5 ms·

My attempts at compartmentalization have failed. There is only one inbox.

31 points by mapleoin 17y ago

barrkel 17y ago
This is the last straw. Fashionable designers seem to prefer fonts that make my eyes itchy. Does anyone know how to disable downloadable fonts in Firefox? I've tried setting gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled to false, but they're still getting downloaded and used. EDIT: A browser restart seemed to be necessary - flushing the cache and a full page refresh wasn't sufficient. It looks like that about:config option does work after all.
- resdirector 17y ago
  I recommend this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1153343 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1153343
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  What OS (and Firefox version) are you using? It would be a shame to blame the font or the browser if it's your platforms font rendering that's broken.
  - dagw 17y ago
    On Windows XP and firefox 3.5.7 the font is painful to read.
    - krakensden 17y ago
      It's also terrible on Chrome/Linux.
      - ZeroGravitas 17y ago
        It looks fine on my Chrome/Linux but that doesn't really say much because Linux fonts are so configurable. I'd guess anyone following the Windows school of font hinting will have problems in this brave new world of web fonts because they'll only look good if someone with the requisite skills has spent a great deal of time hinting them for the pixel sizes used. If, like another commenter, you see non-core fonts as "thin" (or "spindly" etc.) then this is probably the cause. On Apple machines, or the way I set up Ubuntu machines (which the default seems to get closer to as time goes by) they basically ignore that hinting information, even if present and just pretend they're printing on a high pixel density device and let anti-aliasing sort it out.
- dchest 17y ago
  Actually, this font is better than the previous one on Mark's blog.
  - greyman 17y ago
    Not on my screen. The letters are so thin that they are difficult to read. I am glad the Readability bookmarklet do exist.
tjic 17y ago
First sentence of the post: Fresh from being chastised for expressing my personal opinion, on my personal blog and other strictly personal venues, about matters that may, or may not, ever intersect the realm of the impersonal a.k.a. corporate, I take a detour into the strictly, perhaps overly, personal, viz. how to talk to my own children about the dangers of drugs that I myself have taken — both medicinally and recreationally — and the many others that I have not, only to receive emails and IMs via impersonal a.k.a. corporate media from strangers-but-strictly-speaking-coworkers asking if everything is OK over there in personal-land. "impersonal a.k.a. corporate" ?? "strictly, perhaps overly, personal, viz...." ?? "impersonal a.k.a. corporate" - a SECOND time ?? "strangers-but-strictly-speaking-coworkers" ?? This tone of speech encapsulates everything that I hate about self-important psuedo-intellectuals discussing literary "theory" in the English departments of universities. It's verbose, long-winded, and intentionally difficult to read - all in an attempt to sound intelligent and deep, while actually covering up a paucity of any original thought. After that one "sentence", I stopped reading. Clear writing is relatively easy, and expresses a respect for one's audience. Long winded bull shit (like the above) expresses contempt for one's audience.
- TomasSedovic 17y ago
  It probably depends on the audience. I love his writing. Reminds me of Neil Gaiman a bit (whom I like as well). And part of what I like is exactly what you complain against here. To each his own, I guess.
  - elblanco 17y ago
    I found the style of writing rather manic and humorous myself.
- mcantor 17y ago
  It's just a run-on sentence, dude.
  - lincolnq 17y ago
    Not actually a run-on, which refers to an ungrammatical sentence. The quoted sentence appears to be grammatically correct.
ZeroGravitas 17y ago
Anyone aware of what he talked about on his blog that got him in trouble with his work? (Which is what I think he's saying)
- steveklabnik 17y ago
  I think he's referencing this post: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/03/08/enough-cries-the-future http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/03/08/enough-cries-the...
  - ZeroGravitas 17y ago
    That's the second thing he mentions, but the first is something he said on his personal blog that might have affected his work and that he got in trouble at work for, at least that's how I'm reading it.

31 points by mapleoin 17y ago

This is the last straw. Fashionable designers seem to prefer fonts that make my eyes itchy. Does anyone know how to disable downloadable fonts in Firefox? I've tried setting gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled to false, but they're still getting downloaded and used. EDIT: A browser restart seemed to be necessary - flushing the cache and a full page refresh wasn't sufficient. It looks like that about:config option does work after all.

resdirector 17y ago
I recommend this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1153343 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1153343
ZeroGravitas 17y ago
What OS (and Firefox version) are you using? It would be a shame to blame the font or the browser if it's your platforms font rendering that's broken.
- dagw 17y ago
  On Windows XP and firefox 3.5.7 the font is painful to read.
  - krakensden 17y ago
    It's also terrible on Chrome/Linux.
    - ZeroGravitas 17y ago
      It looks fine on my Chrome/Linux but that doesn't really say much because Linux fonts are so configurable. I'd guess anyone following the Windows school of font hinting will have problems in this brave new world of web fonts because they'll only look good if someone with the requisite skills has spent a great deal of time hinting them for the pixel sizes used. If, like another commenter, you see non-core fonts as "thin" (or "spindly" etc.) then this is probably the cause. On Apple machines, or the way I set up Ubuntu machines (which the default seems to get closer to as time goes by) they basically ignore that hinting information, even if present and just pretend they're printing on a high pixel density device and let anti-aliasing sort it out.
dchest 17y ago
Actually, this font is better than the previous one on Mark's blog.
- greyman 17y ago
  Not on my screen. The letters are so thin that they are difficult to read. I am glad the Readability bookmarklet do exist.

tjic 17y ago

First sentence of the post: Fresh from being chastised for expressing my personal opinion, on my personal blog and other strictly personal venues, about matters that may, or may not, ever intersect the realm of the impersonal a.k.a. corporate, I take a detour into the strictly, perhaps overly, personal, viz. how to talk to my own children about the dangers of drugs that I myself have taken — both medicinally and recreationally — and the many others that I have not, only to receive emails and IMs via impersonal a.k.a. corporate media from strangers-but-strictly-speaking-coworkers asking if everything is OK over there in personal-land. "impersonal a.k.a. corporate" ?? "strictly, perhaps overly, personal, viz...." ?? "impersonal a.k.a. corporate" - a SECOND time ?? "strangers-but-strictly-speaking-coworkers" ?? This tone of speech encapsulates everything that I hate about self-important psuedo-intellectuals discussing literary "theory" in the English departments of universities. It's verbose, long-winded, and intentionally difficult to read - all in an attempt to sound intelligent and deep, while actually covering up a paucity of any original thought. After that one "sentence", I stopped reading. Clear writing is relatively easy, and expresses a respect for one's audience. Long winded bull shit (like the above) expresses contempt for one's audience.

TomasSedovic 17y ago
It probably depends on the audience. I love his writing. Reminds me of Neil Gaiman a bit (whom I like as well). And part of what I like is exactly what you complain against here. To each his own, I guess.
- elblanco 17y ago
  I found the style of writing rather manic and humorous myself.
mcantor 17y ago
It's just a run-on sentence, dude.
- lincolnq 17y ago
  Not actually a run-on, which refers to an ungrammatical sentence. The quoted sentence appears to be grammatically correct.

ZeroGravitas 17y ago

Anyone aware of what he talked about on his blog that got him in trouble with his work? (Which is what I think he's saying)

steveklabnik 17y ago
I think he's referencing this post: http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/03/08/enough-cries-the-future http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/03/08/enough-cries-the...
- ZeroGravitas 17y ago
  That's the second thing he mentions, but the first is something he said on his personal blog that might have affected his work and that he got in trouble at work for, at least that's how I'm reading it.