they take donations to continue their education programs and hard work. ★ The Online Froissart (2026-08-02) : Sometime in the fourteenth century, the court historian Jean Froissart wrote an account of the first part of the period of english-french warfare known as the hundred years' war. (He wrote other surviving works as well.) It appears he was a major purveyor of now familiar images and ideas about chivalry and warfare in mediaeval europe. As the title suggests, this site presents a digital version of the manuscript tradition of this account. A consolidated version translated and printed in 1899 is readily available at the internet archive for comparison. ★ Aboriginal History (2026-06-22) : Open access publication site of a journal and monographs by scholars carrying out interdisciplinary studies on interactions between Aboriginals and the invaders of their continent. The monograph list includes items from 1996, only a few of which are not available in pdf. The site is somewhat unique in its explicit development and posting of a Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement. ★ Tom Baker (2026-06-20) : Actor Tom Baker's wonderful official site, chock-a-block with excerpts from his writing, some of the programs he has been part of, and as always today, a newsfeed and site store. Although he had a dreadful time escaping typecasting after his seven years in the iconic role of the Doctor in Doctor Who, he is an excellent actor and gifted impromptu comedian. The amount of material provided for free view on his site is generous, and he is still a busy actor though he is now in his 90s, including a series of Sherlock Holmes audiobooks. ★ The Linothorax Project (2026-06-16) : One of the most successful armies of the ancient world was led by Alexander III of macedon, conquering much of the world greeks and macedonians knew at the time. Their main body armour was the linothorax, mysterious because it did not physically survive in the archaeological method, and modern scholars doubted layered cloth armour could be effective. Enter this project, led by Gregory S. Aldrete, which over ten years plausibly tested and reconstructed this complex, multilayered armour. ★ LBV Magazine (2026-06-14) : A magazine with a growing profile in archaeological news, founded to cover news and research into archaeology, history, science, and technology. The primary writers appear to be writing in their second or third additional language, which sometimes results in editorial hiccups, but also means their crosslinks and citations extend beyond the usual narrow band of english sources. ★ Progressive International (2026-06-09) : Launched in 2020, with the site currently hosted in the uk, this organization focusses on developing and sharing a constructive vision for the future, including practical means to change to a more just political economy for the world. The site is a bonus for language learners as it is translated into twenty languages, including non-european ones, and features important long reads examining political economy and related activism. Its writers and council members include an appropriate balance of membership from the global minority as well. ★ Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship, The (2026-06-08) : An excellent subsite of the san francisco national park association presenting a digitized version of a two volume work by David Steel. It covers everything, including not just what neophytes might expect like rope-making and sail-making, but also how to make anchors and pulley blocks, along with a crash course in how to handle and steer a ship. That said, alas the site as a whole has a stupidly aggressive "anti-bot" filter, so it may prove tricky at times to access it. If you get stuck, there are good scans available at the internet archive. ★ nsm-approach.net (2026-05-27) : A central site for reading and learning about the natural semantic metalanguage approach to cross-linguistic and cross-cultural semantics especially developed and championed by Anna Wierzbicka. It is a foundational approach for developing non-circular dictionary definitions and refining approaches to translation. Caveat lector, it is clear this approach is of dangerous interest to people who call themselves missionaries and other illicit workers in other countries than their own. ★ Natural Navigator, The (2026-05-27) : Tristan Gooley's site which of course promotes his books, but also includes an excellent set of basic information to get started, including how to navigate in cities using observations of the sky and buildings. In other words, his techniques do not depend on having a map. It is good to have both a real paper map and some of these techniques, rather than becoming solely dependent on cell phone applications. ★ Twilit Grotto: Archives of Western Esoterica (2026-05-27) : The previous site is part of this larger project, which is chock-a-block with transcribed and annotated texts from the extensive corpus of written and printed books concerning magic and spiritual questing used in europe by the wealthy set in much of europe. Inevitably some of this stuff is pretty weird, and at times fun to read. If while reading pre-nineteenth century european literature you happen on a reference to a person by name who seems to have been an astrologer, magician, or even proto-scientist, chances are that person has a work on this site. ★ Writings of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535) (2026-05-27) : An set of excellent html versions of Agrippa's works by Joseph H. Peterson, including his own annotations comparing editions and providing historical information. The perhaps most famous of these, "Of Occult Philosophy," or in the original latin, "De Occulta," is also among the most plagiarized and pirated. It probably deserves a proper scholarly edition to trace its sources and cross-references. ★ Shake-Speare's Bible.com (2026-05-24) : Online home of Roger Stritmatter, whose dissertation based on his study and analysis of the geneva bible purchased and marked up by Edward de Vere, 17th earl of oxford. Besides providing updates on his books and articles and their reception, he covers other authorship-related news. If nothing else, examination of the annotations provides a new perspective on de Vere's reported failure to preserve his inherited fortune. ★ Shakespeare Authorship Sourcebook (2026-05-24) : A wonderful side effect of major older book and document scanning intersecting with contested questions like those about the Shakespearean works is the subsequent availability of the original documents. This site specifically includes html transcriptions and PDFs. The main site page is a bibliography, with linked files added over time. Few items lack linked files, with the result that the very interested can happily spend many hours reading and comparing scans, transcriptions, and alternate scans available from other collections. A complementary site now available only at the internet archive is The Oxford Authorship Site. ★ Center for Circassian Studies (2026-05-12) : A project founded in turkey in the late 1990s, going online for the first time in 2003. The scholars contributing to the site have catalogued a range of papers and articles, relevant links, and basic introductions to circassian geography and history. There is a telltale NGO component, so this has a bit more caveat lector entailed to it than usual. ★ FreePalestineTV (2026-05-08) : An absolutely essential journalistic project led by Laith Marouf, which documents the ongoing genocide and war crimes committed by western forces in their ongoing effort to invade and erase west asia in service of the fading all too slowly anglo-saxon empire. Reporting is by people on the ground, not members of diaspora abroad. ★ Marcello Musto (2026-04-27) : York university sociology professor and important leading scholar in the current renaissance of study of the Marx-Engels corpus, including special examination of Marx' complete published and unpublished works. He is also a busy public speaker and journalist, taking part in video and audio podcasts. ★ Glossary of Empire, The (2026-04-25) : An important and highly useful resource compiled in 2025. It captures the reality behind what is fundamentally the current real world version of what George Orwell gleefully labelled "newspeak." For those who have wondered why somehow the words spoken never seem to correspond to positive outcomes for the majority of people in an african country, this glossary helps explain why. (PDF snapshot from 2026-04-23.) ★ International Manifesto Group (2026-04-11) : An intriguing project started in 2020 partly in response to the early months of the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic. The group consists of anti-imperialist, socialist thinkers including activists, journalists, and scholars, all of whom are striving to understand current geopolitical circumstances and develop a path out of the capitalist-imperialist death cult. ★ BrowserGate (2026-04-08) : A central website to raise awareness and gather participants in a class action lawsuit in the EU against the nefarious microsoft and its linkedin platform. This case confirms that this particular "social media" platform spreads and uses malware for espionage, data theft, and surveillance. The sad fact is that all "social media" are tainted by at minimum the suspicion of this form of abuse and malware distribution. ★ Ireland's Great Hunger Museum (2026-04-07) : This museum houses and preserves an important collection of visual art in many media, a library of printed works, and an important growing multimedia collection including the Great Hunger Database. The website itself provides ready access to that database, various educational materials, and an introduction to the facts of the Great Famine imposed upon Ireland by the british empire. ★ Librarians and Archivists With Palestine (2026-03-28) : Indigenous resistance to invader attempts to delete Indigenous cultural heritage, education and archival systems continues and grows. This network of librarians and archivists, founded in 2013, focuses on solidarity and support for Palestinian self-determination. ★ Romeyka Project, The (2026-02-23) : This is a salvage anthropology project focussed on studying and recording the now barely surviving dialect of remarkably conservative greek known as romeyka or pontic greek spoken around the Black Sea. The region was full of greek-speaking communities until the early twentieth century, when multiple cycles of genocides, war, and deportations culminated in the final religion-based deportations between greece and turkiye completed under the treaty of lausanne. Notably, today this language is spoken almost exclusively by women. ★ Critical Theory Workshop (2026-02-04) : Founded by philosopher Gabriel Rockhill, a u.s.-based non-profit project focussed on providing free and subsidized courses in critical theory in order to apply in real life. An important focus is dialectical, historical materialism, and marxism more generally. A wide number of respected scholars have taken part in the summer schools and courses, including contributing to an archive recorded records. ★ Barbara G. Walker (2026-01-24) : Barbara G. Walker, feminist, multi-media artist, freethinker, and renowned author passed away in december 2025. Her son set up and maintains this site, which it appears he intends to keep running as a going concern. Besides a full bibliography of her books, the site includes a collection of article reproductions, including a collection of unpublished pieces, and a near-complete set of high quality images of her i-ching paintings. It sounds like a similar page for her tarot deck is also in production. ★ Georgian Language and Culture (2026-01-18) : An important compendium of introductory materials maintained by Shorena Kurtsikidze at UCLA-Berkeley. Among the highlights are a set of ten lessons in georgian grammar, pictures and scans of georgian artworks and places, and an introduction to georgian folklore. "Georgian" is a rather loose term for the main language spoken in the caucasian country, one of several closely related non-indo-european languages there and the one with the most speakers. ★ Ingrid's Website (2026-01-18) : Economist Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven's online hub of publications, including many articles, a podcast, a blog, and links to her other projects. She served as one of the editors of the collection Decolonising Economics – An Introduction, and is pursuing continuing research on and challenges to the false rationalisations used to maintain colonialism. ★ Jörg Rhiemeier's Conlang Pages (2026-01-18) : Just what it says on the tin, including a particularly helpful overview page on minority languages still spoken in the caucasus region, having survived through some undeniably astonishing levels of political and social change. The "standard average european" and celtic language pages are aso well worth time spent reading them to start, but there is far more than this posted. As always among conlangers and linguists more generally, Rhiemeier is erudite and opinionated, and thereby intriguing and thought provoking. ★ An Introduction to Kēlen (2026-01-18) : Sylvia Sotomayor's online presentation of her intriguing linguistic experiment in creating a non-human conlang. The site has apparently not been updated recently, yet Sotomayor's page design and information arrangement decisions are holding up wonderfully. This is a great example of linguistic presentation and development as well as website implementation and design. ★ Michael Parenti Political Archive, The (2026-01-18) : Although aware of Parenti's brilliant and principled books, journalism, and other work for some time, it took longer to stumble upon this excellent and by all appearances authorized or authorization-compatible site. The book and article bibliographies are thorough and include links to to sources where still in print, and for now at least there is still an associated youtube channel, youtube.com/@themichaelparentilibrary. ★ squoze.net (2026-01-01) : An excellent computer history site, of interest to anyone with a detailed interest in the early programming languages used in what became the UNIX operating system, and the earlier versions of UNIX itself. It percolated up in newfeeds due to the recent recovery of the code of UNIX v.4, which is reproduced on the site with installation and run instructions. As a compliment to this site, readers may also be interested in A Commentary on the Sixth Edition of the UNIX Operating System by J. Lions. ★	How Random Is The Selection, Really? Mathematically speaking, not random at all. I bump into websites or webpages that strike me as cool, interesting, useful, or daft enough to have lots of fun with, and feature them. Being as I have eclectic interests, there will always be some thematic randomness, at least until there are enough sites picked out to be in obvious categories, which won't happen for awhile. I suppose you could consider this a hybrid of the blog roll that often resides on one side or the other of the screen on most wordpress blogs that I have read or touched on, and the old time "Links" page that used to be the backbone of the "web" part of the internet. Nowadays I am not sure whether webmasters and contributors spend much time anymore on thinking about how to add to the interconnections between websites online versus waiting for search engines to do much of the work, on top of rss feed subscriptions and the dreaded "social media." UPDATE 2018-07-16: Well, based on the sites I have been pulling together here, I think it is fair to say there are a few categories now. Science, math, and computer applications for a start. I have been adding more and more links to sources that in my view people should be able to read for themselves and decide whether or not they share the usual way the writer or group in question is depicted in the mainstream media. Publishing, Indigenous rights, history, and a smattering of linguistics, anthropology and archaeology. What Happens to Very Old Random Site Listings? If the site is still going strong, nothing really. Blogs and similar sites that have been switched into archives and no longer receive new posts or comments are marked as such once confirmed in their new state. A few sites and blogs now vanished from the internet are replaced by their archived versions at the internet archive. There were two links to pages rather than websites which at long last were rooted out. One was to a profile of Douglas Hofstadter formerly on the stanford university website, now only accessible via the internet archive. Protip, the profile gives far too much prominence to a book Hofstadter cobbled together while grieving for his wife who had died of a fast-moving cancer. The book is not very good and does not compare well to his most famous text, Gödel, Escher, Bach. Alas, Hofstadter has no real affinity for the web and the vagaries of united statesian copyright seem to have stymied most potential responding or homaging works in the vein of the online Library of Babel, which is too bad. The other link is to one of comedian Aamer Rahman's sketches, Fear of a Brown Planet – On Reverse Racism (alt source). This is a link to youtube from before it was served with https, and so does not properly redirect. Interested readers will be best served by searching for Rahman's channel instead. UPDATE: In a blur of unusual search engine success, I have tracked down Rahman's channel. I had no idea he had been on hiatus for seven years, and he has some great new material up.
Copyright © C. Osborne 2026 Last Modified: Friday, January 02, 2026 21:04:06