WTF-O-meter

posted Jul 3rd 2009 7:19am by Caleb Kraft
filed under: arduino hacks

Here’s something every office probably needs. Ours does at least. It’s a WTF counter. When the office gets just a little too weird, someone hits the button and it gets logged. It’s probably pretty easy to judge the day by the WTF chart. The button is connected to an Arduino that updates the status on a local web server. We can imagine a nice bar graph of WTFs per day, or possibly a pie chart with normal time vs WTF time. Unfortunately, imagining is all we’re going to do. They didn’t include any examples of the visualizations. Can you imagine saying something to a co worker just for them to promptly march over and slap the WTF button? Maybe we don’t need one.

Comments [24]

tagged: arduino, wtf

Reader Comments

will order 10….NOW.

Posted at 7:49 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by zed

@zed, yeah, I think that’s the better option. Instead of having one WTF per office, there should be one per desk (best with some kind of warning lamp, to indicate a colleague in WTF-mode, so you better not come near them and ask more stupid questions).
And you could do nice stats about WTF distribution among people…

Posted at 7:58 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by pascal

How bout an “I’m a dumbass” button. I could use one sometimes just to warn people.

Posted at 8:33 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by amarygma

Yes, but will it blend?

(Now Entering WTF Mode)

Posted at 9:20 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by M4CGYV3R

Pretty much everybody who knows me would say I need one. Or, rather, I need one for everyone around me. I seem to be the epicenter for many “wtf” moments, something I take as a matter of pride.

Posted at 9:36 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by MasterGunner

There should be one of these at every desk/seat in congress so instead of voting “nay” you would slap the wtf button to point out the stupidity of whatever you are voting against.

Posted at 9:44 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Hacksaw

“face-palm” button for those _duh_ moments

Posted at 9:50 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by sly

Hmmm, maybe have it also log the network traffic and other information (moon phases, sun spot activity, humidity, etc) you could possibly track what causes most of the WTF alerts.

Posted at 11:08 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Winston

maybe after enough info is processed, preemptive WTF warnings could be issued. That would dramatically reduce a paranoids worries and stress triggers.

Posted at 11:11 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Winston

OK, maybe my medication needs adjusting again….

Posted at 11:13 am on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Winston

This type of device would be better left on the PC (assuming everyone has access to one) That way you have to make a conscience decision to make such a claim.

Also: I was in jail once (or should I say this one time I was in jail) and they had these buttons around the gen pop for indoor officers to hit in case of emergency. That button got bumped into and hit on accident more often than it’s intended use.
Since then I was in jail and they now have a cover over it. It can still be used for it’s purpose but you have to make a conscience decision now.

Posted at 12:59 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by R-Gu

yeah but saying “WTF” has no dramatic consequences compared to triggering alarms in a prison.
XD

Posted at 1:06 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Dennis

Why would a WTF button widget (for example) cause people to think more than a physical button?

Have you read many internet forums? No one thinks before posting thier comments, and they have to navigate to a page, log in, type their thought, and submit it.

Posted at 1:14 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by RobotGuy

the issue I was addressing is that you would have useless data (in fact the whole Idea is moot) if the thing is getting hit by accident.

Posted at 1:35 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by R-Gu

It’s a wtf button, it’s not like it matters if it gets false data.

Posted at 2:31 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by cynic

well I guess it could be attached to the bosses face. this would alleviate a whole lot of trouble with data and extrapolation and yet still manage to get the message across.

Posted at 4:46 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by R-Gu

Cool I can put this right next to my “easy” button

But then I might get them confused, forcing me to hit WTF again for my false WTF

Posted at 10:56 pm on Jul 3rd, 2009 by Tim

Heh. I considered building a bullshit detector like this about a year back using a microphone, PIC, and a large old analog temp gauge (nearly 10″ wide). Integrate the average sound intensity after being triggered and then sound an alarm / flash lights after a pre-determined time and/or change in volume level/intensity while the meter indicates the ‘depth’ of BS.

Posted at 10:49 am on Jul 4th, 2009 by medix

wtf does that button do?

Posted at 10:27 am on Jul 5th, 2009 by DarkFader

dude where i live that thing would wear out in less than a month and have to be replaced. i live in a boarding school with 27 other kids and so much drama inside it

Posted at 11:26 am on Jul 6th, 2009 by rivkinnator

…also wire it to a “aaaaoooooooooogggaaaa” horn or a klaxon…or a Star Trek Computer voice: “warning: brain farts has exceeded maximum tolerance, implosion inevitable, self-destruct in 5 minutes, evacuate to nearest bar!!”…..man, i need some sleep

Posted at 6:03 pm on Jul 6th, 2009 by fluxster

Out of curiosity, is it measuring air pressure through a hose? (thats what it looks like) and if so, can it tell the difference between how hard it is hit? Cuase really, that would be some useful data to track.

Posted at 11:43 pm on Jul 6th, 2009 by Chemlight

WTF? Atleast it doesn’t Twitter? or Tweet? Or whatever you’re supposed to do on twitter. Twitter is gay…

Posted at 4:56 am on Jul 7th, 2009 by Jeff

are you people really having a serious discusiion on this? get a girlfriend.

Posted at 11:56 pm on Jul 11th, 2009 by eatme

WTF-O-meter

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