Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

untested.sonnet.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 48 posts

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#31

Post by browningstreet »

radlad wrote: post #25
vjk800 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There should be a sort game like this. Like it shows me a mostly dark map like in video games and as I move around, the maps gets revealed (within 100m radius or within algorithmically determined visibility radius or something). The game would be to open new areas on a map like you would on a video game.

A bit different but when I was cycling during the pandemic, I got into https://wandrer.earth where the goal is to bike every street in your area.

Thanks. I’ve been meaning to do this in one of my towns and kept putting off finding this site. :)

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#32

Post by ThinkingGuy »

nullserver wrote: post #24
famahar wrote: post #8

I love the idea. The world needs more kind apps. There's another app I'm using called derive which just pins a random place on a map within 10km of me and I have to go there. That's it. No extra bells or whistles. The interface is super minimal and it's made by one person as a hobby. It encourages exploration.

Seems like you would enjoy geocaching

More like geohashing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geohashing

https://geohashing.site/

https://xkcd.com/426/

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#33

Post by rjmunro »

famahar wrote: post #30
toldyouso2022 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you link the app? I can't find it

Woops. The app I actually meant was called Geohash Droid. Derive app is a similar concept about exploring your surroundings but with activities and tasks. Both are great. https://deriveapp.com/s/v2/

I think geohash droid was based on this comic: https://xkcd.com/426/

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#34

Post by seanw444 »

clippyplz wrote: post #20

I couldn't get scrolling to work on this site. Turns out all the content is on the left half; if you scroll while mousing over the right half it won't have any effect. Posting this in case anyone else has the same confusion.

Yeah I think the right field is supposed to have some navigation components, but it's completely unpopulated.

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#35

Post by [deleted] »

mnky9800n wrote: post #2

SCENE JERRY'S APARTMENT JERRY so the app does nothing ELAINE get out! JERRY no really, the app is about doing nothing GEORGE Jerry did I tell you my parents moved back to del Boca vista? If anyone is doing nothing it's them! ELAINE so what do you do with the app if it does nothing JERRY PRESSES A BUTTON ON THE APP AND IT CHIMES. KRAMER BUSTS THROUGH THE DOOR LOOKING CONFUSED. JERRY well it's made that a lot more pred…

[deleted]

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#36

Post by jareklupinski »

jakub_g wrote: post #17
mnky9800n wrote: post #2

SCENE JERRY'S APARTMENT JERRY so the app does nothing ELAINE get out! JERRY no really, the app is about doing nothing GEORGE Jerry did I tell you my parents moved back to del Boca vista? If anyone is doing nothing it's them! ELAINE so what do you do with the app if it does nothing JERRY PRESSES A BUTTON ON THE APP AND IT CHIMES. KRAMER BUSTS THROUGH THE DOOR LOOKING CONFUSED. JERRY well it's made that a lot more pred…

The app sounds like Kramer's idea actually :) KRAMER (slides in to the Jerry's place) (with the excited voice) Jerry! I have an idea. An app that does nothing. (screams and shakes his head) NOTHING!

turns out it was Newman's "hello world" program that he made at a tech boot camp

he was trying to make an app that would repel dogs by playing an ultra-high frequency sound only they would hear

after discovering its real effect, he tried getting kramer to buy the app in exchange for free dead-mail storage at kramers apartment

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#37

Post by pvinis »

browningstreet wrote: post #31
radlad wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bit different but when I was cycling during the pandemic, I got into https://wandrer.earth where the goal is to bike every street in your area.

Thanks. I’ve been meaning to do this in one of my towns and kept putting off finding this site. :)

This is a great video about this.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1c8i5SABqwU

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#38

Post by lawlessone »

wyldfire wrote: post #28
erremerre wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

isn't there any AI we can feed this to have a little sketch in video form?

There was an AI doing nonstop video streaming of Seinfeld episodes for a while there. Not sure if it was taken down but it did get in hot water for a bit when it had the cast say some inappropriate things.

It's still going. Some of the real cast have actually said some inappropriate things.

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#39

Post by rpastuszak »

moontear wrote: post #3

Whereas I like the idea, isn’t being able to communicate with others the antithesis of „doing nothing“? We’re actually NOT doing nothing anymore, but doing something besides sitting and waiting?!

Author here, I 100% agree with you. That's why I also made Sit. (https://sonnet.io/posts/sit/) as a more extreme version of this concept. Sit. is just a timer with a black screen.

I see doing nothing as a spectrum and this is doing less than say doomscrolling or messaging someone via social media. When I meditate, simply doing nothing is actually really hard!

PS I eat my own dogfood: I use Sit. and Ensō (enso.sonnet.io) every single morning. I write my morning notes with Ensō and meditate with Sit. because I like how the timer works (and because I got used to it during testing:) )

Re: Notes on making a multiplayer "doing nothing app"

#40

Post by rpastuszak »

littlelady wrote: post #4
moontear wrote: post #3

Whereas I like the idea, isn’t being able to communicate with others the antithesis of „doing nothing“? We’re actually NOT doing nothing anymore, but doing something besides sitting and waiting?!

The idea is sweet, but I agree, by communicating you're no longer "doing nothing". Then again, mindfulness can also be cultivated by just focusing on one single task at a time.

One of the reasons I made the original/single player Sit. (sit.sonnet.io) was that I practice shi-ne, which involves "doing nothing" rather than focusing on a specific subject/thought/emotion.

This is just a sketch so I might scale it down or split into different toys at some point, depending on how people interact with it.

This thread is really valuable feedback for me, so thank you! I honestly didn't expect more than 5-10 people visiting:)

Post reply on HN