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The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

eieio.games

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Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#91

Post by Cthulhu_ »

8n4vidtmkvmk wrote: post #36
data-ottawa wrote: post #9

I really enjoyed this post, it brings me back to when I was in high school learning java and I made an app that took over your whole screen with a grid of “x” buttons where only one of them actually closed the window. When someone left their computer unlocked I would pop in a a floppy disk and run the program then leave. We had an IT guy at our school who would always ask us what we were up to which we would answer h…

My friend memorized his SC CD key so he could reinstall it quickly. Good times We had a network file share so no floppy necessary. Very easy to hack everyone's computers. I wrote a script that would read the title of all your open windows and close free games.com or whatever the popular game site was at the time. Shouldn't be playing games in class right? I felt bad when it closed some 3d modelling program because of…

We had multiple copies of Unreal Tournament on burned CDs and hidden on network drives like that too, good times.

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#92

Post by concordDance »

maxbond wrote: post #57
hunter2_ wrote: post #49

> The typical ways that folks - especially folks who don’t program - bump into bots are things like ticket scalping and restaurant reservation bots. Bots that feel selfish and unfair and antisocial. This reminded me of how a ski resort, Palisades Tahoe, implemented free but scarce parking reservations for weekend parking last winter. Since it's one of the most popular ski destinations from the Bay Area, you can imagi…

It's a shame because the solution is very simple. You have a period of time where people can register interest which is long enough that everyone can do it at their leisure. After this window closes you draw lots. Whoever wins the lottery gets the opportunity to buy (eg by receiving an email with a magic link). If they don't, you draw another person and offer it to them. Otherwise you have an "auction" where instead…

> After this window closes you draw lots.

Couldn't someone use a bot to register interest a million times so they have a much higher chance of winning the lot drawing?

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#93

Post by Cthulhu_ »

data-ottawa wrote: post #9

I really enjoyed this post, it brings me back to when I was in high school learning java and I made an app that took over your whole screen with a grid of “x” buttons where only one of them actually closed the window. When someone left their computer unlocked I would pop in a a floppy disk and run the program then leave. We had an IT guy at our school who would always ask us what we were up to which we would answer h…

The shared computers at our school (college equivalent?) were locked down in theory, that is, you had to get the IT guy to grant you internet access, otherwise you could only use things like Word and the like.

We found a workaround; if you opened up notepad, went to the open file dialog, then I forgot the next step but it would open up the file explorer, which turned into Internet Explorer if you entered a URL in the address bar.

Of course, we also had copies of Linux that booted off of CDs, but they were a bit too obvious.

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#94

Post by cnr »

eieio wrote: post #5

author here :) this is my favorite story from running the site, and possibly the best story I've ever been a part of. I'm not a big crier but I have cried so many times thinking and trying to write about it over the past 2 months. And of course, the process of discovery (and going from panic to excitement) was pretty crazy too. One of my favorite things about this is that it validated one of the core beliefs I have w…

Great and very emotional (at least for me) story. Thanks for sharing.

It's always nice to hear that internet is still fun for ppl

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#95

Post by adityapurwa »

maxbond wrote: post #46
adityapurwa wrote: post #29

I don’t know. Reading this made me tear up a bit. I learned software engineering when I was in junior high school. I learned it because I sucked at math, and I want to write programs that solve my homework. Then I continue writing LAN chat, HTTP server, Anti Virus, and a lot more things just because it was fun to do. It was fun, it was challenging, it was rewarding, it was amazing. Now that I’m working, with the endl…

> Somehow, those joyful feeling of engineering no longer feels like the blue sky. I think its still blue, but for an eye washed in silvers, everything looks gray. Beautifully said. I'm glad to hear that you feel hope for rekindling this feeling. It sounds like you've already figured this out, but I want to highlight that this a symptom of burnout, and that people who resonate with this should take it seriously. I rem…

Thank you. Now that you mentioned it. Maybe it was a burnout.

If you don't mind sharing, what did you do to improve your mental health?

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#96

Post by razakel »

AlexDragusin wrote: post #70

> the inevitable tug of war over how much moderation is required to prevent a digital space from becoming an uninhabitable cesspool. I am wondering what is it in humans that it must follow this pattern ending in a cesspool? This would make a very interesting study in human psychology and hopefully gaining enough understanding to maybe improve this condition. On the other hand, antagonists also help driving progress a…

I have a work-in-progress theory that permissiveness for some level of misbehaviour is what is necessary for freedom.

For example, as Gibson put it, Singapore is Disneyland with the death penalty. Now, how many Singaporean artists can you name?

But you know who Banksy is.

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#97

Post by adityapurwa »

c-oreills wrote: post #85
adityapurwa wrote: post #29

I don’t know. Reading this made me tear up a bit. I learned software engineering when I was in junior high school. I learned it because I sucked at math, and I want to write programs that solve my homework. Then I continue writing LAN chat, HTTP server, Anti Virus, and a lot more things just because it was fun to do. It was fun, it was challenging, it was rewarding, it was amazing. Now that I’m working, with the endl…

> think its still blue, but for an eye washed in silvers, everything looks gray. This is a lovely phrase. Is it an idiom or your own creation?

Thank you. I wrote it as I was inspired by the Silverwash from Witch Hat Atelier, a disease that causes the eye to see grayscale. Its also because silver is a symbol of money, and as an adult; the responsibility to provide for our family, pay here and there, taxes, tuitions, mortgage, etc - can make life feels bleak.

Re: The secret inside One Million Checkboxes

#98

Post by egeozcan »

adityapurwa wrote: post #29

I don’t know. Reading this made me tear up a bit. I learned software engineering when I was in junior high school. I learned it because I sucked at math, and I want to write programs that solve my homework. Then I continue writing LAN chat, HTTP server, Anti Virus, and a lot more things just because it was fun to do. It was fun, it was challenging, it was rewarding, it was amazing. Now that I’m working, with the endl…

Every time I want to have that good old feeling, I create three files in a new directory on my home server: index.php, index.css, index.js :)

I would have done everything in Perl for maximum creativeness but didn't have the time to bring myself up to date with the current version.

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