drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Why I created Comic Sans
drewmck's comments
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Show HN: an app I built to help you find great beer
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Why We Shut Down Charm on the Eve of Public Launch, at $48k/Year and Growing
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Is getting rich worth it?
"The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the supposed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.[1] According to this theory, as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness. Brickman and Campbell coined the term in their essay "Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society" (1971).[2] During the late 1990s, the concept was modified by Michael Eysenck, a British psychologist, to become the current "hedonic treadmill theory" which compares the pursuit of happiness to a person on a treadmill, who has to keep working just to stay in the same place."
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Help I don't want to be a programmer anymore
As a management consultant I was expected to grind out pointless "decks" (powerpoints) all day long. And all night long? Grind out RFP's for new business (which are usually more decks).
UX designers generally have a higher job satisfaction if they are with the right team. However, these jobs are difficult to get and easy to lose. Many of the UX designers I graduated with from HCI school are now looking into front-end dev, visual design and business strategy. Why? Because UX designers can easily become marginalized, and if all you can do is sketch and put together a few basic wireframes, you can quickly find yourself on the periphery of the team. You should see some of the bored/desperate emails I get from colleagues who either have 1) nothing to do or 2) don't get the respect they 'deserve'.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: We switched to Node.js: the good and the not so good
I'm also coming from Obj-C, C and Ruby background and recently read "Javascript: The Good Parts". I'm still looking for the good parts promised in the title and introduction.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Show HN: my useless weekend project, add speech bubbles to images
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Come to terms with being “only” an engineer
I'm a programmer/interaction designer. In design school we were told by professors that "programmers think in terms of X, but designers think in terms of Y. You should never code if your a designer, and never let a programmer design" While they are correct that exercising one muscle will benefit at the exclusion of others, they go to far with the assertion that there exists some cognitive boundary between design and development. The same goes for singular-thinking business guys, like the author, who attempt to dress down engineers who want to try their hand at something new.
I've never met a engineer tell an aspiring business guy "just be a business guy, don't try to code". In fact, most engineers I know will heap praise at business people who bootstrap their idea, even if the first attempt is a bit wonky. This just proves how badly the person wants their vision to be realized.
New years resolution for 2013: stop trying to clip other's wings.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Never Have the “What Would It Take to Keep You Here?” Conversation
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Building a 200000 Dollar Business in 11 Months Flat
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: If you have a file called todo.txt on your computer, you're in the right place
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Why I learned to "make things"
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Poll: I have a startup idea. How should I pursue it?
My immediate knee-jerk reaction (as someone currently in an emerging field within education): pursue it as a side project. You have a background and connections in this field, which is extremely important. Education is a notoriously difficult market to crack without some leads, and even then it could take years.
If you feel you need a set amount of time to complete this (say, a few months full time) then see if you could take a leave of absence from your current employer. If you're already on your way out for whatever reason, see if you can find some contract work on the side while you build this. You could even score some contracts within the edu industry which will also serve to build relationships toward your product offering.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: I’m writing my own OS
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living
Agreed that the real cash here is in contracting. Use appstore apps as exemplars of your work, make your actual $ consulting.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Show HN: I'm 15 years old, and I released my first NPM module: Wizardry
Looking at this module, had you not informed us otherwise, I would have not have guessed the person that made this was 15. It's impressive both in its focus and goals, and having no prior experience with IM/GM I'm now even more interested in using this as a pickaxe.
You should be proud of what you've done outside of the fact that you're 15 - it's really cool!
If you're looking for praise because of your age+abilities I would warn you that this praise is short-lived, and efforts to do so can backfire to the delight of douchey tech writers: http://gizmodo.com/5830076/how-i-made-a-15+year+old-app-deve...
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Why is Rick Santorum Using a Picture of 4Chan Founder Moot on His Website?
His website was designed by agency. The agency tasked a designer to create layout, including 'patriot' photos. The designer, perhaps someone who disagrees with Santorum's politics, decided to add a photo of Moot as their own personal jab.
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Buddhist monk's brain produces highest reported level of gamma waves
drewmck | 13 years ago | on: Color acqhired for $2-5M
So, if you're designing for kids, these things seem to matter less. Perhaps there's a better alternative not explored (marker felt, etc.) but there are use cases for these typefaces that adults disagree with for technical reasons.