Weird online tools nobody asked for

There is a whole genre of the web devoted to utilities that solve problems nobody had. They are weird online tools in the best sense: well made, a little pointless, and occasionally so useful you end up bookmarking them anyway.

Some are pure gag. Hacker Typer fills your screen with convincing-looking code every time you mash the keyboard, so you can look like a movie hacker, and Geek Prank offers full-screen fake updates for pranking colleagues. Passive Aggressive Passwords replies to whatever password you type with a blunt verdict. Is it Christmas? has a single job and does it faithfully, which usually means saying no.

Some are secretly serious. Name that Color gives you the oddly specific name for any shade you pick. RANDOM.ORG generates randomness from atmospheric noise, which is handy for coin flips and dice when you want fairness. Perchance lets you build and share your own random generators, and The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences can tell you which sequence your numbers belong to.

Our rule: the tool has to work, be free to use, and have a sense of humor or a sense of craft. We skip anything that pushes an app download or a signup.

If you enjoy this, the Useless category is its comic cousin, and the funny websites list pairs well. Or take a chance on the button.