Hacker News Reader

Really neat little project!

I would have loved to paid more attention but easily the most unusable website I've used in a while. Like seriously, it's awful if you scroll up an down a couple times because you're pushing URL changes. Then because everything animates it starts chugging a long, doing weird shit, like not going back. It's a single page it doesn't need to change the fucking URL or even worse animate those changes...

On the plus side, the website looks really nice even if it is unusable.

Not sure what pisses me off more. That, or the music autoplaying.

Or breaking the back button

People just need to know when to use replaceState instead of pushState.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History/rep...

pushState maybe sometimes used but replaceState should never be used.

Seriously, many times I was on a website where scrawling introduce you to new article but it also replace the URL oh, now I wanted to go back to the original article because I wanted to share with you but I couldn't. at least with a push State I could retrace my steps and not rely on the developer guessing where I might have been going.

Be nice if there was a DNS that blackholes websites that break the back button.

OH yeah! A DNS that would crawl the website, launch a VM with a couple browsers to see if the backbutton is broken.

breaking the back button is an absolute sin. What could be the possible use case for anyone to break the back button this way?

Sorry guys, I didn't expect so much interest from the audience. I've updated the website, hope it's better now :)

Hey tsomctl, sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. Removed the autoplay. I hope it works better now.

Thank god for iOS safari. Quiet as a mouse.

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is clunky. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I’m sorry the parent comment was so aggressive but I think their sentiment does have merit.

This is particularly true on mobile where trying to use the back buttons once I finished reading became particularly confusing because mobile browsers hide parts of the URL.

If it’s any consolation, you are not the first nor will you be the last person who has ever done this. Directly mutating history has costs that are not always readily apparent. The advice not to do so is not an old wive’s tale.

Thank you. We've updated the website. It's a simple landing page now, and I hope it works better now.

Well, maybe on other browsers... on Safari, on a wide screen, I still had to maximize the window to see all the text. At a "mere" 1200px wide, half the text was under the knob.

Same on Firefox at 1530 px.

What about the fact that half the text not only graphic, but also covered by the graphic, so it's impossible to read.

It's a pity the project itself is so neat. Makes me feel bad about referring to it as such a remarkably horrible web experience.

yeah, I also cannot scroll it with my finger. I had to connect a mouse to my touch screen computer just to scroll the page.

See? If you owned a Knob, you could have used it as a scroll wheel, and you wouldn't have had to connect your mouse! ;)

Right :D.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. Removed the autoplay, scroll should work fine now. I hope it works better now.

As an aside: this is the first time I’ve seen scrolling the page implemented with history. This feels like an anti-pattern; I had to hit back 4 times to return to HN.

Every time I pushed back, my iPhone auto played a video full screen. Most annoying.

I couldn't get Firefox Preview on mobile to get back to HN.

Combined with the url back nav issue it crashed mine :)

Ditto. Had to close the tab completely.

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll. I hope it works better now.

Have a nice day

So it's a PowerMate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffin_PowerMate) except made from concrete?

(Huh, apparently Griffin stopped making them in 2018, so I guess there's room for a replacement. I covet one every time I remember they exist but I never quite covet one enough to actually want to spend the money getting one...)

Microsoft makes one still

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-dial/925r551sktgn?...

I have an older PowerMate (USB, not Bluetooth) that I used about 15 years ago in my first carputer. It's really good for that, better than relying on just a touchscreen. The carputer is long gone, but that Griffin PowerMate is sitting on my desk in front of me right now. Still wonder if I can find another clever use for it.

I've been using an ElGato StreamDeck repurposed as a global mute button (among other things) for Zoom, Webex, etc. The Powermate could be pretty nifty for this as well, using the radial menus to quickly get at globals like mute/unmute, start/stop video, etc

We're a small team, not a huge company. We've made this product open-source and free to use in our spare time.

The concept of the knob made of concrete is fully inspired by DIY Perks.

I'm not sure, but Griffin does not offer you all the perks I've described below:

- Open-source Arduino-compatible firmware so you can add your functionalities and light effects;

- The audio is controlled with the HID library instead of potentiometer; spare time - There are one audio input and two outputs that can be switched with the hardware switch;

- Bonus option is you can use it as a scrolling knob;

- The audio lines are connected to the microcontroller and you can add light effects relative to the sound;

- It is 3d printed and we also added a 3d printable model of the mold for the concrete part;

Have a nice day ;)

Griffin also doesn't actually make their knobs any more so anything you are offering is more than they currently are.

"Huh, apparently Griffin stopped making them in 2018, so I guess there's room for a replacement."

Teenage Engineering makes one of these:

https://teenage.engineering/products/orthoremote

It is designed as a remote volume control for one of their synths but it is a generic bluetooth volume control device that can be used with anything.

I have one - very nice and very high build quality.

How much of a pain in the ass is it to configure it to control things besides volume with it? Because whenever I think "it'd be nice to have a PowerMate" I'm never thinking about volume control.

it's already said in this thread, but wow am I impressed with how many things are working against me on this website.

1) scroll is totally hijacked into discrete intervals, those discrete intervals count as page loads (destroying web history and any chance of using the back button),

2) auto-playing media that isn't default-muted that starts with loud music rather than a soft lead-in or voice,

3) and after you trudge through the mess, the site doesn't really work at reasonably average resolutions, explain much, or offer a product.

The straight thingiverse link[0] that's on the site is a better, more descriptive advertisement for this project than the project's site itself -- not good.

[0]: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4424564

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll. I hope it works better now.

Seems like this is inspired by DIYPerks' video from a few years ago, is it not?

https://youtu.be/sJ5vhShdVjo

Hey tkzed49,

Right, the concept of the knob made of concrete is fully inspired by DIY Perks. But we've added a lot of sugar:

- Open-source Arduino-compatible firmware so you can add your functionalities and light effects;

- The audio is controlled with the HID library instead of potentiometer;

- There are one audio input and two outputs that can be switched with the hardware switch;

- Bonus option is you can use it as a scrolling knob;

- The audio lines are connected to the microcontroller and you can add light effects relative to the sound;

- It is 3d printed and we also added a 3d printable model of the mold for the concrete part;

I was just checking to see if someone else had posted the link.

I think that the concept of a knob made of concrete could definitely be made through independent invention given that concrete is a popular aesthetic right now, but it still wiggles it's eyebrows...

DIY Perks is credited in the Thingiverse page.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4424564

> So, driven by the idea, I began to look for some inspiration and finally found this awesome video made by DIY Perks youtu.be/sJ5vhShdVjo I am starting to develop.

Super glad to hear!

Why can't I go back? Cool product, but this is the worst webpage I have ever had the privilege of using.

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As a temporary solution, you could use https://hackaday.io/project/172188-control-your-audio-wit-th....

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll and fixed the browser history issue. I hope it works better now.

Actual build instructions at: https://hackaday.io/project/172188-control-your-audio-wit-th...

Thank you.

The site felt like more like one of those old adventure game puzzles than an actual website with information.

Screwing with the browser history == "The abomination that causes instant abandonment"

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll and the browser history issue. I hope it works better now.

Sorry, we didn't expect such a huge interest from the community. The website was made quickly and without any testing.

I know it's ugly, sorry.

Maybe I'll try to fix it these days.

We are getting a lot of questions about the knob.

Here is some info to avoid any confusion:

The concept of the knob made of concrete is fully inspired by DIY Perks. But we are added a lot of perks, like:

- Open-source Arduino-compatible firmware so you can add your functionalities and light effects;

- The audio is controlled with the HID library instead of potentiometer; spare time - There are one audio input and two outputs that can be switched with the hardware switch;

- Bonus option is you can use it as a scrolling knob;

- The audio lines are connected to the microcontroller and you can add light effects relative to the sound;

- It is 3d printed and we also added a 3d printable model of the mold for the concrete part;

If you are interested in buying one of the samples please email us, we'll try to figure something out. This way you will help us understand how desirable the product is.

Thank you and Have a nice day ;)

... sigh ... the back button ... sites that mess with the back button should not be allowed on the internet.

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As a temporary solution, you could use https://hackaday.io/project/172188-control-your-audio-wit-th....

should be part of https://www.darkpatterns.org/types-of-dark-pattern

Define mess. Anchor links also make the back button move around on the same page.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll and the issue with back button. I hope it works better now.

How is this even achieved? I've made websites before, but I don't know how you'd even go about hijacking the back button like this.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History/pus...

It should require a click action in my book. Bad web standards (== bad google)

Sounds like a nice DIY weekend project indeed!

Yep. And even after weeks touching the concrete surface, it still feels awesome. Sometimes I wish there was a concrete mouse :D

Will it be available for purchase?

I'm not sure yet. We have several manually assembled samples now, but it isn't easy to produce a lot of them without a proper production line... If you're interested in getting one of these samples you can email at brainhublab@gmail.com, we'll try to figure out how to send one to you.

If you made your own board pcb and ordered them populated with everything but the rgb ring and switches, I bet you could get the soldering time down to 2 minutes or so per device, especially if you made custom jigs to hold everything in place. I could see a price point of $100 totally reasonable for this, especially if the user can easily swap knobs. Bulk manufacture of the concrete knobs should be easy, as long as you can make sure the molds are reusable. Seems totally marketable to me, why not throw it up on Kickstarter with a $50k goal and a $80 early bird price? If it doesn’t fund, who cares? You’ve already done the work to make the prototype.

In all fairness, it looks like user DIY Perks on YouTube already did the work to make the prototype. I’m not sure what’s different about this version; I’m sure it could even be superior. But let’s put credit where it’s due.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ5vhShdVjo

Thanks for sharing. They’re obviously inspired by that one from a materials point of view, but the technical implementation is far different. There are some major limitations on the YouTube one. First of all, it’s a potentiometer not a rotary encoder, so it has a start and a stop. Second, it is controlling an audio signal directly, not using a PC, so it is not usable in the same way. Audio would need to be routed through the knob. This wouldn’t work for a setup like mine that has balanced outs directly from a sound card to my monitors. I would want a digital control. I’m not sure why the YouTube video recommends a linear pot specifically either, an audio taper pot should be used which is logarithmic. The one in the OP also has a push button which opens up more functionality.

To avoid any confusion:

The concept of the knob made of concrete is fully inspired by DIY Perks. But we are added a lot of perks, like:

- Open-source Arduino-compatible firmware so you can add your functionalities and light effects;

- The audio is controlled with the HID library instead of potentiometer; spare time - There are one audio input and two outputs that can be switched with the hardware switch;

- Bonus option is you can use it as a scrolling knob;

- The audio lines are connected to the microcontroller and you can add light effects relative to the sound;

- It is 3d printed and we also added a 3d printable model of the mold for the concrete part;

Have a nice day ;)

Wow! That’s amazing level of improvements!

I’m glad people share their inventions online in this open way. It helps us all get better ideas. I hope you didn’t think I was saying anything negative about your new improved version! It looks fantastic.

Thanks for the details and thank you for sharing.

Your link is for a potentiometer and a cable.

The submitted link is for an actual HID, using this: https://www.dfrobot.com/product-1075.html and these: https://easyeda.com/brainhublab/theknob_v2_copy

If someone is still reading this:

We're the developers of TheKnob.

Please tell us how would you like us to improve the knob itself?

Would you buy it?

Would you like to see it as a DIY kit or ready-to-use product?

We're using plastic for the bottom frame now, maybe we should consider using aluminum or wood frame?

I have... somewhere... a stainless steel knob, designed to control the volume, that was wonderful to feel and turn. Alas, the driver was incredibly flaky, and just wouldn't work consistently. I ought to dig it up and see if I can reverse engineer it.

Is it, by any chance, a Griffin Powermate? <https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Griffin_PowerMate>

Yup! I may give their drivers another try... this is a different computer, with a later OS.

Alas, they no longer support it. Ah well...

I swear there was some startup that raised millions of dollars to do exactly this, but can't remember the name. It could be a YC company. Anyone know?

Interesting... I've never seen the startup doing something like this, we were inspired by DIYPerks on youtube.

Does this sell for $495 or $4.95?

We're not ready to sell any of these yet. If you're interested in getting one of the samples please email us. I'm not sure, but I hope we'll figure something out.

This is a great project. Yes, the website sucks a bit but that can be fixed.

Good job !!

Thanks!

We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As a temporary solution, you could use https://hackaday.io/project/172188-control-your-audio-wit-th....

Maybe I'll fix the webpage in the next couple of days

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I hope it works better now.

Whoever designed this train wreck of a web page should be tarred, feathered, and publicly flogged on national television as a warning to anyone that might be tempted to make something similar.

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I’m sorry your getting such a hard time from HN.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I hope it works better now.

Website usability vomit

Hey, We didn't expect such huge feedback, and the website was made just for fun without any testing. We know that the webpage is ugly. Moreover, we're hosting it on a limited free Firebase tier. Sorry for the inconvenience.

As a temporary solution, you could use https://hackaday.io/project/172188-control-your-audio-wit-th....

Sorry for the inconvenience. We've updated the website. I've removed the clunky scroll. I hope it works better now.

Show HN: TheKnob – sound volume control knob made of concrete and RGB lights