Show HN: Projects from “Stupid Shit No One Needs and Terrible Ideas” Hackathon(lav.io)
lav.io
Show HN: Projects from “Stupid Shit No One Needs and Terrible Ideas” Hackathon
http://lav.io/2014/11/stupid-projects-from-the-stupid-hackathon/
100 comments
Haha, I'd like to know more about that Ginsberg thing, need an angry fix.
Sessions could have also included "Stealing from Whole Foods" and "Pissing off reporters"
For the uninitiated: 3D-printed sex toys actually do exist, yes. For example I believe the infamous Dragon Dildos are 3D-printed? (I shan't link, for self-explanatory reasons.)
The Bad Dragon sex toys I've handled aren't 3d printed. (You wouldn't expect them to be, since 3d printer output is rigid plastic, which you don't want a sex toy to be, and covered with fine ridges, which you really don't want a sex toy to be.)
It's possible that the molds are 3d printed, but if they are, it's using a printer with amazing surface finish, and Bad Dragon's never said anything about using 3d printing. Much more likely they're using conventional manufacturing processes.
It's possible that the molds are 3d printed, but if they are, it's using a printer with amazing surface finish, and Bad Dragon's never said anything about using 3d printing. Much more likely they're using conventional manufacturing processes.
I would also be concerned about the polymer used to print the toy. It would have to be hypo-allergenic & non-toxic for sure.
Serious question: Why not link to it?
I am certainly not a HN 'veteran,' but I've never seen censorship on here. Is there some unspoken rule that these comments can't have sexual content?
I am certainly not a HN 'veteran,' but I've never seen censorship on here. Is there some unspoken rule that these comments can't have sexual content?
> Is there some unspoken rule that these comments can't have sexual content?
Yes. Also, no jokes.
Yes. Also, no jokes.
I shan't link
I don't think this is that kind of site! ;) Seriously, you can find Bad Dragon with a Google search if you're curious, provided safe search is off naturally, and don't expect autocomplete! They're very exotic designs, often quite large (we have one as a present from a friend, largely as a conversation starter... or stopper!) and the kind of niche low-volume manufacturing in complex shapes that 3D printing can work out well for.
Any equivalent of this sort of a Hackathon in the SF Bay? If not, wanna organize one together? :)
Ahh unintentional hipster self-parody at its finest.
anddddddddddd NSFW
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Wow. 100,000 projects submitted? With that many projects, you'd think the odds would make it that one wasn't terrible.
I think that was a joke. Judging from the rearview mirror video, the venue was pretty small. The event was also hosted by a graduate program at NYU, which in it's inception only had 20 members. While I'm sure NYC has a spare 100,000 people, I doubt such a high turnout for such a specific non-internet event.
It was definitely a joke.
Yeah anyone who missed that.. reading between the lines it looks like a pretty cosy event.
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This is already over? DAMN. Now what am I going to do with my idea to build a payment gateway on top of snapchat...
AH but yours should send pictures of cash that disappear :-)
i really really hope that you didn't know what they just released today...
What a coincidence!
Whooosh
This is awesome. Especially the beautified intellectuals.
This is always my hacker's-block-breaker. If I'm stuck on something, and not feeling particularly creative, I'll make something intentionally useless, and funny, and it usually cheers me back up and gets me working again.
Aren't we all participating in this hackathon on a global scale except for a very small number of us who build something people want?
You're saying that people's lives may not actually improved in any meaningful way by the Tinder for flatmates mobile app I'm building?
Seriously, the science fiction world of William Gibson and so on where normal people hack electronics for fun hasn't really emerged at all despite the tools to do things having become cheaper and more accessible. It seems we've moved away from that since the 1990s, as machines become more packaged and less customisable.
Maybe we need a a new lean hack canvas that isn't focused on revenue.
Seriously, the science fiction world of William Gibson and so on where normal people hack electronics for fun hasn't really emerged at all despite the tools to do things having become cheaper and more accessible. It seems we've moved away from that since the 1990s, as machines become more packaged and less customisable.
Maybe we need a a new lean hack canvas that isn't focused on revenue.
These are intentionally useless ;).
Aw, I should have entered my rotary mobile phone...:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkdWQswpc8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSkdWQswpc8
Yeah... might want to mark this NSFW
That "Focus Tools" chrome extension looks like it could potentially help me from getting distracted. Disqualified!
I wish I knew about this. I wrote a file server that serves your webroot directory over League of Legends chat. Any time you request a file that is more than a few bytes, your chat gets flooded with base64 strings... The extraslow web.
Heh, I once wrote a piece of software that would read World of Warcraft's memory space, scan for the chat circular buffer and then post new guild chat messages to twitter.
At first my guild mates loved it - but then it created some guild internal drama as some "officers" were having a rather not nice chat about other guild members in the night and they thought they were alone.
Pretty much destroyed my guild. But at least I could finally say "What have I done!" and mean it ;)
At first my guild mates loved it - but then it created some guild internal drama as some "officers" were having a rather not nice chat about other guild members in the night and they thought they were alone.
Pretty much destroyed my guild. But at least I could finally say "What have I done!" and mean it ;)
Out of curiosity, were you an officer? The idea that private officer chat might be sent to just any guild member's client is hilarious.
Do you have the source or a video in action? This sounds hilarious.
Where is the "Intellectual Babes Calendar" I'd like to buy this...
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This looks rad.
A very similar hackathon I went to a few months back is http://www.comedyhackday.org/ They matchup comedians and hackers to create beauty.
Easily the most fun hackathon i've ever been to/
A very similar hackathon I went to a few months back is http://www.comedyhackday.org/ They matchup comedians and hackers to create beauty.
Easily the most fun hackathon i've ever been to/
The food bite tweet is my favorite.
The Stupid Font is actually very cool. I am going to use it for my blog title. So sorry Stupid Font creator: You failed - I find your idea useful.
How does copyright handle a case like this?
Broadly: Typefaces are not copyrightable. Font programs, however, are.
So that's in the clear, which may be the point of the art.
So that's in the clear, which may be the point of the art.
I understood Stupid Font to be a comment on copyright.
My understanding is that the written form of the font is copyrighted - a redrawn version would not typically be copyrighted.
It's complicated so please don't take this as legal advice.
My understanding is that the written form of the font is copyrighted - a redrawn version would not typically be copyrighted.
It's complicated so please don't take this as legal advice.
I think it's pretty clearly fair use. It's a parody, that significantly transforms the work and doesn't compete with it.
I thought so too, but the font seems to be broken for me .. ah well.
This is incredible. I think a few things are worth noting:
1) these "terrible idea" hackathon projects were so much more _sexual_ than your typical hackathon. This goes with the indications that the sex-tech space is anathema more for market reasons (VCs want to stay family friendly) than because sex-tech isn't fun or interesting to people. With the chance of funding not on the table, a healthy mix of projects veered toward sex. Maybe humor can actually be a way for a few sex-tech startups to take off. :)
2) the funniest projects all involved hardware. There's something extra-ridiculous about juxtaposing our own bodies into these stupid projects. I recommend anyone interested in a solid philosophical grounding in humor to read Henri Bergson's early 20th century treatise on laughter (http://www.templeofearth.com/books/laughter.pdf). He writes that we find use laughter as a way to draw attention to the rigid, mortal, and physical in all of us. That is why impersonating someone's habits is funny-- because the rigidity of their personality is made super clear. I wonder what it says about us that strapping ipads onto people's faces makes me laugh out loud.
1) these "terrible idea" hackathon projects were so much more _sexual_ than your typical hackathon. This goes with the indications that the sex-tech space is anathema more for market reasons (VCs want to stay family friendly) than because sex-tech isn't fun or interesting to people. With the chance of funding not on the table, a healthy mix of projects veered toward sex. Maybe humor can actually be a way for a few sex-tech startups to take off. :)
2) the funniest projects all involved hardware. There's something extra-ridiculous about juxtaposing our own bodies into these stupid projects. I recommend anyone interested in a solid philosophical grounding in humor to read Henri Bergson's early 20th century treatise on laughter (http://www.templeofearth.com/books/laughter.pdf). He writes that we find use laughter as a way to draw attention to the rigid, mortal, and physical in all of us. That is why impersonating someone's habits is funny-- because the rigidity of their personality is made super clear. I wonder what it says about us that strapping ipads onto people's faces makes me laugh out loud.
I found that interesting to, and straightaway noticed the high # of women participants - in fact that made me guess it was based in NYC before reading up on the background to the event and finding that it is indeed based there (which I hadn't heard of before). I thought it was sexual in an assured self-aware way rather than giggly or tacky.
I was especially struck by the egg-timer clock.
I was especially struck by the egg-timer clock.
It was held at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (started by Red Burns), whose student body is 50/50 m/f, half international students and grades are pass/fail. There's a really fun, collaborative, non-competitive culture in the program.
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Can someone do this in the Bay Area? I'll help.
The rearview mirror one is actually a really cool experiment. I wonder if eventually you'd just get used to it (although you probably wouldn't get used to all of the neck and joint pain from trying to do things so awkwardly).
I agree.
Here's a clever promo showing people trying to live with a Rift showing them a lagged version of reality. I laugh so hard when he tries to make a pancake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNp37zFn9Q
Here's a clever promo showing people trying to live with a Rift showing them a lagged version of reality. I laugh so hard when he tries to make a pancake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNp37zFn9Q
That was funny, thanks for posting.
Though I wonder what would happen for some of the tasks (dance/exercise, for example) - if all participants had the same lag.
There was a study done on perception that used "glasses" that inverted the image fed to your eyes. The subject's brain rewired itself so he'd see the images upright again in just a couple of days.
Interestingly, the optics in our eyes provide an inverted image to our retinas, so our perception of the "inputs" is already using signal processing.
Interestingly, the optics in our eyes provide an inverted image to our retinas, so our perception of the "inputs" is already using signal processing.
This is incredibly funny.
Just today I was reading i am devloper tweets and just started wondering are there communities for developer jokes? Reddit comes to mind, but it become too mainstream. Anything else?
Just today I was reading i am devloper tweets and just started wondering are there communities for developer jokes? Reddit comes to mind, but it become too mainstream. Anything else?
Well it is reddit but https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/
How about more hacker?
If they sold it, I might buy that thing that tweets my food bites. It would also make twitter more useful / entertaining for me.
As other commenters have expressed, even stupid ideas may lead to an actual product: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bitbite-track-and-improve...
I know this project is not related to the hackathon, but one can imagine how it could develop from stupid idea to raising funds for a maybe-not-completely-stupid product.
I know this project is not related to the hackathon, but one can imagine how it could develop from stupid idea to raising funds for a maybe-not-completely-stupid product.
kudos to the "Kim Kardashian On A Newton" team.
...thats some non-trivial archeology to get that running :)
...thats some non-trivial archeology to get that running :)
So it's like a normal hackathon?
This is about systemd, I suppose?
you shouldn't have gotten downvoted, this was funny!
It was low-effort and off-topic, and you need higher standards.
Wow, dude. Seriously?
I learnt some great definitions around creativity and innovation at a conference I was involved with recently. To wit, "Creativity is the generation of novel and useful ideas."
The speaker (Dr David Hall) recommended that the search for Creativity often needs to start with generating something novel and useless - this can then inspire the useful application to emerge. Only when we pursue the novel, however useless, do we really open ourselves up to surprising creativity.
This Hackathon seems to fully embrace that principle, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if many of those who participated take the germ of an idea and develop it further into the useful space.
[1] http://jacobaldridge.com/business/3-blockages-to-creativity-...
The speaker (Dr David Hall) recommended that the search for Creativity often needs to start with generating something novel and useless - this can then inspire the useful application to emerge. Only when we pursue the novel, however useless, do we really open ourselves up to surprising creativity.
This Hackathon seems to fully embrace that principle, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if many of those who participated take the germ of an idea and develop it further into the useful space.
[1] http://jacobaldridge.com/business/3-blockages-to-creativity-...
A very honest hackathon!
Ahhhh this is beautiful :) Reminds of the days when blogs and websites were creative absurdities and programming was a cool hobby.
Hahaha! The Focus Tools one is great! looool
Please note:This is NSFW
Really hope this type of event spreads - looks like a lot of fun.
can we please have a NSFW tag
If no-one needs stupid shit, then what do we have Facebook for?
DO NOT click to watch the drone delivery video. Trust me.
Could you explain why?
I suppose it's because of the weird footage of a birth by the end. Can't really tell what's going on there.
We need more Hackathons like this.
That "tweet from food" thing reminds me of Vessyl.
https://www.myvessyl.com/
This Hackathon should be international :)
All the projects there were so beautiful because they were liberated from the whole motif in tech of products constantly "revolutionizing field-xyz and solving 1000 major world problems".
If we are going to enter into a truly tech-literate, post-internet phase of humanity, we gotta be making dumb, hilarious junk like this.