This reminds me a little of Simone Giertz, a YouTube DIY person who started out long ago making shitty robots and has settled into fringe mainstream - usable items but not quite the way you would expect, like folding coat hooks, a gaming table with a roll top, a chair from a satellite dish, and a prosthetic leg for her three legged dog.
> Microtasks for Meatbags — the future: AI gives prompts, humans execute
That's close to how many companies, plans etc. work today. We manage big groups of people and systems, as syncretic holes. Sometimes a human, sometimes a computer is better at one task.
These are delightful. I think I like LingoPrio the best, since I'm (re)learning French. My kid and I went to a pediatrician appointment and my kid asked, "How do you say 'constipation' in French?" And I didn't have to look it up, since it ended in "ation".
> I just enjoy exploring what the web can be when it doesn’t try to be “useful”.
I have a project that's arguably strange but deeply serious. I'm building a Pi Bramble [1] and adding services with the goal of making a homelab that is continuously collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. Y'know, for education! But it's also really fun, when I have time to spend on it.
Great job. I'm into mortality so the Artist's Death Effect was fun. I tell my kids all my ideas are terrible because if it wasn't a terrible idea someone else would have done it already.
This is awesome. I like to make similar projects - is there a community where you like to share work and collaborate with others?
I put a few of mine on /r/baduibattles but not everything fits well in that bucket. Part fun, part absurdist art, part technological and political critique (examples: a login system that requires the user to sing the same song to log in, or a captcha that asks people to prove they're not robots by taking pictures of others in live surveillance video from unsecured CCTV cameras).
I think the Artist's Death Effect Data Base is hilarious. We talk about this in my circle about which artist isn't doing well and we all secretly buy up some work.
This is my favorite type of HN posts by far. Seeing just some out there single-minded proof of concept projects, which are both ridiculous but, also, not really, is awesome.
This already exists in Norway and Sweden. It's illegal to leave your dog in front of a shop tied to anything. So there is boxes that are climatised and are operated with any debit or credit card. (They are not very popular however)
I don’t use AI for ideas — I love coming up with the creative part myself. It’s how I express who I am. It’s my art.
I write all the texts, and then I polish them with a little help from AI.
Some images and videos are AI-generated, but the core concept always comes from me.
This reminds me a little of Simone Giertz, a YouTube DIY person who started out long ago making shitty robots and has settled into fringe mainstream - usable items but not quite the way you would expect, like folding coat hooks, a gaming table with a roll top, a chair from a satellite dish, and a prosthetic leg for her three legged dog.
Operation D-Day: One Second of War truly delighted me more than any other video game I've ever played.
I hope you like my Let's Play: https://youtu.be/iUnbD8xp0f0
I like it :)
> Microtasks for Meatbags — the future: AI gives prompts, humans execute
That's close to how many companies, plans etc. work today. We manage big groups of people and systems, as syncretic holes. Sometimes a human, sometimes a computer is better at one task.
You may be interested in reading Manna, a short story about AI that operates exactly this way.
These are delightful. I think I like LingoPrio the best, since I'm (re)learning French. My kid and I went to a pediatrician appointment and my kid asked, "How do you say 'constipation' in French?" And I didn't have to look it up, since it ended in "ation".
> I just enjoy exploring what the web can be when it doesn’t try to be “useful”.
I have a project that's arguably strange but deeply serious. I'm building a Pi Bramble [1] and adding services with the goal of making a homelab that is continuously collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. Y'know, for education! But it's also really fun, when I have time to spend on it.
[1] https://clog.goldentooth.net/
Hey bios444 if you see this your comments are not showing as you seem to have been hit by HN's shadowban hammer.
It seems like you might also be absurdwebsite which doesn't seem to be banned (but does have a hidden post from a month ago).
If you plan to use this account it's worth dropping an email to the admins, they are very responsive :)
It's ok. My Iphone had my old account (bios444) loged in :)
You are replying to the wrong person.
Or is that because you can't reply to bios444?
bios444's comment is a sibling, and yes I can't reply to them.
I can reply to them now, also checked in browser where not logged in and comment was seen
Thanks — happy to see LingoPrio didn’t go unnoticed.
Yes, experimenting for fun is what I love. I will check your project.
Useles fun projects are useless but fun.
I made https://tellconanobrienyourfavoritepizzatoppings.com the other day.
It was fun. But useless.
Some fun entries so far
Great job. I'm into mortality so the Artist's Death Effect was fun. I tell my kids all my ideas are terrible because if it wasn't a terrible idea someone else would have done it already.
This is awesome. I like to make similar projects - is there a community where you like to share work and collaborate with others?
I put a few of mine on /r/baduibattles but not everything fits well in that bucket. Part fun, part absurdist art, part technological and political critique (examples: a login system that requires the user to sing the same song to log in, or a captcha that asks people to prove they're not robots by taking pictures of others in live surveillance video from unsecured CCTV cameras).
maybe r/internetisneautiful
They banned my post :) r/internetisbeautiful is not beautiful.
"neautiful" made me curious, that is absurd :)
It's good to see that, sometimes, the old internet still peeks through. All the best!
Tnx.
Loving this. One second of war and offsetting co2 emissions by buying you a Tesla are my favorites.
I wonder what a good UI is for a website like this. I was thinking maybe infinite scroll would work well for a more museum-like experience.
Thank you. Good idea about infinite scroll. I am also thinking about UI.
I like this game mechanic:
I've done similar sometimes in my own microprojects.I think the Artist's Death Effect Data Base is hilarious. We talk about this in my circle about which artist isn't doing well and we all secretly buy up some work.
Sort of like a dead pool.
This is my favorite type of HN posts by far. Seeing just some out there single-minded proof of concept projects, which are both ridiculous but, also, not really, is awesome.
Thank you! Some are real, some are MVPs, and some are pure fake-it-’til-you-make-it. You never know — that’s how the internet works these days. :)
Fun stuff. Got a good laugh out of https://absurd.website/dday/game.php and https://absurd.website/microtasks-for-meatbags/ . Thanks!
Thank you.
You can check all my 27 absurd web projects at absurd.website
I almost read this in the ZOMBO.COM voice.
Love it. Bringing back the "fun" part of the web
Yeah, exactly — thanks! ;)
The "Add luck to your e-store" last description line should say "That’s marketing meow" :)
Things like this give me hope for human creativity. Made my day, thanks
Thanks ;)
Love your maneki neko project so much!
Ok the lucky cat got me! I just had to install and see it for myself. So cute. Made me smile. :)
https://theuselessweb.com/
As someone who had his dog stolen when waiting for me in front of the supermarket, I love the easy Pet Drop Box idea.
This already exists in Norway and Sweden. It's illegal to leave your dog in front of a shop tied to anything. So there is boxes that are climatised and are operated with any debit or credit card. (They are not very popular however)
Idea that you can drop them here for ever.
That's great.
The One Second of War and the Dark Mandala are not even absurd, but merely surface the reality, of sorts.
the moment i realized what this is i burst out into laughter. congratulations. its so absurd!
Thank you.
All these things are relevant to my interests. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks.
The lucky cat seems very useful. Perfect chatbot widget!
Thanks ;)
just added waving cat to my website
Can you post a link?
Great project!
ChillyParent reminds me of this classic from Silicon Valley (the show): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wGy5SGTuAGI&t=216s
Thanks! Oh yes, I remember that episode!
He disrupted fatherhood!
Brush your teeth is mis-linked. :)
It's hilarious! Well done :)
Thank you.
Great stuff!
Awesome sites! :D
Thank you. You can subscribe to my absurd mailing list. I make one project every month. Subscribe here: http://eepurl.com/hft-U9
I thought you were going to say that you make one absurd mailing list every month and I thought, "somebody's really gotta stop this guy."
Haha, that’s a great idea — I should totally make it!
I feel like LingoPrio needs pineapple.
i'm curious, did you use AI help to build it?
Any hints and favorite AI tools?
I don’t use AI for ideas — I love coming up with the creative part myself. It’s how I express who I am. It’s my art. I write all the texts, and then I polish them with a little help from AI. Some images and videos are AI-generated, but the core concept always comes from me.
Wow, your approach is worth referencing
you’re awesome