Opposable Thumbs is a small app and web design business, run by James in Central Scotland.
Every site is designed and built end to end by James, working directly with the client, from the first idea right through to publishing, with a focus on privacy and as little tracking as possible.
Every version of the garden, newest first. It gets
looked after the way a garden does.
Version 3.63
The sounds are mixed to sit together: the fire nearest, then the wind and the rain, the waterfall softest. The wind no longer surges in every gust.
Rain only comes when you switch it on; it isn’t brought back from your last visit.
A switch in the menu for the gardener’s own sounds.
The radio in the menu is a plain on and off, with the stations to choose from underneath.
Version 3.62
What’s new is the version history now, going back to the beginning.
Version 3.61
The front page is just the name and four buttons.
About says it in two lines.
Feedback has a place of its own: in the menu, and at the top of this page.
The “← Opposable Thumbs” button in the garden is gone.
Version 3.60
Press him and he tips his hat (in the woolly hat, he waves).
The hints along the bottom can be read by day.
A line under “Where the day follows” says what it changes.
The typefaces arrive sooner.
Version 3.59
A new front page: what’s on offer, how it works, and the work.
Version 3.58
In the small hours he keeps you company with the quietest jobs, done slowly, and the odd doze by the fire.
Version 3.57
The sun rises and sets at the real times: in summer time it had been running about an hour early.
Far hills go blue-black at night instead of staying rosy.
Version 3.56
The moon stays in frame on wide, short screens, and the pictures of the work load only when they’re needed.
Version 3.55
On the nights of the big meteor showers, shooting stars cross the sky, and he stays up to watch. Now and then, a stray one on any clear night.
Version 3.54
A page that isn’t there shows the clifftop with the gardener away.
Version 3.53
Messages leave by lantern: send one and watch a small light drift off across the valley.
Version 3.52
Drag the sun (or the moon) across the sky to run the day forwards or back; let go and it drifts home to now.
Version 3.50
The waterfall throws up a bank of mist where it drops into the gorge.
Version 3.49
The radio plays on iPhones, and never skips track after track if something won’t load.
A brighter midday sky on phones.
Version 3.48
His evening jobs read in the dark: you can see the guitar and the notebook, and he looks up at the stars.
Autumn leaves look like leaves, and they rest after dark.
Version 3.47
Your notes, and the sounds you had on, are kept in your own browser for next time.
“About” is on the front page too.
Version 3.46
The timer and the breathing guide work with reduced motion switched on, screen readers hear each panel by name, and the buttons are easier to tap on phones.
Version 3.45
The breathing guide is a dandelion: it fills as you breathe in, and lets a seed or two go as you breathe out.
Version 3.44
The waterfall is rebuilt: the river runs to the edge and curls over, and it’s moonlit at night.
Version 3.42
Rain comes only when you ask for it, and stops when you ask.
His evenings are for the fire, the pot, the book, the guitar and the stars, not chopping wood.
He leaves his axe in the chopping block when he sits down.
Version 3.41
A calmer, clearer menu: words instead of puzzle icons, proper switches, and on phones it rises from the bottom with big buttons.
Version 3.40
The little picture in your browser tab is the live sky: dawn, noon, sunset or the moon, as it is now.
Version 3.39
The signpost has gone from the scene; the work is in the menu and behind “See the work”.
Version 3.37
The focus timer keeps real time while you’re in another tab.
Sound keeps playing in other tabs (switch it off in the menu), and the radio shows up in your media controls.
Version 3.36
The owl has eleven different calls, and sometimes another owl answers.
Version 3.35
“Get in touch” opens a proper contact form, with the email address to copy.
Version 3.34
Smoke from the fire, leaning with the wind.
Clouds catch the last of the sun at dusk.
Version 3.33
Easier to use with a keyboard or a screen reader.
Version 3.32
The sounds load only when you switch them on, so the page arrives at less than half its old size.
Version 3.31
Wide laptop screens show more of the valley and less empty ground.
Shared links show a picture of the scene.
Version 3.30
Lighter fonts: the page loads about 200 KB less.
At night the fire lights the gardener when he’s close to it.
Version 3.29
Logs land on the woodpile when he sets them down, not when he bends.
The axe head sits across the handle, the way axe heads do.
His jacket moves with him, and drapes when he sits.
Shorter, truer shadows.
This page begins, with a way to say something.
Version 3.27–3.28
The scene does much less work: by day it costs your computer less than half what it did.
Version 3.26
The planets are in the sky, where they really are.
Version 3.24
The work is shown properly, with a picture of each site.
Version 3.23
A new recording of the wind in the pine.
Version 3.22
The gardener, redrawn: a hat, a proper jacket, hands and boots.
Version 3.21
Moonlight on the waterfall.
Version 3.20
The stars are the real ones, where they are tonight from Scotland.
Version 3.19
Shadows follow the sun, and one wind moves the tree, the fire, the leaves and the rain.
Version 3.18
A front page for the business, over the live scene.
Version 3.17
Light and depth: more hills in the distance, mist in the valley at dawn, firelight, and a fine grain.
Version 3.16
About twice as light on your computer, and no more stutter.
Version 3.14
Real recordings for the owl and the rain.
Version 3.13
The radio no longer keeps him from his work.
Version 3.12
He goes about his own business, instead of watching your pointer.
Version 3.11
A tidier menu.
Version 3.8
A notes pad.
Version 3.7
A breathing guide to follow along with.
Version 3.6
A smoother walk, and the timer shows real names.
Version 3.4
A timer on screen.
Version 3.2–3.3
Quick fixes after the first week online.
Version 2
The garden goes online: the gardener at his jobs through the real day and the seasons, the waterfall and the fire, a radio of 172 public-domain tracks on eight channels (one follows the season), a focus timer, and a music panel.
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cabinetmaking, Stirling.thebayjoiners.co.uk
Hounds of LoveMobile dog grooming, at your
door.houndsoflovemobilegrooming.co.uk
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gets out of the way of the work.aboynamedcalm.com
PROMPTMOBOwn project. Crowd-steered conversation: a room full of people
steering one thread.promptmob.live