Clock(oimo.io)
oimo.io
Clock
https://oimo.io/works/clock/
172 comments
If we're showing our favorite novel clock implementations, here's a mechanical seven-segment display clock [0] that is just entrancing to watch.
[0] https://hackaday.com/2022/10/09/flip-segment-digital-clock-i...
[0] https://hackaday.com/2022/10/09/flip-segment-digital-clock-i...
Brilliant, the physical version seems like a good gift: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1195310640/author-clock...
This reminds me of https://pointerpointer.com/ which finds pictures with the right pointer instead of quotes with the right time.
Also a great source of early 2010s nostalgic party pics and their specific aesthetic!
Reminds me of an artwork that compiled shots of clocks and watches from movies into a 24 hour cycle. The journalist reporting on it was so entranced they kept visiting at different times of day/night
That would be The Clock by Christian Marclay
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clock_(2010_film)
https://boxd.it/4sp6
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clock_(2010_film)
https://boxd.it/4sp6
I just happened to use it at 7:41 and there's no quotes for that time according to the JSON files in the other comment. It instead gave me a quote that indicated it was 2:34
Does anyone know if there is an api or local library for it? I’d love to make my own physical version of this like that kick starter.
All the quotes and times are available here:
https://github.com/JohannesNE/literature-clock/tree/master/d...
https://github.com/JohannesNE/literature-clock/tree/master/d...
Great! Looks like you could load all of that into a SQLite DB.
Inspired by this I tried using chatGPT
Here's another excerpt, this time from the novel "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway, that mentions the time 07:30:
"I woke up late in the morning. The sun was hot on my face, and I had a headache. I had been drunk the night before, but I remembered everything that had happened. I lay in bed for a while and listened to the sounds outside. There were birds singing in the trees and the sound of people walking on the street. I looked at my watch. It was 7:30. I got up and went to the window. The sky was blue and cloudless. It was going to be a hot day."
Here's another excerpt, this time from the novel "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway, that mentions the time 07:30:
"I woke up late in the morning. The sun was hot on my face, and I had a headache. I had been drunk the night before, but I remembered everything that had happened. I lay in bed for a while and listened to the sounds outside. There were birds singing in the trees and the sound of people walking on the street. I looked at my watch. It was 7:30. I got up and went to the window. The sky was blue and cloudless. It was going to be a hot day."
I tried this
Prompt: Using literary references. State a quote that mentions the current time 9:54pm.
Answer: One literary reference that mentions the current time of 9:54 pm is from the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In Chapter 3, Nick Carraway, the narrator, says, "I looked at my watch and it was four o'clock. Gatsby's house was still empty when I left - the grass on his lawn had grown as long as mine own and the air was thick with the sounds of the summer. By 9:54 pm, when the guests began to arrive, the air was alive with chatter and laughter, and the lights from Gatsby's mansion spilled out onto the lawn, illuminating the darkness with a warm glow."
That quote doesn't exist in this version https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-great-gatsby.pdf or this https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01001395/Centricity/Do... (I just googled great gatsby pdfs).
Am I missing it? Or is the quote made up?
Prompt: Using literary references. State a quote that mentions the current time 9:54pm.
Answer: One literary reference that mentions the current time of 9:54 pm is from the novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In Chapter 3, Nick Carraway, the narrator, says, "I looked at my watch and it was four o'clock. Gatsby's house was still empty when I left - the grass on his lawn had grown as long as mine own and the air was thick with the sounds of the summer. By 9:54 pm, when the guests began to arrive, the air was alive with chatter and laughter, and the lights from Gatsby's mansion spilled out onto the lawn, illuminating the darkness with a warm glow."
That quote doesn't exist in this version https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-great-gatsby.pdf or this https://www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01001395/Centricity/Do... (I just googled great gatsby pdfs).
Am I missing it? Or is the quote made up?
ChatGPT just isn't the right tool for the job to find concrete information. LLMs hallucinate too readily. They have no knowledge, they're just running probabilities on what's the most likely response, and the most likely answer in its experience is rarely "uh idk."
Made up. Or, at least, synthesized from parts of the book.
The second sentence is lifted from the beginning of one of the most famous last pages in all of literature.
The second sentence is lifted from the beginning of one of the most famous last pages in all of literature.
`wget https://www.literaryclock.com` gets you a structure containing all the strings indexed by time, so that's almost an API.
The favicon for that site is the Zimbabwean flag. Interesting...
Wow. That makes me anxious. It really makes me feel like the seconds come and go.
If you need the literal opposite of this site, I made Sit. (https://sit.sonnet.io) which is not even a clock, but a timer for sitting down and doing f*ck all.
I like the idea of this project, we need more semi-useless toys in our lives. I almost wish that every piece of software I use were customisable and themeable like Winamp. (or certain every-day objects ranging from fashion to gadgets to human skin via tattoos)
I like the idea of this project, we need more semi-useless toys in our lives. I almost wish that every piece of software I use were customisable and themeable like Winamp. (or certain every-day objects ranging from fashion to gadgets to human skin via tattoos)
Wow pretty cool.
I thought you couldn't automatically set an app as full screen without a prompt?
How did you do that?
You don't need a prompt, you just need user interaction, which in this case is click, tap or key press.
Yup, that's one of the reasons I added the intro modal with a call-to-action:)
The handler triggering full screen (el.requestFullscreen) needs to be in the same call stack as a user interaction event. Same with triggering audio playback programmatically.
I'm actually using audio as a fallback to prevent the device from falling asleep (via nosleep.js, modern APIs do exist, but I don't trust Apple with PWAs).
The handler triggering full screen (el.requestFullscreen) needs to be in the same call stack as a user interaction event. Same with triggering audio playback programmatically.
I'm actually using audio as a fallback to prevent the device from falling asleep (via nosleep.js, modern APIs do exist, but I don't trust Apple with PWAs).
Love it! This morning I used it as a no stress snooze.
Glad you liked it, I do the same! I also use it to meditate.
I feel like it gives me more control over my time. I can get back to reality at my own pace.
Why I built it and how I use it: https://sonnet.io/posts/sit/
I feel like it gives me more control over my time. I can get back to reality at my own pace.
Why I built it and how I use it: https://sonnet.io/posts/sit/
Same, I felt it in the pit of my stomach right away. The Life one (https://oimo.io/works/life/) is worse!
Explanation on how it works: https://blog.oimo.io/2023/04/10/life-universe-en/
Wow, that quickly went from "ah this looks like it would be a cute thing to reproduce" to "oh god, this is way more wildly complex than I thought!"
Reminds me of this one clock[1][2] implemented in the Game of Life.
Just... how.
[1]: https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/111932
[2]: https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&...
Just... how.
[1]: https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/a/111932
[2]: https://copy.sh/life/?gist=f3413564b1fa9c69f2bad4b0400b8090&...
on my phone, at least, it just endlessly says "loading". I could feel the seconds of my life slipping away.
This life one is incredible
That is a great little piece, thanks for sharing!
It is a fun experience. You go in there with no instructions and no idea what is going on. You quickly figure out how you can interact with it and what is going on within that little world and try and make sense of it. Then you notice the title and try and piece that in with that model you've just created. And then you get to wonder if you are reading too much into it and it is just a fun little toy someone built or if there is some artistic story.
It is a fun experience. You go in there with no instructions and no idea what is going on. You quickly figure out how you can interact with it and what is going on within that little world and try and make sense of it. Then you notice the title and try and piece that in with that model you've just created. And then you get to wonder if you are reading too much into it and it is just a fun little toy someone built or if there is some artistic story.
Yo I'm glad you like it!! I made it over a few days by giving instructions to GPT-4. About 80% of the time it would get my desired functionality exactly right. When I named it society.htm it looked and worked a lot differently, but I think the name still applies. I've started writing a readme for it but got distracted with other projects. Here is the github for it https://github.com/mnenoff/society-htm
Oh my god - when you pinch to zoom on that… it’s amazing
I had something akin to a religious experience when I saw this for the first time, and reading the explanation blew my mind. One of the coolest things I've ever seen on the internet.
I opened this and thought it is just game of life. Then read elsethread and tried to zoom out. Wow.
this is breaking my brain
It has stuck in a loop, chrome mobile
I'm curious about why exactly this is so anxiety-inducing. I have multiple hypotheses: a) the way the numbers only come together for a moment means you need to concentrate. b) the feeling of objects being flung towards you. c) the color scheme. d) the frenetic, jittery movement of the blocks, kind of like insects. e) The large number of objects moving unpredictably makes it hard to track. f) The passage of time. g) Every 10 seconds, the digits get pounded and blocks fly at you.
This is probably over-analysis, but it's interesting that so many people have the same reaction to this page.
This is probably over-analysis, but it's interesting that so many people have the same reaction to this page.
As a parent, I’m just thinking of all the blocks needing to be tidied away.
And don’t step on them while barefoot.
For me it's simply the fact that the blocks get destroyed every second. It really enhances the 'time is fleeting' feeling. Every second is unique and you're never ever getting it back.
It makes me worry about the invisible minions that are pushing the blocks into place. They only have a second, blocks are falling, how can the get it to the right numbers in time? But as soon as the numbers are legible, the blocks for the next number are already falling, and the invisible minions must jump straight to working on those blocks without a moments rest, second after second, nonstop for eternity.
Not even the feeling of time passing -- just the animation alone make me anxious.
If it were just names floating by using the same animation, it would have the same effect, I think.
If it were just names floating by using the same animation, it would have the same effect, I think.
It’s interesting, it doesn’t bother me at all.
Reminds me not to spend to much time on computers and be more present. I love it. Like a wake up alarm for life.
Reminds me not to spend to much time on computers and be more present. I love it. Like a wake up alarm for life.
I was way too focused on how slow this is running on my phone, sometimes skipping two seconds even. So I had no chance to actually think about what I'm seeing in a deeper way.
Same! This page gave me a really uncanny feeling of stress.
Difficult to read when the time is only stable for such a short period.
What if the time emerged from the depths of the scene already assembled, only to crumble to dust as its moment passes?
What if the time emerged from the depths of the scene already assembled, only to crumble to dust as its moment passes?
I came to say the same thing, but that was me looking at it's practicality as a clock.
If you zone out a bit and watch, you can see each tick form the time and quickly collapse, drawing a parallel to the nervous ephemeral nature of life. Being able to get that feeling from a clock is pretty neat.
If you zone out a bit and watch, you can see each tick form the time and quickly collapse, drawing a parallel to the nervous ephemeral nature of life. Being able to get that feeling from a clock is pretty neat.
Since those numbers don't assemble from previous numbers, they could as well start assembling earlier. Apparently the designer thinks it's visible long enough (he's wrong).
> What if the time emerged from the depths of the scene already assembled, only to crumble to dust as its moment passes?
I feel as if there could be some profound metaphor there...
I feel as if there could be some profound metaphor there...
No, this is much better and don't you dare question Oimo's design choices ever again. They don't need suggestions from mere mortals like us.
Hey I still thought it was cool
I think the coolest thing is the assembly itself, which wouldn't be the case with your idea even if it would be more readable.
I apologize for being rude with my joke but their stuff (https://oimo.io/works) is so mind-blowing that I just want to let them do their thing and fully embrace their vision without external interference.
I apologize for being rude with my joke but their stuff (https://oimo.io/works) is so mind-blowing that I just want to let them do their thing and fully embrace their vision without external interference.
No worries. I too find these demos incredible. More so that they don't make my entire computer freeze up like most WebGL content!
I find it invigorating in a way - there's a constant stream of fresh new seconds coming your way, moments you've never before seen in your life and so could hold anything in them.
But I can understand the anxiety a lot of people seem to be feeling at this: I had (and have) a similar response to WaitButWhy's [Your Life in Weeks](https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html) post.
But I can understand the anxiety a lot of people seem to be feeling at this: I had (and have) a similar response to WaitButWhy's [Your Life in Weeks](https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html) post.
One of the cooler articles I read on HN was about how Mandarin speakers consider the past spatially in front of them and the future spatially behind them. This is the opposite of English, which tends to consider the past as "behind us".
The English way is based on movement: we are moving forward into the future and our past is what we are leaving behind.
The Mandarin way is about knowledge: we can see the past (hence it is in front of our eyes) while we cannot know the future (as it is behind us.)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12804
The English way is based on movement: we are moving forward into the future and our past is what we are leaving behind.
The Mandarin way is about knowledge: we can see the past (hence it is in front of our eyes) while we cannot know the future (as it is behind us.)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12804
Even if, linguistically, Mandarin doesn't speak of looking forward towards the future, China is known for strategically investing and planning for payoffs multiple decades/generations into the future.
Language does affect thought, but apparently, in this case, speaking of not being able to see the future apparently doesn't preclude actively shaping it.
Language does affect thought, but apparently, in this case, speaking of not being able to see the future apparently doesn't preclude actively shaping it.
This has more to do with having an constant leadership that want to stay in power indefinitely.
Sweet, a Yugo Nakemura for the 21st Century. Anyone who doesn’t remember yugop.com, it was a site of beautifully cool experiments with Flash and Actionscript 1/2, the guy really was an inspiration to so many of us trying to figure out what to do with the web.
Yugop (the website) was such an inspiration: it questioned the way we interact with our devices in a playful way. I can say that it influenced my work and career…!
I was SUCH a huge fan of Yugop! The front page reminded me of him immediately. Good times.
At Paddington station in London there's a clock on the side of a building that appears to have someone inside it, manually drawing on the hands each minute. Its pretty neat
https://secretldn.com/clock-man-paddington-station/
https://secretldn.com/clock-man-paddington-station/
I've heard of this before and while this is a really cool idea, it makes for a very bad clock, because you sometimes have to wait for several seconds to tell how much time it is.
I something like this at Schipol airport in the Netherlands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSt3Nyxm1IQ - They're videos created by artist Maarten Baas and played on the screen.
The core idea (backwards time integration) seems to be implemented here:
https://github.com/saharan/works/blob/main/clock/src/phys/Wo...
And by the looks of it, there is a description here: https://blog.oimo.io/2022/02/11/clock-core/
I'm not passionate enough to try and (machine-)translate it, even though I would've really liked to understand how you make collision handling work backwards (especially since the simulation clearly seems to have energy dissipation)...
https://github.com/saharan/works/blob/main/clock/src/phys/Wo...
And by the looks of it, there is a description here: https://blog.oimo.io/2022/02/11/clock-core/
I'm not passionate enough to try and (machine-)translate it, even though I would've really liked to understand how you make collision handling work backwards (especially since the simulation clearly seems to have energy dissipation)...
made with haxe, and more demos available at:
https://oimo.io/works
https://oimo.io/works
This is the same person who made bubbles that was on the front page 5 months ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33566924
jfc, this one is absolutely fucking insane, reminds me of DMT:
https://oimo.io/works/life/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33566924
jfc, this one is absolutely fucking insane, reminds me of DMT:
https://oimo.io/works/life/
> this one is absolutely fucking insane, reminds me of DMT: https://oimo.io/works/life/
"Ah, neat, but what am I missing?" I said before I figured out you could zoom.
"Ah, neat, but what am I missing?" I said before I figured out you could zoom.
Ah okay and now I’ll never sleep again, cheers.
I liked the life one too. The x61.51 framerate has no movement at all other than the shapes changing and I don't really know why. I'm assuming it must be a framerate where my brain can't actually parse any movement but I have no idea.
Edit: Oh shit you can zoom out too.
Edit: Oh shit you can zoom out too.
You can also zoom in. That’s pretty neat.
Also, not sure if this is intentional or some ios specific bug/unintended feature, but you can do a quick 2-finger “zoom” motion, lift up your fingers, and it’ll keep zooming in at a constant speed. Then you can “steer” with one finger. It is mesmerizing.
Also, not sure if this is intentional or some ios specific bug/unintended feature, but you can do a quick 2-finger “zoom” motion, lift up your fingers, and it’ll keep zooming in at a constant speed. Then you can “steer” with one finger. It is mesmerizing.
Playing with it a bit more, it feels really intentional. You really have to… for lack of a better phrase “fling yourself inwards” with the zoom to get it to keep moving.
The level of dread felt is like taking just a wee bit too much acid and feeling the universe collapsing in and exploding back out on itself. Not that I've ever experienced that.
His other stuff is amazing too. For example, this water scene. You can click inside the water to splash it around!
https://oimo.io/works/water3d/
Cloth is very cool too.
https://oimo.io/works/cloth/
Jelly: click on the sphere to tear it apart.
https://oimo.io/works/jelly/
https://oimo.io/works/water3d/
Cloth is very cool too.
https://oimo.io/works/cloth/
Jelly: click on the sphere to tear it apart.
https://oimo.io/works/jelly/
When I was younger, I was impressed by the technical feat of demos like this.
Nowadays, while still impressive, the technical mystery has faded somewhat. What's even more impressive to me though is the discipline, time and motivation management to deliver something of this caliber. Hats off!
Nowadays, while still impressive, the technical mystery has faded somewhat. What's even more impressive to me though is the discipline, time and motivation management to deliver something of this caliber. Hats off!
I agree, except when we were younger, these were also greater technical feats.
Back when VRML was trying to be a thing, I suggested "they" stop wasting their time on uber nerdy games with arcane controller patterns, and just produce a 3D window manager with really nice transitions to use for ordinary desktop things.
Back when VRML was trying to be a thing, I suggested "they" stop wasting their time on uber nerdy games with arcane controller patterns, and just produce a 3D window manager with really nice transitions to use for ordinary desktop things.
VRML was definitely weird / ahead of its time. Reading about it at the time, and only having modest hardware, I was under the impression that the powerful machines back then could render VR in realtime. Heh 20+ years later and we're still not fully there yet.
That cloth one is a total acid trip. The physics are dead on.
The Jelly one is super cool. I was hoping it would slowly assimilate back into its original form if you let it sit for a bit.
> I was hoping it would slowly assimilate back into its original form if you let it sit for a bit.
Same but then I found the reload button. I think my daughter is going to enjoy that "jelly" a lot!
Same but then I found the reload button. I think my daughter is going to enjoy that "jelly" a lot!
That would be awesome. And you could control the speed of reassembly. These demos are quite cathartic.
Reminds me of <https://mrdoob.com>.
That infinite game of life... just wow!
I love the details about every 10 seconds the whole volume smashing, and in each minute change it smashing even stronger.
I assume there's a strong smash on hour and perhaps even day changes, but haven't had the time to observe it :)
I assume there's a strong smash on hour and perhaps even day changes, but haven't had the time to observe it :)
Parroting a lot of other comments but in short:
* Really neat
* Makes me anxious; perhaps an option for one without seconds?Could keep the units that aren't changing and only change the ones that are.
This would be a super cool change... Just the blocks coming from behind and knocking away the old numbers.
It kinda does this if it doesn't jump and the non-changing digits are 0, 1, or 8 due to its physics.
Felt quite different as I stumbled upon this when it was 00:00:01.
Felt quite different as I stumbled upon this when it was 00:00:01.
Yup, after a few seconds I was stressed out and had to leave. Imagine the added anxiety when I swiped left to go back (safari) and it didn’t work!
Nanoseconds would make your computer anxious.
Hah, came here to say the same. instant anxiety for some reason!
It's like watching a drunk person stagger along the street and wondering if they're going to keep it together or wipe out
The thing that's amazing about this to me is it's using less CPU (for me) than rendering a cube in BablyonJS: https://playground.babylonjs.com/#KBS9I5
I would have thought rendering is on the GPU, so CPU would be for non-rendering stuff. Maybe the IDE is using it?
Nah. I have the same code running locally without the browser IDE and same issue. CPU is all spent in the engine loop.
They could make it more stressful by adding names of those who are dying as we speak.
There would be so many that it’d just be background noise.
This clock reminded me of a PSX game called: Forbidden Cube (or alternatively Intelligent Cube)
https://youtu.be/BZM9kTGFeko
one of the most incredible PS1 games (that i spent a huge amount of time in) now available on PS4/PS5. not sure if upscaled or "remastered" but it is hella fun nonetheless https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP9000-CUSA32015...
Cool, but way too busy & stressful to look at. This gave me anxiety.
I'd suggest a version that has shortish explosions every 30s or 1m, with the slow sliding forward thing, in-between explosions.
I'd suggest a version that has shortish explosions every 30s or 1m, with the slow sliding forward thing, in-between explosions.
Very cool but I'm afraid I can only look at it for a few seconds!!
https://oimo.io/works/ on mobile, for me, only works properly in portrait.
Wow. It even contains a small copy of itself!
Works fine for me in Firefox for Android.
Works fine for me in Firefox for Android.
The copy contains a copy which also contains a copy (when highlighted).
Expectable from the author of the recursive Life Universe https://blog.oimo.io/2023/04/10/life-universe-en/
Expectable from the author of the recursive Life Universe https://blog.oimo.io/2023/04/10/life-universe-en/
This gives me a huge hit of nostalgia for Flash and ActionScript - ActionScript 3 was my introduction to OOP, design patters, and something akin to "game programming".
I remember browsing Flash demos like this with all sorts of really neat effects, UI tidbits, etc.
Creating a little physics engine in AS3 was super fun. I never really got over how fun it was to write code like "this.parent.rm(this)"
Not sure if it's the same making demos like this, but it feels like it!
I remember browsing Flash demos like this with all sorts of really neat effects, UI tidbits, etc.
Creating a little physics engine in AS3 was super fun. I never really got over how fun it was to write code like "this.parent.rm(this)"
Not sure if it's the same making demos like this, but it feels like it!
This sent my anxiety through the roof.
Reminds me of Yugo Nakamura - what was once yugop.com - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugo_Nakamura
On the topic of clocks, have anyone seen any examples of physical representations of time flowing or filling in in a block like way, like an easier to read hourglass.
This clock is mesmerizing. It will surely make me forget what I was doing before looking at the time.
I especially love the jump animation every 10 seconds and the minutely(?) super jump.
I especially love the jump animation every 10 seconds and the minutely(?) super jump.
Imagining this up on my next Zoom, suspect everyone will start talking much much faster and we might get through more but be knackered by the end of the call.
very cool , gives me a headache
Don't forget https://humanclock.com/
I wish I could move the camera around, then I'd set up the view I need (face-on) and leave it on the projector all day ..
This whole site and related github is a little trove of ideas and other treasures. I will be doing some digging
How does it work? I'm guessing it's exploding the clock then playing the animation in reverse?
I figured it was something like that as well. Looks visually impressive if you don't know the trick. I had thought about assigning edges and guaranteeing they met in the backstage area, then almost as quickly realized it'd be way easier to take the solid, break it into pieces that fly off, then do that, time-reversed, in the backstage.
Assuming you have a physics engine you could set up constraints between faces of the boxes that make up the numerals.
Major flashbacks to Amiga demos.
Seems to hijack Cmd+D on Safari Mac so you have to use the menu bar to bookmark it.
Imagine being in solitary confinement and this was a clock on the wall...
It jumps every 10 seconds!
Its time, if you've not seen it like this, this is what it is
It feels overwhelming and makes me want to lay down and do nothing.
So unnecessary. I love it
Similar project is mrdoobs.com
Even after so many years, harmony is my favorite.
Even after so many years, harmony is my favorite.
I've never been so happy to feel nauseous. Great work!
Cool, but too noisy.
This is truly beautiful. Well done to the creator!
Would love to be able to do this with any text
would be cool if this was a physical clock.
Probably the closest you can get for now: https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/ferrofluid-clock/
A clock has never made me feel so anxious.
This would be great as a screensaver.
This needs to be a screensaver.
I got motion sickness
...It counts my fears
My phone is melting!
This is super cool.
this clock just made me dizzy, but amazing!
[deleted]
His one on Conway's game of life is something else...
Sorry for the asside, perhaps we could add a rule that single name tools need a short description in the thread title. The top two threads are titled "Clock" and "Astral" and you don't know what they are going to be until I click out to the external site or try to guess from comments.
I enjoy that. When i see some minimal descriptor with a ton of upvotes, I enjoy the suprise of what it's going to be. Also, as the creator posting it I feel you should be able to describe it how you please as long as it's accurate.
To be fair, “Clock” is extremely descriptive for this particular post.
No it isn't, it's extremely accurate but it's minimally (or concisely) descriptive.
To be "extremely descriptive" it would need to describe it in enough detail to consider extreme (what kind of clock, what does it look like, how is it made, etc).
The current title is like calling a Rembrandt painting "Picture"; completely accurate, but hardly capturing its essence (nor "extremely descriptive").
To be "extremely descriptive" it would need to describe it in enough detail to consider extreme (what kind of clock, what does it look like, how is it made, etc).
The current title is like calling a Rembrandt painting "Picture"; completely accurate, but hardly capturing its essence (nor "extremely descriptive").
I see your point, bit I think it depends on what you are comparing it to.
I think the problem is that a lot of titles are neither accurate nor descriptive, and in that comparison “Clock” beats a lot of them as well as covering the essence of 75% of what you are going to be looking at.
If this had been described as “Time” that would’ve left you wondering.
I think the problem is that a lot of titles are neither accurate nor descriptive, and in that comparison “Clock” beats a lot of them as well as covering the essence of 75% of what you are going to be looking at.
If this had been described as “Time” that would’ve left you wondering.
The other is easy, because the page has some text: "Astral: Next-Gen
Python Tooling". If you send an email to the mods, they may agree and fix it.
This one is difficult because the page has no text and the mods usually don't want to make a title from thin air. "3D animated clock" may be good, but it may be hard to convince the mods to change it.
The guidelines ask to use the original title. The tag line or the subtitle is many times a good alternative. If the title is too bad, sometimes a representative sentence is OK, but not cherry picking too much.
This one is difficult because the page has no text and the mods usually don't want to make a title from thin air. "3D animated clock" may be good, but it may be hard to convince the mods to change it.
The guidelines ask to use the original title. The tag line or the subtitle is many times a good alternative. If the title is too bad, sometimes a representative sentence is OK, but not cherry picking too much.
I think the author of the clock might want to keep the name enigmatic while factually correct. There are many interpretations, images, and connotations which the animation may invoke in a viewer, and the author might not want to force any particular one. So staying enigmatic here is the right move, I think.
The Astral thing is different: it's about announcing a commercial company, and not having spent time on crafting a good description that would appear in link aggregators like HN is their loss of opportunity and outreach. Good thing that posting and discussing it here uncovered the issue.
The Astral thing is different: it's about announcing a commercial company, and not having spent time on crafting a good description that would appear in link aggregators like HN is their loss of opportunity and outreach. Good thing that posting and discussing it here uncovered the issue.
staying enigmatic might be the right move for the author, but that doesn't mean the cost should be borne by us.
The reason that we have traffic jams at rush hour is that it is in each person's self interest to enter the highway, but as a collective it creates a greater negative for all than the benefit to the one (see economic negative externality). When you merge into a crowded highway, 1000 people behind you move back one car length; if you had the choice of waiting 1000 cars to enter (and for each of all the people in front of you and behind you) would you do it?
on HN people are endlessly interested in daylight savings, processor clock speeds, UTC, the year 2038 problem, etc. A whimsical clock could be considered a waste... of time, and would it really spoil the whimsy all that much for the whimsical minority?
The reason that we have traffic jams at rush hour is that it is in each person's self interest to enter the highway, but as a collective it creates a greater negative for all than the benefit to the one (see economic negative externality). When you merge into a crowded highway, 1000 people behind you move back one car length; if you had the choice of waiting 1000 cars to enter (and for each of all the people in front of you and behind you) would you do it?
on HN people are endlessly interested in daylight savings, processor clock speeds, UTC, the year 2038 problem, etc. A whimsical clock could be considered a waste... of time, and would it really spoil the whimsy all that much for the whimsical minority?
Is clicking on a link, seeing a clock, and clicking the back button that much of a hassle? Im sure it took way longer to write your post!
I did pick the wrong post for this comment I think, of course this isn't so bad. It's ambiguous tools and startups that I wish would put more info in the title.
In 2023 though there is more to a click than a simple HTML request, and while I do, not everyone has cheap and fast internet, or fast devices.
In 2023 though there is more to a click than a simple HTML request, and while I do, not everyone has cheap and fast internet, or fast devices.
sdwr(2)
I still don't know what time it is. "Nice" UI.
Give it a minute or so to see what happens...