Best program name ever. We can all use some Beavis humor these days.
sk5t 1475 days ago [-]
It took a moment to get the zeitgeist connection--one of Cornholio's few intelligible phrases is "I need TP for my bunghole."
Wikipedia used to host a comically erudite page about Cornholio, e.g. studiously noting such discrepancies in his speech such as "my people have no bunghole" / "my people have but one bunghole".
sweetgiorni 1475 days ago [-]
Couldn't find exactly what you mentioned, but this is still a terrific read:
I already cannot wait for v2.0 - The Great Cornholio!
atonse 1475 days ago [-]
Totally agree. I had quite a chuckle!
brianpursley 1475 days ago [-]
This reminds me of a little Visual Basic program I hacked together about 20 years ago when I wanted to buy a PlayStation 2 but there was a shortage after it launched.
Every 5 minutes, my program would make a request to the product page on Amazon and look for the text "out of stock". If it didn't find it, the program would sound off an alarm bell.
I still remember sitting nearby, watching TV one night when the alarm went off. I jumped up and ran over to my computer and bought myself a PS2.
As silly as it sounds, what I remember most fondly about the PlayStation 2 was making and using this little program to help buy it.
jspash 1475 days ago [-]
I'm not trying to troll, so please hear me out.
But has Javascript become so universally liked that it's the go-to tool for quick one-off scripts like this? Is it really much better or easier that you would choose it over, say Python or just a shell script?
Or is it that Javascript happens to be the best tool for this particular job?
I guess what I'm asking is, do most people reach for JS/Node over other languages for this type of thing? I suppose I still don't see it outside of the browser environment but maybe it's time to change that view.
greggman3 1475 days ago [-]
I used to write scripts in python. I switched to node. Benefits for me.
1. Python by default requires tons of globally installed libraries. Node by default all libraries are installed local the the project. Nothing to learn. It just does it. That means I don't have to worry about trashing my system and I don't have to tell users a bunch of prerequisites to get it to work.
2. Node is ~8meg and installs instantly. Python is 18-30meg and the install has a long build process IIRC
I will still sometimes reach for python. I needed to parse an 8 gig geodata XML file. The libraries I tried in node were orders of magnitude slower than python for that particular task. I did try node first though since it's where I'm at.
IgorPartola 1475 days ago [-]
I first tried my hand at Python in 2009. The problem of installing libraries globally was no longer a problem then and still isn’t today.
Installing node is faster until you have to install local libraries. I am currently working on a project whose dependencies consist primarily of Vue, Bootstrap, and a few very small libraries such as moment.js. Our node_modules/ is over 1000 individual libraries and growing. It takes 45-65 seconds just to do an npm install when I already have the libraries there. The build process takes 90 seconds on a brand new top of the line machine. Contrast with Python where that number is 0, and installing the dozen dependencies I actually have is a one time process that takes no time at all.
I used to fuck around with Gentoo Linux where I would always triple compile the latest gcc to make sure I had the latest and greatest and fastest. And even I think Node’s library ecosystem is a bloated unnecessary mess. I don’t have the words to write a more scathing review of it, but if I could I would. There is a night and day difference in usability and speed between Node and Python ecosystems and the latter wins by such a wide margin it is like they aren’t even in the same league.
And don’t get me started on how quickly the JS community likes to break shit. Remember when for a brief moment we were all supposed to switch to yarn? And then migrate back to npm? It’s insane.
hn_throwaway_99 1474 days ago [-]
> And don’t get me started on how quickly the JS community likes to break shit.
I totally agree with you on that one, but I would say the maturity of the JS ecosystem is really settling down, and now that MS owns most of it (Typescript, npm, github, vscode) I think it will only get more stable.
Also, Python community definitely shouldn't be throwing any stones when it comes to "breaking shit".
IgorPartola 1473 days ago [-]
If you are talking about Python 2 vs 3, think of them as two separate languages where Python 3 can often use a lot of the libraries developed for Python 2. That makes it all make a lot more sense. Even with that, there was maybe a dozen times in the past 8 years, which is how long I’ve been writing Python code full time, where I felt a problem with the 2 vs 3 thing. They were all quickly resolved. This is unlike Node where things like file access change from version to version, and sometimes shit just doesn’t compile because gyp is of the incorrect version, etc. Node is very high maintenance.
impostervt 1475 days ago [-]
I'm a JS developer so it's my go-to. See Atwood's law:
It's basically equivalently easy to a python script. JavaScript and Python have almost identical semantics. I'd usuallty reach for node over python because I write JavaScript everyday at $dayjob, and I can I can do so almost without concious effort. Whereas I write python much less often, so it'd slow me down a little as I forget and have to look up details of the syntax, the names of functions, etc. I'm also much less familiar with the python library ecosystem, so I'd need to reaearch whichlibraries to use. Presumably a python developer would have this in reverse.
Bash is different. It's good for stringing toghether external commands, but rapidly becomes a mess if you need to do any complex data manipulation. Argument parsing in bash is also a pain.
sneak 1475 days ago [-]
There are many programmers working today who only know Javascript. I can’t speak to whether that’s the situation with OP or not, but it is common to see tools that I personally would write in Python being written today in JS, even sometimes by experienced polyglot programmers. I don’t know about “most”, but it is quite common. It surprised me a bit too, the first time I encountered it.
I don’t think it has much to do with “liked” or “best tool for the job” as much as it is simply “prevalent” or “popular”.
arrmn 1475 days ago [-]
Nearly all public repos of the devloper are using mainly JS, so I assume he's a JS dev and thus just uses the tools he knows the best.
bryanrasmussen 1475 days ago [-]
There are many quick one-off scripts that have no specifically best tool to implement them in, this totally seems like one of them.
I would reach for python if I needed some advanced text analysis - like nltk, spacy level - but otherwise I would reach for whatever language I was trying to improve my skills in or whatever language I was using the most in other projects so as to not have to context switch so much.
jdellinger 1475 days ago [-]
While I generally agree that you should use the best tool for the job, for small and simple scripts I see nothing wrong with picking a language your comfortable with.
I wonder, why do you think python is a better alternative? I would understand bash since it is dependency free, but I don't see any advantage for python vs. nodejs
tasubotadas 1475 days ago [-]
Python has Standard Library while NodeJS does not.
owl57 1474 days ago [-]
How? Both Python and Node have some https client in their standard libraries, and both have headless Chrome drivers (what this script uses) in easily installed third-party libraries.
hn_throwaway_99 1475 days ago [-]
The Amazon app lets me register for push messages when products become available. Why wouldn't I just use that?
artificial 1475 days ago [-]
Well, this way it can be recreated in another language, for shakes 8ball fun!
1475 days ago [-]
conroydave 1475 days ago [-]
i need this except for delivery windows on wholefoods and amazon fresh
sneak 1475 days ago [-]
Instacart and Postmates still seem to work, I'm told.
(I won't outsource mortal danger to someone poorer than I simply because they need the money more, and I don't want to give Instacart any of my business since they got busted stealing their delivery staff's tips, but those are your options if you want them.)
bradknowles 1475 days ago [-]
InstaCart deliveries are pushed out to the one week limit, and that’s assuming you can get anything at all.
Deliveries from all sources are getting hard to come by.
Ha, I was thinking about building this. I was able to get an order in through periodic refreshing of the delivery time selection page.
libraryatnight 1475 days ago [-]
seriously, I see prime now deliveries getting to my neighbors, how are they getting a delivery window? I haven't seen one in two weeks. I don't even really need it anymore, my wife and I just check for fun.
mkoryak 1475 days ago [-]
Try again at exactly 1:01am eastern and refresh every 5 minutes or less. It works for me.
lgats 1475 days ago [-]
second
sam1r 1475 days ago [-]
I wish i saw more of these one-off creative creations on a regular basis. Is there a reason why this is not a "Show:hn"?
dang 1475 days ago [-]
I've added it to the title.
impostervt 1475 days ago [-]
Thanks!
spiritplumber 1475 days ago [-]
Truly we needed this in these times of TP shortage.
DeathArrow 1475 days ago [-]
Does it use an API or it scrapes the Amazon website? If it's the latter how do you avoid being blocked?
mkranjec 1475 days ago [-]
It scrapes Amazon websitewith Puppeteer.
Tepix 1475 days ago [-]
It searches for certain english text which is why it only works on amazon.com
staticautomatic 1475 days ago [-]
Are you the owner of bunghol.io?
richrichardsson 1475 days ago [-]
So disappointed there was no content at that domain.
kangaroozach 1475 days ago [-]
Lol
doggodad 1475 days ago [-]
Obligatory: Shut-up, Beavis.
stevespang 1475 days ago [-]
Wasn't it BROOMholio on B & B program ?
JadeNB 1475 days ago [-]
I'm not normally one to carp about product names—there was a semi-jokey discussion about calling a shared-viewing product 'Covideo' that bothered some people, but I didn't think it was such a big deal—but surely we can do better than this?
Oh, well. As always with open source, it's my place to be grateful for the work you share (thank you!), not to complain about your not doing it on my terms.
This is a generational thing. Just as my mom won't expect me to understand "where's the beef?", I don't expect her or my students to understand this reference.
But for my generation, a more perfect name has never been devised.
kangaroozach 1475 days ago [-]
Correct
brailsafe 1475 days ago [-]
I dare you to come up with a better name. This is great.
khazhoux 1475 days ago [-]
It's not great.
It's perfect.
kangaroozach 1475 days ago [-]
Indeed
p1necone 1475 days ago [-]
This isn't a product, this is someones spare time non commercial open source project that they're sharing for other developers to use. If the name bothers you just clone the repo and change it.
owl57 1475 days ago [-]
Yes, but why couldn't it also be a product name. For example, an express delivery service focused on people who are willing to pay a premium to get TP within an hour.
Now, writing this comment had me finally realize that TP, however we mock the hoarders, really is almost unique in its urgency for most people. If you run out of food, you probably have a few hours before you get hungry again. Running out of TP is acutely uncomfortable right from that minute.
richrichardsson 1475 days ago [-]
Unless you have no access to soap and running water (with the latter causing quite an issue by itself with respect to bowel evacuation), why would it be a problem? I struggle to understand why so many people have an issue with washing their own bunghole. Avoid visiting India (and many other countries that practice increased cleanliness) if that idea is abhorrent.
owl57 1474 days ago [-]
BTW, soap is exactly what I meant by "almost" unique.
You mean, a bidet? Long-term, seems like an interesting idea. Short-term, filling a cart with TP during an unavoidable (because of food delivery collapse) visit to the store seems like a less dangerous idea than inviting a plumber.
JadeNB 1475 days ago [-]
That's a fair point. I did say it's my place to be grateful, not to carp (but I did also carp).
sneak 1475 days ago [-]
The streets will flow with the blood of the nonbelievers!
Wikipedia used to host a comically erudite page about Cornholio, e.g. studiously noting such discrepancies in his speech such as "my people have no bunghole" / "my people have but one bunghole".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis
Every 5 minutes, my program would make a request to the product page on Amazon and look for the text "out of stock". If it didn't find it, the program would sound off an alarm bell.
I still remember sitting nearby, watching TV one night when the alarm went off. I jumped up and ran over to my computer and bought myself a PS2.
As silly as it sounds, what I remember most fondly about the PlayStation 2 was making and using this little program to help buy it.
But has Javascript become so universally liked that it's the go-to tool for quick one-off scripts like this? Is it really much better or easier that you would choose it over, say Python or just a shell script?
Or is it that Javascript happens to be the best tool for this particular job?
I guess what I'm asking is, do most people reach for JS/Node over other languages for this type of thing? I suppose I still don't see it outside of the browser environment but maybe it's time to change that view.
1. Python by default requires tons of globally installed libraries. Node by default all libraries are installed local the the project. Nothing to learn. It just does it. That means I don't have to worry about trashing my system and I don't have to tell users a bunch of prerequisites to get it to work.
2. Node is ~8meg and installs instantly. Python is 18-30meg and the install has a long build process IIRC
I will still sometimes reach for python. I needed to parse an 8 gig geodata XML file. The libraries I tried in node were orders of magnitude slower than python for that particular task. I did try node first though since it's where I'm at.
Installing node is faster until you have to install local libraries. I am currently working on a project whose dependencies consist primarily of Vue, Bootstrap, and a few very small libraries such as moment.js. Our node_modules/ is over 1000 individual libraries and growing. It takes 45-65 seconds just to do an npm install when I already have the libraries there. The build process takes 90 seconds on a brand new top of the line machine. Contrast with Python where that number is 0, and installing the dozen dependencies I actually have is a one time process that takes no time at all.
I used to fuck around with Gentoo Linux where I would always triple compile the latest gcc to make sure I had the latest and greatest and fastest. And even I think Node’s library ecosystem is a bloated unnecessary mess. I don’t have the words to write a more scathing review of it, but if I could I would. There is a night and day difference in usability and speed between Node and Python ecosystems and the latter wins by such a wide margin it is like they aren’t even in the same league.
And don’t get me started on how quickly the JS community likes to break shit. Remember when for a brief moment we were all supposed to switch to yarn? And then migrate back to npm? It’s insane.
I totally agree with you on that one, but I would say the maturity of the JS ecosystem is really settling down, and now that MS owns most of it (Typescript, npm, github, vscode) I think it will only get more stable.
Also, Python community definitely shouldn't be throwing any stones when it comes to "breaking shit".
https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-principle-of-least-power/
Bash is different. It's good for stringing toghether external commands, but rapidly becomes a mess if you need to do any complex data manipulation. Argument parsing in bash is also a pain.
I don’t think it has much to do with “liked” or “best tool for the job” as much as it is simply “prevalent” or “popular”.
I would reach for python if I needed some advanced text analysis - like nltk, spacy level - but otherwise I would reach for whatever language I was trying to improve my skills in or whatever language I was using the most in other projects so as to not have to context switch so much.
I wonder, why do you think python is a better alternative? I would understand bash since it is dependency free, but I don't see any advantage for python vs. nodejs
(I won't outsource mortal danger to someone poorer than I simply because they need the money more, and I don't want to give Instacart any of my business since they got busted stealing their delivery staff's tips, but those are your options if you want them.)
Deliveries from all sources are getting hard to come by.
Oh, well. As always with open source, it's my place to be grateful for the work you share (thank you!), not to complain about your not doing it on my terms.
But for my generation, a more perfect name has never been devised.
It's perfect.
Now, writing this comment had me finally realize that TP, however we mock the hoarders, really is almost unique in its urgency for most people. If you run out of food, you probably have a few hours before you get hungry again. Running out of TP is acutely uncomfortable right from that minute.
You mean, a bidet? Long-term, seems like an interesting idea. Short-term, filling a cart with TP during an unavoidable (because of food delivery collapse) visit to the store seems like a less dangerous idea than inviting a plumber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY7NE_jSk5w