Too kind

We live in a (reasonably) generous and benevolent world. The concept of something little which can make a big difference has been used to support the messaging in many marketing campaigns, suggesting that in a hard world, those small-and-fuzzy moments really mean something.

Tim Warriner and Leila Johnston are pushing these small, warm moments somewhere towards the edge.

The duo have been working together for some time, although they had not actually met until recently. "We live hundreds of miles apart and neither of us are especially outgoing in real life", admits Johnston. "It wouldn't have been possible for us to meet each other, let alone work together on projects like this, even a few years ago."

Warriner and Johnston's collaborative work over the past eight years started with an interview with Warriner, based on his experimental work. "He wrote a program that simulated predictive text algorithms, and invented a card counting system using hex - both of which I thought deserved a wider audience." The development of their new collaboration, Extreme Acts of Kindness, came from an off-the-cuff remark by Warriner which sparked the idea.

"We met up for the first time ever in February, and Tim said something like, 'I always thought it would be funny to break a random stranger out of prison.' It struck me that there was a strong theme there - misguided generosity - and the prison one became the first extreme act! We knew about 'random acts of kindness' and those 'pay it forward' things, where you're supposed to do something nice for a stranger, and found some of it slightly self-serving."

"We found loads of utterly unironic, self- praising websites where people are encouraged to post their good deeds as though they've changed the world. We couldn't believe this stuff was real."

Humourous projects such as Extreme Acts of Kindness inevitably have a shot-in-the-dark nature about them, to which Johnston is admirably rather relaxed. "We're not sure how this will go down, but we have so many ideas and know from experience that people love getting involved in these things. Even if nothing happens, we've had a brilliant time cackling to ourselves over our own jokes these past few weeks."

The history of the duo's work, however, lends itself to a history of success. Worryfriends, written by Johnston with contributions from Warriner, became a gift book. With Extreme Acts, "I think it would be a perfect gift book; the idea is strong, and the Innocent smoothie-type, over-friendly fuzziness moment is beginning to pass now. I think people have a taste for this stuff again... but we'll just have to wait and see."

Tips from the site include:

• If you see someone at the supermarket checkout buying health food, it is kind to let them go in front of you. They are probably dying.
• Remember that scaffolding should always be taken down at night. Help builders by dismantling any you come across after nightfall.
• Help parents to collect their children from the park by putting a bin bag at the bottom of the slide.
• Feed your neighbour's cat while they're away, by pushing mice and cockroaches through their letterbox.
• If you see a car parked at the side of the road, perhaps it needs a jump start - get your friends to push it as fast and as far as they can.
• After staying at a friend's house, remember to help them out by stuffing any used bedding down the toilet.
• Congratulate a cyclist on their green effort by pinning a flower to their bicycle tyre.
• Make sure a friend always has a spare pair of pants by hiding some in their umbrella.

You can explore Tim Warriner and Leila Johnston's project, Extreme Acts of Kindness, at their website. Leila is @finalbullet on Twitter.