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.

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

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?

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.

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.

Reminiscent of Reddit’s “The Button” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Button_(Reddit)

Which, incidentally, was conceived by the Wordle guy. Impressive cultural impact there.

> I want to experience the high school romance.

> Vaccines finally arrived in Brazil … Bolsonaro said in an interview like this: “DESPITE the vaccine”

This man is a genocide, help us

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

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...

"Who will get the last word".

Been going on since 2008!

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

There was a Reply All episode about this website and its creator:

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/xjh56nj

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?

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