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    Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?

    1901 points l2silver | 11 comments | 27 Apr 23 15:04 UTC | HN request time: 0.754s | source | bottom

    Maybe you've created your own AR program for wearables that shows the definition of a word when you highlight it IRL, or you've built a personal calendar app for your family to display on a monitor in the kitchen. Whatever it is, I'd love to hear it.
    1. gimili ◴[28 Apr 23 19:51 UTC] No.35746251[source]▶
    For 6 years I had a long distance relationship between Peru and Germany.

    When you are in different timezones it can actually be nice to fall asleep with the other person "close" to you; so we kept Skype running while one of us went to bed and the other person was working on the PC.

    Unfortunately the internet connection would regularly drop, ending the Skype call. Now you did not want to wake the other person by calling them.

    So I wrote a small script that would allow you to send a secret word in the chat and invoke the other persons' Skype to call you instead automatically.

    Kept our relationship healthy. Now we've been married for nearly 10 years and are happily living together :)

    replies(8): >>35746457 #>>35746824 #>>35748932 #>>35749682 #>>35751484 #>>35754777 #>>35755083 #>>35759891 #
    2. l2silver ◴[28 Apr 23 20:09 UTC] No.35746457[source]▶
    That's really sweet. I think I remember a scene from the TV show Normal People where something similar happens.
    3. noman-land ◴[28 Apr 23 20:38 UTC] No.35746824[source]▶
    Great story. I love this thread.
    4. unscrew5430 ◴[29 Apr 23 00:57 UTC] No.35748932[source]▶
    Love this. This is exactly what coding is about for me; improving your life and the life of others by solving some problem, how miniscule it might seem.
    5. frogcoder ◴[29 Apr 23 03:15 UTC] No.35749682[source]▶
    I was expecting a sad ending after six years. Glad it turns out well.
    6. deafpolygon ◴[29 Apr 23 09:42 UTC] No.35751484[source]▶
    MS Live Messenger used to have a feature where you could set certain contacts to auto-accept. When my SO and I were doing the long distance thing, that was our lifeline.
    7. rtheunissen ◴[29 Apr 23 17:05 UTC] No.35754777[source]▶
    Did the same with Google Hangouts which wouldn't end the call if someone dropped, and when their internet came back up they would automatically be back in the call. I think that's how it worked.
    8. rdedev ◴[29 Apr 23 17:33 UTC] No.35755083[source]▶
    I am soo happy for you guys. Being in a long distance 5 year relationship myself this is pretty awesome. I'm gonna give this one a shot
    9. Xaiph_Rahci ◴[30 Apr 23 05:26 UTC] No.35759891[source]▶
    “You sleep. I watch.”
    replies(2): >>35760590 #>>35760607 #
    10. pcollinsmokonut ◴[30 Apr 23 08:13 UTC] No.35760590[source]▶
    Can I watch you eat?
    11. neamar ◴[30 Apr 23 08:17 UTC] No.35760607[source]▶
    You sleep, I watch question?

    Nice reference