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The dithering on images is actually kinda nice. Less visual over-stimulation. But whatever this site is doing with the fixed-scroll yellow block is super weird

The dithering on images is actually kinda nice. Less visual over-stimulation. But whatever this site is doing with the fixed-scroll yellow block is super weird. There's a "95%" thing next to a sun - is it somehow related to the solar battery powering the server? Rather than focusing on the content, the design focuses on the infrastructure at the expense of the content. Maybe that's the point, but this particular element is certainly off-putting.

amelius 8y ago
> The dithering on images is actually kinda nice. Less visual over-stimulation. Yes, but does it also consume less power, formatting the images this way?
- binaryorganic 8y ago
  Sure, as it reduces overall filesize. They could have achieved similar efficiency by compressing full-color images though.
  - zmw 8y ago
    Or they can do away with some of the useless images and save a lot more bytes.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      > The main challenge was to reduce page size without making the website less attractive. Because images take up most of the bandwidth, it would be easy to obtain very small page sizes and lower energy use by eliminating images, reducing their number, or making them much smaller. However, visuals are an important part of Low-tech Magazine’s appeal, and the website would not be the same without them.
theandrewbailey 8y ago
I agree with you on the yellow background battery meter, but not the dithered images. At desktop sizes, it reminds me of the low-res dithered hell of the 90s, except its worse because it's effectively yellowscale. I hate image dithering with a burning passion. I bet the same images would look better as low res JPEGs (they are currently PNGs, which are made less compressible with the dithering noise).
- emodendroket 8y ago
  It might be annoying if you're really trying to get a good look at something, but I think it is kind of a neat aesthetic. Some of the old PC-Engine/whatever dithered art looks great.
floatingatoll 8y ago
Yes, halfway into the article they explain that it’s precisely that, and what motivates them to make it visible to users.
veli_joza 8y ago
I feel that the focus on infrastructure _is_ the content. It may be over the top (dithering is especially BS), but without battery indicator how many people would discover that the server runs on sustainable solar power?
JepZ 8y ago
<div id="battery" style="height: 95%;"> <div id="bat_data"> <a href="https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/weather/"><span id="sky"></span><span id="level">95%</span></a></div> </div> Looks pretty much like the battery level and current weather conditions ;-)
- EForEndeavour 8y ago
  Before starting to read the article, I tried clicking and dragging on that element and searched the page for "brightness" and "dim" before peeking at the source to realize it isn't a brightness control after all.
- velcrovan 8y ago
  Well OK, this makes me wonder: if it truly is a static site, how are they injecting all this dynamic data? Or are they just faking it by re-generating the site periodically? edit: nvm, just found the javascript that rejiggers the DOM based on data from https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/api/stats.json https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/api/stats.json
adav 8y ago
It's obviously subjective, but I really like the yellow-ish block background for the battery level. Lends the site a distinctive paper-like feel that reminds me of the Financial Times.
- iNate2000 8y ago
  I also liked the yellow color. I've been finding myself using the evening feature ("Night Shift" on iOS) a lot lately. The site was 95% solar, but the blue bar at the top was 100% distracting. I could barely read the content.
newsDerp 8y ago
Yeah, as a random viewer, I really only need to know that the power is running out when the last bit of charge is nearly used up, at like 5% maybe. I have no concept of whether even 10% means another hour or another year, and since it's load dependent, neither do they. If the power is at 75%, what do I care? It really belongs on a status page, and as a banner, pinned to the top of the page. If anything, it motivates random people to slam the page with more hits, just so they can watch the meter move. That was my second impression, once I realized what it was. I wanted to watch for a chnage. My first impression was that the styles were defective, it was a scripting error (until I read that extra fluff was eschewed) or whatever, but I just wanted to find a way to make it get out of the way, so I could read without the distraction, so I started looking for "dismiss" icons, to close a broken pop-up. Then I noticed the Sun icon and the percentage, and realized it was a meter.
strig 8y ago
Yeah I thought that yellow block was an ad overlay or something at first. They should move it to the side so it doesn't affect reading the content.

amelius 8y ago

> The dithering on images is actually kinda nice. Less visual over-stimulation. Yes, but does it also consume less power, formatting the images this way?

binaryorganic 8y ago
Sure, as it reduces overall filesize. They could have achieved similar efficiency by compressing full-color images though.
- zmw 8y ago
  Or they can do away with some of the useless images and save a lot more bytes.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    > The main challenge was to reduce page size without making the website less attractive. Because images take up most of the bandwidth, it would be easy to obtain very small page sizes and lower energy use by eliminating images, reducing their number, or making them much smaller. However, visuals are an important part of Low-tech Magazine’s appeal, and the website would not be the same without them.

theandrewbailey 8y ago

I agree with you on the yellow background battery meter, but not the dithered images. At desktop sizes, it reminds me of the low-res dithered hell of the 90s, except its worse because it's effectively yellowscale. I hate image dithering with a burning passion. I bet the same images would look better as low res JPEGs (they are currently PNGs, which are made less compressible with the dithering noise).

emodendroket 8y ago
It might be annoying if you're really trying to get a good look at something, but I think it is kind of a neat aesthetic. Some of the old PC-Engine/whatever dithered art looks great.

floatingatoll 8y ago

Yes, halfway into the article they explain that it’s precisely that, and what motivates them to make it visible to users.

veli_joza 8y ago

I feel that the focus on infrastructure _is_ the content. It may be over the top (dithering is especially BS), but without battery indicator how many people would discover that the server runs on sustainable solar power?

JepZ 8y ago

<div id="battery" style="height: 95%;"> <div id="bat_data"> <a href="https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/weather/"><span id="sky"></span><span id="level">95%</span></a></div> </div> Looks pretty much like the battery level and current weather conditions ;-)

EForEndeavour 8y ago
Before starting to read the article, I tried clicking and dragging on that element and searched the page for "brightness" and "dim" before peeking at the source to realize it isn't a brightness control after all.
velcrovan 8y ago
Well OK, this makes me wonder: if it truly is a static site, how are they injecting all this dynamic data? Or are they just faking it by re-generating the site periodically? edit: nvm, just found the javascript that rejiggers the DOM based on data from https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/api/stats.json https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/api/stats.json

adav 8y ago

It's obviously subjective, but I really like the yellow-ish block background for the battery level. Lends the site a distinctive paper-like feel that reminds me of the Financial Times.

iNate2000 8y ago
I also liked the yellow color. I've been finding myself using the evening feature ("Night Shift" on iOS) a lot lately. The site was 95% solar, but the blue bar at the top was 100% distracting. I could barely read the content.

newsDerp 8y ago

Yeah, as a random viewer, I really only need to know that the power is running out when the last bit of charge is nearly used up, at like 5% maybe. I have no concept of whether even 10% means another hour or another year, and since it's load dependent, neither do they. If the power is at 75%, what do I care? It really belongs on a status page, and as a banner, pinned to the top of the page. If anything, it motivates random people to slam the page with more hits, just so they can watch the meter move. That was my second impression, once I realized what it was. I wanted to watch for a chnage. My first impression was that the styles were defective, it was a scripting error (until I read that extra fluff was eschewed) or whatever, but I just wanted to find a way to make it get out of the way, so I could read without the distraction, so I started looking for "dismiss" icons, to close a broken pop-up. Then I noticed the Sun icon and the percentage, and realized it was a meter.

strig 8y ago

Yeah I thought that yellow block was an ad overlay or something at first. They should move it to the side so it doesn't affect reading the content.