MAmartimchaves·Aug 19, 2026
Hey HN, a while back, I saw Robin Linacre's post on HN showing his work on letter paths, a way for people to write in cursive: https://github.com/RobinL/letterpaths
I thought it was quite fun and relaxing, even meditative.
Later on, I was watching a video on online betting, particularly Polymarket.
And I got an idea to create a simple app where we can use cursive writing as a form of meditation to overcome the urge of betting. That's when Urge Surfer was born.
The idea is that, for an urge that requires a screen and is something that you don't really want to do, you can use Urge Surfer to "surf" that wave. It seems that urges can sometimes be like waves: they get stronger, but in a short time period, they pass.
The sentences are self-compassionate, kind, gentle, and hopefully that helps people put themselves at ease while the urge passes.
Read the rest
The code is completely open source, and you can self-host: https://github.com/MartimChaves/urge-surfer
No data is stored except for the number of waves that have been surfed, and there's a seed used to randomize the sentences.
Thanks