Hacker News Reader

thmzon Unity: a lightweight netbook interface for Ubuntu

You shouldn't ask users how the UI should be. You have to listen to there needs. Then you have to translate this 'democratic' information into a UI design.

When a user wants a drop-down for every department in the hospital you could translate this into "I want to select a department as easy and quickly as possible".

thmzon Unity: a lightweight netbook interface for Ubuntu

Why not? I think it is and should be.

When 90% of your end users are old people who rarely use a computer you have to ask them about there needs. You will collect the 'votes' and may discover you have to drop some functionalities. And maybe a slider UI will be better than a number ticker/spinner control.

thmzon The state of Mac and Linux gaming

It is very likely that Steam is releasing it's client for MacOs sooner or later. Some even say it will be available for Linux.

I think this shows the market is changing. The OS will be unimportant.

thmzon What iPads Did To My Family

"She was smiling."

It sounds almost if she became happy again. Scary stuff.

thmzon Downvote system HN

There is a lot of space between "don't agree" and "rubbish".

I don't complain about this system. But I can imagine sometimes it would be nice to have an explanation.

thmzon Downvote system HN

I'm sorry, I ment 'comments'.

But my question is about the 'learn to live with this'. Wouldn't it be good to learn why you were downvoted?

thmzon Spotify to launch in Netherlands on May 18

Last week I checked there site and read: "Share music with your Facebook friends". And that's what I thought it would be so I didn't download it.

But today I read a Wiki page about it and I understand it's much more than 'Facebook only'. It's a great app!

Am I the only one who thinks there homepage is very unclear?

By the way: the VPRO is very progressive. They have been serving great music for years: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/ (Dutch)

thmzon HP Updates MacBook-Imitating Envy Range

The first thing I noticed: it looks like a HP laptop. So I agree with you.

thmzon The Big Bang Was an Explosion of Space, Not in Space

"since space and time are interconnected"

Last week I saw a Ted Talk by Prof. dr. Wubbo J. Ockels telling me that space and time are not connected. http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2009/video-wubbo-ockels-on-time...

The more I read and hear about space the more I get the feeling we don't know nothing about it...

thmzon Alternative monospace fonts for programmers

Just curious: Are you being cynical?

thmzon HP drops Windows 7 from 'Slate' tablet, will use WebOS

Sounds like the Adam from Notion Ink: http://www.notionink.in/adamoverview.php

thmzon Alternative monospace fonts for programmers

ProFontWindows is also not in the list. But it's great for a small font-size but keeping the code readable.

thmzon Reasons You Should Quit Facebook

Why are people so seriously angry about stuff like this?

If you don't like Facebook, just quit and get a drink with your friends.

thmzon Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

Forrest Gump's uncle does something in fruit ;)

Maybe this site needs an 'about'.

thmzon Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

"Hacker News"

thmzon Ubuntu 10.4: How to place the window close button on the right again

Well I tried today, but it was a little harder than I expected. And this GUI method is also very usefull for most people.

But maybe the news value is that there are a lot of people searching for methods to place the buttons right again...

edit By the way, you will be missing the maximize button...

thmzon Ubuntu 10.04 Released

Just downloaded the amd64 version (from The Netherlands). It's very strange, it looks like this is not a bootable CD.

It's more like an autorun CD with Wubi. Anyone else got the same problem?

(downloading it as torrent right now)

thmzon Thoughts on Flash

All these facts also apply for desktop/latop PC's.

Remove Flash and notice you wont miss it. More and more websites are using HTML there day's. Removing Flash also improves browser speed and stability (just as removing Adobe Reader does).

I did a lot of Flex developing, but I think it's time to move on.

thmzon PlayStation 3 Owner Files Class Action Suit Against Sony For Dropping 'Other OS'

edit

I thought that Sony never stated this was standard functionality. But it seems I was very wrong:

http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html

So I must agree this is not fair...

thmzon Microsoft's FUD goes mobile

This might be the case:

- HTC agrees to sell MS phones only

- They also agree to pay MS when they start selling other brands

- They start selling other brands

- They pay MS as agreed

thmzon The rolling shutter on a digital camera can give interesting effects

True, I think it has something to do with the burst mode used in most sensors.

The sensor will transmit the picture, but the iPhone is not ready to process all of it. So the next burst is processed later but is used for the same image.

thmzon [dead]

Did you keep track of your time invested working on the project?

If not: get a job, you will earn more in 2 weeks time...

thmzon Hong Kong architect turns shoebox apartment into 24 rooms

And you better don't forget someone being in another room ;)

thmzon 3 Weeks of iPad: Some observations

Why was this down-voted? It would be interesting to know. It would show more of iPad's value.

thmzon Three.js: Javascript 3D engine

Nice lib and examples!

Some time ago I also started with a 3d engine (path tracer). If anyone like to have some code: http://thuijzer.nl/jsrender/ (I never took time to optimize/bugfix the code).

thmzon Single Line CSS

Or some navigator (map) like there is in Netbeans.

And also question why you have 1000+ lines of CSS.

news.ycombinator uses only 31 selectors. And it looks.. well maybe not great , but very readable and very useable (I like it a lot).

And I think it's better to have more classes defined in your DOM-object than doing the same stuff multiple times. I mean, most of the time widths, margins and paddings are reusable. So why not create classes for them.

thmzon Former Hacker: Microsoft More Secure Than Apple, Adobe

So because banks are robbed more than my home, they are less secure? Don't think so...

thmzon IPad Competitors: Reality Check

Well I think it's all about touch-screens. Decades ago they sucked. Only recently they work great. So Apple jumped in at the right time.

As said (ZeroGravitas), people want a desktop in another form: laptops, smart-phones, handhelds, gaming devices (PSP, DS), MP3/MP4 players...

Others did not fail. But Apple is very good at creating wannahaves. With the iPad they created another one. People will pay lots of money for this device because it's a hype. And that is what Apple does. Creating hypes.

The iPad is nothing new. But it's got this 'look at me' factor. But try using it in the sun.... The Adam does a better job there.

thmzon Copying a hotel keycard onto an NYC MetroCard

Could be handy when they charge you for an extra keycard.

But we already did this 10 years ago with a cheap card reader/writer. So the news part is a bit missing here...

thmzon The Myth Of Creativity

Good point. The wisdom to use opportunities is underestimated I think. There is a lot of creativity in building something good with the tools available. I say good instead of new, because for developers the result will be something you've seen before. But under the hood, there is something that makes it quicker, more stable and more easier to use.

Sometimes creativity is not so fancy or easy to see. I think the author is talking about the fancy.