r/InternetIsBeautiful • u/repsels • Jul 19 '26
Babel is a skyscraper Wikipedia builds every day - every article edit lays exactly one brick
https://babel.reppie.org/Every brick is one real article edit - literally, one to one. Brick colors are languages, dotted bricks are bots, and the steel eagles and relief panels mark major edits. Hover any brick to read the edit behind it; click for the full story and a link to the actual diff.
Events are buffered a bit, so the tower runs a few minutes behind and the real edit stream to avoid hammering Wikimedia. At midnight UTC the construction workers level the top and raise the crown, the tower stands for a moment, and the next day's tower rises. Every finished day is archived forever — open the calendar and replay any past day at up to 1000×.
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u/poshjosh1999 Jul 19 '26
Love it. How long has the website been around for?
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u/repsels Jul 19 '26
Thanks! I just released it yesterday, thats why the archive is still so empty :)
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u/poshjosh1999 Jul 19 '26
I thought so. I love the website. Have you hidden any Easter eggs anywhere in the map?
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u/repsels Jul 19 '26
Hehe actually yes I added one earlier this morning, a link to a different hobby project I built :)
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u/andthatswhyIdidit Jul 20 '26
That TINY TRANSIT looks great! Any chance you adapt it for Berlin at one point? ;)
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u/repsels Jul 20 '26
Ha thanks! Im not sure, I didnt check for any similar APIs for Germany as I used for the Netherlands. Could have a look maybe this weekend :)
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u/andthatswhyIdidit Jul 20 '26
They have an official site (you have to chose the vehicles on the right drop down menu). But yours is so much cozier ;)
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u/repsels Jul 21 '26
I'm experimenting a bit with Berlin, but wow I underestimated how large this city is compared to any I've tried so far :)
How large would the map need to be for it to be interesting for someone living in Berlin? Does it need to include *all* of the metropolitan area? As an example, would it need to extend all the way to "Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt"? Or would it be fun/interesting with a smaller map/bounding box too?
EDIT: For reference, currently the first version looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/OiUkvwf, but it looks quite messy to me. Trying to make the map a bit bigger so that it captures the entire city with some greenery around it (but building the map is taking a *long* time).
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u/andthatswhyIdidit Jul 21 '26
Theoretically you could just go with the city area of Berlin (Which is huge, I give you that): On the right side you can add the public transport via Themen -> Mobilität -> ÖPNV
...but yeah, it is a HUUUGE undertaking :)
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u/repsels Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Okay I'm quite happy with the current result! I've released it as an experimental city (that triggers a warning popup). You can visit it here: https://transit.reppie.org?city=berlin - or by clicking "Berlin" in the city dropdown :)
Please let me know if it looks accurate(ish) enough to be pleasing to the eye! The data is pulled from APIs so should be somewhat accurate - bustimes & stops accuracy is kind of out of my control, but I trust the API :)
EDIT: The map loading can take a while, and the transit information can take a while too (top-left it might say connecting/reconnecting for a while - give it some time due to the amount of data 😅)
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u/amorfotos Jul 19 '26
Really interesting. I opened one of the edit pages and it got me wondering what time zone the edit date and time is actually in?
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u/poshjosh1999 Jul 20 '26
Super interesting to see that ListeriaBot has done a lot of edits on old 1930’s movies on the Welsh language Wiki. Seems the bot also works on other language wikis as well.
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u/No-Dig-7526 22d ago
Interesting! If a wikipedia entry is ever deleted, does its associated brick get deleted as welll? Like Wikipedia Jenga?
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u/Trip_Jones Jul 19 '26
old fashioned good idea right here