9 ms·

Website Will Self Destruct

134 points by gostsamo 4y ago

gostsamo 4y ago
The website was very popular at the start of the pandemic. Reminding HN of it due to a similar project on the front page.
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
It was all so cute until > Today, I will commit suicide that I have planned for a long time,I don’t want to live anymore. anyway I want you to forgive me TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF Then the next message: > Dear Person Who Wants to Die, At least take a song request first. Everyone, if you see this please copy it and add one song to the list, hopefully, a meaningful one. P. S. No prejudice hopefully, and I hope you won’t die, I appreciate you. Paradise - BTS What makes you beautiful- One Direction (cringe ik) Washing Machine Heart - Mitski Freaks - Surf Curse Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men Muddy Waters -LP (live version) 3 Nights - Dominic Fike agoraphobia - autoheart Welcome to my life - Simple Plan This is Home - cavetown Honest- The Neighbourhood Welcome to the black parade - My Chemical Romance Day6 - chocolate Happy Party Train - Aqours My Alcoholic Friends - The Dresden Dolls Of them I approve Washing Machine Heart - Mitski I think music has this acute, potent and almost universal power of reminding someone he is a sentient being, which is the expression of pure meaning.
- gostsamo 4y ago
  I browsed around 20 and didn't find anything that cringe. Lots of teenagers dealing with loneliness and a few spotify recommendations, so it is another datapoint to consider.
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
> I want to experience the high school romance.
SemanticStrengh 4y ago
> Vaccines finally arrived in Brazil … Bolsonaro said in an interview like this: “DESPITE the vaccine” This man is a genocide, help us
- 8jef 4y ago
  Help yourself, please.
kaycebasques 4y ago
What's most interesting to me is how emo so many of the messages are. There's nothing overt in the website instructions prompting people to be angsty. gostsamo says the website was popular at the start of the pandemic which I guess could explain the angst. But I wonder if there's something deeper going on here. Because doesn't this feel like the sentiment of the earlier web? Is there something in the website design and the anonymity that prompts people to be more angsty? Or is the world just overwhelmingly angsty and we never have an outlet for those emotions?
- wingerlang 4y ago
  > I’ll be gone soon, and that’s okay. > Until then, let me know how you’re doing. > It’s been a rough few months. > Feeling down? I think the website is quite emo
  - andai 4y ago
    The name reminded me of a domain I registered as a teenager, everythingwilldestroyitself.net I was pretty angsty at the time.
  - kaycebasques 4y ago
    Yeah on second read I don't know what the hell I was talking about. The website copy is super emo and is totally prompting everyone to be angsty. I want this exact same experience but without the angsty prompting.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - y0d4 4y ago
      You don't seem to understand the meaning of the words "angst" or "emo", at least not going by the couple of messages I clicked through on the site. "It’s been rough. I’m trying to help my husband work through his mental illness. I love him but some days I feel like he takes it out on me a bit with his moods. I know it will get better when he starts counseling next week but right now it is tough. My job is very stressful and I go back next week after two weeks of medical leave to remove an organ and benign tumor. Hoping for sunnier days ahead."
yojo 4y ago
Reminiscent of Reddit’s “The Button” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Button_(Reddit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Button_(Reddit) Which, incidentally, was conceived by the Wordle guy. Impressive cultural impact there.
- stardenburden 4y ago
  Not just that, the worldle guy also invented r/place
  - shevis 4y ago
    Wow, that’s insane! I had no idea
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
trts 4y ago
There was a Reply All episode about this website and its creator: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjh56nj https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjh56nj
jancsika 4y ago
Aw, mang-- I thought it would start the tragic process of parent elements removing all their children. Speaking of which-- can a Javascript script completely remove all traces of itself without navigating away from the page?
- lelandfe 4y ago
  https://jsfiddle.net/rvagq9bn/ https://jsfiddle.net/rvagq9bn/
Waterluvian 4y ago
I’m going to ask here because this is similar: I want to make a page with a button and a countdown timer. The button resets the timer. The timer is global: everyone sees and affects the same timer. Users don’t need accounts. Anyone can just press the button. How would one implement the server portion of this cheaply and safely? It’s like I want some server that just accepts a blank POST to reset time. And a GET to get the latest time. The client would GET the time every minute and sync the UI with that.
- nabaraz 4y ago
  POST to server, server returns and sets a unique value cookie.
- dtgriscom 4y ago
  Wasn't this done recently?
  - Waterluvian 4y ago
    I think Reddit did a button thing. But I’m trying to figure out the simplest, cheapest way to implement it.
    - hedora 4y ago
      Postgres or MySQL on a free tier VM will be fine for this use case. With one paid VM, you could easily get to something ridiculous, like 1M TPS. If you get past that, you could add memcache to the read path. If you need more than 1M button pushes per second, each frontend server could see if the timer was reset less than a second ago. At this point, you're limited by data center bandwidth. You could move the frontend servers into edge infrastructure. That should scale linearly to billions of requests per second. At some point, you'll probably need to hire a team to negotiate with cloud providers, or invest in hardware procurement infrastructure. Anyway, that free tier VM would be able to handle the load, even at such a scale. You might want to add a secondary in a second DC if fault tolerance is important. What was this for again? Writing this makes me want to go play Universal Paperclips: https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/
unnouinceput 4y ago
So all it takes is a 24 hour DDOS and it's gone? Or any connection to it will prolong its life?
flemhans 4y ago
Reminds me of a trollish thread on a regional web forum board I once made, https://newz.dk/forum/tagwall/hvem-faar-det-sidste-ord-83199/page395 https://newz.dk/forum/tagwall/hvem-faar-det-sidste-ord-83199... "Who will get the last word". Been going on since 2008!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
ta988 4y ago
Connected to a Markov bot or gpt3 in a cronjob, this would live forever.
- pyinstallwoes 4y ago
  As long as someone keeps that job running! This is why I never understood the simulation or trans-human perspective - who guarantees that the servers stay running?
  - ta988 4y ago
    Nobody, same for cryogenics. Imagine some ideological extremists that decide that Cryogenics is against their beliefs and use their political leverage to forbid people and allow other citizens to pursue them them if they ever attempt to do or help the practice.
    - nwatson 4y ago
      My bigger worry about cryogenics is about the people on the "other side" of the freeze. Why do they want to wake you up? They won't look at the tag on the frozen toe and read "ALS" and figure they want to wake you up to administer the cure (which will cost US$3.5 million in 2020 dollars). They won't be that curious about life in the early 21st century. What they'll want is slave labor, mental or physical.
      - peterburkimsher 4y ago
        Really? I thought it's just worth waking people up to hear their memories, and teach others. Archaeology is fun! What happens if we apply electricity to their heart with a defibrillator, and nasal high-flow gentle heating to thaw out their flesh? Will they wake up? No idea. Whenever someone wants to try, they will.
        shakna 4y ago
        Getting archeological funding is an absolute bitch of a thing. Yes, there are a number of people who want to learn and explore the world with altruistic goals, but they rarely manage to convince the people standing above them that it's a good idea. (Not that every facet of the gatekeeping is bad, mind. Denying access to sites to preserve them, for example.)
mawise 4y ago
I really like the model of "see a random X" that someone posted instead of ranking by popularity/engagement. Creates a really different experience. Imagine if Twitter showed you truly random tweets in your timeline instead of highly engaging tweets
delroxy 4y ago
the first message I read was someone talking about the abuse they suffered from Ages 8-10 from their parents and about how they were going to suicide. I quickly clicked off this website.
- Terry_Roll 4y ago
  Its a very psychological website, everything from the casual letter explaining itself to the "its been a rough few months" trigger. I dont know if you can build attachment using less words. And like the best military intelligence tools, the internet is an excellent intelligence gathering tool.
  - delroxy 4y ago
    good point, it seems like the site is designed to psychologically trigger the reader
    - Terry_Roll 4y ago
      There is so much psychology built into media we consume especially adverts its unbelievable. Thing is, never have authorities had so much control over their populations and scientific knowledge continues to grow.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

134 points by gostsamo 4y ago

The website was very popular at the start of the pandemic. Reminding HN of it due to a similar project on the front page.

SemanticStrengh 4y ago

It was all so cute until > Today, I will commit suicide that I have planned for a long time,I don’t want to live anymore. anyway I want you to forgive me TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF Then the next message: > Dear Person Who Wants to Die, At least take a song request first. Everyone, if you see this please copy it and add one song to the list, hopefully, a meaningful one. P. S. No prejudice hopefully, and I hope you won’t die, I appreciate you. Paradise - BTS What makes you beautiful- One Direction (cringe ik) Washing Machine Heart - Mitski Freaks - Surf Curse Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men Muddy Waters -LP (live version) 3 Nights - Dominic Fike agoraphobia - autoheart Welcome to my life - Simple Plan This is Home - cavetown Honest- The Neighbourhood Welcome to the black parade - My Chemical Romance Day6 - chocolate Happy Party Train - Aqours My Alcoholic Friends - The Dresden Dolls Of them I approve Washing Machine Heart - Mitski I think music has this acute, potent and almost universal power of reminding someone he is a sentient being, which is the expression of pure meaning.

gostsamo 4y ago
I browsed around 20 and didn't find anything that cringe. Lots of teenagers dealing with loneliness and a few spotify recommendations, so it is another datapoint to consider.

SemanticStrengh 4y ago

> I want to experience the high school romance.

SemanticStrengh 4y ago

> Vaccines finally arrived in Brazil … Bolsonaro said in an interview like this: “DESPITE the vaccine” This man is a genocide, help us

8jef 4y ago
Help yourself, please.

kaycebasques 4y ago

What's most interesting to me is how emo so many of the messages are. There's nothing overt in the website instructions prompting people to be angsty. gostsamo says the website was popular at the start of the pandemic which I guess could explain the angst. But I wonder if there's something deeper going on here. Because doesn't this feel like the sentiment of the earlier web? Is there something in the website design and the anonymity that prompts people to be more angsty? Or is the world just overwhelmingly angsty and we never have an outlet for those emotions?

wingerlang 4y ago
> I’ll be gone soon, and that’s okay. > Until then, let me know how you’re doing. > It’s been a rough few months. > Feeling down? I think the website is quite emo
- andai 4y ago
  The name reminded me of a domain I registered as a teenager, everythingwilldestroyitself.net I was pretty angsty at the time.
- kaycebasques 4y ago
  Yeah on second read I don't know what the hell I was talking about. The website copy is super emo and is totally prompting everyone to be angsty. I want this exact same experience but without the angsty prompting.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - y0d4 4y ago
    You don't seem to understand the meaning of the words "angst" or "emo", at least not going by the couple of messages I clicked through on the site. "It’s been rough. I’m trying to help my husband work through his mental illness. I love him but some days I feel like he takes it out on me a bit with his moods. I know it will get better when he starts counseling next week but right now it is tough. My job is very stressful and I go back next week after two weeks of medical leave to remove an organ and benign tumor. Hoping for sunnier days ahead."

yojo 4y ago

Reminiscent of Reddit’s “The Button” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Button_(Reddit) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Button_(Reddit) Which, incidentally, was conceived by the Wordle guy. Impressive cultural impact there.

stardenburden 4y ago
Not just that, the worldle guy also invented r/place
- shevis 4y ago
  Wow, that’s insane! I had no idea

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

trts 4y ago

There was a Reply All episode about this website and its creator: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjh56nj https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjh56nj

jancsika 4y ago

Aw, mang-- I thought it would start the tragic process of parent elements removing all their children. Speaking of which-- can a Javascript script completely remove all traces of itself without navigating away from the page?

lelandfe 4y ago
https://jsfiddle.net/rvagq9bn/ https://jsfiddle.net/rvagq9bn/

Waterluvian 4y ago

I’m going to ask here because this is similar: I want to make a page with a button and a countdown timer. The button resets the timer. The timer is global: everyone sees and affects the same timer. Users don’t need accounts. Anyone can just press the button. How would one implement the server portion of this cheaply and safely? It’s like I want some server that just accepts a blank POST to reset time. And a GET to get the latest time. The client would GET the time every minute and sync the UI with that.

nabaraz 4y ago
POST to server, server returns and sets a unique value cookie.
dtgriscom 4y ago
Wasn't this done recently?
- Waterluvian 4y ago
  I think Reddit did a button thing. But I’m trying to figure out the simplest, cheapest way to implement it.
  - hedora 4y ago
    Postgres or MySQL on a free tier VM will be fine for this use case. With one paid VM, you could easily get to something ridiculous, like 1M TPS. If you get past that, you could add memcache to the read path. If you need more than 1M button pushes per second, each frontend server could see if the timer was reset less than a second ago. At this point, you're limited by data center bandwidth. You could move the frontend servers into edge infrastructure. That should scale linearly to billions of requests per second. At some point, you'll probably need to hire a team to negotiate with cloud providers, or invest in hardware procurement infrastructure. Anyway, that free tier VM would be able to handle the load, even at such a scale. You might want to add a secondary in a second DC if fault tolerance is important. What was this for again? Writing this makes me want to go play Universal Paperclips: https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/ https://www.decisionproblem.com/paperclips/

unnouinceput 4y ago

So all it takes is a 24 hour DDOS and it's gone? Or any connection to it will prolong its life?

flemhans 4y ago

Reminds me of a trollish thread on a regional web forum board I once made, https://newz.dk/forum/tagwall/hvem-faar-det-sidste-ord-83199/page395 https://newz.dk/forum/tagwall/hvem-faar-det-sidste-ord-83199... "Who will get the last word". Been going on since 2008!

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

ta988 4y ago

Connected to a Markov bot or gpt3 in a cronjob, this would live forever.

pyinstallwoes 4y ago
As long as someone keeps that job running! This is why I never understood the simulation or trans-human perspective - who guarantees that the servers stay running?
- ta988 4y ago
  Nobody, same for cryogenics. Imagine some ideological extremists that decide that Cryogenics is against their beliefs and use their political leverage to forbid people and allow other citizens to pursue them them if they ever attempt to do or help the practice.
  - nwatson 4y ago
    My bigger worry about cryogenics is about the people on the "other side" of the freeze. Why do they want to wake you up? They won't look at the tag on the frozen toe and read "ALS" and figure they want to wake you up to administer the cure (which will cost US$3.5 million in 2020 dollars). They won't be that curious about life in the early 21st century. What they'll want is slave labor, mental or physical.
    - peterburkimsher 4y ago
      Really? I thought it's just worth waking people up to hear their memories, and teach others. Archaeology is fun! What happens if we apply electricity to their heart with a defibrillator, and nasal high-flow gentle heating to thaw out their flesh? Will they wake up? No idea. Whenever someone wants to try, they will.
      - shakna 4y ago
        Getting archeological funding is an absolute bitch of a thing. Yes, there are a number of people who want to learn and explore the world with altruistic goals, but they rarely manage to convince the people standing above them that it's a good idea. (Not that every facet of the gatekeeping is bad, mind. Denying access to sites to preserve them, for example.)

mawise 4y ago

I really like the model of "see a random X" that someone posted instead of ranking by popularity/engagement. Creates a really different experience. Imagine if Twitter showed you truly random tweets in your timeline instead of highly engaging tweets

delroxy 4y ago

the first message I read was someone talking about the abuse they suffered from Ages 8-10 from their parents and about how they were going to suicide. I quickly clicked off this website.

Terry_Roll 4y ago
Its a very psychological website, everything from the casual letter explaining itself to the "its been a rough few months" trigger. I dont know if you can build attachment using less words. And like the best military intelligence tools, the internet is an excellent intelligence gathering tool.
- delroxy 4y ago
  good point, it seems like the site is designed to psychologically trigger the reader
  - Terry_Roll 4y ago
    There is so much psychology built into media we consume especially adverts its unbelievable. Thing is, never have authorities had so much control over their populations and scientific knowledge continues to grow.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]