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Definition of "McMansion": a large modern house that is considered ostentatious and lacking in architectural integrity. The architectural integrity I guess is

Definition of "McMansion": a large modern house that is considered ostentatious and lacking in architectural integrity. The architectural integrity I guess is the problem. The house can be sprawling (no well defined center) or has to many windows (that may be of different sizes). It sounds like designers hating on Comic Sans or programmers arguing over tabs vs spaces. But worry not... This rounds up post #1 of McMansions 101 - but don’t worry, there are many more factors that make an otherwise normal suburban house a McMansion, and each will be covered in their own special posts.

justratsinacoat 10y ago
>It sounds like designers hating on Comic Sans or programmers arguing over tabs vs spaces This, basically. I find it darkly humourous that HN's commentariat, in this thread and indeed whenever confronted with domain-specific jargon from non-computron fields [0], analyzes said field and finds 'obvious' problems. Have you ever tried to explain, say, 'tabs vs spaces' to some mundane? Its history, from makefiles to Python, seems uninteresting to someone peering over their iPhone N+1; "why don't you guys just decide on one? Why is this a big deal?" They can say this because 'tabs vs spaces' is a triviality -- to those who don't have to deal with the consequences of the argument. Inasmuch as HN is explicitly for interesting tidbits of info that don't necessarily have to do with hacker-style nerdery, I'd expect that we who ostensibly know so much would be able to appreciate that there are aspects of the world, and of other intellectual professions, that we don't necessarily wot of. I mean, unless, of course, one's own buzzsaw-mind is capable of intuiting and then dismissing the well-cited terms of an artisanal field that has been around for many centuries longer than has the idea of computers, but cognitive empathy is a useful practice for everyone. [0] With the exception of economics, because bike-shedding, because everyone knows about money; they spend it every day!
ptaipale 10y ago
>* is considered ostentatious and lacking in architectural integrity.* It would be nice to write out the passive voice. Who considers that the building is lacking in architectural integrity?

justratsinacoat 10y ago

>It sounds like designers hating on Comic Sans or programmers arguing over tabs vs spaces This, basically. I find it darkly humourous that HN's commentariat, in this thread and indeed whenever confronted with domain-specific jargon from non-computron fields [0], analyzes said field and finds 'obvious' problems. Have you ever tried to explain, say, 'tabs vs spaces' to some mundane? Its history, from makefiles to Python, seems uninteresting to someone peering over their iPhone N+1; "why don't you guys just decide on one? Why is this a big deal?" They can say this because 'tabs vs spaces' is a triviality -- to those who don't have to deal with the consequences of the argument. Inasmuch as HN is explicitly for interesting tidbits of info that don't necessarily have to do with hacker-style nerdery, I'd expect that we who ostensibly know so much would be able to appreciate that there are aspects of the world, and of other intellectual professions, that we don't necessarily wot of. I mean, unless, of course, one's own buzzsaw-mind is capable of intuiting and then dismissing the well-cited terms of an artisanal field that has been around for many centuries longer than has the idea of computers, but cognitive empathy is a useful practice for everyone. [0] With the exception of economics, because bike-shedding, because everyone knows about money; they spend it every day!

ptaipale 10y ago

>* is considered ostentatious and lacking in architectural integrity.* It would be nice to write out the passive voice. Who considers that the building is lacking in architectural integrity?