[HN Gopher] Sit.
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       Sit.
        
       Happy New Year everyone. Now, please share with a friend who needs
       to sit the fuck down or enjoy the experience yourself.  Why I built
       it: https://sonnet.io/posts/sit/ and
       https://untested.sonnet.io/Projects+and+apps+I+built+for+my+...
        
       Author : rpastuszak
       Score  : 168 points
       Date   : 2024-01-04 16:49 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (sonnet.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (sonnet.io)
        
       | canpolat wrote:
       | Thanks for sharing. It's not immediately obvious from the site:
       | does this offer anything more than a usual timer?
        
         | lambdaba wrote:
         | Yes, but you have to sit a little to find out...
        
           | canpolat wrote:
           | Cool, thanks. I'll give it another shot, then.
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Nope, it's just a dumb timer telling people to sit down and do
         | nothing. More about that:
         | 
         | https://untested.sonnet.io/MISS+-+Make+It+Stupid%2C+Simple
         | 
         | Similarly, Enso (enso.sonnet.io) is just a dumber <textarea>
        
       | bramblerose wrote:
       | There's a blog post by the author explaining the context at
       | https://sonnet.io/posts/sit/ . But really, just sit :-)
        
         | dang wrote:
         | That page is more informative and probably the better link for
         | HN, so I've switched to it above from https://sit.sonnet.io/.
         | Thanks!
         | 
         | (I also bent the rules and let the title have a trailing
         | period.)
        
       | ahmedfromtunis wrote:
       | Very useful and beautiful, thanks for sharing!
       | 
       | This also gave me the idea to use web tech to build the timer I
       | always wanted, which is the reverse of this one: a bong when the
       | timer expires, but also ticks every minute (or 5) while the timer
       | is running.
       | 
       | Edit: you also have a very beautiful website... and extremely
       | nice drawings!
        
         | bob88jg wrote:
         | I suffer from extreme time blindness and one apparent solution
         | to this is to have a regular metronome like pulse - I would
         | love an app for say a smart watch or something that did this
         | with vibrations!
        
           | uhhyeahdude wrote:
           | There is an iOS/watchOS metronome app literally called
           | "Pulse" that provides haptic feedback. That might get you
           | part of the way there
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Hehe, I'm also working on a "metronome for my attention":
         | 
         | https://untested.sonnet.io/Things+to+support+my+own+well-bei...
         | 
         | hit me up via hello @ <website> or my newsletter on
         | untested.sonnet.io and I'll message you when I have it.
        
       | ragtagtag wrote:
       | I opened the webpage, settled myself down, and clicked "Start". A
       | lovely _bong_ resonated through my headphones, and I relaxed.
       | 
       | Immediately, one of the foster kitten sidled past me with a half-
       | butchered gecko, still weakly struggling. I leapt up, grabbed a
       | nearby broom, and gave chase. What followed was an episode of Tom
       | & Jerry, but with more swearing. As I managed to part the cat
       | from the gecko and punt the gecko outside, a calm _bong_ brought
       | me to my senses.
       | 
       | 1/10, this did not make me sit.
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | So sorry to hear that! Perhaps this mrr will soothe your cat
         | instead: https://mrr.sonnet.io
        
           | ragtagtag wrote:
           | Ah! Well the kittens didn't get up to any nonsense while I
           | scrolled, they just sat, cleaning the poop that they had
           | kicked up the wall off their legs... so 10/10, great success!
           | Thank you! Now I just need to scroll endlessly...
           | 
           | (Sardine is the kitten who led the Great Gecko Chase; Anchovy
           | is the kitten who meditatively masterminded the Amazing Poop
           | Fling. Really need to get these guys adopted out.)
        
       | SeanAnderson wrote:
       | Trying to use technology to get people to spend some time
       | meditating is fun :) I especially enjoyed the gong sound, the
       | font selection, and the friendly wording in your app.
       | 
       | My WIP attempt at achieving something similar: https://ant.care/
       | 
       | There's a button "breathe for food" that'll trigger a similar
       | effect as your website. The difference is that the user is given
       | a digital reward ("food") which they use to feed their digital
       | ant colony.
       | 
       | I'm now trying to add intelligent behaviors to the ant colony in
       | an attempt to make them seem alive and compelling enough for
       | users to repeatedly engage with the breathwork exercises.
       | 
       | Good luck with your project! :)
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Hey Sean, I'm familiar with it, great work!
         | 
         | I think you should share it with
         | https://mastodon.cloud/@futurebird@sauropods.win a.k.a.
         | myrmepropagandist
        
           | SeanAnderson wrote:
           | :) Thanks. And sure, I can share it with them. Thanks for the
           | suggestion!
        
         | jpsouth wrote:
         | I'm curious what the ants are up to, do they do a great deal
         | currently?
         | 
         | I've been running it for a short while and they've dug a little
         | L shape with blue pheromones vertically, and purple
         | horizontally - looks like they are putting food in the
         | horizontal but one ant is stuck behind a food block. Poor
         | Taquan.
         | 
         | Edit: the 'view crater' button also crashes the simulation, at
         | least on an M2 Air using Chrome 120
        
           | jpsouth wrote:
           | Ah, I'll say no more but they are up to something! Cool.
        
           | SeanAnderson wrote:
           | So, ant.care is intentionally designed to be a slow moving
           | experience, goal is to have it unfold over real-world months,
           | but until I get sufficient environmental depth it's going to
           | feel weird. I give the user the ability to control time in
           | sandbox mode to provide a practical means of demoing.
           | 
           | The queen will give birth to worker ants every hour or so.
           | Worker ants have a low chance of applying tunnel/nesting
           | pheromones when they are surrounded by other ants. So, when
           | your colony grows to a few worker ants then they'll start
           | digging more tunnels and chambers to give themselves space.
           | Food is taken from the surface and brought into the nest and
           | has a higher probability of being dropped near other food
           | which allows for food piles to form over time.
           | 
           | Ants go to sleep at night (not realistic, but I thought it
           | was cute) and, if they're well fed, can regurgitate food to
           | other hungry ants (like the queen, who can't move once giving
           | birthing). They'll emote when these things occur.
           | 
           | And oops, yeah crater view shouldn't be live. I forgot I
           | shipped an update live to debug iOS performance (works on
           | iphones now without crashing!). The goal is to get a "top-
           | down" view and to let ants leave the nest to forage for food,
           | but have been struggling with architecture issues blocking me
           | from it for a while.
        
       | scrozier wrote:
       | I came, I sat, I conquered. So simple, yet immediately effective.
       | (Full disclosure: I'm a regular meditator, so it's pretty easy
       | for me to slip into mindful awareness.)
       | 
       | Thank you for this!
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Thanks, I use it to meditate myself (shi-ne).
         | 
         | I often set a minimal timer (e.g. 15 m) and then, either:
         | 
         | - use the 1-minute interval to get a rough idea of how much
         | time has passed, or
         | 
         | - practice different breathing patterns (e.g. 3 breaths per
         | minute)
        
       | inferense wrote:
       | this is cool as well as your other side projects :)
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Thanks! there's also a group version of this app / little
         | experiment I've been playing with. Working title "Space
         | Kalimba".
         | 
         | https://nothing-together.sonnet.io
         | 
         | Sometimes * I communicate with random people via that site,
         | without any words, just sending little "plomks" to each other.
         | 
         | * literally 30 seconds ago!
        
       | tslocum wrote:
       | If you are interested in a FOSS option for android check out
       | Meditation Assistant:
       | 
       | https://code.rocket9labs.com/tslocum/meditationassistant
        
       | WallyFunk wrote:
       | Interesting project. One thing I noticed: when I clicked the
       | button, a fullscreen window got spawned, without any prompt
       | asking me if I should enter fullscreen (Latest Firefox). On a
       | sidenote: this could be used for browser-in-the-browser
       | attacks[0] where someone could present a mock browser UI with a
       | fake URL.
       | 
       | Other than that, it's a great project. Anything to just sit
       | without distractions gives us an unfair advantage over the
       | majority of the world's population who are addicted to phones.
       | 
       | [0] https://mrd0x.com/browser-in-the-browser-phishing-attack/
        
         | JoshTriplett wrote:
         | Browsers allow entering fullscreen as long as it's in response
         | to user input, such as clicking a button. When entering
         | fullscreen, browsers emit a prompt about exiting fullscreen,
         | partly to make sure people know how to exit and partly to make
         | sure entering fullscreen doesn't go unnoticed. So, it'd be hard
         | to pull off such an attack.
        
       | badcppdev wrote:
       | UI only goes to 100 minutes. What if I want to have a really
       | serious sit and think
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | ugh FINE, just pushed an update with 999 minutes (I'm too lazy
         | to touch CSS during my holiday break). See you in 17 hours!
        
       | echelon_musk wrote:
       | Not that anyone asked:
       | 
       | I've long given up on meditation timers. I go to a room without
       | any digital technology except for a Casio F91W. I have gotten
       | good at gauging how long I've been concentrating for and if I
       | have aversion to continued sitting I just peek at the watch to
       | know how long it's been.
       | 
       | This is a solved problem that costs $0 and I don't have to worry
       | about receiving personalised ads because I'm into 'mindfulness'.
        
         | saulpw wrote:
         | Yup. I count my breaths in batches of 12 (batch count on the in
         | breath, breath count on the out breath). So like "1-1, 1-2,
         | ..., 1-12, 2-1, 2-2" and it works out that the batch count is
         | the number of minutes I've been meditating. So if I want to
         | meditate for 10 minutes I do 10x 12-counts. No technology
         | needed, can be done anywhere, anytime.
        
           | CrypticShift wrote:
           | > No technology needed, can be done anywhere, anytime.
           | 
           | I call this doing nothing with... nothing. It aligns closer
           | to the spirit of emptiness.
        
           | kaosnetsov wrote:
           | I haven't heard about this before, did you learn it from
           | someone? I usually just count breaths up to 10 and then
           | restart and have a timer for 10 minutes - the timer usually
           | ruins the mood. This is genius and I'm going to start doing
           | this instead.
        
       | smugglerFlynn wrote:
       | There is also an amazing "together" mode: https://nothing-
       | together.sonnet.io/
       | 
       | https://untested.sonnet.io/Sit.%2C+(together)
        
         | rpastuszak wrote:
         | Thanks, I was wondering who _plomked_ with me just now. Then a
         | bunch of people showed up.
         | 
         | (plomking still feels more personal to me than communicating
         | via text for some reason)
        
           | smugglerFlynn wrote:
           | I was also wondering why it feels more personal.
           | 
           | Plomking feels more like making a gesture, and I think we
           | still lack that in the online world. Any reactions on social
           | media usually have deeper and more loaded meaning than, say,
           | a nod of acknowledgement, or even a wink.
           | 
           | I was wondering, could it be due to the value we mentally
           | assign to our reactions when interacting online? "Liking" a
           | post or message is never just about the "like", it is also:
           | 
           | - forcing you to make a decison to "like" or not react (is
           | this really worthy of my "like"?)
           | 
           | - broadcasting to everyone that you've liked something
           | 
           | - signaling the algorithms that there is some weight to the
           | message
           | 
           | - keeping permanent record of your "like"
           | 
           | "Likes" and other reactions have so much weight and
           | complexity behind them.. it kinda takes any intimacy and any
           | human touch out of the equation.
        
         | SeanAnderson wrote:
         | This together mode is amazing. I want this combined with the
         | sitting so I feel like I'm sitting with other people.
         | 
         | I also kind of want to personalize the sound my gong makes and
         | to be able to share that with others who are sitting. If we
         | could create a sound bath with all our little gongs it would be
         | sooooo cooool!
        
       | robertlagrant wrote:
       | Like: the design, idea, sound, and the fact you spell colour with
       | a u. 10/10
       | 
       | Don't like: "at the intersection of". 1/10
       | 
       | Overall: 4/10.
        
       | drusepth wrote:
       | Just sat and stared out the window for five minutes and it was
       | delightful.
       | 
       | Ironically, however, I'll probably use this to _stand_ and stare
       | out the window as a nice break from sitting all day.
       | 
       | Thanks for providing the sound to make this tool eyes-free. Cool
       | little demo.
        
       | justinl33 wrote:
       | Okay so
       | 
       | > I was in a (unnamed cafe) browsing HN. I clicked on 'sit'.
       | didn't expect the _gong_ noise  & my headphones weren't connected
       | - got strange looks from a couple people.
       | 
       | > I'm usually super hyperfixated with things but I immediately
       | just snapped into a zone. the 'you can stop looking at the screen
       | for now' prompt was super helpful.
       | 
       | > so just I let my eyes just wander, it felt weird to do so, but
       | slowly felt those knots in my brain fizzle out
       | 
       | > I started with the window, watched some people past - the usual
       | mindfulness - nothing too interesting. started listening to the
       | traffic on a car-by-car level which seemed to bring everything
       | into scope. I saw a baby pigeon pick at something across the
       | street, a mother lean down to kiss their baby in a pram.
       | 
       | > then my gaze sort of drifted back into the cafe, both visually
       | and audibly
       | 
       | > I heard the coffee machine whir, listened to the waiters giving
       | each other ordered - which felt sort of intrusive but also kind
       | of like a superpower.
       | 
       | > THEN I caught this waitress' gaze, and I shit you not, she
       | smiled at me.
       | 
       | > maybe it's because I looked like a creep sitting in a cafe
       | watching people with an open laptop in front of me but...
       | 
       | > I learnt things from that 2 minutes of mental silence. thank
       | you
       | 
       | edit: as I was writing this comment, the same waitress brought
       | over my food and we had a chat!
       | 
       | side note: on my Mac there seemed to be some kind of UI glitch
       | with the minutes dropdown menu - it was gigantic
        
       | geraldog wrote:
       | Cool, but there's an error there. "Just sit" is not a Zen koan,
       | although it is a meditative technique used in Zen-Buddhism,
       | particularly the Japanese Soto school of Zen. See
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza
        
       | ShadowBanThis01 wrote:
       | Is what?
        
       | pedalpete wrote:
       | In this, they are still trying to get the person to meditate. To
       | sit with very little and wonder what they are doing wrong.
       | 
       | A few months ago I created Harbor (getharbor.app) which played
       | some sounds with some haptics and tried to get people to focus on
       | the sensation of the haptics.
       | 
       | I'm a meditator, but I know many people who aren't and trying to
       | get them to just "sit" and do nothing is a challenge. Some people
       | get stressed out about are they doing it "right".
       | 
       | These are the challenges to try to overcome with meditation, so
       | I'm not quite sure why Sit is different to other timers.
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-04 23:00 UTC)