IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

The URL shortener that makes your links look as suspicious as possible

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Based on the Hacker News discussion, here are the three most prevalent themes:

1. Skepticism Toward AI-Generated Design

Many commenters immediately critiqued the website's aesthetic, interpreting its modern, framework-based style as artificial or indicative of AI generation.

"I don't appreciate how AI generated this website looks." — koakuma-chan

"It seems appropriate that, for a website whose purpose is to make links which raise your suspicions, the visual design itself also raises your suspicions." — nimih

2. Practical Utility as a Bot/Deterrent Tool

Several users explored the project's potential to block or misdirect AI bots and web scrapers, with some noting it could be a useful experiment to test how automated systems handle suspicious links.

"I wish this came a day earlier." — devsda

"If this can be used as a temporary guard against AI bots, that would have been a good opportunity to test it out." — devsda

3. Nostalgia and Repeating the "ShadyURL" Concept

The project sparked memories of a similar, now-defunct service called ShadyURL, with users debating the originality of recreating the joke and acknowledging the utility of building "creepy" links as a learning exercise or for fun.

"Fantastic! I miss the original ShadyURL." — jhalderm

"I have a coworker who is constantly talking about the glory days of ShadyUrl, but that website has been down for several years at this point, so I figured I would create an alternative." — asynchronous13 (referencing author motivation from a Reddit post)

🚀 Project Ideas

URL Obfuscator with Analytics & Access Control

Summary

  • Provides a tool that makes URLs look suspicious (obfuscation) but includes analytics and an "antidote" admin panel for the creator.
  • Solves the frustration of creating fun, suspicious links without losing control or visibility, addressing the criticism of useless novelty and the "creepy link" phenomenon.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers, security enthusiasts, and hobbyists experimenting with URL obfuscation for entertainment or testing.
Core Feature URL obfuscation (making links look suspicious) paired with creator-side analytics (click tracking) and an admin panel to disable or audit the link.
Tech Stack Node.js/Express (Backend), React (Frontend), PostgreSQL (Database), Redis (Caching).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium model (basic obfuscation free), Premium (analytics, custom domains, link expiration, admin controls).

Notes

  • Why HN users would love it: Addresses the "useless novelty" critique by adding utility ("Use case? Besides humor and phishing tests"). Users like postalcoder mentioned the need for a "reverse lookup" or "antidote," and devsda expressed a desire for tools to test bot traffic. This bridges the gap between a toy and a tool.
  • Potential for discussion or practical utility: Offers a practical angle on the "creepy link" trend, allowing for controlled experimentation (e.g., testing bot traffic or security awareness) rather than just blind fun. It prevents the "lost control" fear mentioned by vhurg regarding third-party relays.

AI-Resistant Content Landing Zone

Summary

  • A service that provides temporary, single-use landing pages that force a human-style interaction (e.g., a specific click sequence or mouse movement) before revealing the actual content link.
  • Solves the anxiety expressed by users (devsda, testfrequency) about AI bots scraping personal websites immediately after being shared on HN or social media.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Content creators, personal site owners, and developers who share proprietary content links publicly.
Core Feature Generates a temporary link that AI bots (which usually just fetch the URL) cannot access without simulating human interaction, while allowing verified humans to proceed.
Tech Stack Cloudflare Workers (Edge logic), Rust/Go (Backend), Canvas-based browser fingerprinting (Frontend).
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: Subscription for persistent "gates" or high-traffic usage; Free tier for one-off temporary links.

Notes

  • Why HN users would love it: Directly addresses the fear of AI scraping mentioned by devsda ("hammering sites until they break") and testfrequency ("perfect way to ask people for bespoke content"). It provides a defensive layer for the "show your personal site" threads without requiring complex infrastructure like Cloudflare Enterprise.
  • Potential for discussion or practical utility: It utilizes the "suspicious link" aesthetic as a defense mechanism. It would spark discussion on the efficacy of user-agent detection vs. behavioral analysis in stopping LLM scrapers.

Context-Aware "Shady" Link Generator

Summary

  • An advanced URL obfuscator that uses a rule engine (and optional LLM) to generate links that are contextually "creepy" (e.g., .dll for financial sites, .vbs for education).
  • Solves the "sameness" critique (latexr, amne) and the "AI smell" complaint (koakuma-chan) by creating distinct, high-quality, variable outputs rather than a generic template.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Content creators, marketers, and developers who use "scary" links for engagement (e.g., security awareness training).
Core Feature User inputs a URL, and the tool analyzes the domain (e.g., "JPMorgan") and maps it to a semantically relevant creepy extension and path (e.g., logger_..._bank_xss.docm), rather than random strings.
Tech Stack Python (FastAPI), LLM API (e.g., GPT-4 Mini for classification/tagging), Simple JS Frontend.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby: Free to use, open-source. Could be a feature add-on to a security toolset.

Notes

  • Why HN users would love it: Users like arjvik enjoyed specific, thematic examples (e.g., logger_zcGFC2_bank_xss.docm). This moves beyond "generic framework oriented site" (olyjohn) by providing high-quality, varied outputs. It addresses the lack of novelty in current iterations.
  • Potential for discussion or practical utility: Moves the conversation from "just a joke" to "pattern generation." It appeals to the "ideas are a dime a dozen, execution matters" (zulban) crowd by offering a sophisticated, slightly different execution of the original premise.

Read Later