diff --git a/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/index.md b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97b3934 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,93 @@ +--- +title: "Netscape Meteors" +date: 2023-08-01T18:23:33-07:00 +resources: + - name: netscape60 + title: Netscape Meteor Loading Animation + src: netscape-meteors.gif + - name: netscape-modified60 + title: Modified Netscape Meteor Loading Animation, Small + src: netscape-meteors-modified-60.gif + - name: netscape-modified240 + title: Modified Netscape Meteor Loading Animation, Large + src: netscape-meteors-modified-240.gif + - name: rectangular-pixels + title: Rectangular Pixels + src: rectangular-pixels.png + alt: "A zoomed in screenshot of an animation frame with pixel grid enabled, + showing rectangular pixels" +categories: Tech +tags: ["Netscape", "History", "Web Browsers", "Web"] +--- + +I went on a small journey the last couple days to find the original Netscape +Navigator "meteors" animation. This one has a special place in my head and +heart because it is so clearly connected to my memories of discovering the +web as a kid. Here it is in its original 60×60 px glory: + +{{< figures/image name=netscape60 shouldShowTitle=false >}} + +I started out doing some web searches that turned up several versions. One was +promising but far too big: 400×400 px. Worse, after some shoddy resize +attempts, the "pixels" had become rectangular. + +{{< figures/image name=rectangular-pixels shouldShowTitle=false >}} + +This would not do. + +I continued searching, hoping to find the original animations. I found someone's +[mirror of Netscape 5.0 on Github][gh-netscape]. Then I found some [very old +versions of Mozilla][moz-netscape] on a Mozilla FTP server. Sadly, the +animations had been stripped out of these archives. :( + +Frustrated with hitting several deadends, I complained to {{< tess >}} and +wondered aloud if anyone might have the original images stashed away somewhere. +She quipped that if anyone did, it would be Jamie Zawinski. + +A little later, I posted about it on Mastodon. + + + +And wouldn't you know it, a friend tagged [`@jwz`][masto-jwz] asking if he had +it, and a few moments later I got a reply from [Jamie][jwz] himself. + + + +If you don't know, Jamie Zawinski is well-know for working on several important +software projects in the '90s. He worked on Netscape Navigator, built and +maintains [Xscreensaver][xscreensaver], and several other things. Nowadays, he +owns and runs [DNA Lounge][dna] in San Francisco. + +There are a lot of neat bits of web browser history on the page he linked -- +totally worth a quick look over -- but most important to the quest at hand, it +had that Netscape meteors loading animation. + +The original one has some small artifacts on the left side of frame 10 that +render as red and orange pixels. These bothered me enough that I made a version +that replaces those pixels with ones that match the surrounding pixels. Here's +the modified 60×60 one and a bigger 240×240 px one, for good +measure: + +{{< figures/image names="netscape-modified60,netscape-modified240" shouldShowTitle=false >}} + + + +[gh-netscape]: https://github.com/zii/netscape +[moz-netscape]: https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/source/ +[masto-jwz]: https://mastodon.social/@jwz +[jwz]: https://www.jwz.org +[xscreensaver]: https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ +[dna]: https://www.jwz.org +[about-jwz]: https://www.jwz.org/doc/about-jwz.html diff --git a/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-240.gif b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-240.gif new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c138c44 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-240.gif differ diff --git a/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-60.gif b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-60.gif new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6e2a66 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors-modified-60.gif differ diff --git a/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors.gif b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors.gif new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b914b0d Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/netscape-meteors.gif differ diff --git a/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/rectangular-pixels.png b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/rectangular-pixels.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..462e454 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/blog/2023/netscape-meteors/rectangular-pixels.png differ