this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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Sometimes I go past an old looking building or see some traces of old signage on a store and wonder what they used to be, especially when those traces are hard to read or obscured.

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[–] andrewrgross 47 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I have good news: It exists! http://retrographer.org/

A lot of them are unrecognizable, but here's an example of a good one: http://retrographer.org/photos/4215

The bad news is that's a bit limited. It was the senior project of a CMU student in 2010. It only exists for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If you wanted to make one for another city, though, I think you could contact the creator, ask for the code, and then recruit people to get a ton of photos from another city's historical institutions, and then crowdsource geotagging them (which is what the guy did).

http://retrographer.org/learnMore