Think of the smallest thing you've ever seen. Now chop it in half in your
mind. Repeat the last step a few times, then run the result through Internet
Explorer. You might end up with something not far from Guimp, the self-confessed
smallest site on the internet. It has taken the online world by storm. (Well,
kind of. It was mentioned by Toke from K10k on May 24th.)
A visit to the site is an amusing way to spend ten minutes or so. The HTML
section contains a few distractions, such as a picture of Che Guevara for
people with very good eyesight, not to mention a pixelly art gallery and a
pseudo-live webcam. Also here is a very small (but nevertheless extremely
flash) Google searchbox.
Undoubtedly, though, the best bits are to be found in the Flashed half of
the site. If you've ever dreamed of having a game of Pong or Space Invaders
with only a four hundred pixels to play with (and let's face it, who hasn't?)
you'll probably spend several hours trying to beat the high-scores in the
Game section.
There's entertainment for budding musicians in the Music section. Four sampled
drumbeats and a very, very small piano (replete with a metronome designed
for microbes) might not sound like much, but with 400 pixels to play with,
what do you expect?
Even the most hardened gambler won't fail to be wooed by the schoolboyish
charm of the Fruit Machine. Your reward is a satisfying ching! sound.
Finally, there's a spiral page, constructed after extensive tests force-feeding
LSD to fleas.
At first sight, that seems to exhaust the capabilities of Guimp. But more interesting
than the site is the effect it has on the viewer. The navigation is obviously
very limited, but with the resources it has the site copes very well. Bravo.
Lashings of pixelly goodness for everyone at www.guimp.com