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Zombie Webmonkey: Back From the Dead?

Mirkon writes "Back in mid-February, the news was broken that Webmonkey, one of the web's most prominent web development tutorial and reference resources, was "shut down," in that no new content would be delivered. A little over four months later - though Wired News (another child of Webmonkey's parent company, Terra Lycos) says nothing, and the Webmonkey Blog (hosted on Tripod, another Terra Lycos subsidiary) hasn't seen an update since January - the Webmonkey home page boldly declares: "We're totally back! Webmonkey is alive and kicking, serving up new articles all hot-n-fresh like a stack of banana pancakes. With syrup." Is this the end of the end for Webmonkey?"

84 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. End of the end? by ArbiterOne · · Score: 4, Funny

    What a weird statement... like saying "It might not be the beginning of the end, but it might be the beginning of the end of the middle."
    Besides, the end of the end is "d".

    1. Re:End of the end? by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nope. The end of the end is between "almost" and "just about."

      --
      "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
      --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  2. All hail Webmonkey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    *me flings poo at coworkers in act of celebration*

    1. Re:All hail Webmonkey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That depends of who made the coffee this morning.

    2. Re:All hail Webmonkey! by bladesjester · · Score: 1

      Bad monkey! No banana! =)

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
  3. obvious by technoviper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    where there is demand there will be supply; its a standard law of economics.. there were enough people who wanted it back for lycos to bring it back... i know a lot of developers who were quite inconvenienced when webmonkey was shut down...

    1. Re:obvious by desertfish · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, I was bummed I couldn't read for the 900th time that PHP/MySQL tutorial from '99.

    2. Re:obvious by Squareball · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes it's a law of ecnomics but if they are giving away the content for free I'm not sure how that comes into play. There is a great demand for free playstation 2s. Everyone would want one but that doesn't mean that Sony will do it.

    3. Re:obvious by strider_starslayer · · Score: 1

      yes/no

      If the market would not bear any price for PS2s, but there was a significant market for free PS2s, then sony would most likely release them, and then recoup the costs of the item in the form of advertising on/in the unit, and by charging developers more per disk.

      Much like how at one point it was costing microsoft money to sell the X-box (not the case any more I imagine), so they passed on the cost to the devlopers instead; since lots of people were buying X-boxs, because they were superior hardware that was competitively prices, lots of developers were willing to pay there pound of flesh to get in on the X-box market, but many were not; hence X-box gets all the big titles; but misses a lot of the 'cool' alternative games that you'll see released to but one platform.

      --
      -Millions of Monkeys, Millions of typewriters, 6 hours of sorting through faeces encrusted pages to find: This post
  4. See boss I told you it was popular by PetoskeyGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    First day and 50,000 hits. Referers? Well mostly from one website... well no it's mostly just the front page...

  5. "serving up new articles" by tcopeland · · Score: 4, Funny

    Definitely serving up new ads... five ads on the front page alone. Argh.

    1. Re:"serving up new articles" by EtherMonkey · · Score: 1

      Err, what ads?

      --
      --- A man with a briefcase can steal more money, than any man with a gun. [Don Henley]
  6. Relevance? by DaveKAO · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I personally havn't used web monkey as a development resource since about 1998, because I have found information elsewhere. It seems as if WebMonkey lost it's edge around that time. Has anyone else had the same experience?

    1. Re:Relevance? by L.+VeGas · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I personally havn't used web monkey as a development resource since about 1998, because I have found information elsewhere. It seems as if WebMonkey lost it's edge around that time.

      I agree. I think it's a combination of pandering to a lower common denominator as well as my personal increased skillset.

      Kind of the same reason I cancelled my PC Magazine subscription years ago.

      Penthouse magazine, too. - yeah, right.

    2. Re:Relevance? by kir · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What he said.

      Oh yeah... and my eyes STILL BLEED when I view that page. Someone should be shot for that layout and color scheme.

      --
      3cx.org - A truly bad website.
    3. Re:Relevance? by LabRat007 · · Score: 3, Informative

      So that begs the question - what online resources are you using? I'm fond of w3schools myself.

      --
      "Capital punishment makes the state into a murderer. Imprisonment makes the state into a gay dungeon-master"
    4. Re:Relevance? by DaveKAO · · Score: 3, Informative

      Honestly, I use google 75% of the time. I also use w3schools, and frequent alistapart, Microsoft,
      Builder.com, and my favorite devX.

  7. Technically... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... they can't be *Zombies* if they're back from the dead. Resurrected != Zombiefied.

    1. Re:Technically... by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      They were dead, now they're up and shambling around and making moaning noises. However the question of whether they still have a soul left remains unanswered. Until that's determined, the Resurrected vs. Zombiefied issue is moot.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    2. Re:Technically... by kfg · · Score: 2, Funny

      Obligatory Penny Arcade link:

      A Matter of Life and Death

      KFG

    3. Re:Technically... by feidaykin · · Score: 1

      Damn... you read penny arcade too? The list of reasons to stalk your user page just keeps getting longer!

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

    4. Re:Technically... by AndroidCat · · Score: 1
      Quit yer moaning!
      1. A low prolonged sound expressing sadness, grief or pain.
      2. Any similar sound, eg made by the wind or an engine.
      3. colloq A complaint or grumble.
      4. colloq Someone who complains a lot.
      Take your pick.
      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    5. Re:Technically... by kfg · · Score: 1

      Other than, perhaps, being at one end of the age curve of Penny Arcade readers I'm not at all sure why reading it is any particular mark of distinction.

      As I understand it a whole lot of people do, some of whom, judging by Tyco and Gabe's comments about their email, I would likely consider to be arrogant, snot nosed, ignorant savages unlikely ever to acquire enough culture to reach the pottery making stage.

      At best it makes me psuedo-hip, and I haven't a clue why the GBA even exists.

      KFG

    6. Re:Technically... by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 1
      As I understand it a whole lot of people do, some of whom, judging by Tyco and Gabe's comments about their email, I would likely consider to be arrogant, snot nosed, ignorant savages unlikely ever to acquire enough culture to reach the pottery making stage.


      This is where you were supposed to notice that it's pretty much the same readership as /.
      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
    7. Re:Technically... by kfg · · Score: 1

      This is where you were supposed to notice that it's pretty much the same readership as /.

      Where do you think I first heard of Penny Arcade?

      And I wouldn't be so crude as to make that sort of comment about /. readers here on /. (well, most of the time anyway), I'd go over to the Penny Arcade forum to do that.

      And quite frankly, the whole issue is starting to get uncomfortably self-referential (I have made pottery though).

      KFG

    8. Re:Technically... by feidaykin · · Score: 1
      Well, my point was simply that it means we have something in common, besides of course reading slashdot. Awwwwwwww...

      Though I love reading your posts (and have mentioned that some of them are at least somewhat life-altering), it's actually quite obvious that I'm quite different than the mighty KFG. First, there's the age factor... Then there's the fact I've lived in the same state all my life, quite the opposite of the well traveled KFG. Your diverse number of hobbies... Just your diverse nature in general, again much different.

      So to see you post a link to a PA comic, something I've caught myself doing a number of times... It was just an "Aww... we're not that different after all!" moment I guess. Except I said "Damn..." instead, heh. Does that make any sense? Probably not, so I'll shut up and go back to stalking now.

      --

      "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

  8. Confusing wording by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 5, Funny

    Zombie webmonkey

    I jumped out of my chair in happiness thinking that my old buddy the bonzi monkey's back

    (I will adjust with the clippy for the time being)

    1. Re:Confusing wording by PetoskeyGuy · · Score: 1

      Funny, my first thought was there was another new /. Section. Like Developers: title or YRO: title

  9. Monkey Island... by ideatrack · · Score: 5, Funny

    said it best:

    "Oh, dear, he's had a sudden and completely unexpected relapse of death!"

  10. I really hope so by SlashDread · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No other source of free information has been so usefull in developing my (rather lame by 2004 standards) homepage, and thus web knowladge.

    I loved it, recommended it to all I knew interested in webdesign, and by bog, more designers could learn from it.

    "/Dread"

  11. whoa , new content? by MariaK · · Score: 2, Funny

    sweet...you mean we'll get to see something aside from the articles on how exciting that new PHP language is?

  12. Re: Relevance? -- Not these days by showdax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Proper (X)HTML/CSS coding has become more prevalent recently so I'd have to say the entire site is becoming depecrated.

    Maybe they'll revamp their information, who knows.

    --
    --- March, milde, march!
  13. Suck by 1010011010 · · Score: 1


    I want suck.com to come back.

    Polly! How I miss thee!

    --
    Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
    1. Re:Suck by operagost · · Score: 1

      Suck.com definitely qualifies as a zombie. It's bizarre how it's been dead for years, yet it's still out there serving up old articles.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  14. WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by millahtime · · Score: 2, Informative

    with all the wysiwyg editors what is the reason for the average joe to know html. If you are more advanced then that you prolly have a minilibrary of book on it. So, why webmonkey??? I havn't used it in years.

    1. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by argent · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Creating a web page without knowing HTML is like driving a car without knowing how to read.

    2. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by millahtime · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Creating a web page without knowing HTML is like driving a car without knowing how to read.

      I wouldn't say that. I would say it's like driving a car without knowing how it works under the hood. And there are a lot of people that don't know how a car works under the hood but can get done what they need to do.

    3. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by colinramsay · · Score: 1

      You missed out a step - how does one get from one stage to the other?

    4. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by kryptkpr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not quite.. driving a car is closer to browsing the resultant webpage.

      Creating a page without knowing HTML/CSS is like assembling an entire car without knowing how any of the pieces work. It may work for very, very simple cars but if something goes wrong, or happens not the way you expect, you have no idea what's wrong or how to fix it.

      --
      DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
    5. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by argent · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Millah, old bean, I meant what I said: you don't need to understand the internals of the MS HTML Control or the Gecko Runtime Environment or IIS or Apache, which is what's "under the hood", but if you don't know HTML then it's like driving a car while being functionally illiterate. I know quite a few people people who are functionally illiterate in English who have no problem driving a car so long as they know where they're going, or they've got someone to help them, or they stay in the part of Houston where I live where all the street-signs are in English and Chinese.

      So, you can get along not knowing HTML, but you won't have the faintest idea what to do if anything goes wrong. If you get into the equivalent of a strange part of town, you're stuck. If there's a detour, you better hope you understand which set of arrows to follow...

    6. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by thrillseeker · · Score: 1
      Creating a web page without knowing HTML is like driving a car without knowing how to read.

      I wouldn't say that. I would say it's like driving a car without knowing how it works under the hood. And there are a lot of people that don't know how a car works under the hood but can get done what they need to do.

      You mean like irritate the rest of us by acting like they know how a car (the web) works since they now know how to drive (use frontpage) and wish to occupy "their space" in the fast lane to the frustration and detriment of all others around them?

    7. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by jswhiting · · Score: 2, Informative

      well, why don't you take a look at what the site offers... theres a lot more than HTML tutorials on there. notice the categories "programming" and "backend"? "multimedia"? if it was only html, it wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is. its a really great resource that is extremely helpful to beginners in lots of different domains of web design & development.

    8. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by ratsnapple+tea · · Score: 1

      These automobile analogies are really getting out of hand. :-P

    9. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by 88NoSoup4U88 · · Score: 1
      Right on the head there : I owe alot of my problemsolving skills in my (minimalistic) webdesign skills to Webmonkey's easygoing tutorials.

      WYSIWYG sometimes can have the problem of not completing the first stage 'what you see' : As you wouldn't have a clue how to do it.

    10. Re:WYSIWYG, why webmonkey? by slasher+guy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, who needs to know HTML. I mean, weve got frontpage. Everybody uses IE anyways. And frontpage is only for semi-professionals. Normal people use Powerpoint or Word.

      And while were at it, why do we use HTML anyways. We can link thousands of word and powerpoint and excel documents together! And if you're like, super-professional or something you can use pure flash pages. They are soooo good.

  15. monkeyz kick butt by jeffsterz · · Score: 1

    i personally like webmonkey just for it's name. i haven't used the actual site in years...

    after all, monkeys just make things better.

    --
    Adding monkeys to things simply make them better.
    1. Re:monkeyz kick butt by rstevens · · Score: 1

      monkeys are the new dinosaur.

      --
      http://www.clango.org
  16. Slightly misleading by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 1, Informative

    Unix Reference Guide

    Unless you have a Unix machine sitting on your desktop, you're probably accessing it through telnet or a command-line shell.


    I have had shamelessly lived on others' *nix boxes using X-Win32 and Cygwin/X for a long time

    (Karma be damned; I am no better than an AC anyway)

    1. Re:Slightly misleading by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 1

      Don't forget http://www.colinux.org/ which is spooky as hell.

  17. neato! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Hover your mouse over the parts of the Webmonkey logo.
    Mod me "-1, Who Cares" if you want, but I thought it was a cool gimmick.

  18. Nothing on Tclhttpd by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    What am I the only person who uses it? What's there not to love about a web server written completely in TCL?

    /back in my box

    --
    "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
    --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
    1. Re:Nothing on Tclhttpd by larkost · · Score: 1

      Yes... you are the only one who is using it... well... your completely re-written version of it...

      so... ever thought of stress testing your version with a slashdoting?

    2. Re:Nothing on Tclhttpd by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 1

      Actually I do slug it with Fark photoshop contest entries on a regular basis. It's not a good day if I'm not fielding 6000 hits before breakfast.

      --
      "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
      --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
  19. Cygwin/X home by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 1

    Err pasted the same as that of X-Win32
    Cygwin/X

    (Karma be damned; I am no better than an AC anyway)

  20. A List Apart by Enygma42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Take a look at A List Apart, they're a bit into CSS but that's a Good Thing really.

    I don't need no steenkin' webmonkey.

    --
    "hehe, website" - Homer Simpson
  21. Strategizing?? by perly-king-69 · · Score: 1

    When the title of the first word begins with some supreme-marketing-drone-with-a-poor-command-of-the -English-language nonsense-word such as 'Strategizing' it's no wonder they went down the pan.

    --

    --
    This sig is inoffensive.

    1. Re:Strategizing?? by recursiv · · Score: 1

      http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary& va=strategize

      --
      I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
    2. Re:Strategizing?? by lorian69 · · Score: 1

      Strategizing is a valid English word.

      I believe the nonsense word recently heard used in its place is "Strategery."

  22. Like New Coke by Omega1045 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is like New Coke, where everyone went up in arms when Coca-Cola was going to get rid of the original formula. All kinds of people rallied and the Original Coca-Cola gained tons of popularity and PR.

    Many suspected that Coca-Cola Corp had pulled off one of the best PR stunts of all time, that they had never intended on getting rid of the original. Do you think this is what Terra Lycos has done with WebMonkey?

    --

    Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

    1. Re:Like New Coke by EvilTwinSkippy · · Score: 1
      Well no. They really did intend to cash in on neophilia with a "new brand". The PR stunt was realizing in time that the cause was lost and putting together a quicky branding strategy with the "classic".

      It's a bit like praising someone's ingenuity for repairing a busted tire with chewing gum while ignoring the fact they hadn't had a spare.

      --
      "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
      --Dr.W.Edwards Deming
    2. Re:Like New Coke by Omega1045 · · Score: 1

      I was going fo funny.

      --

      Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

    3. Re:Like New Coke by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      What makes you think that they ever brought back the original Coke?

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    4. Re:Like New Coke by 72beetle · · Score: 1

      The whole thing was a carefully orchestrated dupe. Coke was losing money hand over fist by using raw cane sugar in their original product, and knew that their rabid legions of consumers would be up in arms about switching to the cheaper (and not as good tasting) corn syrup... so they nixed real coke, and came out with 'new' coke, a cheap ripoff of their biggest competitor, pepsi.

      When the public predictably poopoo'd new coke, coke 'acquiesced' and 'begrudgingly' released coke classic, with the new money-saving ingredients. The public happily swallowed the hook, line, sinker, pole, and boat.

      I should know. I was one of 'em.

      -72

      --
      -Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
    5. Re:Like New Coke by operagost · · Score: 1
      The change in sweetener wasn't anything that diabolical. Corn syrup was cheaper than cane sugar; that's what it came down to. In 1980, five years before the introduction of New Coke, half the cane sugar in Coca-Cola had been replaced with high fructose corn syrup. By six months prior to New Coke's knocking the original Coca-Cola off the shelves, there was no cane sugar in American Coca-Cola. Whether they knew it or not, what consumers were drinking then was 100% sweetened by high fructose corn syrup.
      http://snopes.com/cokelore/newcoke.asp
      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    6. Re:Like New Coke by cloudmaster · · Score: 1

      I take it you haven't seen the new Coke C2, targeted at all of those dumbasses who are on those low carb diets that kill your kidneys, induce depression, and don't work nearly as well as just getting off of your fat ass, walking around a little, and not eating 2 McLardass burgers for every meal?

      New coke, this time targeted at the totally nutritionally incompetent fad crowd... /Rant from someone blessed with a fast metabolism ;)

    7. Re:Like New Coke by 72beetle · · Score: 1

      Oh, who are you gonna trust, snopes, who owns 11 percent of coke's public offerings, or me, some nobody on a geek discussion board?

      -72

      --
      -Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music.
  23. Webmonkey - what a stupid idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone knows it's SPIDERS that make webs, not primates. Oh, except Spiderman, I suppose. And maybe that Berners-Lee guy, although he never got to kiss Kirsten Dunst upside down in the rain.

  24. OK who restored the backup by blowdart · · Score: 5, Interesting
    and forgot to update the copyright dates everywhere? (Copyright 2003)

    Anyone else find it amusing that a site that wants to teach people HTML doesn't even have a DTD and has to resort to putting "warez" in its metatags? Twice.

    1. Re:OK who restored the backup by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

      Give it a break - it's just a monkey, after all. Why, a monkey that can even USE a metatag is even more impressive than a cat that can wear boots!

  25. O'Reilly Net and A List Apart by Infonaut · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Agreed. WebMonkey has pretty much outlived its usefulness to professional Web developers. I find the stuff on O'Reilly Net and A List Apart to be a lot more up to date (obviously) and relevant.

    --
    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
  26. It's a shame by amacedo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Web monkey was my first real PHP, MySQL and JavaScript online resource. It's tutorials were always clear, fun and extremely "hands on".

    WebMonkey was probably the best place for a beginner to learn the basis of Internet development.

    I'm sure allot of Perl "holier than thou" developers will bash me for this, but somehow I feel the web will be worse off without such a valuable help do web development newbies.

    1. Re:It's a shame by amacedo · · Score: 1

      I'm portuguese so, the answer to your question would be ... yes, basic english somewhat transcends me. And my habilities to discern, interpret or develop a coherent written english statement are somewhat limited. Thankyou for anonymously pointing that out.

      Regards

    2. Re:It's a shame by Arkaein · · Score: 1

      Umm, why is this Informative?

      The article is stating that Webmonkey is back. The above post is lamenting that "the web will be worse off without such a valuable help do [sic] web development newbies"?

      Only on /. can someone get the gist of an article completely backwards and be rewarded for it by their peers.

  27. I see a recent article! by MrDiablerie · · Score: 1

    Maybe they are just running on limited staff. The top article on webmonkey is from June 18th 2004.

  28. Back from the dead? by manavendra · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Dunno if this is the "end of the end" (grimace) for webmonkey, but I stopped using it when they fell for that oh-so-common trap - mindless adverts, popups, flash-ads

    I guess that's why a lot of other people stopped using it...

    --
    http://efil.blogspot.com/
    1. Re:Back from the dead? by capt.mellow · · Score: 1

      . . . that strobing ad in the right-hand margin sent me fleeing. My eyes!

  29. Copyright notice dates by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    and forgot to update the copyright dates everywhere?

    The year in a copyright notice tells when a work was first published. If each individual article is a separate work, then of course some works might have been first published in 2003.

  30. Re:OT: Greatest pancakes in the world. by Seek_1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's not very nice you know... trying to trigger the world's first Pancake-House slashdotting...

  31. Webmonkey great for beginers by drgonjo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've found myself training some young newbs in the finer points of web dev. I notice that despite my best efforts in explanation I often slip bits of techno jargon in which leave my trainees looking confused and bewildered. Though I hadn't used webmonkey in years (ie. my newb days) I remembered that jargon was either avoided or thoughtfully introduced, something I seemed incapable of doing. So now I create lists of webmonkey articles for my newbs to peruse prior to their hands-on lessons with me. Long story short, webmonkey is a great resource for beginners but a bit dumbed down for the slashdot crowd.

  32. Article by EdMcMan · · Score: 2, Interesting
  33. Taking a pass by shokk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't consider "Punch the kangaroo for a free web cam taking up 1/3 of the page" being a significant contribution to web publishing. The Macromedia Contribute article required you to click "Next Page" every three sentences, which I'm sure was a great way to maximize eyeballs per page of advertisements. No thanks, I'll pass.

    --
    "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
  34. OT : Zombie Joke by comfortablydumb · · Score: 1

    saw this some time back and couldn't resist...
    God is Dead
    -Nietzche
    Nietzche is Dead
    -God
    But Zombie Nietzche Lives!!
    -Zombie Nietzche

  35. Cool! by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I can finally learn how to make webpages with all the content on the left half of the screen, and nothing but the background image on the right half. That's SOOOOOO cool!

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  36. zerg by Lord+Omlette · · Score: 1

    Ok, do we get to shoot them in the head w/ a shotgun?

    --
    [o]_O