* * * Like It's 1999 ! ! ! * * *

* * * WELCOME TO LIKE IT'S 1999 ! ! ! * * * build something using nothing but the software of the 1990s * * * ship it to me and i will mail you a real floppy disk with your code on it * * *

Like It's 1999

Hi, and welcome to my little corner of the web! :)
Pull up a chair and let me tell you what this whole thing is about.

This is a You Ship, We Ship program that I put together myself. My name is Jeremy!

BOOT WINDOWS 98 »
(this fires up the emulator, so give it a sec to wake up the hard drive)

»»» Better get cracking! This one will not be up forever, you know. «««

What in the world is this?

Okay, so here is the deal. When you click that big button up there, a real live Windows 98 computer boots right up inside your web browser. It has got Netscape on it for surfing around, and EditPlus for writing your HTML, and Paint Shop Pro for making your graphics, and Flash 4 for animating them, and Game Maker if you fancy putting a little game together, and Visual Basic for when you want a proper Windows program with buttons and everything. There is a good deal more tucked away in there besides, waiting for you to go poking about.

What I would love for you to do is make something on that old machine, and then send it over to me. It does not have to be a website! Loads of people have made those and they are a lovely place to start, but a little program, or a game, or a daft utility that does exactly one thing, I would be very happy to see any of it. The one big catch is that everything you use to make it has to be from before the year 2000. So no reaching for your fancy modern tools! It is just you and a beige box, working the way we all used to back when the web was still young.

You Ship · We Ship

» YOU SHIP
Something you built and finished on the Windows 98 machine. A website, a program, a game, whatever takes your fancy. It can be about anything you like, and it can be great big or teeny tiny, just so long as you made the entire thing in there with the old software.

» WE SHIP
A real floppy disk with your very own code saved onto it, sent right to your mailbox. I will have a look at what you made first, and then I will pop it in the post to you.

The Rules

Everything you actually RUN has to be from before the year 2000. The way I think about it, your browser and the emulator are the computer itself, and everything you build with lives inside there.

You have got to build it inside the machine. Now, it is totally okay to use the real internet on your own computer to look things up and learn how stuff works. But the thing itself has to be made in Windows 98.

You have to ship something that really and truly works. It needs to open up and actually do something. A page that only says it is under construction does not count, which, yes, I know is a little bit ironic.

Have fun with it! Pretend it is the last summer before the whole world got itself into a panic about Y2K.

How to join in

1. Come and say hi to me over on Slack in #like-its-1999. That is where I hang about, and you can find me there as @Jeremy.

2. Click that BOOT button way up at the top and start building.

3. Once you have got it all finished, come and show it off in the channel. I am still putting the proper submission form together, and I will post it there the minute it is ready, so there is no rush and nothing to miss.

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Some other little corners of the web worth a click:

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dancing

Last updated: just now!
Like It's 1999 is a You Ship, We Ship program run by me, Jeremy, over at Hack Club. Feel free to write to me any time at jeremy@hackclub.com.
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© 1999. Well okay, it is really 2026, but you would hardly know it around here.