Net.Weirdness: Blowin' Money and Computer Nostalgia

The quiet days of the pre-commercial internet are a form of computer nostalgia in and of itself, but if anything, this (short!) list of unusual shopping sources is a reminder that the internet wasn't non-commercial for long. Also, a reminder that the history of computer system emulators is long, and that pining for the computer games of your youth is also not new.

Blowin' Money

Atomic Books Catalog
"Atomic Books bills itself as 'Literaty Finds for Mutated Minds. Just the
ticket, right?"
Still online? Yes! You don't need to (e)mail away for a catlog, you can just browse their website and buy books online. If you want to get physical, you can send John Waters some fanmail. "Yes. It's true. John Waters does receive fan mail through us." No email, though.

Fringeware, Inc.
"Long-time bOING bOING soul brothers Paco Xander Xathan and Jon Lebkowsky run this alternative to the cess-pit that is commercial retail merchandising."
Still online? Yes, but as a digital tombstone. The site currently states that "As of 1 July 1999, our store has closed. We may reopen a store in Austin as some point in the future. Many thanks to all of our customers and friends over the years." They went online the year after the Handbook was published, and still feature three buttons, "As featured on Netscape Cool Sitings" (dead link; archived), "Subbrilliant Sertified" (still viable), and "Operation MindPhuck" (dead webring link).
Still remembered? Yes, there's a decently detailed Wikipedia article on the (associated) FringeWare Review, and the Internet Archive has Issue #6(66) digitized, while Anarchivism has a bit more info, and notes that there were 14 issues.

Computer Nostalgia

Mac Apple II emulator—Stop the Madness!
"If your eyes mist over when someone mentions Karateka, if you get allquivery just thinking about your thousandth-generation copy of Castle Wolfenstein, and you own a Mac, check this out. Stop the Madness! is your all-access ticket to geek memorabilia. Relive the pimply-faced joys of your digital youth."
Still online? In a form. One of the two FTPs, cassandra.ucr.edu, was archived in 2003, but there's no "apple2" directory. But Zophar's Domain has a copy of Stop the Madness!, which notes "This is one of the first Apple II emulators. It runs very fast and is compatible with most Apple II software. This'll even run well on your 68040's! Does not emulate the Apple IIgs."

Anything like it? Yes! The emulation scene is alive and well, and virtual machines are up and running online, for free! The most notable collection is the Internet Archive's 4am collection of Apple II software, with a focus on titles that were rare or previously not distributed online. Now, if you want to play Karateka, you have your choice of versions, and you can browse documentation, too! The same goes for Castle Wolfenstein.