Would love to hear if anyone made it through the first lessons and whether the micro-challenge format feels engaging.
121 karma · joined May 5, 2025
Interactive ads exist in some form, but they’re usually quite controlled and safe. What interests me more is the moment when the user actually does something to the ad - even destroys it. Then it becomes an experience, not just a banner, and stay in you memory.
The idea actually comes from a personal experience - when I was younger I spray-painted over a real outdoor ad, and I still remember that ad to this day. Not because it was good, but because I interacted with it. In thhis project I basically playing with that same idea in a digital form.
I’m not trying to optimize for conversion or make a strong sales pitch. The members part is more like a way to put some projects in a "private layer" and see if anyone is curious enough to go deeper.
Payment also kind of brings the projects to life because they play with startup ideas, paying becomes part of the interaction.
It was just a stupid impulsive moment.
But years later, I still remember that ad.
Not because it was good. Not because it convinced me. But because I tried to destroy it.
That stuck with me.
Most advertising is passive. You see it, you ignore it, it disappears.
But when you do something to an ad — interfere with it, attack it — it becomes an event.
So I built a small experiment called VandalAds.
It’s a banner format that people can vandalize directly in the browser (spray and destroy).
Anyone can try it or embed it on their own site (free, just a small JS snippet).
Writing is speech now. If you want to change something — type it.
You won’t witness rebrands anymore. You’ll simply wake up liking them.
If users notice the rebrand, you failed.
Every click opens a random site — sometimes absurd, sometimes oddly artistic, sometimes just broken in the best way.
Would love to see more submissions or ideas for other weird corners of the web worth adding.
I made a small “Halloween simulator” where everyone joins with their real costume photo and goes trick-or-treating across the internet.
You can visit other people’s “houses”, get them candy, and give candy when they visit you.
Think of it as the world’s first digital neighborhood for Halloween.
So — show your costume, and let’s make today feel spooky already!
1. Everyone follows the same Instagram account.
2. Once it hits 100k followers, we randomly hand over the account to one follower.
3. That person instantly gets an audience of 100,000+ to start their influencer journey.
Read more rules: https://absurd.website/influencer-overnight/ Insta account -> https://www.instagram.com/influencer_overnight
Let’s see if this actually works. Could be fun if it really reaches 100k! :)
Most shooters are played as if the player is immortal — you run, respawn, repeat forever. But real battles (like the D-Day landing) often meant a soldier’s story ended in just a few seconds.
So I wondered: what if a war game captured that? One second of chaos. Blink, and it’s over.
Can you survive more than a couple of seconds?
It’s part of my absurd.website project, where I make small experiments that blur the line between games, art, and jokes.
This one is Sexy Math — an experiment to make math feel passionate and engaging, instead of dry and boring.
The thought behind it: in school, many students struggle with motivation. What if math came with emotion — even desire? Something that pulls you in, instead of pushing you away.
When I was in high school, I would have loved a program like this. It doesn’t replace teaching, but it reframes math as something that’s playful and attractive.
Curious if others here think such "absurd reframing" can actually help learning, or at least spark curiosity.
This one is a timer that doesn’t tell the truth:
One runs 10% faster → your workout ends sooner, meetings feel shorter.
The other runs 10% slower → breaks feel longer, naps stretch out.
It plays with the idea that we often live by the clock, but time isn’t always fair — sometimes it drags, sometimes it flies. So what happens if the clock itself lies?
Would love to hear your thoughts, and whether you think "tricking the clock" changes how you feel about time :)
This is project #008 on absurd.website — a series of monthly digital experiments that explore absurdity through tech and services.
Here's the math: - I drive a petrol car: 3.3 tonnes CO₂ per year. - With a Tesla Model S: 1.5 tonnes CO₂/year. - Over 20 years: 36 tonnes saved. - Tesla Model S costs ~$80,000 → that's $2,200 per tonne of CO₂ offset.
The average offset cost on the market is $18.15/tCO₂. Ours is 100x more expensive — and 100x more absurd.
“We are not planting trees or building wind power plants. We are buying a Tesla. :)”
I love and hate Tesla. I feel the same about most “eco” solutions — half tech marvel, half marketing spin. So is this project a critique of consumerist greenwashing? Or just a weird dream to fund a Tesla through guilt? Probably both.
Whether you see this as satire, performance art, or a real climate contribution — that’s entirely up to you.
Basic math:
$3,284 invested at birth
10% average annual return (S&P 500 historical average)
Held for 60 years
Final value: ~$1,000,000
This isn’t wishful thinking — it’s Warren Buffett’s exact formula: start early, let time do the work.
Currently, retirement contributions typically begin around age 25–30. But starting at birth unlocks the full power of compounding — something policy almost completely ignores.
Even many municipalities already offer baby grants ($500–1,000). But if just a portion of that were invested long-term, the difference would be staggering.
Here’s a simple petition I launched to push this forward as policy: https://chng.it/D2RMjjGGKf
I’d love to hear the HN crowd’s take:
Would this work globally?
Are there legal/ethical/systemic blockers?
Has anyone done this personally for their children?
It feels like planting a financial tree at birth — and letting it grow for decades.