HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

greyswan

47 karma · joined June 17, 2020

submissionscomments
greyswan··on Urbit Precepts Discussion
His mapping of the structure of our current governmental system was eye opening to me. I liked the explanation of the prescriptive (planned/written) vs. the descriptive (actual/unwritten) constitution. I also liked the idea that organizations that aren't officially part of the government are effectively part of it without having any accountability.

https://graymirror.substack.com/p/3-descriptive-constitution...

He's certainly not for everyone, but the most common criticisms of him I see are usually pull quotes taken from Wikipedia.

greyswan··on Urbit Precepts Discussion
https://graymirror.substack.com/

His new writing is interesting.

greyswan··on It’s Time to Stop Nap-Shaming
The New York Times is on it.
greyswan··on Adobe XD for Visual Studio Code
> how does it help prototype anything?

Sketch, Figma, and XD all make it quick to do the most basic prototyping: click hot spot to go to a different screen. They are much more focused on visual design than prototyping.

greyswan··on The Singularity is Near: How Kurzweil's Predictions Are Faring (2017)
The most interesting thing about looking back at Kurzweil's writing is the tech optimism we were all smoking back then.
greyswan··on Social Cooling (2017)
I wouldn't say I recommend trying this, but it takes time to find people you are actually interested in on Twitter.

All the obvious "blue check-mark" people have zero insight at best. There is a whole weird world of small follower count people on there. Small communities. People with unique ideas. People that will actually respond to replies.

Again, I don't think it an addiction you should necessarily cultivate, but there is value to be had.

greyswan··on More people are searching for an inbox that protects their privacy
https://sparkmailapp.com/
greyswan··on 'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions
I genuinely enjoyed your story about your nephew, but it's bit like telling an anecdote about an incompetent engineer and then saying there isn't a large number of engineers that are good at solving problems.
greyswan··on Fortnite’s battle with Apple and Google could have an impact on news publishers
These articles about the issue were both interesting:

Matt Stoller (Journalist specializing in monopoly) https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/epic-games-kicks-off-the-...

iA (App developer) https://ia.net/topics/monopolies-apple-and-epic

greyswan··on 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share
What choice are you referring to?
greyswan··on It pays to be grumpy and bad-tempered (2016)
I've spent a lot of time in big US cities and more rural parts of the country.

I had culture shock going to stores in the rural areas, because the friendly customer service attitude appeared to be much less fake. People didn't feel as rushed. They took a little extra time to have genuine communication. It drove me crazy, because I was accustomed to the efficiency of city retail, but I've come to appreciate it.

greyswan··on The stable marriage problem and modern dating
Dating more isn't the only way to gather information about what you don't (or do) want.

People that have dated few people might be more likely to share a similar approach to relationships.

greyswan··on The Death of Agile?
My first Agile project was in 2007. It was fun and collaborative. We were all reading books/articles and experimenting together. It’s never been like that again. It worked kind of as intended on one project where we all had to be in the same room all day. Everyone seemed to be excited for it to end, though.
greyswan··on Unilever is latest brand to boycott Facebook
That doesn't mean that works for them. I hope the vast majority of purchases of Dove, Breyers, Klondike, Lipton, Vaseline, etc. can't be connected to social media impressions.
greyswan··on Unilever is latest brand to boycott Facebook
I would bet that marketing departments for companies like Unilever have a hard time showing ROI on Facebook advertising. Why not get some marketing attention for cutting your spend?
greyswan··on Olympus quits camera business after 84 years
I will be so sad if the same thing happens to Fujifilm. Hopefully they have carved out a sustainable niche by focusing on APS-C.
greyswan··on Olympus quits camera business after 84 years
- Each company has unique glass. - Each company has unique physical control schemes and software UX. - Color profiles allow you to apply the color science to RAW files. Some apps will automatically apply the color profile you select while shooting when you are processing later.
greyswan··on Kafka: The Rescue Will Begin in Its Own Time
I absolutely did not enjoy reading Kafka, but I get the importance of the work, and I think about it constantly.
greyswan··on Why Figma Wins
I guess that isn't fair. It doesn't have all the layout assistance and plugins that Sketch and Figma have. It is perfectly fine as a wireframing tool.
greyswan··on Why Figma Wins
Are there powerful prototyping plugins for Figma? I'd love it if the answer is yes.

Axure is horrible for wireframing and a non-starter for visual design, but it has the most powerful prototyping features I've seen by a long shot. Framer is straight up writing React code, so I don't count that as an option for the vast majority of designers.

greyswan··on Why Figma Wins
My uncle had a successful career in advertising. He would always say to me, "don't be just a wrist." He meant participate in guiding the concept and strategy instead of just being an execution person.

I've been in the design industry for 15 years now. When I was starting out, there was a flurry of philosophizing about design. There was a belief that designers should focus on solving problems instead of just making slick UIs. I don't see that discussion anymore. I see a bunch of "wrists" arguing over which pencil is best.

Maybe I'm just an aging curmudgeon...

greyswan··on Why micropayments will never be a thing in journalism
I've started subscribing to journalists I like on Substack. I feel pretty good about giving a serious journalist $5 a month. No advertisers to please. Long form, highly researched articles. I don't know if it scales, but it's pretty great for me at the moment.