Skip to main content

There’s never been a better time to land on this brilliant 404 page

With the global economy currently dealing with a multitude of challenges, and people everywhere watching nervously as prices and bills continue to climb, there’s perhaps no better time to land on the Financial Times’ brilliant 404 error page.

On most websites, the “page not found” message is still a rather dry affair containing little more than a simple message about a possible mistyped address or something about the page  no longer existing.

Recommended Videos

The FT’s 404 page, on the other hand, takes a more creative approach, saying, “Why wasn’t this page found? We asked some leading economists …”

It then offers a list of explanations cleverly crafted from the perspective of various economic schools of thought. It also reads like a refresher in economic theory, highlighting many of the subject areas hitting the news today and therefore making perfect reading for these challenging times.

Here are some examples:

Monetarism
The government has limited the number of pages in circulation.

Classical economics
There is no such page. We are not going to interfere.

Supply and demand
Demand increased and a shortage occurred.

Trickle-down
High taxes on content publishers prevented them hiring the person who would have written this page.

Laissez Faire Capitalism
We know this page is needed, but we can’t force anyone to make it.

Speculative bubble
The page never actually existed and was fundamentally impossible, but everyone bought into it in a frenzy and it’s all now ending in tears.

The FT's 404 error page.
FT

The FT’s 404 page has actually been online for a few years now. On its website, the publication describes how the idea for it came about: “This is a page that hasn’t had a lot of love from the technology team over the last few years, but considering that we’ve disappointed the reader by not giving them what they want, we thought we should make more of an effort with the content of the error page.”

It then ran a survey among FT staff to find the most popular ideas that amused them most before arriving at the list of reasons we see today.

Of course, the FT isn’t the only one to have some fun with its 404 page. NASA’s, for example, features a photo of the universe with the message: “The cosmic object you are looking for has disappeared beyond the event horizon,” while Pixar’s shows an image of Sadness from Inside Out, with the message: “Awww … don’t cry. It’s just a 404 Error! What you’re looking for may have been misplaced in Long Term Memory.”

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
This gorgeous Mac mini hub exacerbates the power button placement problem
M4 Mac mini with Satechi hub on a desk.

Satechi, known for its high-quality tech accessories, is updating its Mac mini hub for the new M4 model. Like previous hubs, it allows Mac mini owners to expand their storage and ports while preserving airflow, wireless signal, and performance. It looks awesome, but this time, the design highlights the problematic nature of the new Mac mini's placement of its power button.

With previous Mac mini models, the power button was at the back, making it easily accessible even when it was in a Satechi hub. The new button placement on the bottom of the PC, however, may prove even more annoying for anyone who wants to buy this accessory.

Read more
Proton VPN vs. Mullvad: Which is the best open-source VPN?
Proton VPN Plus and Mullvad websites appear in a split-screen on a PC monitor.

Open-source software is exploding in popularity and even virtual private networks (VPNs) share code for transparency. With over 100 million open-source developers contributing to the community, there’s an improved chance to find bugs and patch vulnerabilities.

Proton VPN and Mullvad are among the best VPNs available, and both are open-source solutions. You can browse the code used in Proton VPN and Mullvad on GitHub to check that there isn’t any secret logging or undisclosed data collection.

Read more
Some older D-Link routers are vulnerable to attack
D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD

A few legacy D-Link routers can be vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks since the company refuses to send any updates to patch them up, claiming they have reached end-of-life, as recently posted on its announcement page.

The vulnerability is a serious issue since it allows hackers to take control from anywhere in the world and use a stack buffer overflow. This attack sends more data than the buffer size can handle, potentially corrupting critical information like the return address. Thus, hackers can take control of your PC. However, the company did not detail how the threat works, possibly not informing the hackers too much about the issue.

Read more