Lyris Lite | Lyris' Linkorama

This is the most retro of the online ideas. Back in the day before obscene amounts of pop-up advertising, you'd fire up whatever browser your favourite site was "optimized for", and browse through a web page created by a student about a cult television program or upcoming DOS game. Siiiigh. After listening to scratchy AIFF sounds of Ren Hoek shouting, "it's the history eraser button, you fool!", you'd be able to browse through a page telling you, and redirecting you to, similar places on the fabulous interweb, located on some other college's web server.

Nowadays there isn't really much point. A quick search on Google will redirect you to anything you could ever possibly need or want to find, and with relevant results too I might add. DOS is long gone, and scratchy AIFF sounds of Ren Hoek have been replaced with blurry MPEG movies of the same.

Yup, times have moved on. But, I'd feel like a big scrooge if I were to spit on this cherished internet tradition, so join me as I keep it going for awhile longer. Enjoy the links!

The links at the top

	Gallowmere is the online home of the elusive Mr Todd S. Gallows. He lives in Canada and writes books about strange people. Currently, he's working on Shtick Warriors, which sounds like it will definitely be worth a read.
	I have no idea who this funny man is, but he was sitting on the side of the street and asked me if I would link to his web site. It's called Whiggles.com, and I thought it was a funny name, so I thought I would honor the request.

Technological Fun-Time

	The AV Forums is primarily a British forum where you can discuss all sorts of audiovisual technology. TVs, panel displays, MP3 players and digital cameras are all covered here. The reason I feel it's worthy of a link is not just that it's a great resource of information, but it's a very friendly place. All of the members are really nice, which is an area where sites full of knowledgable individuals sometimes slip up on. There's no elitism here so don't be afraid visiting if you aren't an expert.
	And this is the American equivalent, the AV Science Forum. Slightly more info about HDTV and the American market here, obviously.
	If you're not using Mozilla Firefox, you're probably using Internet Explorer. This means your computer will probably be at risk from spyware and other nasties, and web developers are having to go out of their way to accomodate the outdated technology you use. Luckily, Firefox is a free solution to both of these problems, and many more. The best web browser available.
	Although dragging its knees around in the stone-age age of video technology when it comes to high definition, the UK at least is semi-serious about pushing DTV. "Freeview" is actually not free at all by any means - you obviously have to pay for the decoder, and you still have to pay Britain's obligatory 110 pounds or so yearly subscription charge to BBC whether you want their poor package of channels or not, which is why I like to call it LicenseFeeView - but, it's a great way to get digital TV through your antenna if you're not interested in, or can't afford to pay more to a cable or satellite provider.
	BigPockets are my favourite online retailer for blank CD and DVD media. The shipping is a smidge pricey, but boxes of 50-100 CDs at knockdown prices are bound to be a little weighty, so we will forgive them.
	If like me, you like to mess around with digital video, video capturing, DVD authoring and the like, then you'll know how frustrating it can be when things turn nasty. Video Help.com has a lot of nice tutorials and a fairly good forum to help you on your merry way.
	VirtualDub is an already fantastic digital video processing program. And now comes VirtualDubMod, which is far more DVD friendly with support for MPEG-2 video and AC3/Dolby Digital audio tracks.
	HuffYUV is an excellent, free, Video for Windows codec. It's lossless so it will keep everything in crispy quality, and extremely fast. It's what I use to capture lossless versions of TV broadcasts onto my hard drive, before compressing them for DVD.
	TMPGEnc is short for Tsunami MPEG Encoder. It's one of the best MPEG and MPEG-2 compressors in the world. Unlike other encoders, it doesn't jerk around behind your back and add unwelcome little "enhancements" to the video. It just produces a great quality MPEG version of your original source as closely as possible.
	iuLab is where iuVCR comes from. It's my video capturing tool of choice.

Fake Sites / Scathing Satire / Humor Attempts

	Make.Poverty.Fashionable is an obvious satire of the probably very well intentioned "Make Poverty History" campaign that seemed to become a fashion symbol more than an actual display of genuine concern back in the Summer of 2005. Before anyone asks, I don't find the fact that alarmingly large amounts of people in the world are suffering horribly amusing. If you think I'd laugh at that, then you've missed the point. (A friend of my friend Julie in Canada called me a "genius" for doing this site. That gives me a big warm feeling in my motherly belly.)
	You might not know it, but there's a huge community on the web that dedicates itself to discovering secrets of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog games. Some of the things that surface are quite interesting if you're interested in game development - things that got cut out, changed, and the like. And then, there's the type of communities that are parodied in Sonic the Hedgehog Secrets and Theories. The people in these types dedicate themselves uncovering any hidden truths about Japan's favourite blue rodent, however banal they may be. Visitors can join in the discussion and make fake screen shots of Sonic levels that don't exist... or do they! Current hot topics include: the governmental conspiracy proving why the Sega Saturn really died, plus, was Big the Cat in fact the true master of the Chaos emerald? Life-affirming stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.
	Queers For Jesus! Did you know that Jesus Christ, everyone's favourite mythical comic book character, was actually a homosexual? It's true, I read it on the internet. So there. Gay, lesbian and bisexual celebrities speak out about this new phenomenon on this vibrant page. I probably classify as queer myself (depending on your definition), so don't get the wrong idea about this one.
	DeviousArt is where you go if you want to draw pictures of horses, ponies, unicorns, and other creatures doing things that humans normally do, because that's really really cute. Then you can leave an appropriately gushing comment on the said artwork. It's fun!
	Vincent's Journal chronicles the everyday misadventures of a depressed little boy who lives in the hell-hole that is Hollywood, USA (but forgive him if he refers to it as Death Valley). Vincent's just like every other teenager. He has troubles with his parents, at school, and with friends. But there's one thing that nobody else will believe that Vincent knows. He's a VAMPIRE. This is kind of outdated now. Back in early 2004, before the mass-popularity of MySpace, it made a lot more sense. It was at first meant as a parody of LiveJournals but in the end, it became more about the misadventures of this pseudo-character than a parody of a web site.
	Tuppence Arcade is what you read if you're into video games and like to hang around java-joints sipping mocca playing the bongos. It's hip, it's sly, it's vectory, and it features jokes that are funny because they're SO TRUE! LOL! Also - the sequel: The Return of Tuppence Arcade! Yes, I realise Something Awful already did this.