fun-with-sockets
Creative
interactive browser demo
SHOW HN2023
Legend
fun-with-sockets
I saw this mind-blowing experiment, so I made a simple version of it
github.com#browser windows#websockets#window position#multi-window#javascript
How HN took it
10 positive, 28 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 17 critical, out of 55 comments about the project. Thread score 0.00.
Privacy: 1 for, 10 againstIdea: 5 for, 4 againstExecution: 1 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Cool demo and fun creative use of browser APIs
From 3 comments
I love the concept and the demo! Amazing creative work
awei on HNReally great. The web is really going forward
p-nerd on HNWow this seems profound, I didn’t even know you could do that, that could be the future of augmented reality if you think about it, layers! Great job!
bionhoward on HN
Simple code with almost no dependencies
From 1 comment
Love how simple the code is, with almost no external dependencies
bdcravens on HN
Objections
Exposing window and screen position to websites is a privacy and fingerprinting risk
From 4 comments
None of these screen properties should be available to websites.
account42 on HNAm I the only one that's horrified that window.screenX and window.screenY exist? This is not information that I want to provide.
munch117 on HNW-why is window LOCATION exposed to websites? Apparently even in FF private browsing... At first I thought this is an electron only thing. I get it that we gave up on…
no_time on HNSorry, i'm a little lost. I tried thinking about it, but I can't think of any nefarious attacks someone could do with screenX/Y. Why is that such a risk? What could they possibly…
zer0kool on HN
Laggy updates over the network
From 2 comments
But… why does it lag? Shouldn’t this be trivial enough to be instant?
Filligree on HNProbably because of websocket network lag and also, in my anecdotal experience, window position updates are sometimes strangely jittery
taberiand on HN
Requests
Support for multiple monitors
From 1 comment
That's a great demo! I'd be curious to see how this would work with multiple monitors. Also, thank you for voluntarily acknowledging that you were directly inspired by somebody…
vunderba on HN
Use BroadcastChannel or postMessage instead of a socket for local communication
From 3 comments
Use BroadcastChannel; you don't need no sockets https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Broadcast_Channel_API
rtcode_io on HNYou can use a BroadcastChannel to send messages between the Windows directly. This should reduce latency when working locally.
nikeee on HNI wonder if it would be more instant if they used postMessage api instead of going over network.
bawolff on HN
Questions
Does it work on Wayland
From 1 comment
Does this work on Wayland?
gmueckl on HN
What is the practical application
From 1 comment
I'm wondering about practical application of this demo...
butz on HN
Alternatives named
Bjorn Staal's original localStorage multi-window demo
From 2 comments
> The original work by Bjorn Staal https://twitter.com/_nonfigurativ_/status/172732259457002734 used localStorage, but I found sockets more fun, because if tweaked a bit, this…
heavyset_go on HNMight as well link to the original / "stolen from" author's equivalent demo with Three.js - https://bgstaal.github.io/multipleWindow3dScene/ - and repo -…
sprobertson on HN
Browser Ball by Google Chrome Experiments
From 2 comments
Browser Ball maybe? https://experiments.withgoogle.com/browser-ball
unfunco on HNThis and the original reminded me of this really old Chrome Experiments demo, and some others like it: https://experiments.withgoogle.com/browser-ball
Zacru on HN
WindowKill video game
From 1 comment
If you like this, you might also enjoy WindowKill, a video game similar to Asteroids that cleverly uses windows that can overlap and interact with each other. You need to shoot…
Simran-B on HN