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Show HN: Slock – A one-bit messenger inside your capslock key (github.com)

2 points by jonaraphael ↗ HN
Two computers, one bit.

Hi — I built slock, a small macOS menu bar app that connects two people through their capslock lights.

Hold capslock on your Mac, and the other person’s capslock light turns on. Let go, and it turns off.

That’s all. A tiny way to interact someone without opening a chat window. Invent a blink language, try Morse code, or just bother someone who agreed to install this with you. If you both opt in, the same key also becomes a push-to-talk walkie-talkie.

It’s open source: simple Swift, end-to-end encrypted, no accounts, no analytics.

While it’s running, capslock takes a break from capitalizing things. Pause it to get your old capslock back.

Please enjoy this very elaborate way to blink a light.

Thank you for checking out my little project!

3 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 13.1 ms ] thread
bryanrasmussen
why was this flagged and dead? I have no idea, it definitely reminds me of the kind of thing that HN used to excel at, funny and inventive technical stuff. Am I going to do it? No, I'm not in an office with a bunch of nerds anymore so it just wouldn't be something I might spend half an hour doing just for the fun of it.

But I do think there are lots of people here who would think this was really great.

Back to the flagging, I think a lot of technical stuff gets flagged nowadays because people are worried it's AI, at the same time people spend all their time on here talking up AI. I don't know if this is or isn't. I suppose not because this is the kind of thing I would either do personally or not at all and despite all the evidence I have had in my life to the contrary I always proceed from the supposition that others are just like me.

bryanrasmussen
I think I figured out one reason for flagging dead, the account is new, so probably there is new account + post of github new project automatic flag as potential AI slop and hope someone vouches for it?
jonaraphael
Thanks for your kind comments!

I also don't know why it got flagged... Maybe because I had AI help me edit my message? My goal in sharing to this community is exactly because this is the type of whimsy I thought that this community would enjoy (I used to see a lot more of this in the past). My account isn't very new--I've had it since I did YC back in 2017, so I hope that's not the reason!

Your comment (the first on any of my posts) really made my day, so thanks for stopping by to say hi!