Best 404 of the Week

September 18, 2003 4:03 PM

Best 404 of the Week
posted by Captain Ligntning (24 comments total)

*Groan....*
posted by Keyser Soze at 4:11 PM on September 18, 2003

no this is the best
posted by zeoslap at 4:19 PM on September 18, 2003

I mentioned the recent 404 meme to Auriea Harvey of Entropy8 fame and got her to fix her 404s on entropy8 and entropy8zuper... yay me. Or yay meme, as the case may be.
posted by insomnia_lj at 4:19 PM on September 18, 2003

or this
posted by zeoslap at 4:20 PM on September 18, 2003

Hey, why is it "404" anyhow? Why not "603" or "9999" or something?
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:20 PM on September 18, 2003

then there is this

ok, i'll stop feel free to google 404 for yourself
posted by zeoslap at 4:21 PM on September 18, 2003

What do the numbers mean?
Let's dissect 404.

The first 4 indicates a client error. The server is saying that you've done something wrong, such as misspell the URL or request a page which is no longer there. Conversely, a 5xx error indicates a server-side problem. It also indicates an error which may be transient; if you try it again, it may work.

The middle 0 refers to a general syntax error. This could indicate a spelling mistake.

The last 4 just indicates the specific error in the group of 40x, which also includes 400: Bad Request, 401: Unauthorized, etc.

Room 404 asserts that 404 was named after a room at CERN (if you read about Tim Berners-Lee above, you'll know that that's where the web began) where the original web servers were located. However, Tom S. tells us:

"Having visited CERN myself, I can tell you that Room 404 is not on the fourth floor - the CERN office numbering system doesn't work like that - the first digit usually refers to the *building* number (ie. building 4), and the second two to the office number. But, strangely, there is no room "04" in building "4", the offices start at "410" and work upwards - don't ask me why. Sorry to disappoint you all, but there is no Room 404 in CERN - it simply doesn't exist, and certainly hasn't been preserved as "the place where the web began". In fact, there *is* a display about this, including a model of the first NeXT server, but the whole "Room 404" thing is just a myth."

According to the W3C, 404 Not Found is only supposed to be used in cases where the server cannot find the requested location and is unsure of its status. If a page has permanently been deleted, it is supposed to use 410: Gone to indicate a permanent change. But has anyone ever seen 410? It must be 404...

from here
posted by zeoslap at 4:23 PM on September 18, 2003

posting frenzy waning.... feel very, very sleeee..
posted by zeoslap at 4:23 PM on September 18, 2003

I like Strong Bad's
posted by PrinceValium at 4:25 PM on September 18, 2003

weak.
posted by donkeyschlong at 4:34 PM on September 18, 2003

Nice answer, Zeoslap.

I like how the guy in the original post just stands there and blinks at you until you do something. The blinking is a nice touch.

But I still have a soft spot for 404 haiku, myself.
posted by anastasiav at 4:36 PM on September 18, 2003

Zeoslap, you are a gentleman, a scholar and better at using web searches than I am. Thank you for the excellent answer.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:44 PM on September 18, 2003

The Whiteshoe Irregular's 404 has always amused me.

But 404 haiku rock too.
posted by weston at 5:15 PM on September 18, 2003

Ironically, the 404 I wanted to see has been replaced by a generic page not found.

This caused much confustion, intially.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 5:16 PM on September 18, 2003

When I took my most recent position in veb dewelopment (as a good Russian friend of mine used to call it), I spent a week snickering over the fact that I was working in Suite 404.
posted by thanotopsis at 5:22 PM on September 18, 2003

i hate complicated 404 pages. simple is best.
posted by t r a c y at 5:30 PM on September 18, 2003

Fuck Off?

Well fuck you, you little goatee wearin', skateboard ridin' html codin' sac-nuzzler....
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:25 PM on September 18, 2003

Here is another cute Homestar Runner 404.
posted by stoneegg21 at 6:50 PM on September 18, 2003

i like simple error messages too.
posted by quonsar at 7:16 PM on September 18, 2003

Yes, a great 404 error. I like the flash part. That means I don't get to see the error, and that makes it great!
posted by rough ashlar at 7:19 PM on September 18, 2003

Is it just me, or does he sound like Lars Ulrich?
posted by bwg at 7:51 PM on September 18, 2003

Sorry to disappoint you all, but there is no Room 404 in CERN - it simply doesn't exist

Of course not! That's why it's a 404! Sheesh.
posted by soyjoy at 8:50 PM on September 18, 2003

Non UKers, car numbers here used to be in the format : Letter, 3 numbers, 3 letters. They aren't any more. But that's beside the point...

I always wanted the car reg A 404 HTM or A 404 PHP, but I couldn't face trying to explain to a copper if it ever got stolen.

"So, this car, you can't find it?"
"That's right Officer"
"Are you taking the piss?"
"Erm... Forget it..."
posted by twine42 at 2:01 AM on September 19, 2003

The fake 404 is now being replaced with a real 404.

That's ironic, or something.
posted by Ynoxas at 7:16 AM on September 19, 2003