The Useless Sites of the Useless Web

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Cat Bounce is one of the very first websites on the useless web, and has been on the site right from the start of time, delighting millions with falling cats from the sky, which, if I’m honest, we all need every now and then.
 
The mastermind behind Cat Bounce, Tara Sinn is an incredibly talented artist, designer and all round creative who’s work will always be the kind I get excited about.

What were the circumstances behind creating your site?

I made Cat Bounce in 2012 when I was fooling around with a physics engine in Flash. I decided to replace the balls that bounced around the screen with cut-outs of cats because I’m a cat freak. I also recognized the Internet-popularity of cats and I wanted to see if I could make something that would be a hit on the Internet. The working title of the site was ‘Internet Crowd Pleaser’ but I ended up calling it Cat Bounce because it was less of a mouthful and it was WYSIWYG (more or less).
 

What is the weirdest thing that has come from owning/running such a unique-not-really-having-a-purpose site?

The weirdest/most surprising thing about Cat Bounce is that it’s had an incredibly long shelf-life. In 2019 it won a Webby Award and I still get tons of email every week from people who either love it, hate it, or want me to make a site like it but with dogs. I also got a job at adult swim after they saw Cat Bounce, so I can attest: cats are Internet gold.
 

What got you into web development? What are you working on now?

I started making websites in the late 90’s, my first website was on Tripod.com, and it was an offshoot of one of my zines. In the early 2000’s I started making websites for friends, started getting hired to make websites, and a few years after that, I began exhibiting websites as installations and browser-based art. I still make websites but nowadays most of my time is taken up by graduate school, I’m getting a masters degree in philosophy, poetics and mysticism.
 

What is your favorite site on the internet?

Hands down, my favorite websites are Reddit, Archive.org and are.na