The Highlander Lives! And other minor updates

After battling with my crappy hosting provider and making my code more efficient, I have a working version of "The Highlander" up and running online. I tested it with multiple users (3-5) at once to confirm that, from a technical standpoint, the page worked as it should. Right now it just outputs a simple sentence every 10 seconds depending on what condition is met (you have gained control of the site, you are maintaining ownership of the site, you are not in control of the site). The site checks my database every minute to establish ownership, and if the user in control stays on the page for over a minute they should maintain priority over newer attempts. From this simple implementation, there was some confusion when people were only able to experience either ownership or non-ownership. They grasped the idea once they lost ownership or vice versa. I'm excited to get it online so I can now really have some fun modifying it.

Highlander: http://thesis.kunaldpatel.com/highlander and invite your friends to click on it after you do so that you can feel empowered :-) It's purely a technical proof-of-concept at the moment!

(10:36:11 PM) Me: http://thesis.kunaldpatel.com/highlander
(10:38:11 PM) Greg Modzelewski: i get it
(10:38:14 PM) Greg Modzelewski: there can be only one

Full Disclosure: Greg is one of my best friends and we probably share half a brain, but until now I thought there was only sports and music stored in those areas.

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I also added a technical update to my "penultim.it" prototype in the form of an additional text area and "copy" button. This was purely from a functional standpoint, as this setup now allows users to enter a new URL or easily copy the shortened URL they've received. That's about all the functionality I want to add right now, so I'm going to move on to writing a project description and designing a layout for the page.

penultim.it: http://thesis.kunaldpatel.com/penultim.it

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Lastly, I had another prototype idea while walking home at 1 AM in the freezing cold early Saturday. I've mentioned my interest in 404 pages, and Shir reminded me about a site that collected some Creative 404 Error Pages that I was thinking about, but wasn't quite sure where to take. I began thinking about the significance of 404 pages as markers of dead-ends and digital "wrong turns." No matter where one goes wrong, we all arrive at the same warning sign. Perhaps because it was 1 AM, the visuals I kept returning to were bathrooms in bars where people had written or drawn all over the walls. These markings are left in forgettable spaces that we spend very little of our time, but as they accumulate they give the space it's character. This photo by Conway sums up what I'm trying to say quite nicely.

My idea is thinking about what if 404 pages were treated like the bathroom stalls of the Internet? What if you could leave a record of your frustration at arriving there, or a warning message about what you were looking for, etc.? This kind of stuff exists on the Internet in several forms already, with Your World of Text probably being the closest example to what I'm talking about. I'd like to flesh out the idea some more to really distinguish it and make the connection to 404 pages stronger, but I think it's worth pursuing.

 

Good night all!