from Hacker News

Show HN: SpacedTime – Remember the important things in your life

by uptownhr on 4/20/20, 3:58 PM with 55 comments

• by goblin89 on 4/21/20, 3:42 AM

  There seems to be an unaddressed need for a well-maintained library implementing spaced repetition algorithms. I have seen implementations for SM15[0] and SM2[1][2] around but nothing that provides multiple implementations and a consistent API on top.

  If there was a library like that, a tool like SpacedTime could use it easily (currently it uses fibonacci sequences when determining how soon to recall).

  [0] https://github.com/slaypni/SM-15, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9844613

  [1] https://github.com/walterscarborough/LibSpacey

  [2] https://gist.github.com/doctorpangloss/13ab29abd087dc1927475...

• by uptownhr on 4/20/20, 3:58 PM

  Hi Hackernews,

  I created Spacedtime because I'm known to have a horrible memory. Maybe people are kidding but I wanted to change that. There are flashcard apps out there but I wanted to create one that is focused on creating cards for my personal memories. My personal goal is to store and recall all that is dear to me.

  Given the personal nature, I do plan on spending a lot of my time on protecting the user's information. Today, Spacedtime does not have a server and stores all information locally. The command-line app stores information in a local JSON file and the web app stores into Local Storage. However, I'm not sure what is the best user-friendly way to go about the encryption layer and how it should be applied.

  I've posted to Product Hunt, [Lobste.rs](http://lobste.rs) and Indiehackers so far. I've been saving my self from posting to HN till now. It is still an MVP but at least it is not the first version :). I've been pretty aggressive in publishing my work.

  I'm looking forward to everyone's feedback!

  Best,

  -James

• by kabacha on 4/21/20, 2:48 AM

  Anki flash cards (floss) do use spaced time learning algorithms that are also easily adjustable to personal preference. Anki has native mobile/desktop, cli and web clients. The big community also provides shared decks and vast plugin ecosystem like auto text-to-speech and imagery.

  I haven't seen any of these tools doing anything that anki doesn't — why not contribute to it instead?

  https://github.com/ankitects/anki

• by JoeQuery on 4/20/20, 9:37 PM

  Hi there!

  A couple of notes :)

  * It seemed to me that the cli and the web app would be related. I had to come read your comment to realize the cli doesn't read from the web app (I also had to come here to realize it was stored locally).

  * Once I started creating questions, there was no way to "log out" to get back to the splash page. So that means I couldn't see the npm install command

  Good luck!

• by juliend2 on 4/21/20, 1:16 AM

  It looks like Anki cards. I also value spaced repetition to help me store valuable facts in my long term memory.

  I personally use my Todoist for that (Project called "Anki" where every todo is a question and the answer is in the comments. And I can manage intervals by using the task scheduling feature to have them appear later (depending on the ease to remind the answer).

  But I like the simplicity of your app and the logo is kinda cool also. +1 for the command line interface. Good idea.

• by quickthrower2 on 4/20/20, 11:45 PM

  Nice, and thanks for making the CLI version, because for such personal info (some of which might be security questions for a bank!) I'd rather not use the web site.

  On the website however it seems to make it impossible to go back. Clinking the browser back button gets stuck in a loop after you click "Start Remembering Now"

• by stared on 4/21/20, 11:56 AM

  With computers, which excel at memorization, why not off-load out faulty memory there? And use time, and brain capacity, for things that we are still better at, or at least at fun or fulfilling? For each prompt, my first thought was "yeah, I have it in Evernote/1Password/Google Calendar" followed by that it makes my life easier. So basically, let's embrace our extended phenotype!

  I am sure that there are people around that can flawlessly remember hundreds of complex passwords and numbers, even ones they have used in a decade. Also, knowing something does not guarantee that we can use that. For example, I guess a lot of you had:

  A: Honey, when is our anniversary?

  B: April 20th, obviously.

  A: And which date is today?

  B: April 21st... oh f-.

• by SoulMan on 4/21/20, 7:01 AM

  I was thinking on the same line, to dump all the personal memories into cloud not just anniversaries and birthdays but also what I promised to others and what I observed or any decision at work so that later I can back myself up with data. Its like a personal journal in case my memory becomes weak. There are things like evernote but they are more of a active notes which you open sometimes infront of others or while screensharing. I wanted something like Date wise or tag wise. It will be great if this can have a timeline. I also thought of making private facebook posts but for obvious reasons its not a good idea.

• by ryanmjacobs on 4/21/20, 6:27 AM

  I like the commandline interface a lot! It's really clean and I like the formatting. I definitely plan on using this daily. Seems easy to interop casually while in coding sessions.

  I don't forsee using this for remembering my security questions. But I will definitely use this for remembering little bits of knowledge and trivia that I want to become second nature.

  I'm a big fan of the `spacedtime list` command by the way. Looks good! Preview here: https://i.imgur.com/5BZygbE.png

• by tzm on 4/21/20, 5:33 AM

  Although a cool project, I can't help to think of this as a honeypot for bad actors.

• by edf13 on 4/21/20, 8:09 AM

  Grrr... started browsing and it took control of the back button!!! (Mobile safari iOS)

• by KhoomeiK on 4/21/20, 4:09 AM

  It would be a shame if someone were to misuse all the data you're collecting about people's first grade teachers and mother's birthdays. Better keep that data safe! :)

• by bobbyz on 4/21/20, 3:37 PM

  Nice, I like the website. What did you use to create it? Currently evaluating new framework/tools to speed up my side project quality/workflow.

• by jaequery on 4/21/20, 3:16 AM

  it's like a JS port of Anki, nice!

• by jrowley on 4/21/20, 2:11 PM

  I love that this was posted on 4/20