10 ms·

Nothing is more inefficient than the secretary of state thinking about and conducting meetings about the font used in documents. It just doesn't matter in the s

by bulbar 11mo ago

Nothing is more inefficient than the secretary of state thinking about and conducting meetings about the font used in documents. It just doesn't matter in the sense that it "doesn't move the needle". I expect the leaders of a government deciding on matters that have a real impact on people's live, not on stuff that from a practical point of view is totally irrelevant.

Terr_ 11mo ago
In general, yes, but for these leaders... the less sabotaging impact they have, the better.
nailer 11mo ago
The global impression of the US is worth thinking about. The font is part of that.
- 7bit 11mo ago
  No one cares about the font US documents are written in. You're not that important.
- bulbar 11mo ago
  It's really not. The used font just doesn't move the needle regarding the global impression. 99% of people never ever think or care about the font they use. What else should be decided on on the highest level: spacing, padding, allowance of the Oxford comma? It is useful that somebody thinks about that stuff, just not the highest level of the government. That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc.
  - moltopoco 11mo ago
    The irony here is that Steve Jobs _did_ actually think about fonts. Sure, he certainly didn't think about Times New Roman, but I disagree with the idea that someone at the top should not have time to write a quick memo about trivialities if it bothers them.
    - oneeyedpigeon 11mo ago
      (Part of) Steve Jobs' job was to deliver a great operating system, and part of that relates to how fonts are used. No part of the President's job involves picking a font, let alone legislating around it, unless there are actual political factors involved.
      - nailer 11mo ago
        The secretary of state communicates with foreign countries, and part of that relates to how fonts are used. I am sure you are already aware of this.
  - nailer 11mo ago
    > That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc. Gates absolutely did care when Windows products were bad.
    - bulbar 10mo ago
      Of course, that's his job. You then decided on strategies, not on details.
  - nailer 10mo ago
    > That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc. No. Those things aren't exposed to the public. But the UI is: ___ Bill Gates: So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes. Doesn’t Windows update know some key to talk to Windows? Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff. This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg. So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn’t use it for anything else during this time. What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished. Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time? So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state. So I got back up and running and went to Windows Update again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker. So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.
- jimnotgym 11mo ago
  The Global impression of the US is down the toilet. This only adds to that. I kept being told that I was not American, and America didn't care what the rest of the world thought. Which is it?
- seanhunter 11mo ago
  Speaking as someone who is not from the US I can say that the global impression of the US is not helped by the secretary of state bikeshedding about fonts. There are important issues of foreign affairs that need thought and attention at this time.
  - nailer 11mo ago
    I don't think it really took much time. "Use a better font in all documnts from now on" There you go.
    - seanhunter 11mo ago
      That's not the point at all and I think you know that. A big part of leadership is conveying priorities. This says "What's important isn't Israel, Venezuela, Russia/Ukraine, China, it's that you used Calibri in compiling a document." It is the very definition of form over substance.
- sorenjan 11mo ago
  You want to know what the global impression of the US is right now? Here's a translated quote from a newspaper today, from a source in our military: > – The US has the most qualified intelligence organizations in the world at its disposal. Both the CIA and the FBI have been politicized under the current regime. I find it difficult to see how we will be able to maintain the trusting cooperation we have had with the US in the past after this. The actions of the current administration speaks far louder than any font ever could, and it's tearing down decades of good will and trust.
  - nailer 11mo ago
    > Both the CIA and the FBI have been politicized under the current regime. The CIA and FBI were politicised well before the current regime. If you live in the US you will be aware of the Russiagate hoax.
- notahacker 11mo ago
  It's an interesting thought, given what current global impressions are. I'm imagining a scenario in which the President of the United States is doing his usual sort of diplomatic outreach, consisting of waffling incoherently about things he's heard on TV that he doesn't like about their country. At one point he loses his train of thought and starts bragging about how well he's doing in cognitive adequacy tests. The diplomats are waiting until the bit where they get to flatter and bribe him at the end, the bit where he usually reverses his foreign policy, so long as they can get him to understand what they're actually asking from him. One of them speculates whether it's even possible that half the country is actually dumber than this guy. A staffer wearing a MAGA baseball cap sidles up to them with some briefing notes. And its just impossible not to notice the notes are typeset in the very same venerable font that was once used as the default for Windows 9x. The diplomats are stunned. No sans serif wokeness here. The typeface exudes heritage and gravitas. At last they realize what a very serious adminstration they're dealing with.
hamandcheese 11mo ago
> not on stuff that from a practical point of view is totally irrelevant. The modern era we live in has far, far too much of this attitude. It's the same force eroding craftsmanship, attention to detail, and human dignity. I find it quite reasonable for someone to care about the presentation of official government communications. And just so we are clear, I also think Rubio is a horrible person.
otikik 11mo ago
So, two options. a) It's a smoke screen. Do something bombastic and provocative so that the opposition chews on that while something else more "important" passes undetected. b) Nah, he's just stupid.
oneeyedpigeon 11mo ago
It's not about anything practical, it's all about the message.

by bulbar 11mo ago

Terr_ 11mo ago

In general, yes, but for these leaders... the less sabotaging impact they have, the better.

nailer 11mo ago

The global impression of the US is worth thinking about. The font is part of that.

7bit 11mo ago
No one cares about the font US documents are written in. You're not that important.
bulbar 11mo ago
It's really not. The used font just doesn't move the needle regarding the global impression. 99% of people never ever think or care about the font they use. What else should be decided on on the highest level: spacing, padding, allowance of the Oxford comma? It is useful that somebody thinks about that stuff, just not the highest level of the government. That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc.
- moltopoco 11mo ago
  The irony here is that Steve Jobs _did_ actually think about fonts. Sure, he certainly didn't think about Times New Roman, but I disagree with the idea that someone at the top should not have time to write a quick memo about trivialities if it bothers them.
  - oneeyedpigeon 11mo ago
    (Part of) Steve Jobs' job was to deliver a great operating system, and part of that relates to how fonts are used. No part of the President's job involves picking a font, let alone legislating around it, unless there are actual political factors involved.
    - nailer 11mo ago
      The secretary of state communicates with foreign countries, and part of that relates to how fonts are used. I am sure you are already aware of this.
- nailer 11mo ago
  > That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc. Gates absolutely did care when Windows products were bad.
  - bulbar 10mo ago
    Of course, that's his job. You then decided on strategies, not on details.
- nailer 10mo ago
  > That's like the CEO of Microsoft having meeting about coding conventions, space vs tabs, variable name format etc. No. Those things aren't exposed to the public. But the UI is: ___ Bill Gates: So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes. Doesn’t Windows update know some key to talk to Windows? Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff. This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg. So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn’t use it for anything else during this time. What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished. Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time? So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state. So I got back up and running and went to Windows Update again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker. So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.
jimnotgym 11mo ago
The Global impression of the US is down the toilet. This only adds to that. I kept being told that I was not American, and America didn't care what the rest of the world thought. Which is it?
seanhunter 11mo ago
Speaking as someone who is not from the US I can say that the global impression of the US is not helped by the secretary of state bikeshedding about fonts. There are important issues of foreign affairs that need thought and attention at this time.
- nailer 11mo ago
  I don't think it really took much time. "Use a better font in all documnts from now on" There you go.
  - seanhunter 11mo ago
    That's not the point at all and I think you know that. A big part of leadership is conveying priorities. This says "What's important isn't Israel, Venezuela, Russia/Ukraine, China, it's that you used Calibri in compiling a document." It is the very definition of form over substance.
sorenjan 11mo ago
You want to know what the global impression of the US is right now? Here's a translated quote from a newspaper today, from a source in our military: > – The US has the most qualified intelligence organizations in the world at its disposal. Both the CIA and the FBI have been politicized under the current regime. I find it difficult to see how we will be able to maintain the trusting cooperation we have had with the US in the past after this. The actions of the current administration speaks far louder than any font ever could, and it's tearing down decades of good will and trust.
- nailer 11mo ago
  > Both the CIA and the FBI have been politicized under the current regime. The CIA and FBI were politicised well before the current regime. If you live in the US you will be aware of the Russiagate hoax.
notahacker 11mo ago
It's an interesting thought, given what current global impressions are. I'm imagining a scenario in which the President of the United States is doing his usual sort of diplomatic outreach, consisting of waffling incoherently about things he's heard on TV that he doesn't like about their country. At one point he loses his train of thought and starts bragging about how well he's doing in cognitive adequacy tests. The diplomats are waiting until the bit where they get to flatter and bribe him at the end, the bit where he usually reverses his foreign policy, so long as they can get him to understand what they're actually asking from him. One of them speculates whether it's even possible that half the country is actually dumber than this guy. A staffer wearing a MAGA baseball cap sidles up to them with some briefing notes. And its just impossible not to notice the notes are typeset in the very same venerable font that was once used as the default for Windows 9x. The diplomats are stunned. No sans serif wokeness here. The typeface exudes heritage and gravitas. At last they realize what a very serious adminstration they're dealing with.

hamandcheese 11mo ago

> not on stuff that from a practical point of view is totally irrelevant. The modern era we live in has far, far too much of this attitude. It's the same force eroding craftsmanship, attention to detail, and human dignity. I find it quite reasonable for someone to care about the presentation of official government communications. And just so we are clear, I also think Rubio is a horrible person.

otikik 11mo ago

So, two options. a) It's a smoke screen. Do something bombastic and provocative so that the opposition chews on that while something else more "important" passes undetected. b) Nah, he's just stupid.

oneeyedpigeon 11mo ago

It's not about anything practical, it's all about the message.