13 ms·

The Panic Sign

225 points by _pius 10y ago

tdeck 10y ago
One of the towers at the Adobe headquarters has a sort of semaphore on top that displays coded messages, and spins whenever a plane flies over the building: https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/sjsemaphore/ https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/sjsemaphore/
- MrKristopher 10y ago
  Also in downtown San jose, you can change the colors of the lights on The88 building: http://www.siliconvalleylofts.com/blog/living-in-downtown/create-your-own-holiday-light-scene-at-the-88/334/ http://www.siliconvalleylofts.com/blog/living-in-downtown/cr...
zxter 10y ago
Slightly off-topic: About the weather sign at the beginning; there is a tower in Istanbul that was initially build in 1749 to watch for fire and report with baskets (daytime) and lights (night). Now it is is still in use today as a watch-tower as well as for signaling weather forecast and maritime navigation information to the ships on the Golden Horn at night. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyazıt_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyazıt_Tower
odonnellryan 10y ago
This is awesome! My father makes signs, he'd love to read this article. I grew up helping him install signs. It's a pretty neat thing to be involved in. This is also great advertising for Panic ;)
fomojola 10y ago
Quite nice: would be nice to have a camera focused on the sign so you could change it and see it update even if you're not on the corner.
- wlesieutre 10y ago
  He mentions in a comment that they considered a webcam and decided not to: @lachlan We thought about a webcam for a minute or two, but realized it would be pretty logistically tricky (there’s not an obvious place to mount it). Even more than that, though, we think it’s kind of appropriate that you have to visit Portland to experience the magic. So, come visit us!
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    It also probably cuts down on the change requests from most of the people who can't see the building themselves, which - if you publish something on-line and blog about it - would probably mean 99.9% of the requests.
connoredel 10y ago
I've heard that the Durst family made an app for changing the lights on One World Trade Center. They guard its distribution pretty tightly, though. I have a fantasy about going on a date at some rooftop bar that has a view of the spire, asking her what her favorite color is, directing her attention to the spire, and making it happen. I suppose I'd settle for changing the sign on a Portland office building, though ;)
- dh0913 10y ago
  I think this is what you're referring to: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-control-skyscrapers-lights-mobile-app-article-1.1911297 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-control-skys... I was in NYC a few weeks ago and a friend had the app and was able to change it. It was really cool. We could see it pretty clearly from his place in Long Island City. I don't know how exactly he got an invite, but it wasn't too special. We also talked about how it would make for a great date idea.
  - bsirkia 10y ago
    Can you ask your friend to send me an invite? Price is negotiable :-)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Animats 10y ago
  I've been at Autodesk's demo center in San Francisco when the guy who did the lighting system for the Bay Bridge was controlling it from a laptop.
mjbellantoni 10y ago
The "Old John Hancock" building in Boston has a similar weather beacon and an accompanying rhyme: Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead. In summer, flashing red means the Red Sox game has been cancelled.
- munificent 10y ago
  That rhyme conveys virtually no information. It could just as well be: Steady blue, rains due. Flashing blue, clear view. Steady red, snow ahead. Flashing red, clouds instead.
  - SamBam 10y ago
    True, but that's the case for many a rhyming mnemonic: I never remember, is it In fourteen hundred and sixty-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue? But of course I remember remember the ninth of November. Sometimes, though, I'm not sure if I'm correct with I before E except before C. But I can definitely remember the order to get drunk in using Beer before wine, all is fine; wine before beer: oh dear.
    - X-Istence 10y ago
      Remember remember the fifth of November the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!
kh_hk 10y ago
Now, it's just a matter of automating it: curl https://signserver.panic.com:54444/set/0/0/0/0/0/0 sleep 1 curl https://signserver.panic.com:54444/set/255/255/255/255/255/255 sleep 1 If I was there to check IRL, I would probably like the sign to spell SOS using morse. It's probably a good idea to add a queue and a minimum time for an specific configuration to run, although, that probably defeats the purpose.
- LeoPanthera 10y ago
  On a recent Periscope, Cabel explained that the sign can only be changed every 10-15 seconds, and simply ignores requests silently during the timeout. (Apparently the permit for the sign doesn't allow "rapid flashing".)
  - kh_hk 10y ago
    So, every 10-15 seconds, there's the chance that one of the requests gets through, and all others are ignored? Sounds like a good enough solution. Still curious about the color configurations though.
  - jessaustin 10y ago
    It's probably visible from a highway. Distracting signs are distracting.
  - jasonjei 10y ago
    That's probably a good thing. People can get epileptic attacks from flashing lights...
nodesocket 10y ago
Really cool idea and hack. Unrelated, I wonder what Panic is going to do to keep up in terms software products. Coda was awesome, but then Sublime Text came along.. And then Atom came along. Panic makes some of the most beautifully designed OS X software, so I hope they release something new and relevant soon. Just spit-balling, but they should make a native OS X application to provision and manage infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean).
- dhimes 10y ago
  I wrote them and begged them to release "Prompt" for Windows. Pretty please. They politely said "no."
  - draw_down 10y ago
    Yeah, they're not a Windows shop.
- danpalmer 10y ago
  I've thought similar things - Coda hasn't kept up with my progression as a developer - but after speaking to our designer at work I'm not convinced they have a problem. Coda is not for people who do full-time software engineering - it's much more targeted at designers, people who are iterating rapidly, possibly for clients, and for whom FTP is a perfectly reasonable deployment mechanism. Unison is niche, but the only good piece of software in its category as far as I'm aware. And Transmit is one of the best pieces of software I've used. I unfortunately have no use for it, but many people do. Finally, I'm pretty sure that Firewatch did ok, so I'm sure that's some funding for them too. I think Panic are in for the long haul. They're never going to be 'huge', but I think they're going to be financially successful for years to come.
  - windsurfer 10y ago
    One has to suppose that the primary reason they won't ever be 'huge' is their Apple devotion and reliance.
- 10y ago
zorpner 10y ago
They mention they Standard Plaza weather beacon at the beginning of the story -- we actually have one here in SF! The lights at the top of the south tower at One Rincon Hill turn red for warmer, blue for colder, green for rain, and amber for no change expected. Something fun to look for as you come west across the Bay Bridge.
draw_down 10y ago
It's been like this for at least a year, actually I can't remember when they first did this. Could have sworn they already wrote this up sometime before...
- josephpmay 10y ago
  Yes! I know 100% that I have read this exact blog post before, like over a year ago. I'm glad I'm not going crazy.
- bsimpson 10y ago
  They mention it taking 15 years from 1997 to get a sign (e.g. ~2012), so perhaps the article isn't dated correctly.
kbd 10y ago
Posted the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11680369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11680369 No traction then, weird. Didn't know HN would accept dups within days.
- metasean 10y ago
  It's not only been allowed for a few months, dang has mentioned that there's also some semi-automated reposting. There is also a 'past' link under titles now, that will show you links that the system thinks are reposts (e.g. there have been at least 4 submissions for this actual page, but the system also thinks an article, "CEOs are often the last to know" is the same? - https://hn.algolia.com/?query=The%20Panic%20Sign&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=story&storyText=false&prefix&page=0 https://hn.algolia.com/?query=The%20Panic%20Sign&sort=byDate...)
  - detaro 10y ago
    The past link only is a link to a search for the title. It isn't dupe detection (HNs automatic dupe detection AFAIK only triggers on exact URL matches)
bsimpson 10y ago
I wonder how many people who are nowhere near SW Portland right now are fucking with their sign.

225 points by _pius 10y ago

tdeck 10y ago

One of the towers at the Adobe headquarters has a sort of semaphore on top that displays coded messages, and spins whenever a plane flies over the building: https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/sjsemaphore/ https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/philanthropy/sjsemaphore/

MrKristopher 10y ago
Also in downtown San jose, you can change the colors of the lights on The88 building: http://www.siliconvalleylofts.com/blog/living-in-downtown/create-your-own-holiday-light-scene-at-the-88/334/ http://www.siliconvalleylofts.com/blog/living-in-downtown/cr...

zxter 10y ago

Slightly off-topic: About the weather sign at the beginning; there is a tower in Istanbul that was initially build in 1749 to watch for fire and report with baskets (daytime) and lights (night). Now it is is still in use today as a watch-tower as well as for signaling weather forecast and maritime navigation information to the ships on the Golden Horn at night. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyazıt_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyazıt_Tower

odonnellryan 10y ago

This is awesome! My father makes signs, he'd love to read this article. I grew up helping him install signs. It's a pretty neat thing to be involved in. This is also great advertising for Panic ;)

fomojola 10y ago

Quite nice: would be nice to have a camera focused on the sign so you could change it and see it update even if you're not on the corner.

wlesieutre 10y ago
He mentions in a comment that they considered a webcam and decided not to: @lachlan We thought about a webcam for a minute or two, but realized it would be pretty logistically tricky (there’s not an obvious place to mount it). Even more than that, though, we think it’s kind of appropriate that you have to visit Portland to experience the magic. So, come visit us!
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  It also probably cuts down on the change requests from most of the people who can't see the building themselves, which - if you publish something on-line and blog about it - would probably mean 99.9% of the requests.

connoredel 10y ago

I've heard that the Durst family made an app for changing the lights on One World Trade Center. They guard its distribution pretty tightly, though. I have a fantasy about going on a date at some rooftop bar that has a view of the spire, asking her what her favorite color is, directing her attention to the spire, and making it happen. I suppose I'd settle for changing the sign on a Portland office building, though ;)

dh0913 10y ago
I think this is what you're referring to: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-control-skyscrapers-lights-mobile-app-article-1.1911297 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-yorkers-control-skys... I was in NYC a few weeks ago and a friend had the app and was able to change it. It was really cool. We could see it pretty clearly from his place in Long Island City. I don't know how exactly he got an invite, but it wasn't too special. We also talked about how it would make for a great date idea.
- bsirkia 10y ago
  Can you ask your friend to send me an invite? Price is negotiable :-)
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Animats 10y ago
I've been at Autodesk's demo center in San Francisco when the guy who did the lighting system for the Bay Bridge was controlling it from a laptop.

mjbellantoni 10y ago

The "Old John Hancock" building in Boston has a similar weather beacon and an accompanying rhyme: Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead. In summer, flashing red means the Red Sox game has been cancelled.

munificent 10y ago
That rhyme conveys virtually no information. It could just as well be: Steady blue, rains due. Flashing blue, clear view. Steady red, snow ahead. Flashing red, clouds instead.
- SamBam 10y ago
  True, but that's the case for many a rhyming mnemonic: I never remember, is it In fourteen hundred and sixty-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue? But of course I remember remember the ninth of November. Sometimes, though, I'm not sure if I'm correct with I before E except before C. But I can definitely remember the order to get drunk in using Beer before wine, all is fine; wine before beer: oh dear.
  - X-Istence 10y ago
    Remember remember the fifth of November the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!

kh_hk 10y ago

Now, it's just a matter of automating it: curl https://signserver.panic.com:54444/set/0/0/0/0/0/0 sleep 1 curl https://signserver.panic.com:54444/set/255/255/255/255/255/255 sleep 1 If I was there to check IRL, I would probably like the sign to spell SOS using morse. It's probably a good idea to add a queue and a minimum time for an specific configuration to run, although, that probably defeats the purpose.

LeoPanthera 10y ago
On a recent Periscope, Cabel explained that the sign can only be changed every 10-15 seconds, and simply ignores requests silently during the timeout. (Apparently the permit for the sign doesn't allow "rapid flashing".)
- kh_hk 10y ago
  So, every 10-15 seconds, there's the chance that one of the requests gets through, and all others are ignored? Sounds like a good enough solution. Still curious about the color configurations though.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  It's probably visible from a highway. Distracting signs are distracting.
- jasonjei 10y ago
  That's probably a good thing. People can get epileptic attacks from flashing lights...

nodesocket 10y ago

Really cool idea and hack. Unrelated, I wonder what Panic is going to do to keep up in terms software products. Coda was awesome, but then Sublime Text came along.. And then Atom came along. Panic makes some of the most beautifully designed OS X software, so I hope they release something new and relevant soon. Just spit-balling, but they should make a native OS X application to provision and manage infrastructure (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean).

dhimes 10y ago
I wrote them and begged them to release "Prompt" for Windows. Pretty please. They politely said "no."
- draw_down 10y ago
  Yeah, they're not a Windows shop.
danpalmer 10y ago
I've thought similar things - Coda hasn't kept up with my progression as a developer - but after speaking to our designer at work I'm not convinced they have a problem. Coda is not for people who do full-time software engineering - it's much more targeted at designers, people who are iterating rapidly, possibly for clients, and for whom FTP is a perfectly reasonable deployment mechanism. Unison is niche, but the only good piece of software in its category as far as I'm aware. And Transmit is one of the best pieces of software I've used. I unfortunately have no use for it, but many people do. Finally, I'm pretty sure that Firewatch did ok, so I'm sure that's some funding for them too. I think Panic are in for the long haul. They're never going to be 'huge', but I think they're going to be financially successful for years to come.
- windsurfer 10y ago
  One has to suppose that the primary reason they won't ever be 'huge' is their Apple devotion and reliance.
10y ago

zorpner 10y ago

They mention they Standard Plaza weather beacon at the beginning of the story -- we actually have one here in SF! The lights at the top of the south tower at One Rincon Hill turn red for warmer, blue for colder, green for rain, and amber for no change expected. Something fun to look for as you come west across the Bay Bridge.

draw_down 10y ago

It's been like this for at least a year, actually I can't remember when they first did this. Could have sworn they already wrote this up sometime before...

josephpmay 10y ago
Yes! I know 100% that I have read this exact blog post before, like over a year ago. I'm glad I'm not going crazy.
bsimpson 10y ago
They mention it taking 15 years from 1997 to get a sign (e.g. ~2012), so perhaps the article isn't dated correctly.

kbd 10y ago

Posted the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11680369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11680369 No traction then, weird. Didn't know HN would accept dups within days.

metasean 10y ago
It's not only been allowed for a few months, dang has mentioned that there's also some semi-automated reposting. There is also a 'past' link under titles now, that will show you links that the system thinks are reposts (e.g. there have been at least 4 submissions for this actual page, but the system also thinks an article, "CEOs are often the last to know" is the same? - https://hn.algolia.com/?query=The%20Panic%20Sign&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=story&storyText=false&prefix&page=0 https://hn.algolia.com/?query=The%20Panic%20Sign&sort=byDate...)
- detaro 10y ago
  The past link only is a link to a search for the title. It isn't dupe detection (HNs automatic dupe detection AFAIK only triggers on exact URL matches)

bsimpson 10y ago

I wonder how many people who are nowhere near SW Portland right now are fucking with their sign.