Show HN: Screen.farm – Send a webpage to any connected browser window | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Screen.farm – Send a webpage to any connected browser window

screen.farm

8 pointsleente9 comments

Feedback: I'm sorry but I don't understand what's this. I see "mapy" in a big box and, when I go to the provided URL I get to the same page but a different word.

This app (I guess it's an app?) would really benefit from some sort of 1-2-3 tutorial.

I'm still interested though. What's this?

Thanks for your feedback. Now I don't really understand why I thought it wouldn't need instructions.

You can use this to push a webpage to any browser window, with minimal setup and interaction. You can make your tablet or phone a non-interactive external display.

Here are some instructions:

1. Add your device to your "farm" by scanning the QR code or entering the URL on that device

2. Optionally, edit the auto-generated name of that window (in your case "mapy"), to something like: "tablet"/"phone"/"oldlaptop".

3. See the bookmarklet link for your device appear on your computer, drag this to your bookmark bar

4. Visit some website then press the bookmark => the website should now be opened on the respective device. Alternatively, you can use the REST API to send a URL or image to a device

With a simple Ruby script (I will publish that soon), you can watch your Desktop folder on OS X for newly created screenshots, and upload them as they are created, so in effect, you take a screenshot and it instantly appears on your tablet.

I figured out the use of this; its a better and quicker alternative to PushBullet. If you connect your phone and laptop then when you open a link on your laptop the same link can open on your phone simultaneously. It's really nice. Yeah, I agree that there must be some 1-2-3 tutorial.

What would a use case for this be?

Many companies (incl. ours) have displays in lobbies etc. to show dashboards, news, twitter feeds etc.

Usually there is a lot of fuss when something breaks (finding spare keyboard and mouse, connecting it to hidden pc).

If I get this right, this will create a 'remote control' for each such screen, right?

It doesn't create a fully functional remote control. All you can do is push content to a connected browser window. If the browser crashes, you'll need a keyboard or another remote access tool.

This tool is just a quick and simple way to make use of your extra screens. You can use a bookmarklet to make a webpage instantly appear on a screen, or with a tool using the REST API, you can make the screenshots you make instantly appear on an external screen.

Is this open source?

It will be soon, I'll just have to write a readme.

Here's the source: https://github.com/stimulus-software/screen.farm

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