Web Surfing

  www.rotten.com  

Rotten
www.rotten.com

In a society of morbid mind-set, there will always be an
audience that desires to dissect the fragile gut of the Internet,
slicing through the news feeds and FAQs, to let the juicy,
bile-slick bowels of the Web’s dark side spill out onto the
monitor in a bleeding, infested heap. Rotten.com caters to such an audience,
serving up steaming mounds of images that are violent, erotic,
humorous, or all of the above. There are many Web sites,
smeared like roadkill across the netscape, that offer similar
vomit-inducing material. However, rotten.com is the most
user-friendly and has, in terms of layout, the cleanest home page.
There are no advertisements for porn sites or chop-shop graphics
here. Besides the obligatory murder victims, rotten.com also offers
a host of other, less-disturbing pickings including mug shots of
everybody’s favorite television personalities, anniversary
dates of tragedies, bizarre factoids and photographs of naked
celebs taken by over-zealous paparazzi. This latter feature is not
reviewable (for now) ““ while, almost perversely, an Adult
Check is necessary for access to pictures of bodies that are
actually alive and in one piece. For better or for worse,
rotten.com isn’t updated very often and when it is, the
updates aren’t substantial. Even the section “Daily
Rotten” which the Web site claims is “updated
daily! Can you imagine?” is not updated daily so no,
users can’t imagine. It’s also difficult to imagine
what’s gonna pop up on the screen next. Many links
connect directly to the graphic photos and don’t actually
define what the viewer will see blasted onto the monitor in all its
gloriously gory resolution. Will the image be hideous or humorous?
Take the hyperlink cryptically entitled “Motorcycle: Nothing
gets between me and my Harley.”Â Click the link and,
thanks to broadband, what gets splattered across the screen is a
picture of a man whose entire lower face has caved into a gaping
maw filled with red chunks of mucus-lathered gore. To an extent,
certain Web heads will relish in this unpredictability and scream
with, well, not delight per se ““ shocked surprise seems to be
the more appropriate characterization. Then again, those who enjoy
photos of suicides, diseased (or tragically under-endowed)
genitalia and the like probably won’t be especially
traumatized when the site smears photographs of fecalphiliacs
across the screen either. Moral questions certainly arise when one
exploits photographs of autopsies or accident victims on the
Web. Rotten.com, however,
certainly doesn’t purport to be the digital center of
decency, and those who are disgusted and offended by lewd material
should avoid this site at all costs. But for those who slow to a
crawl by traffic accidents in the vain hope of catching a glimpse
of human pain, suffering and entrails, rotten.com is certainly the
right site. Its user interface is relatively simple and its layout
makes the site easy to browse. The material certainly borders on
bad taste, but then again, it isn’t supposed to be
tasteful.

Ryan Joe Rating: 7

Hip-Hop Site
www.hiphopsite.com

Finally, there is a Web site for the discriminating hip-hop fan.
Part retail store, part magazine, hiphopsite.com attempts to give
hip-hop heads the lowdown on the latest music. The site leans
toward the underground, but all sorts of artists can be found here,
from the Eminems and Jay-Zs, to lesser-known rappers such as
Aceyalone and Kool Keith. The section “In The Deck”
gives in depth reviews and ratings of current album releases, while
the “New Joints” section gives quick reviews of the
latest singles, some radio songs and some more underground cuts
that might be heard at a local hip-hop club. Site-goers can read
the reviews as well as listen to snippets of selected songs.
“News on the D.L.” provides visitors with the
“latest in news and rumors in the hip-hop industry,”
including release dates, artist signings and beefs between rappers,
as well as other news. Browsers can also check out interviews with
the likes of Talib Kweli, De La Soul and Black Eyed Peas. The site
also features an uncensored streaming feed of Eminem’s debut
video “I Just Don’t Give A F*ck,” which was
banned from The Box. Hiphopsite.com also boasts a large
number of items for sale. DJs can find the latest (and often rare)
vinyl, while the average music aficionado can pick up CDs. Web
surfers can get hard-to-find items like instrumental albums,
imports,and music from underground artists that might not be found
at a local record store. The site often has special offers so
customers can get free promotions with their purchases. Hiphopsite.com is largely
successful in its attempt to cover such a broad range of music.
Despite some problems with the streaming video section of the site,
for the most part it is easy to use and is kept up well. Long live
hip-hop.

Anthony Quinonez Rating 8