Heavens Gate Site
Wired, the technology blog, recently posted a really interesting article. One that baffles my mind. The article titled ‘Internet Archaeology: Behold the Most Hilarious Abandoned Websites' lists a bunch of old websites that are more or less abandoned. The sites do exist, I checked, but there are some things that I can't quite wrap my head around. 
The article states that “…so many other sites lost to time were simply abandoned, either by the creators, web hosting services, or marketing departments behind them.” I understand why cheap web hosting companies would go belly-up, but don't you need a hosting company to, you know, host a website?
Heavens Gate Site: Cheap Hosting Companies Aside
Another question arises from reading the aforementioned article: who's paying for these sites? If there are hosting companies behind the abandoned sites (and I'm assuming that there are), someone has to be paying for them. I'm picturing a credit card bill so massive that the multimillionaire behind the bill never looks at those small charges.
Or, is it possible to simply slip through the cracks of a cheap website hosting company? Maybe if the company is really behind the times technology wise. But, I'm still not sure how this happens. Ideas? In the meantime, there are some pretty funny sites listed in the Wired article — and one that leaves shivers crawling up and down my spine.
Heavens Gate Site: The Creepiest Abandoned Site On the Internet
The winner of that subtitle goes to: The Heaven's Gate website. Does that name sound familiar? No? Let me give you a little history lesson. In 1997, 37 people died in a mass suicide. All of these people were part of the cult called ‘Heaven's Gate.' Why and what were they thinking?
‘Heaven's Gate' was a “UFO Religion Doomsday Cult” that was based in San Diego, California. The cult had been around since the 1970s. Well, this cult believed that doomsday would be on March 26, 1997 — the 39 members killed themselves in order to board an alien UFO that they believed would only be available when the Comet Hale-Bopp was at its brightest (that particular day in March). Did they ever make it?
Who knows; but the site still exists. Want a taste of the truly creepy? Visit this link, and think about the 39 people who went to board a UFO by committing mass suicide. Yep; that happened.
Why is the website still running? I'm guessing it has something to do with religious studies (the group was billed as a “UFO religion”).
Heavens Gate Site: Just In Case Your Cheap Host Leaves You…
Again, I don't know how it is possible to have a website without a host. But, in case your cheap site host abandons you, you do have some legal recourse in most situations. This article on cheap website hosting abandonment should help too. Are you shivering with a case of the “creeps?” Anyone have any idea how a site can be hosted without a host? Let me know!
