Pointer Pointer (2012)(pointerpointer.com)
pointerpointer.com
Pointer Pointer (2012)
https://pointerpointer.com/
68 comments
I like these one off fun sites. Sort of like how 'zombo.com' was making fun of the .com stuff . Unfortunately that one will be done as flash goes away.
Luckily, flash isn't needed any more: https://html5zombo.com/
We should have always known, as anything is possible at ZomboCom.
We should have always known, as anything is possible at ZomboCom.
This is what the internet was supposed to be. Well, not totally that's all it was supposed to be. But random websites that people put together just because. I'm sure they learned something by doing it, so it wasn't a total waste for them. And now we all get a bit of levity in our day.
I need this! Does it still exist?
That was the original GPS application on the palm pilot. Just put a big X on the screen, with "You are here" underneath it.
This sounds ingenious and cool.
Here's a picture of all the different regions:https://imgur.com/a/oYDA5Ja
For those curious if how it works, Paul Irish did a breakdown of it quite a while ago: https://youtu.be/Z2ZXW2HBLPM
TL:DW - Vornoi Diagrams[1] and manual tagging, no machine learning needed.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram
For those curious if how it works, Paul Irish did a breakdown of it quite a while ago: https://youtu.be/Z2ZXW2HBLPM
TL:DW - Vornoi Diagrams[1] and manual tagging, no machine learning needed.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram
Thanks for sharing! Never heard about Vornoi Diagrams before..
I just looked at the latest code and it doesn't seem like that's the case any more. It's just a simple grid and instead images are picked and scaled to point more accurately from what I can tell. Also it's React now...
If I'm reading it correctly, it loads up an array of points [0], and after you move your cursor it loops through all points and finds the one with the nearest distance [1]. It seems like every image has the URL structure /images/[index of point].jpg.
The interesting bit is it keeps a list of the 4 point/images you've most recently seen, and will ignore those when searching for the new nearest point/image. Then scales that image to point at your cursor more accurately. This is why it feels pixel-perfect or so, because you won't get a repeat image until you refresh, or try the same location 5 times.
To test that out, ctrl+tab away and back to the tab without moving your cursor. You'll always get a different image. Then refresh the page, and ctrl+tab away and back again without moving your cursor. You'll see the same images in order.
Also neat that what was once a jQuery app now uses React and Typescript.
[0] https://pointerpointer.com/new-positions.json
[1] From /static/js/Point.ts
The interesting bit is it keeps a list of the 4 point/images you've most recently seen, and will ignore those when searching for the new nearest point/image. Then scales that image to point at your cursor more accurately. This is why it feels pixel-perfect or so, because you won't get a repeat image until you refresh, or try the same location 5 times.
To test that out, ctrl+tab away and back to the tab without moving your cursor. You'll always get a different image. Then refresh the page, and ctrl+tab away and back again without moving your cursor. You'll see the same images in order.
Also neat that what was once a jQuery app now uses React and Typescript.
[0] https://pointerpointer.com/new-positions.json
[1] From /static/js/Point.ts
const bruteClosest = (position: Point, positions: Point[]) => {
let index = undefined;
let closest = Number.MAX_VALUE;
for (let i = 0; i < positions.length; i++) {
const pos = positions[i];
const distance = distancePoints(pos, position);
if (distance < closest && !lastPicked.includes(i)) {
closest = distance;
index = i;
};
}
lastPicked.unshift(index!);
lastPicked.length = Math.min(lastPicked.length, 4);
return index;
};From the title, I was thinking it might be an interactive demo of pointers in C, very surprised :)
I thought it'll be some rant about and/or explanation of pointers to pointers in C/C++. But I like this page more!
Me too, at first I thought it was a follow-up to that post the other day about Linus Torvalds' 'more elegant' linked list implementation using pointers to pointers.
I had expected that too and before I knew it I spent time looking for Drake's approving finger from the meme or Uncle Sam's "I want you" gesture. I couldn't find either.
Very relieved when it wasn't...it's been a long week.
This feels like something from the early days of the web - and I mean that in a good way.
this is something from early days of the web.
In the grand scheme of things yes - but not relative to our subjective experience :)
The title claims 2012.
Previous discussions:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4095237 (2012, has a video on how it works)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8583179 (2014)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4095237 (2012, has a video on how it works)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8583179 (2014)
Also a bit of "how does this work" from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13460124
This is apparently by Studio Moniker in Amsterdam
https://studiomoniker.com/projects
https://studiomoniker.com/projects
Sure? Where's the reference?
It was created by Jonathan Puckey, Luna Maurer, Roel Wouters. Roel is part of Moniker.
Another similar pointer idea from Moniker https://studiomoniker.com/projects/do-not-touch
Another similar pointer idea from Moniker https://studiomoniker.com/projects/do-not-touch
Very fun!
It would be cool if this was a bit faster, so you'd be able to move the mouse around and see it flashing up different pictures of people pointing at it in real time.
It would be cool if this was a bit faster, so you'd be able to move the mouse around and see it flashing up different pictures of people pointing at it in real time.
This is weirdly hilarious to me, I like it!
The site loads an adsbygoogle.js script from https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.....
I can't see any ads on the site. Is this load due to the site being hosted on a Google platform like GCP or Firebase?
I can't see any ads on the site. Is this load due to the site being hosted on a Google platform like GCP or Firebase?
Ads load for me on mobile. There's a banner at the bottom of the screen.
I love all of the photos. Lots of casual pics of happy people. Everything has a very 90s/00s vibe which I'm finding nostalgic.
Does anyone know where this database comes from? I feel like they were all scraped off old MySpace pages.
Does anyone know where this database comes from? I feel like they were all scraped off old MySpace pages.
My guess is photobucket archives, that site was really popular among college age kids around that time.
I remember Jonathan Puckey* explaining this project at Resonate festival: the delay before showing the image is artificial and meant to create suspence.
This is what I’d call 'user experience'.
* Now at https://puckey.studio, but I think he was still working at/for https://studiomoniker.com at the time.
This is what I’d call 'user experience'.
* Now at https://puckey.studio, but I think he was still working at/for https://studiomoniker.com at the time.
This was totally worth turning on scripts for. I wonder if the images were tagged by hand or automatically.
$50 on by hand being quicker than with ML
Today I learned that the internet is AWESOME.
Hehe, good Friday fun, nice one! :-)
Oh I remember this from back when I was in highschool, nice to see it again :)
Brilliant, worked without fail for me, peer reviewed by my daughter.
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This is so werid, and strange.
abcdef22(1)
ConradKilroy(1)
raister(3)
This one is similar but for me a bit nicer, the eye in the left upper corner follows your pointer. https://www.ftm.nl/
Reminds me of a "user locator" website I once saw. It claimed to use advanced algorithms to locate the person using the website, so when you clicked go it spent a while printing various "reticulating splines" type technobabble before finally showing a picture of a big finger pointing at the user with big H1 text saying "You are right there".