msutherl

35 ms·

301.
by msutherl 13y ago
> And I don't want to use crappy and shitty tools. Neither does Ryan. That's what the whole rant is about. He just wants to make software for users without having to hack through the forest of bad design decisions that is the m
302.
by msutherl 13y ago
Yo, the point is that the complexity is there because the well-intentioned and simple underlying systems were not properly scaled to meet the demands of modern applications. At no point does he suggest that you should eschew the tools that
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by msutherl 13y ago
If everybody's using it wrong, then it's broken.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Ok, I understand. I was using the term "user acquisition" loosely to refer to the initial perception and evaluation of something vs. the experience of using it long-term, but that was not at all clear. Of course I don't think
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by msutherl 13y ago
Given the choice between doing what you're doing now and doing something better, what would you choose? Certainly I am not deriding the Elementary team for copying OS X. It's definitely 'not cool', but open source since
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by msutherl 13y ago
> So "user acquisition" isn't really a concern for us Than why have you released the project to the public, made a nice website for it, made documentation, etc? Why do something good in the world if you don't care if
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by msutherl 13y ago
There's a certain downside to mimicking the OS X design that you may not be taken full account of, which is that for people who have used OS X, your designs look like a not-quite-perfected copy. It's a sort of uncanny valley thi
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by msutherl 13y ago
The real kicker is how deluded the founders are about their idea. The sculpting app, for instance, is an awful idea. Sculpting in air doesn't work – it's a fundamental limitation of the model – there's no tactile or force fee
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by msutherl 13y ago
Hi score! I'm Guest8124 with 7400. Challenge me.
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by msutherl 13y ago
While we're recommending things, allow me to share one of my favorite contemporary minimalist composers, Lubomyr Melnyk: http://youtu.be/FuiUhnDf-qA And, more impressionist, but Harold Budd is great: http://
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by msutherl 13y ago
A professor of mine used to tell me something helpful. It took some time to accept, but he would say: "nobody cares what you have to say until you're 35". At this age, and through your 20's, what you're doing is jus
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by msutherl 13y ago
I try not to recommend pop-psych books, but The Power of Habit taught me some useful tricks: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400069289/ref=as_li_ss_tl?... . The upshot is that you can't stop this part o
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by msutherl 13y ago
I looked at Google Docs when it first came out and it reminded me of something I saw in 1968.
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by msutherl 13y ago
The mindset of the programmer is the fusion of the programmer and her tools.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Well, there are a lot of things like that, e.g.: http://socrates.io , but it doesn't do it for me. I like to be actually manipulating the end result.
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by msutherl 13y ago
I really like the idea of writing in a text editor, and have tried to do so many times in Vim, but for some reason it's very important for me to see the result as it will appear to the reader as I'm writing. I don't know why
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by msutherl 13y ago
Have you used any of the graph ("dataflow") environments in common usage? Max/MSP, Pure Data, vvvv, meemoo, Quartz Composer, Touch Designer, LabView, Grasshopper, WebAudioToy, just to name a few.
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by msutherl 13y ago
I write all of my software in a 2D, interactive, live-executing environment. Yes, layout is a problem. But you get good at it, and then it's not a problem anymore. Moreover, the UI for the system I use is pretty basic and only has a fe
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by msutherl 13y ago
This article is unreal.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Choosing a product because you liked the commercial, choosing a book because you like the cover, choosing a bottle of wine because you like the label, choosing a computer because you like the design, choosing clothes because you think they
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by msutherl 13y ago
Sorry, this was too terse. I'm inclined not to use Knockout because I find the branding unappealing and a bit too visually intense. I think backbone.js[1] has been so successful in no small part because the website is excellent. Very s
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by msutherl 13y ago
The website is an eyesore (literally).
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by msutherl 13y ago
I would also point out that text is used for more than just body copy.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Wow, I stand corrected. I had recalled reading an article that claimed this, but according to the Wikipedia entry, it's not true. I just did a quick comparison of Helvetica and Arial at 13px and, while they are very nearly identical at
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by msutherl 13y ago
The font pricing model is undergoing a major transformation currently. Just like software, everybody is moving to a subscription model. At least for the web.
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by msutherl 13y ago
This is a nice way to look at it. Phrased differently, come up with a personal brand, buy what you need to make it happen, and stick to it. If it doesn't last more than a year, the brand was bad. Take the hit, re-brand, buy new fonts.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Arial actually looks much better onscreen at small sizes, since that's what it was designed for. It bothers me to no end when "designers" use Helvetica or Helvetica Neue on websites with small body copy. Guys: Arial is Helvet
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by msutherl 13y ago
Vendor lock-in is not avoided when you use large open source software packages on the order of complexity of Mathematica.
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by msutherl 13y ago
I'm glad we cleared that up.
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by msutherl 13y ago
Then the politicians say "look, we're educating the whole world with free high quality online courses", they dismantle the universities, people never leave their parents' house, and everybody in the world learns exactly

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