History Website / TheBestPageInTheUniverse

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] He believed that Creator/ChristopherReeve [[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve was a "self-serving asshole"]] who only opened a paralysis foundation because he himself needed treatment - the fact that he would be helping millions of other paralysis victims was an unintended side-effect, though one he was all too happy to accept praise for. He also calls the nurse who committed suicide in the aftermath of an Australian prank on the royal couple as "selfish", as she took the easy way out; similarly, he calls anyone who uses that suicide to guilt-trip the radio personalities behind the prank as "cowards" who want an easy way to guilt some pranksters who didn't foresee a suicide coming. He also believes Creator/EllenDegeneres' coming out, while sincere, was a marketing ploy to gain more viewers from the controversy.

* CausticCritic: Several movie reviews, along with his Ikaruga review randomly turning into mocking VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'s character design.

* EverybodyHatesMathematics: A particular BerserkButton for him. He dedicates an [[http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=math article]] tearing apart the "when will I ever use math again in life?" excuse, mentioning that math is the reason why technological advancements such as oil platforms, medicine, and space travel even exist, and that people that use the excuse are lazy, self-important morons.
** The BerserkButton is explained by the fact that he majored in math.

* FollowTheLeader: The runaway success of ''The Best Page in the Universe'' back in the late 90's spawned a whole genre of websites that follow the pattern of, "I run an angry blog where I write offensive things". Many even go as far as to title their pages akin the original with examples like, "''The '''Second''' Best Page in the Universe''", or even, "''The '''Worst''' Page in the Universe''". Most imitators unfortunately are victims of SturgeonsLaw, ignoring the original websites satirical edge and instead just aiming for shock value.

* [[GagPenis Gag Testicles]]: A lot larger than the sun! Which he actually used in his rant against the original Xbox, where he referred to the enormous controller as "almost as big as my nuts".

* HypocriticalHumor: One of the above-mentioned uninformed grammar Nazis who thought "homage" wasn't a real word went on to tell Maddox that he "didn't think you'd want some [[RougeAnglesOfSatin collage]]-educated guy bitchin at you."

* RatedMForManly
** TestosteronePoisoning

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Beef jerky. At one point he posted an entire article, the link to which said would offer a list of everything better than beef jerky. The article consisted of one single word: "nothing".

* ViewersAreMorons: He heavily believes this, specifically playing this viewpoint up in "[[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=your_stupid_ideas I am a genius, you are not]]" and "[[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=aliens Wireless internet may very well destroy our chances of contacting intelligent life]]", wherein he rips apart moronic mail.
** Also the focus of [[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=puns "Nobody cares if your puns were intended"]].

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: In an instance where Maddox fell foul of this trope, he complained of ''{{Film/Prometheus}}'' not having the {{Franchise/Alien}} in it, calling it a bait-and-switch. However, Creator/RidleyScott had explicitly stated long before the film's release that it wasn't going to have the Aliens themselves in it, rather that it was only going to be set in the same universe. It was in fact various papers, magazines and film news websites that had hyped it as an Alien movie. Of course, [[RuleOfFunny he may have been]] [[AccentuateTheNegative exaggerating.]]

* ItTastesLikeFeet: "Hot dogs taste like the inside of my dick." (*NOT VERIFIED.)

* BannedInChina: More accurately, banned in ''Cupertino'', or even more precisely, Apple Inc. headquarters, as a result of his vocal criticism of the iPhone.

Related to the success of the website, Maddox has two books; ''Literature/TheAlphabetOfManliness'', and ''I Am Better Than Your Kids''. You will grow more pairs after reading them.

* GrammarNazi: One of the ways that Maddox took apart a hate mail is by pointing out its numerous grammatical errors. He's had to deal with a few thinking that the words "inane" and "homage" are [[CriticalResearchFailure not actual words]].

* RefugeInAudacity: "If there were a building that stood for grammatical integrity, this email would be the plane that crashed into it."

* NightmareFuel: In-universe: one of the "I am Better than Your Kids" submissions was disturbing enough to scare Maddox.

* SmallNameBigEgo: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied.]] "Some people think I'm conceited. Oh well... THE UNIVERSE REVOLVES AROUND ME. I AM KING. Everyone wishes they were me. EVERYONE. If I weren't me, I'd wish I was. I love me." Overlaps with RefugeInAudacity.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In his article "Et tu, ''Maxim''? Even ''Maxim'' can't step." Maddox compared the fake muppets he created in a previous article next to fake muppets ''Maxim'' magazine made for an article that was published after his and after he found IPs tracing to Maxim computers in his website logs. The article was later edited to say it was all a big misunderstanding, and the pictures of Maxim's fake muppets were removed. The article was also moved off the front page, although it remains in the Pages from 2003 archive.

-->'''Neo:''' What do I need to do?
-->'''Oracle:''' You KNOW what you need to do.
-->'''Neo:''' Where do I need to go?
-->'''Oracle:''' You KNOW where you need to go.
-->'''Neo:''' Who do I need to see?
-->'''Oracle:''' You KNOW who you need to see.
-->'''Neo:''' What do you want?
-->'''Oracle:''' The same thing you want.
-->'''Neo:''' How will I know I'm making the right choice?
-->'''Oracle:''' You will KNOW...!

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] He believed that Creator/ChristopherReeve [[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve was a "self-serving asshole"]] who only opened a paralysis foundation because he himself needed treatment - the fact that he would be helping millions of other paralysis victims was an unintended side-effect, though one he was all too happy to accept praise for. He also calls the nurse who committed suicide in the aftermath of an Australian prank on the royal couple as "selfish", as she took the easy way out; similarly, he calls anyone who uses that suicide to guilt-trip the radio personalities behind the prank as "cowards" who want an easy way to guilt some pranksters who didn't foresee a suicide coming. He also believes EllenDegeneres' coming out, while sincere, was a marketing ploy to gain more viewers from the controversy.
* BannedInChina: The site is banned in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates. And he's proud of it. (Turns out he was banned for a technicality, not content, at least for the first two, but he thinks it still counts.)
** {{Unperson}}: The site is also banned in stores or other workplaces associated with Apple, in such a way that suggests the site doesn't even exist at all (attempts to access it from those [=IPs=] instead redirect to a [=MacBook=] Pro ad).
---> ''[[{{Irony}} Yes, the company that once alluded to an Orwellian future with controlled media, is now controlling media.]]''[[note]]This is referencing Apple's "1984" ad campaign.[[/note]]

* OneOfUs: He plays a lot of video games, and has done positive reviews for ''{{Contra}} III'' and ''{{Ikaruga}}''. The name "Maddox" also came from a {{mecha}} OVA.

* ScheduleSlip: Over the years Maddox has updated the site less and less, and at points gets an update about 1-2 times per year. However, it's getting better after the release of his second book.
** "Now that my book is finished, I can get back to regularly not updating my website."

[[http://maddox.xmission.com/ The Best Page in the Universe]] is a personal satirical humor Web site created by George Ouzounian, better known by his pen name Maddox. Launched in 1997 without any high expectations, the Web site became known by word of mouth.

"The Best Page in the Universe" originated from a text document that Maddox wrote in 1996 aptly named "fifty things that piss me off!" He gave the list to several people on [=EFnet=]'s #coders and a few coworkers, and the positive response led him to create the website. Maddox decided to name his site "The Best Page in the Universe" specifically due to his knowledge that Yahoo! blocked sites with the phrase "the best" in the title from inclusion in its search engine at the time.

On July 15, 2009, Xmission.com, which hosts The Best Page in the Universe, had an Alexa rank of about 16,000, and [=TheBestPageInTheUniverse.net=], which works as an alternative domain for Maddox's Web site, had an Alexa rank of about 33,000.

Website's layout is minimalistic primarily to reduce bandwidth costs -- useful, as the site contains no advertisements other than for itself and for Maddox's books. Maddox also states that the {{minimalism}} protests the many Web sites containing "fancy HTML" but lacking substantial content.

The page is headed with an image of Maddox's face superimposed over a bust of UsefulNotes/CheGuevara. In the image, Maddox is wearing a beret emblazoned with the Jolly Roger, and an eye patch. Maddox uses this image as a parody of the revolutionary icon. Maddox says that Che Guevara is remembered as "Che the revolutionary", not "Che the pinko", and claims to be neither socialist nor communist. Instead, he often proclaims himself to be a pirate, and typically portrays himself as such in his articles and artwork.

Maddox has compared reading black text on a white background to "staring at a light bulb". The site uses large, light-colored text against a black background to, in his stated opinion, reduce strain on the eyes.

He also has written ''Literature/TheAlphabetOfManliness''. You will grow more pairs after reading it.

* FollowTheLeader: The site had lot of imitators. Most of them fall afoul of SturgeonsLaw.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: In an instance where Maddox fell foul of this trope, he complained of ''{{Film/Prometheus}}'' not having the {{Franchise/Alien}} in it, calling it a bait-and-switch. However, Ridley Scott had explicitly stated long before the film's release that it wasn't going to have the Aliens themselves in it, rather that it was only going to be set in the same universe. It was in fact various papers, magazines and film news websites that had hyped it as an Alien movie. Of course, [[RuleOfFunny he may have been]] [[AccentuateTheNegative exaggerating.]]

[-©2013 Television Tropes & Idioms-]

The page is headed with an image of Maddox's face superimposed over a bust of CheGuevara. In the image, Maddox is wearing a beret emblazoned with the Jolly Roger, and an eye patch. Maddox uses this image as a parody of the revolutionary icon. Maddox says that Che Guevara is remembered as "Che the revolutionary", not "Che the pinko", and claims to be neither socialist nor communist. Instead, he often proclaims himself to be a pirate, and typically portrays himself as such in his articles and artwork.

* ViewersAreMorons: He heavily believes this, specifically playing this viewpoint up in "[[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=your_stupid_ideas I am a genius, you are not]]" and "[[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=aliens Wireless internet may very well destroy our chances of contacting intelligent life]]", wherein he rips apart moronic mail. In fairness, his readers ([[VocalMinority or at the very least, the ones that send him hate-mail]]) literally go out of their way to prove him right.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]] He believed that Creator/ChristopherReeve [[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=creeve was a "self-serving asshole"]] who only opened a paralysis foundation because he himself needed treatment - the fact that he would be helping millions of other paralysis victims was an unintended side-effect. He also calls the nurse who committed suicide in the aftermath of an Australian prank on the royal couple as "selfish", as she took the easy way out; similarly, he calls anyone who uses that suicide to guilt-trip the radio personalities behind the prank as "cowards" who want an easy way to guilt some pranksters who didn't foresee a suicide coming. He also believes EllenDegeneres' coming out, while sincere, was a marketing ploy to gain more viewers from the controversy.

* YouWillKnowWhatToDo: Parodied by Maddox in [[http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=matrix3 his review]] of ''TheMatrixRevolutions'', which he hated. He particularly criticizes the {{Cryptic Conversation}}s between Neo and the Oracle.

* TakeAThirdOption: On the VideoGame/DragonsCrown debacle, instead of going the usual "women are stupid" route for laughs, he suggested that if women want to see less sexualization, they need to join the games industry and help grow the (small but growing) female developers and designers in the games industry, so that their opinions and designs get more exposure, instead of the usual skimpy-women-in-bikinis thing.

"The Best Page in the Universe" originated from a text document that Maddox wrote in 1996 aptly named "fifty things that piss me off!" He gave the list to several people on [=EFnet=]'s #coders and a few coworkers, and the positive response led him to create the website. Maddox decided to name his site "The Best Page in the Universe" despite his knowledge that Yahoo! blocked sites with the phrase "the best" in the title from inclusion in its search engine at the time.

---> ''[[{{Irony}} Yes, the company that once alluded to an Orwellian future with controlled media, is now controlling media.]]''[[note]]This is referencing the ad campaign Apple use to air.[[/note]]