Netdisaster
Desktop application icon | |
Screenshot (after shutdown) Prank site | |
Available in | English |
---|---|
Created by | Denis Rionnet[1] |
URL | netdisaster |
Commercial | No |
Registration | none |
Launched | February 8, 2005 |
Current status | Online[note 1] |
Netdisaster was a prank website that could simulate "disasters", such as meteors, UFOs, and spilled coffee, onto a screenshot of any given website. From February 8, 2005, to April 19, 2009, users of the website generated 111,669,334 disasters.[1] The website won the Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finds of the Year 2005 award for Best Innovative Website.[2][3]
History
Netdisaster creator Denis Rionnet registered the domain "netdisaster.com" on January 25, 2005.[4] The online engine became available on at 3:00pm on February 8, 2005, with only five disasters available. Buzz about the website spread rapidly on the internet in the following months.[5][6] On May 27, Rionnet added the "Netdisaster-Yourself" feature, which creates HTML codes for webmasters to allow their visitors to "destroy" their websites. By July 15, ten million disasters had been generated on the website.[citation needed]
On January 26, 2006, as a result of Netdisaster's growing popularity, the website was named the
Difficulties began on September 4, 2008, when RSA Security, a security issues company working for Yahoo!, threatened Netdisaster and its hosting provider, Lunarpages, with legal action, claiming that the "Text Sucker" disaster was being used for phishing. Per RSA's request, the website was shut down and Rionnet sent them the source code of the disaster engine. At that point, Netdisaster user Ronaldo Cardonetti of Abusando.org emailed the security company to tell them they had made a mistake. On October 6, 2008, RSA emailed Rionnet to apologize, after having realized their error. The website was brought back online about ten days later; however, users could no longer create disasters on any Yahoo! websites, nor could they share disasters they had created.[8][9]
On April 20, 2009, Netdisaster received another
On July 25, 2010, a fan-made
Use
Before the website's engine was shut down, users could choose from a list of disasters and the entire internet.[note 2] Users could type in any URL, select a disaster from a drop-down list, and click "Go!".[12][3] The disasters were divided into six categories, each one containing a variety of different options. Most of the disasters have been made available on the desktop application and the "Netdisaster-Yourself!" tool.
Nature
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Technology
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Life Forms
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Home, Office
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Miscellaneous
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Dirty
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Notes
References
- ^ a b Rionnet, Denis. "Netdisaster - About this site". Netdisaster. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ a b "Finds of the Year 2005 Winners". Yahoo! Inc. 2006. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ a b Lowensohn, Josh (29 January 2008). "Netdisaster adds Led Zeppelin and acid urine to any Web site". CNET. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Netdisaster.com Site Info". Alexa. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- ^ Jay (March 28, 2005). "Net Disaster". Jayisgames. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ randfish (April 5, 2005). "NetDisaster". SEOmoz. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ a b Rionnet, Denis. "Site Milestones". Netdisaster. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ Rionnet, Denis. "The Yahoo! incident". Netdisaster. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ Rionnet, Denis. "Shut Down". Netdisaster. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ "NetDisaster Loader". Chrome Web Store. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ madbsas (November 3, 2008). "Netdisaster.com - Destroy the website of your choice". Killer Startups. Retrieved 1 August 2010.