

Show HN: Do you read on the toilet? This web app is for you. - fotism
http://www.backlabel.gr

======
cheald
I'm going to be a little serious here, and suggest that you should actively
avoid engaging with anything that might keep you on the toilet longer than
necessary to do your business. That position puts a lot of strain on the
rectum and anal hemorrhoids, and can exacerbate health problems that tend to
go hand-in-hand with desk jobs.

That said, this app is frickin' hilarious.

~~~
oftenwrong
To take it further, I suggest that everyone use a squatting toilet. If you
have to use a western sitting toilet, squat on the rim.

~~~
tomkinstinch
Absolutely do not stand on the seat. Beyond getting dirty shoes all over the
toilet, the asymmetic force during initiation is a great way to break the
toilet seat or overcompress the wax seal beneath the toilet (I had an ex-
roommate damage my toilet this way). Putting your feet on the rim is a good
way to slip and fall. If you want to simulate a squat toilet with a Western
fixture, raise up your feet on a step stool. Sit down first then raise your
feet. </rant>

~~~
cdjk
And before anyone thinks about disrupting the step stool market, it's been
done:

[http://www.squattypotty.com/](http://www.squattypotty.com/)

Complete with puns.

------
pmarca
OK, $10M Series A on $30M pre-money, 15% pool, standard preferred stock, offer
expires Monday 5PM.

~~~
dakrisht
Too late, Yahoo has already agreed to pay $50M and integrate with Tumblr.

~~~
windsurfer
Shortly after acquiring, however, they shut down the product and cancel all
plans of integration. All previous employees become assimilated.

~~~
pmarca
OK, we'll buy it back, $1M, the seller can keep 20% for schmuck insurance.

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smickie
My heart has just sank into the pit of my stomach.

I am coding a very similar app, right this second.

I'm going to stop and have a scotch.

~~~
fotism
Oooops! :/

~~~
smickie
Begrudgingly; congratulations. It was my bit of fun app after a serious start-
up. The scotch will have to do.

~~~
fotism
Thanks :)

------
Newky
Excellent, simple and funny.

Please can we not have any narky comments about this one, appreciate the joke
move on with your life. It's typography is not important?

~~~
fotism
Thank you very much :)

------
nostromo
I wondered how much productivity has been lost since the invention of the
iPhone to extended bathroom breaks...

~~~
coldtea
You're joking, but I'll attempt a serious point:

To call that "productivity [that has been] lost", means that there was
productivity that should have happened and was somehow stolen.

Sure, there was "productivity potential" in those moments, but that's true for
every moment. E.g when we're sleeping, making love or eating. We do we think
we should be productive almost every second of our lives, or we "lost"
something?

~~~
pulakm
The comment mentioned _extended_ bathroom breaks, as in, when someone stays on
the toilet for longer than necessary due to having a smartphone.

~~~
stephengillie
Isn't this why a few groups are working on iphone coding apps? :p

I had a teacher in elementary who didn't like her students staring at the
ceiling while she taught. Thinking that we were trying to escape from the
lesson, she put several famous paintings (Mona Lisa, Sistine Chapel, etc) on
the ceiling so we would at least be learning to appreciate art while in her
classroom. There was nowhere in the room to look which wasn't educational.

------
laxatives
If you don't want to read this stuff, I would highly recommend Pocket (aka
ReadItLater). You use an addon in your browser to bookmark articles, papers,
videos, or whatever and Pocket will download it to your phone. You can then
read your bookmarks while on the can, even if you don't have a good
connection.

------
dictum
Idea: A label of Dr. Bronner's Soap with text generated by Markov chains from
usually overblown content, e.g. spammy e-books.

A @bronner_ebooks of sorts.

------
fredley
Good joke, beautifully executed. Well done!

~~~
fotism
Thank you!

------
thejerz
The fact that this is the #2 link on Hacker News right now says a lot.

~~~
akjetma
Mostly that it's Sunday evening.

------
zw123456
Yes of course, everyone reads while on the toitey, that is a given. But I read
the NY Times on my kindle, and occasionally, OK, you got me often, HackerNews
(just a second while I flush) ok, where was I... ah yes, what is needed, in my
view, is a nice little stand or holder for your tablet, ultrabook, kindle,
etc., my arm gets tired, the old time newspaper was much lighter. LOL. I am
sure someone has already patented something like that!

------
samweinberg
Am I the only one who thought from the description that this would condense
users' social media feeds, making them look like they were product back
labels?

~~~
fotism
Hm... Interesting...

------
darxius
Pretty cool idea, but I would love to see the actual back of the product I'm
reading. It would be much more immersive, I think.

------
willcate
totally lost interest after the 2nd page refresh.

~~~
fotism
What would keep your interest?

~~~
syncerr
Real product labels?

~~~
cynwoody
Some fodder may perhaps be found here:

[http://www.dsld.nlm.nih.gov/dsld/index.jsp](http://www.dsld.nlm.nih.gov/dsld/index.jsp)

------
rdancer
Would you read product labels if they were randomly generated? If you couldn't
possibly know them by heart? If you didn't learn something new about the
world?

Randomly generated walls of text are no fun :-(

------
wslh
No. I mainly read HN and blogs in the toilet.

And before having Internet or a portable device I always bring a book with me.
I always thought that the bookshelves must be in the bathroom: pure
inspiration.

------
dpweb
Saw this while sitting on the toilet reading my brand-new iPad mini.. My first
Apple product.. Thought for a second, how did they track me in here!

------
na8ur
hiarious! indeed. Me doing marketing, I'm also intrested in the front. Is is
it much of efford getting the front of the packages aswell. I would love to
compare the individual USP's of the product. With this change.. wow.. this
could be a tool people might even pay for :) thanks for the great joke.. Since
I'm through with my stuff on the toilet I went for WordBliz ;)

------
frozenport
The label size should be variable. Not every item needs one of each category.

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fluxon
At nearly every company I've worked at or consulted for, the only peace to be
had anywhere in the building was in the bathroom, on the toilet. That's a sad
state of affairs in an information+ideas economy. So I won't be firing up any
apps on the john, thanks very much.

------
angryasian
maybe its just me but I don't understand what the joke is ? I read through a
label and didn't find it humorous ? Is it possibly because i didn't read the
right one ?

------
ericcoleman
Cool, but hate the justified text. Makes it harder to read :/

~~~
fotism
Yeah I know... I'm trying to figure out a way to keep it justified without all
the gaps due to random content and unusually large words.

~~~
cynwoody
[http://www.mnn.ch/hyph/hyphenation2.html](http://www.mnn.ch/hyph/hyphenation2.html)

~~~
fotism
Noted. Thanks!

------
P3KLb82AhB
you people are disgusting, who would spend more time on the toilet than is
needed breathing in their own farts and smelling their own shit. And yet all
over the net there are people who are proud of it.

Go to a doctor or change your diet. If your plumbing works taking a dump takes
about the same time as picking your phone from your pocket and unlocking your
screen - rendering the whole reading to keep yourself busy useless.

------
ins429
waited this for my entire life.

------
AsymetricCom
I was kind of disappointed it didn't have real products.

