I used to joke that an Afghan Tinder would just be swiping left or right on pictures of eyes because of the niqab.
Sexy Math
This is sort of a variation on the classic NSFW jigsaw/Rubik’s cube-style puzzle, and of course a number of old ’80s PC games where you revealed a risque picture.
If you want to make this more amusing, you should really include some saucy pictures of actual mathematicians, kind of like a play on the “sexy scientists” calendar in The IT Crowd.
Spot the Differences
There’s a great episode of The Office where Pam distracts Creed, the new acting manager, from destroying the branch by giving him two pictures from corporate and asking him to find the differences. Of course, they’re the same picture.
Funny how a lot of these ideas already exist in some form - just in slightly different contexts.
"Sexy mathematicians" is actually a great direction, didn’t think of that one. Or teachers could upload their own photos and send them as assignments for motivation :))
Non-absurd societists can also play the 3rd sexy math game by changing the URL, where the other premium things are better blocked by the membership tier.
I love this. Great work. Huge fan of digital experimentation. It's an art form I feel isn't as popular these days. I've had an idea on the backburner for a bit now of doing a digital quarterly with contributions like this. Kind of a digital experiment punk zine. Maybe it's too niche, but I feel like it could be a good time.
Thanks! That sounds really cool. Feels like this kind of stuff lives in random corners of the internet now, so having a place that collects it would be really interesting.
Glad you liked that one :)
Yeah, I do have a few paying members.
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.
Great site! I once created muelltonne.de (german for "trashcan") where users could send (spam) mails which they did not like - and got poems or jokes in return that were made from exactly the same letters (plus some remains that could not be used). Reading tweets nowadays cries out for a new enhanced version...
I wonder if you’ve hit on something interesting… are interactive ads a thing? I don’t know much about adtech but it seems like it could be a good idea.
The monthly cadence is what makes this work. I recognize the feeling of having ideas rot in a notes app because you keep waiting for the "right" version - a fixed shipping rhythm kills that problem.
Favorites: VandalAds (the spray-painting origin story you mentioned makes the whole concept click) and Slow Internet Simulator (there's something real about nostalgia for imperfection). Trip to Mars at 210 real-time days is also wild - has anyone actually completed it?
26 comments
Eyes Dating Site
I used to joke that an Afghan Tinder would just be swiping left or right on pictures of eyes because of the niqab.
Sexy Math
This is sort of a variation on the classic NSFW jigsaw/Rubik’s cube-style puzzle, and of course a number of old ’80s PC games where you revealed a risque picture.
If you want to make this more amusing, you should really include some saucy pictures of actual mathematicians, kind of like a play on the “sexy scientists” calendar in The IT Crowd.
Spot the Differences
There’s a great episode of The Office where Pam distracts Creed, the new acting manager, from destroying the branch by giving him two pictures from corporate and asking him to find the differences. Of course, they’re the same picture.
Honestly, when I saw the title "Sexy Math," I half-expected to see a picture of Jeffrey Goldblum (the chaos theory mathematician in Jurassic Park).
Curious if you have any paying members? Not something I would pay for, but also there didn't seem to be enough information to convince anyone to pay?
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.
I wonder if you’ve hit on something interesting… are interactive ads a thing? I don’t know much about adtech but it seems like it could be a good idea.
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one.
Favorites: VandalAds (the spray-painting origin story you mentioned makes the whole concept click) and Slow Internet Simulator (there's something real about nostalgia for imperfection). Trip to Mars at 210 real-time days is also wild - has anyone actually completed it?
This became a real startup. https://rentahuman.ai/