michaeljbishop

Yes. Software-based ICs.

https://blog.metaobject.com/2019/03/software-ics-binary-comp...

Attention all designers: That skeuomorphic, non-flat design that you might think is unstylish but in reality is so very usable… this book explains why.

In the UI of the 2000’s, the UI is visible, the chrome is visible and it has meaning and utility. Buttons are easily found and pushed because they visibly look like they are extending from the display. That’s an affordance. The window corner used to have a “rough” texture just like exterior stairs have texture strips to keep your feet from slipping. They indicated that the friction from your mouse-pointer on the screen will move the window corner.

These designs allowed user decisions about UI function to exist in the subconscious where they weren’t a distraction from the actual problem at hand.

The bar these days seems to be “is it possible for the user to eventually accomplish their task?) as opposed to “how can we demand even less of the users’ brain for the task to be accomplished?”

I am anticipating this will not be a popular response, but I can’t help but think wrt/ UI design, we’ve collectively thrown out the baby with the bath water for vanity and it’s going to take some criticism to get it back.

Reading this book and studying the UI designs it inspired (ex: early to late 2000’s Mac UI) is IMO the best education a young UI-designer can get.

Edit: I don’t want to lay too much at the feet of designers because it’s probably Product Managers that also need to read this book and care about it.

Can someone please make this, but for creating an orchestral arrangement from a piano theme (maybe with some hints?)

I think the lesson is to not think first about your data and how to put it on a screen.

Start with the user and then figure out how to utilize your data to support your UI.

Dumping database records to a list view on the screen, no matter how pretty you make each entry, is rarely useful.

With that in mind, it might be more effective to write a BASIC REPL in Javascript (I’m sure one already exists) and then run the original programs.

This is a symptom of flat design. When you remove texture, shadow, and borders, you have to rely more on margins to group and distinguish items.

I wish the power switch on the mini was back on top, where it should rightfully be.

Small point, but you are assuming the only direction a phone can grow is height and width. Thickness would also allow a larger battery.

It works where the power company might just raise your air conditioning thermostat for a few hours.

Your Nest can already do this:

  https://nest.com/support/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards

For those of you skeptical that software can address this problem.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_power_plant

Adding storage to the grid is one solution, but adding software that can better influence the demand various customers put on the grid is also surprisingly effective.

This absolutely is a software problem.

Many utilities are interested in enrolling their customers in programs that would allow software to control the energy demands their customers put on the grid.

For instance, if you are a high-energy consuming factory, you may have a fixed amount of energy that you need to use each day, but have some flexibility as to exactly what time of day it is used.

There are companies right now writing software that takes into consideration all the constraints around the electrical usage of the various customers of a utility, and then vary the customer’s electrical usage in real time as the energy demand/production fluctuates on the grid.

Think of it this way. You can either put a battery on the grid to supply energy when the grid needs it OR, you can ask customers to stop using as much energy at that moment. Either way, the supply meets demand.

For reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_power_plant

I set this up in the most hacky way 10 years ago with my girlfriend. We would watch dvds together and I wanted to synchronize them (especially important for comedies)

My setup? An app that would monitor DVD Player for events while listening to events over iChat using AppleScript.

If someone paused or played the DVD, the moitoring process would notice the event, make a JSON payload representing the action including the local timestamp, and use AppleScript to post an iChat message. Then, the process on the other side, would see the special iChat message (forwarded via AppleScript), and apply the action to the local DVD player process, taking into account the difference between the sent timestamp and the local timestamp.

It worked like a charm and made watching movies so much more fun. We always had iChat open anyway so it seemed like an easy win to piggy back on that, no server needed.

An inelegant hack, but it worked.

That video about the 6-year-old complaining that their whole life is online without their consent is spot on.

Indeed: https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/status/985793231295311872...

The most important part:

> In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Interesting followup by Seth Abramson.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/978329921192906752

How to do this in a for-loop:

  for (int 1 = 0; i < length; i++) {
    if (checkError(i))
      continue;
  
    ... // happy path
  }

You can also use a return statement inside the for-loop if you want to exit the entire function.

Why would this be surprising? Apple has no skin in the advertising game, while it's the core of Google's income.

You get what you pay for. These shoes last a very long time.

If you are timid about the price, they have regular clearance sales about twice a year, usually about 40% off. Just get on their mailing list. And buy quick as soon as the sale occurs!

My friend, the company you need to go visit is Vivobarefoot. They are not as cheap as your Chinese shoe, but they are the wide-toebox, no-support, tough-as-nails-soles that you have been looking for.

  https://www.vivobarefoot.com/

Because of them, every shoe that I wear for every occasion can be minimal and I get to feel everything under my feet everywhere I go. I even have fancy black leather shoes for special occasions.

They are wonderful.

I worked at a startup that used WeWork (Denver) for about 9 months. When I first walked into the lobby, I wondered if I was in the right place, because it felt like a clothing-retail store, complete with constant runway-music playing from overhead.

My first impression was "how am I supposed to work here?" I loved that they had cold-brew and beer on tap, a clean working-space, and interesting events. They seemed really optimized to provide a workspace that was fun.

The problem was, I wasn't there for fun, I was there to get stuff done and for that I needed a place that was peaceful, quiet, with few distractions. The environment at WeWork wasn't optimized for that kind of long, deep work and in fact seemed to actively fight against it.

If your work tasks consist mostly of light, interruptible "busy" tasks, like responding to email, or participating on Slack, WeWork is probably fine. If your work consists of long, deep-dive tasks, I'd recommend getting your own office space until WeWork starts providing an atmosphere that better accommodates peace, quiet, and isolation.

This post is excellent. Bravo! The best places I’ve worked had this kind of culture.

Am I the only person frustrated that this article contains a call to arms and then no actionable items? I'm on board, but what should I do about it? Put that in your article!