<story><title> Bump</title><url>http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/04/21/Bump</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>biotech</author><text>The first time I ever used Bump, I &quot;bumped&quot; in the air (just moved the phone back and forth). It asked me if I wanted to exchange contact info with someone who I had never met; I tried it again and it asked me to accept contact exchange with another unknown person.&lt;p&gt;All of my attempts since had no effect. Granted, I haven&apos;t tried to bump &lt;i&gt;that&lt;/i&gt; many times.&lt;p&gt;My theory is that they use a GPS location to determine where you are. Then when the phone senses a particular type of motion, it considers that a &quot;bump&quot;. The server looks to see if anyone else is &quot;bumping&quot; in that GPS location, and, if so, they connect and exchange contact info or whatever.&lt;p&gt;If this is true, it explains my original success with bumping into strangers: these two people were probably in a nearby house trying to bump! The server thought they were close to my GPS location, and connected me to the stranger.</text></comment>
<story><title> Bump</title><url>http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/04/21/Bump</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>nreece</author><text>&lt;i&gt;This is the kind of technology I like; a simple effect, instantly understandable, that requires rocket science under the covers to pull off.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Historically, &lt;i&gt;most&lt;/i&gt; &quot;rocket science&quot; grade technical implementations in software/Web fail, except for stuff by NASA (and the likes). Keep it simple under the hood, but no simpler than what&apos;s absolutely required.</text></comment>