
Asteroids JavaScript Bookmarklet to blow up any web site - stevefink
http://erkie.github.com/
======
al_james
Awesome. Now someone needs to combine it with websockets/node.js (or similar)
so I can see the other players on the same page!

~~~
Cushman
Exactly what you wanted: <http://realitymachine.net/asteroids.html>

And the HN article, if you want to drum up some more players:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1738543>

I hacked together a very (very) basic multiplayer with a paper-thin node.js
server in coffeescript.

Yes, really: <http://github.com/cushman/asteroids.js>

It might deserve a newspost of its own, but I'd like to have a working server
running so people can actually, you know, use it. Unfortunately, I haven't
thought to get node running on my VPS before now, and it's almost 02:00
here...

~~~
Tichy
So who is up for a shootout on HN? Or were do the asteroiders hang out?

Maybe something like Twitter, where new stuff to shoot appears on a constant
basis?

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shaddi
Finally, Farmville can get what it has coming to it.

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Shtirlic
Hm, thinking about writing defence script to my sites and start js-war.

~~~
tectonic
Surround important elements with DOM shielding...

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mahmud
How did I live for so long without this?

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eli
Holy crap, I had an _extremely_ similar idea last month for a bookmarklet that
let you machine gun and blow up pages. In fact, it's sitting half complete in
a projects folder. Erkie, get out of my head!!!!

At least it's open source, so I guess I can fork it and add in my ideas.

~~~
nzmsv
Don't feel bad - this idea is pretty old. A program called "Desktop Toys" from
the Win95 era comes to mind, and there are probably more examples.

~~~
eli
Actually, my memory of Desktop Toys is what was basing it on :)

I didn't realize it was that popular.

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dzlobin
This + the AutoPager extension for Chrome = infinite game

~~~
pilom
I wish I could give this comment more points. It's a blast!

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plainOldText
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there
is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery.

I think these Asteroids are a fun to use, web design tool to cut out what is
not necessary. :))

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acgourley
Not only great, in a few situations it's a useful and fun way to 'cross off'
content on a site you don't need to see anymore. Like stories you wish were
not on hacker news.

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makeramen
what an awesome stress reliever. now i can get points for destroying facebook.

~~~
crux_
Protip for the paranoid: the author could nab your session cookie at the same
time, too! :)

~~~
uxp
Could, but doesn't:
[http://github.com/erkie/erkie.github.com/blob/master/asteroi...](http://github.com/erkie/erkie.github.com/blob/master/asteroids.js)

Though, it appears he was trying to implement high scores, which would send
some information to another site, including document.location.href, but it is
commented out in the version I linked, and removed in the minified version.

~~~
crux_
> Could, but doesn't

Could, but doesn't _yet_.

If you're not locally rehosting the 'known-good' version that you just
audited, you're not being paranoid enough.

~~~
Groxx
If you're _on the internet_ , you're not being paranoid enough.

Though that's a good reminder :) Thanks for pointing it out!

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avgarrison
This is awesome! Too bad I'm the only one in the office at the moment...I
guess I'll just go blow up Stackoverflow until somebody comes back.

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avgarrison
Now, this is an ad-blocker with style.

~~~
flatulent1
Now to see something like this work with a net-enabled 3D television.

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jackowayed
The HN homepage is very reliant on everything being there. One shot to a
number did this: <http://skitch.com/jackowayed/d29n5/hn-ass-kicked>

~~~
robin_reala
Tables for layout will do that.

~~~
rodh257
Another disadvantage to tables for layout, they are weak against attack!

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stevefink
This is one of the most creative time sinks I've ran across in a while, had to
link it here.

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cloug
use the bookmarklet mutliple times on the same page if you like armageddon-
style destruction

~~~
twism
The TDs didn't last long.

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tectonic
Someone should add touch events so it works on iPad / iPhone.

~~~
tibbon
Not a bad idea. Trying to think through them. I might mess with this today.
Too bad you couldn't get the entire page to tilt/rotate, or you could use the
motion sensor too.

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martinp
This should be integrated in Adblock. Adding filters by blasting the ads you
don't like actually sounds fun.

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msbarnett
Fun, and it doubles as an easy way to spot table layouts.

~~~
lallouz
Spot....and _kill them_

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jhuckestein
It's oddly non-deterministic. Add two ships and fly around a bit. They're
paths will quickly diverge.

~~~
aperiodic
It's not that it's non-deterministic, it's just that, since your javascript
interpreter doesn't execute each instance and its event handlers in parallel,
each instance will receive slightly different inputs. This is because the
number of times each instance's main loop fires before its keyup/down handler
gets called will vary.

If you load up, say, 6 instances, hold the up button for a while to get them
up to full speed, then turn for 4 or 5 seconds and let go, they'll be a bit
divergent, but not too badly. They should all be going roughly the same
direction, and wrapping around at roughly the same time.

If you load up 6 instances again, hold the up button for a while, and then
turn back and forth very rapidly for a short period of time, they'll be much
more divergent.

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a904guy
I'm surprised no one has commented on the security issue about the bookmarklet
allowing javascript to be placed/executed on any website... I can see the next
wave of session hijacking in the making. Your DOM is not safe ;]

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kunjaan
Let's have a leader board for every site with Points accumulated/second.
"Kunjan Killed this site with a score of 1700". Are headings and hidden fields
worth more points?

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julian37
Reminds me of Quelsolaar's excellent toolkit for his LOVE game:
<http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/tool_video.html>

It also has Asteroids integrated in a similar way, as shown at around 70% into
the video (unfortunately the video doesn't have a timecode, but it's worth
watching in its entirety anyway.)

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zalew
The best bookmarklet I've had since Readability!

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j3kuntz
This is one of those creations which seems so obvious after it has been made.
Good Job!

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pjy04
this wins 2010's most innovative app ever

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ck2
It's even more fun if you load several copies - they are choreographed!

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onedgepr
Nice! Maybe it can be hooked up to a gmail or facebook stream to literally
"destroy" spam or unwanted messages... email cleanliness could be a few laser
shots away :-)

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lem72
Facebook profile pages are pretty fun to destroy.

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joshhart
Does anyone want to explain how this works? I had no idea dragging onto a tab
could start up javascript on a page. It's amazing!

~~~
philfreo
What you're talking about has been around forever, and is called a
"bookmarklet"

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmarklet>

~~~
lipnitsk
What a terrible explanation..

~~~
alinajaf
I thought it was bad too, so I blew the shit out of it!

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mshafrir
Awesome. Doesn't seem to work on Gmail.

~~~
pohl
Interesting. It worked great on google reader. On Gmail I can sometimes get to
the point where I can thrust & fire, but as soon as I destroy anything the
gmail client seems to reset itself.

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rhythmAddict
This guy better get a job offer from Chad Hurley. Seriously though...genius
idea.

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folz
This is absolutely brilliant.

~~~
benmills
It would be awesome to add some js to a website you own to spawn a computer
controlled defender if someone uses this script on your site.

~~~
bl4k
I wrote a defense: <http://github.com/bl4k/astroid-defense>

(bit scrappy, 10 min of code, but funny)

(test it by running asteroids on this page: <http://bl4k.github.com/>)

~~~
joe-mccann
ha nice one, but astley video is blocked.

~~~
Groxx
Nooo! You're spoiling it for everyone who hasn't seen it yet!

~~~
nfriedly
Eh, I clicked the link without reading the replies :[

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devmonk
Got 4880 points for blowing up current HN new links.

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wicknicks
Simply ingenious :) Loved the idea!

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f1gm3nt
Best used on clients web sites =)

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RobKohr
yahoo was a great site to play on. endless targets.

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krosaen
so many container divs on twitter to blow through!

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drewse
Try it on John Gruber's Daring Fireball. Everything collapses quite nicely and
it's fun to start at the top and then shoot everything as you go down!

