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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3166 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 20, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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It's 2026. Can't we just have a neon green simulpuck indicating where the puck is for those following along at home?

Exactly. The NFL became a dominant TV product in no small part thanks to animating the first down marker on the field. When I watch football at home, I have strictly more information more easily than I have watching in person (where I'm mostly just yelling obscure taunts about the opposing team).

We had it 30 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FoxTrax

the concept was criticized (especially by Canadian critics) for being a gimmick that distracted from the game.

Seeing the puck distracts from the game, folks.

I wasn't ever into hockey and still am not, but I do recall the controversy vaguely from that time. As a non-fan, it seemed silly to me to complain about seeing the puck, even if it was some bright color that distracted from the athletes, but since I wasn't a fan anyway, I figured if the fans didn't like it, then removing it is fine.

What's exciting is the idea of AI-based smart TVs in the (hopefully near-) future where you could just tell it to add on the glowing dot to the hockey puck in real-time while you're watching any random broadcast (or even VHS recording of a game from the 90s or earlier). So watchers who want the UI element could get it, and those who don't could avoid it.

I imagine that such tech could be applied to other professional sports in similar contexts. Or, to get back to women's hockey, what if the tech could, in real-time, depict the athletes as if not wearing padding but just their form-fitting sweat-wicking tights, and also with the helmet off so we could see their faces well? The Smart TV would probably need to have internet access to cross-reference official photos of players with their jersey numbers, for generating video of their faces, but it doesn't seem impossible, and it could be greatly beneficial for individual stars in the league to build their popularity.

I remember early experiments with that, but it wasn't simulated so much as tracked. Threw off the puck balance or something?

That's what I wanted to ask. Give it a cool trail, too, so its speed and direction are even more legible.

It would turn off the purists. It's an indictment of our society that we haven't developed technology that allows the TV viewer to select whether they want a neon green simulpuck or not on their own TV. This is truly the most important technological challenge of our time.

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