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Window-swap – open a new window somewhere in the world
- XEKEP 3y agoOh, thank you, neat idea! The site is not new, but I never heard about it until now.
- sp0rk 3y agoI really like this site. I also wanted to call out the smart UI decision to map the space bar to the "new window" button (which is itself long like a space bar.) I discovered this intuitively after going fullscreen just because of the shape of the on-screen button. Edit: I realized after using the site a while longer that the space bar is just activating the last button pressed, which is normal browser behavior. I still appreciate that the site uses the native browser buttons so that this behavior works out that way.
- tinycombinator 3y agoAt first, I thought this would be an app that opens a new browser window on another random user's computer somewhere in the world.
- sshanky 3y agoSame!
- duxup 3y agoI remember an app that had a recycling bin so when you added a file… someone else got it so they could “re-use it”. Fun and similarly random idea.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- butz 3y agoThat gives me an idea to add several recycling bins to desktop and forcing user to sort their trash.
- quickthrower2 3y agoLol, I’ll get that malware floppy out
- duxup 3y agoYeah the app didn't last long. I suspect it was as much a sort of temporary amusement / not expected to last.
- globalnode 3y agome too, but was pleasantly surprised with some of the window views!
- freeqaz 3y agoI also thought this. Collectively, asking HN, how would you implement something like "for fun and profit"? (Without making it an RCE machine)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- scbrg 3y agoxhost +
- dxroshan 3y ago:-) I also thought the same.
- kjs3 3y agoI thought the same, and then thought "the most efficient goatse spreader ever".
- keyle 3y agoIt's a socially interesting idea, but what would be the use case (provided it can be achieved securely and without compromising the host)?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fsckboy 3y agoI thought something similar, but it said "swap" so I was wondering what we were swapping, and I thought "I give you a commandline window onto my box, and you give me a commandline window onto your box, and we see who can create more mischief/mayhem most quickly" but then I came up with a cool "network war" game: there's a shared window on our two boxes over the net (one window on your box, one window on my box) but inside the window are bash cmdlines for both of our boxes. Whatever commands you type get executed on both machines; whatever commands I type get executed by both shells too... stdout outputs are intermingled? atomic interspersed? it should be confusing but not impossibly so
- IntrepidWorm 3y agoHmm... You can run different CTF environments i to a VM, wouldnt take much to stream input back and forth to both machines. I just saw another item featured on HN for piped keyboard streams between multiple users on the same shell. Sounds like glorious chaos.
- sshanky 3y agoThe site keeps repeating video. Try the share button, copy the link, past and open it and you’ll see the same footage again and again. I’m not convinced it is live at all.
- royal_ts 3y agoDefinitely isn't live as it has shown me Paris which is in the same time zone as I am and it's already way past midnight and it's been bright daylight there
- nivekkevin 3y agoif it is live, oh man they better have a good moderation system
- pests 3y agoTikTok Live can be interesting for this. I always run across this Australian DJ jamming on his balcony at about 3AM EST and its always amusing watching his sunset at that late hour. There is also a trend of morning news TV hosts doing a Live of their broadcast. Its odd seeing the morning news of some other city/country at midnight my time. Also interesting seeing the behind-the-scenes and from their perspective.
- i_am_a_peasant 3y agoYeah they seem to be all 10 minute clips from vimeo, probably all unlisted uploaded by the same "window swap" user: https://vimeo.com/880269938/1f51d3a0f4 https://vimeo.com/880269938/1f51d3a0f4
- hasbot 3y agoKinda have to dig a bit into the website to see what it is. Users can record and upload a 10 minute video out their window. The website allows one to view those videos. No site news since 9/21. Interesting idea, though. Discussed numerous times on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815460
- ChrisArchitect 3y ago(2020)
- ChrisArchitect 3y agoBunch of discussion from around the time it launched: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815460 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815460
- Waterluvian 3y agoYes! This idea! I so badly need a 4K stream of some downtown apartment where I can see the lights at night and hear the ambience. I’d put it on a dedicated tv in my room.
- dr_kiszonka 3y agoThere are a lot of streams like that on YT. I am partial to nature, but I am sure you will find something for yourself. https://youtu.be/gFOYZuuNSZI https://youtu.be/gFOYZuuNSZI
- A_Venom_Roll 3y agoThe YouTube channel of Nomadic Ambience might be interesting for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OSidavbRDI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OSidavbRDI
- drschwabe 3y agoThis is a brilliant idea that seems to lack execution.
- skrebbel 3y agoFWIW I think execution could've been way worse. I mean it actually works! I can click a button and look out of someone else's window.
- omarfarooq 3y agoIn what way?
- redder23 3y agoSo these "views" are not live webcams that just sit there, that would be more interesting. Just pre-recorded 10 min videos. They charge $5 a month for this and do the creators actually see any of this money? Let me guess, no ;)
- latentcall 3y agoThese are my favorite kind of websites. Really interesting to see real perspectives from around the world in this way. Thanks for sharing!
- jh00ker 3y agoGosh, this planet is big! Like, so, very, very big!
- smoovb 3y agoThis really hit the mark during COVID. Now, less timely.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- utybo 3y agoCan't wait for the GeoGuessr folks to dox all of these people. Really cool concept!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- quickthrower2 3y agoYeah I would do it in a big apartment complex maybe because it would be hard to tell which unit you are in. But from a house probably not
- lefixx 3y agoHow can someone justify spending $5/month on a premium windows video service
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mikae1 3y agoA couple of years ago, when this was last posted, it was really easy to extract the name and surname of the window-owner. Still, they had a privacy policy saying they would not share your identity... I have to investigate this again.
- INTPenis 3y agoThe window I watched had a name and surname printed in the top left corner. Maybe it's part of the design? I'd assume window-owners can submit whatever name they feel comfortable with.
- b212 3y agoJust opened a window and it was a video stream with audio from inside of the house (heard people talking, clearly). Some people just simply don’t care, I guess.
- radlad 3y agoFrom what I can tell, these are pre-recorded videos, not live. So yes, they must've decided they were OK with the audio.
- tokai 3y agoAll of these are easy to geolocate and then get names from address registers. There is no way to completely provide privacy to the window uploaders.
- darkclouds 3y ago[dead]
- lloydatkinson 3y agoIs this not live? I got London in day time and Southampton at night time.
- fbn79 3y agoFound a window from a running train https://www.window-swap.com/share.html?id=864272322 https://www.window-swap.com/share.html?id=864272322
- latexr 3y agoIf you like this kind of thing, search for “Slow TV” and get lost in the myriad of options. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television https://www.reddit.com/r/SlowTV/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SlowTV/ https://www.youtube.com/c/RailCowGirl https://www.youtube.com/c/RailCowGirl https://explore.org/livecams https://explore.org/livecams
- is_true 3y agoThank you. I'm working on a product that is the total opposite of this and I hope I can add a "Slow TV" option to it, so I don't feel that bad about exploiting people's FOMO
- Zelphyr 3y agoI discovered this during the height of COVID. It was oddly calming to me.
- rwmj 3y agohttps://www.insecam.org/ https://www.insecam.org/ (now dead) was fun while it lasted. It listed all unsecured security cameras by country, so you could stare at a forklift moving pallets around in a Chinese factory or people parking in a Japanese car park, and similar things. Edit: It's not dead after all: http://insecam.com/ http://insecam.com/
- CableNinja 3y agoI cant remember them now, but there used to he some specific google searches you could do to get even more unsecured cams. Wont lie though, it was really creepy finding cameras people had in their houses, just unsecured.
- andai 3y agoYeah I found one of those searches, must have been late 2000s, looks like most of them were in Asia. Mostly streets, supermarkets, but I found one in someone's bedroom (unoccupied) and promptly shat myself. It bugged me that there was apparently no way to contact the owners and let them know, "hey you should probably do something about this..." This was like, first page of Google, so I'm sure I wasn't the first or the last to find it...
- extraduder_ire 3y agoThankfully, some of the cameras have a speaker you can play audio through. So you can let them know in band. Assuming you speak whatever language they know.
- bigell 3y agoI love that the site isn't using HTTPS.
- andai 3y ago>If you do not want to contact us by e-mail, you can still remove your camera from Insecam. The only thing you need to do is to set the password of your camera.
- sambeau 3y agoI’d love to see this idea but with 360° environments for Apple Vision. Choose your desk, your view, your ambience. If anyone would like to fund me, I’d be happy to lug a desk and a 360° camera to remote locations: a rain forest, beaches, alps, tundra, a Scottish glen, beside a water tower on a rooftop in Manhattan…
- kingforaday 3y agoSounds like you will need help. Employee #1 reporting for duty.
- brookst 3y agoI’m late to the party but can bring mad AI skills to locale determination and specifying the direction the desk should face. Where do I get my employee #2 badge?
- joshspankit 3y agoAdd complex metadata via on-site collection and AI. I’d like to choose a time and location that matches my location. Rainy 1 hour before sunset. Sunrise on a clear winter day. Lunch rush where most are in good spirits.
- 1970-01-01 3y agoPity that it requires a login. I would submit my fantastic view if it was more convenient for me to do so.
- omarfarooq 3y agoAll that it takes to prepare the video for submission seems less inconvenient than the login.
- boredemployee 3y agoI literally thought about phisically opening a window somehow smh. Dope idea!
- rolph 3y agostart with a printer carriage ? work it up to "alexa open the bathroom window"
- timvdalen 3y agoHave had this #2 in my bookmarks bar since this first hit HN. Really fun site!
- i_am_a_peasant 3y agoSo many cats
- ngcc_hk 3y agoMy wife ask why I share a programming site with her … not interested in programmming. So deep is the window not even real window is not real window.