Show HN: I build one absurd web project every month
70 comments
·June 2, 2025hinkley
This reminds me a little of Simone Giertz, a YouTube DIY person who started out long ago making shitty robots and has settled into fringe mainstream - usable items but not quite the way you would expect, like folding coat hooks, a gaming table with a roll top, a chair from a satellite dish, and a prosthetic leg for her three legged dog.
davidblue
Operation D-Day: One Second of War truly delighted me more than any other video game I've ever played.
I hope you like my Let's Play: https://youtu.be/iUnbD8xp0f0
absurdwebsite
I like it :)
AnnaPali
> Microtasks for Meatbags — the future: AI gives prompts, humans execute
That's close to how many companies, plans etc. work today. We manage big groups of people and systems, as syncretic holes. Sometimes a human, sometimes a computer is better at one task.
avandekleut
You may be interested in reading Manna, a short story about AI that operates exactly this way.
nathan_douglas
These are delightful. I think I like LingoPrio the best, since I'm (re)learning French. My kid and I went to a pediatrician appointment and my kid asked, "How do you say 'constipation' in French?" And I didn't have to look it up, since it ended in "ation".
> I just enjoy exploring what the web can be when it doesn’t try to be “useful”.
I have a project that's arguably strange but deeply serious. I'm building a Pi Bramble [1] and adding services with the goal of making a homelab that is continuously collapsing under the weight of its own complexity. Y'know, for education! But it's also really fun, when I have time to spend on it.
Cogito
Hey bios444 if you see this your comments are not showing as you seem to have been hit by HN's shadowban hammer.
It seems like you might also be absurdwebsite which doesn't seem to be banned (but does have a hidden post from a month ago).
If you plan to use this account it's worth dropping an email to the admins, they are very responsive :)
absurdwebsite
It's ok. My Iphone had my old account (bios444) loged in :)
bios444
Thanks — happy to see LingoPrio didn’t go unnoticed.
Yes, experimenting for fun is what I love. I will check your project.
90s_dev
Useles fun projects are useless but fun.
I made https://tellconanobrienyourfavoritepizzatoppings.com the other day.
It was fun. But useless.
90s_dev
Some fun entries so far
toppings=pineapple+
toppings=pineapple
toppings=I+don%27t+know+wh+conan+o+brien+is%2C+but+I+want+him+to+know+that+I+can%27t+eat+pizza+at+all.
toppings=mushrooms
toppings=Brie
toppings=Cheeze
toppings=Wat
toppings=
toppings=peppers+and+onions
toppings=cat+..%2Fetc%2Fpasswd
toppings=pepperoni+is+pretty+good+usually
toppings=More+tiny+pizzas+
fooabar
0x%5B%5D=DTAB
toppings=rendang
toppings=salami
toppings=spinach
toppings=Peppers
toppings=Ham+and+Pineapple+
toppings=french+fries
toppings=egg
toppings=usually+plain+but+i+dont+mind+putting+some+stuff+on+there.+onions+or+pepperoni+or+hawaiian+every+now+and+then.+i+dont+get+why+some+people+are+so+upset+about+pineapple%2C+it%27s+definitely+a+different+taste+but+i+think+it+works%21+although+i+will+say+sometimes+i+think+the+pineapple+slices+are+too+thick+and+so+you+just+get+pineapple+for+a+bite%2C+i+dont+like+that.+love+your+stuff+conanbradly
Great job. I'm into mortality so the Artist's Death Effect was fun. I tell my kids all my ideas are terrible because if it wasn't a terrible idea someone else would have done it already.
westondeboer
I think the Artist's Death Effect Data Base is hilarious. We talk about this in my circle about which artist isn't doing well and we all secretly buy up some work.
Sort of like a dead pool.
XetiNA
Loving this. One second of war and offsetting co2 emissions by buying you a Tesla are my favorites.
I wonder what a good UI is for a website like this. I was thinking maybe infinite scroll would work well for a more museum-like experience.
bios444
Thank you. Good idea about infinite scroll. I am also thinking about UI.
cldwalker
Fun stuff. Got a good laugh out of https://absurd.website/dday/game.php and https://absurd.website/microtasks-for-meatbags/ . Thanks!
absurdwebsite
Thank you.
keyle
It's good to see that, sometimes, the old internet still peeks through. All the best!
absurdwebsite
Tnx.
fibbery_
This is awesome. I like to make similar projects - is there a community where you like to share work and collaborate with others?
I put a few of mine on /r/baduibattles but not everything fits well in that bucket. Part fun, part absurdist art, part technological and political critique (examples: a login system that requires the user to sing the same song to log in, or a captcha that asks people to prove they're not robots by taking pictures of others in live surveillance video from unsecured CCTV cameras).
melagonster
maybe r/internetisneautiful
absurdwebsite
They banned my post :) r/internetisbeautiful is not beautiful.
imhoguy
"neautiful" made me curious, that is absurd :)
I’ve been building absurd, mostly useless web projects for fun — and I publish one every month at absurd.website.
These are deliberately non-functional, weird, sometimes funny, sometimes philosophical — and usually totally unnecessary.
Some examples:
Sexy Math — solve math problems to reveal erotic images.
Trip to Mars — a real-time simulation that takes 7 months to finish.
Add Luck to Your e-Store — add a waving cat widget to boost your conversion via superstition.
Microtasks for Meatbags — the future: AI gives prompts, humans execute.
Invisible Lingerie — it’s sexy. And invisible.
Artist Death Tracker — art prices spike when artists die. We track that.
Open Celebrity — one open-source face, shared by all. Together we make her famous.
I just enjoy exploring what the web can be when it doesn’t try to be “useful”.
Would love to hear what you think — and absurd ideas are always welcome.