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How does one use this on modern browers? If I paste it into the Firefox address bar, it interprets it as a search. I can get it to work by stripping off the "javascript:" prefix and pasting it into the console instead, but only on the site itself; if I try it on a different site the request is blocked by browser security measures. Is there any way to get this to work?
Iirc that's a safety feature to tech unsavy users from executing copy pasted code in the url bar. You'll need to manually type

javascript:

at the beginning. Same applies to chrome.

I couldn't get it to work (with random web pages) in Safari.

Trying to paste it to the URL bar gives the error: "Safari doesn’t allow JavaScript from the Smart Search Field. To allow this, choose “Allow JavaScript from Smart Search Field” from the Develop menu."

But even after enabling that option, it still doesn't work. Javascript console shows the errors:

  [Error] Refused to load http://kathack.com/js/kh.js because it does not appear in the script-src directive of the Content Security Policy.
  [Error] Refused to load http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.1/jquery.min.js because it does not appear in the script-src directive of the Content Security Policy.
Content Security Policy is a way for websites to ask the browser to disable certain functionality that the website expects to not need. That website evidently has asked the browser to not run arbitrary third-party (or non-https?) scripts.

Ideally your browser would recognize that you, the human operator, have authority to override the requests of strangers on your own computer. Sadly, the days of your user agent actually acting on your behalf are waning.

To get it to work, I just copied the contents of both the scripts using the command below and ran it in the developer console.

    wget -q -O - http://kathack.com/js/kh.js http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.1/jquery.min.js | xclip -sel c
Hmm, I ran into the same issue (without the notification) on chrome and firefox for android..
Seems the issue is the request being fired off to get the actual script (xss concerns?), my guess is that it would work by copying the requested script into the js url string, rather than requestimg it.
You should create a bookmark with the JS as the target.
Manually add "javascript:" at the beginning, it gets stripped when you paste it.
Put a character in the address bar, paste the text, then ctrl+left for a while then hit delete. (Not like it will do anything, but that's how you can put the text in the address bar.)

Firefox address bar is broken. When you want to copy an url from it (e.g. wikipedia link) it url encodes the text, and makes it unreadable (especially when your language contains non latin characters). I copy links starting form the 't', and manually add the 'h'.

Also when you copy something in the URL bar, then ctrl a then ctrl x, it will copy the original url, instead of your text. But if you do it twice, it will copy your text instead. (Same in windows, linux, even in palemoon.)

It looks like a normal input field on the screen, and it tempts me to use it, but bites me most of the times.

I tried what you said and it doesn't work with "javascript:" uris (probably to prevent running of unwanted code?).

Firefox bar is not "broken", as every browser I tested has the same behavior, and I think it's because a valid uri should only contain ASCII characters (as described in RFC3896[0]), but I agree with you that it's annoying: it should copy the text as it's displayed.

Fun fact: Internet explorer let you copy the uri "as is" without encoding.

[0] https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986.html#section-2

You can also paste it into the JS console in the dev tools (minus the javascript: at the beginning). Still doesn't work for HTTPS enabled sites.
Discussed at the time:

Katamari Hack - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2486038 - April 2011 (5 comments)

And March 2013 (34 comments) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2318076
Thanks! Macroexpanded:

Turn any page into Katamari Damacy - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2318076 - March 2011 (33 comments)

I really like this! Tip for on mobile, press and hold anywhere on the page to aim the katamari. Going to fire up my ps2 and play some katamari today!
For those without a physical PS2, AetherSX2 is amazing on M1/M2 Macs!
Ironically, there might actually be more PS2 units out there than M1 Macs. The PS2 sold nearly 155 million units during it's lifespan, which is genuinely mind-boggling from a marketing perspective.
Sure, but how many still in service?

(For a real mind-boggling number, Apple has sold 2.2 billion iPhones so far, with 1.2 billion of those still in use.)

A surprising number, actually. In Brazil, it's still the best-selling Blu-Ray player the country can get!
Blu-ray on the PS2?! You might be thinking of the PS3!
Love it!

If I wanted to "nit pick" I would ask for httpS and not to use 3rd party googleapi so no-one else knows you are goofing off at work ;-)

I really wish Katamari Damacy had been ported to other platforms. Maybe there are knock-offs out there but not really a gamer so never went to look.

Oh wow I was about to complain that "Journey" was another playstation game I always wanted to try but now I see it was eventually ported to windows so now I have to go look for that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_(2012_video_game)

Katamari Damacy is also available on PC at https://store.steampowered.com/app/848350/Katamari_Damacy_RE...
Bummer that it's only on Windows. It's a casual game, while I spent plenty of time on my Macbook on rather more dedicated games. DirectX 11 is probably in the requirements simply because no one bothered to check with previous versions (however Wine on Mac doesn't properly support DX ≥10, and VMs have trouble too, plus Steam doesn't work under Wine on Mac).
Still missing the best of the Katamaris, though — the second PS2 game — We Love Katamari. Best level designs and stunningly good co-op play. They are leaving money on the table by not porting it.
And Xbox!
Some version of the game was on Android—dunno about now. This was at the time when PS4 was vaguely new-ish.
Oh man, I was at the hackathon at the University of Washington where this was built. Good memories!
Others have mentioned this is blocked on https for a Mixed Content violation. Would anyone want a https hosted one? I can spin in up if there's interest.
Seems like a good way to crash Firefox.
Rolling around Katamari style worked for about 8 seconds, and then crashed, not just my Firefox, but my froze my entire system on Ubuntu 22.10 (AMD gpu).
Similar experience here, ran it in Firefox on Steam Deck and it seems to work, but freezes the whole system for a few seconds at a time quite often
Doesn't seem to work in https enabled websites.
Ah, the early 2010s internet.
I remember this!
If only real-life worked that way! But you can always try to live like your fantasies are real and see what happens to your life!