Show HN: Somewhere – Instagram hack motivates you to travel more (opens in new tab)

(smwh.re)

28 pointsBenjaminN12y ago18 comments

18 comments

18 comments · 8 top-level

rememberlenny12y ago· 3 in thread

One issue, the site highjacks the back button.

Otherwise, beautifully amazing.

I was actually going to request some way to go back to a previous image. I didn't realize I could just use the back button. Glad you pointed that out! @OP: worth adding a back button in the site UI?

BenjaminNOP12y ago

I will. And there's also a sidebar/menu when you click on the logo, but that's not obvious at all.

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Hey, thanks !

Ryanmf12y ago· 1 in thread

How are you curating these images? Which is to say, how are you ensuring that I see a really great photo of the Azure Window[0] (which happened to be posted two weeks ago) rather than whichever random one Ig turns up first?

I had a semi-similar idea (but focused on graffiti) but all the restrictions in their API terms were sort of a turn off.

[0] http://instagram.com/p/itwBoKwBnp/

BenjaminNOP12y ago

I told more about this on Cool Hunting [0] but basically I'm manually selecting the best one. So I have a list of ~150 shots, I'm sorting by likes (which most of the time is not relevant at all) and removing all the #selfies using a face recognition algorithm.

[0] http://www.coolhunting.com/travel/smwhre-app.php

duiker10112y ago· 1 in thread

Love the idea!

I tried and the first result was a place in London, cool but I basically live 40 min away. The second was Auschwitz. I was kinda not too motivated.

But still very nice!

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Randomness is not nice with you today, I'm sorry. My advice: don't play any lottery game.

morsch12y ago· 1 in thread

I like it. How about adapting the background color gradient to the major colors of the picture? E.g. using https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6905547

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Ahah, I had that idea too, but there's a security problem with images from Instagram. Long story short: they don't allow cross-origin resource sharing, so that doesn't work.

bgnm200012y ago· 1 in thread

This is awesome - only wish it were faster, and that I could save my favorites.

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Might be slow because of the HN effect. Saving a place is a great idea, but that means creating accounts, and that complicates everything. You might just "like" the place on facebook.

tchadwick12y ago· 1 in thread

I really like this. I've already found some interesting places!

BenjaminNOP12y ago

I have a lot of favorite ones, but the craziest is certainly this one: http://smwh.re/door-to-hell

I finally have a good reason to go to Turkmenistan !

mrkyone12y ago· 1 in thread

Smart hack! Where did you get those places from?

BenjaminNOP12y ago

The web and foursquare.

legohead12y ago· 1 in thread

please don't take over my back button

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Man, I'm so sorry for your back button, I hope he's okay :3

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

18 comments

18 comments · 8 top-level

rememberlenny12y ago· 3 in thread

One issue, the site highjacks the back button.

Otherwise, beautifully amazing.

dkordik12y ago

I was actually going to request some way to go back to a previous image. I didn't realize I could just use the back button. Glad you pointed that out! @OP: worth adding a back button in the site UI?

BenjaminNOP12y ago

I will. And there's also a sidebar/menu when you click on the logo, but that's not obvious at all.

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Hey, thanks !

Ryanmf12y ago· 1 in thread

I had a semi-similar idea (but focused on graffiti) but all the restrictions in their API terms were sort of a turn off.

[0] http://instagram.com/p/itwBoKwBnp/

BenjaminNOP12y ago

[0] http://www.coolhunting.com/travel/smwhre-app.php

duiker10112y ago· 1 in thread

Love the idea!

I tried and the first result was a place in London, cool but I basically live 40 min away. The second was Auschwitz. I was kinda not too motivated.

But still very nice!

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Randomness is not nice with you today, I'm sorry. My advice: don't play any lottery game.

morsch12y ago· 1 in thread

I like it. How about adapting the background color gradient to the major colors of the picture? E.g. using https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6905547

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Ahah, I had that idea too, but there's a security problem with images from Instagram. Long story short: they don't allow cross-origin resource sharing, so that doesn't work.

bgnm200012y ago· 1 in thread

This is awesome - only wish it were faster, and that I could save my favorites.

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Might be slow because of the HN effect. Saving a place is a great idea, but that means creating accounts, and that complicates everything. You might just "like" the place on facebook.

tchadwick12y ago· 1 in thread

I really like this. I've already found some interesting places!

BenjaminNOP12y ago

I have a lot of favorite ones, but the craziest is certainly this one: http://smwh.re/door-to-hell

I finally have a good reason to go to Turkmenistan !

mrkyone12y ago· 1 in thread

Smart hack! Where did you get those places from?

BenjaminNOP12y ago

The web and foursquare.

legohead12y ago· 1 in thread

please don't take over my back button

BenjaminNOP12y ago

Man, I'm so sorry for your back button, I hope he's okay :3

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse