normloman
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10 years ago
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on: The Handmade Manifesto
I don't think we have to give up libraries and interpreted languages. Just stop writing shit code because your boss needs it done in 5 minutes. Of course, thats our bosses fault, not ours. And its a symptom of a larger cultural attitude that values short term profits over long term sustainability. I say, why bother!
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: The Bright Students Left Behind
> It's almost impossible to force cultural change on a country.
A few decades ago, a majority of Americans didn't support gay marriage. Now it has majority support, and is legal in every state. This didn't happen by accident either. A lot of groups were involved in promoting gay rights and funding legal battles across the country. This isn't the first time this happened either: women's rights, civil rights, etc. Even today, organized groups are winning hearts and minds in the fight for criminal justice reform and marijuana legalization. So it's very possible to instigate cultural change (perhaps force is a strong word). It just takes a long time.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Work Hard, Live Well
The difference between reading a novel and writing a business plan is that you have to write the business plan. That makes a huge difference.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Work Hard, Live Well
How many YC start ups are so successful that the founders can retire after 4 years? Hardly any. PGs trying to dupe us.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Work Hard, Live Well
"That's just not how it works" isn't a reasoned argument. Tell us the real reason why you insist on working yourself to exhaustion despite solid evidence that it makes you less productive.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Material Design Lite
I've noticed that some designers are really copyists. They can't create an original look for a website. They merely copy whatever style is popular. They moved from faux wood finishes to completely flat, and now they seem to think "material" is a design movement, and not a limited set of guidelines from Google. No doubt, they will get jobs making everything look material, until the next fad rolls along.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology
You shouldn't put an emphasis on gender. But the numbers and stories like these prove that most people do, even if unconsciously. All of us are subject to biases, and pretending like you're above this reeks of hubris.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: I am tech – Real stories from women in technology
That's why there are multiple stories. So someone reading can see the whole range of women's experience in technology. I'm sure there will be some good, some bad.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Tinder Lashes Out on Twitter After 'Vanity Fair' Article
I HATE when people split up a long paragraph into tweets like this. It's absolutely the worst format for reading long text. You can only read one sentence at a time, and you have to read them backwards! If you can't fit an argument in a single tweet, link to a blog post!
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: “It’s done, there is no way back. We tried, we failed”
The artists have no right to complain. They were the ones asking for money in the first place. They promised the public they would deliver on the "toy." They underestimated what it would take to make the game. The backers are not free of responsibility, but the artists also have to accept blame.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: For Sale in Spain: Entire Villages, Cheap
I'm not buying the land to remove the houses. I'm buying the land so developers can't get their hands on it.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: For Sale in Spain: Entire Villages, Cheap
Something tells me if you fill a village with people of your choice, you'll get homogeneity. And without the chance interactions with diverse people and perspectives, those creative people will feel a bit less creative.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: For Sale in Spain: Entire Villages, Cheap
If I had the money, I'd buy all 400 of these villages, and demolish them (save for a few historic buildings). Let them turn back into forest.
Then I'd identify one village that was a good candidate for development. Start a new town with high density housing, walkable streets, and greenways. Require a green building code. Design great public transit. Eventually, ban cars. I would name this great city "Normville," after myself.
399 villages spared from sprawl!
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: G is for Google
Here's another possibility: Google's taking a page from the Innovators Dilemma, and moving their disruptive projects away from corporate meddling. Most innovative projects die at big corps because they don't fit into the companies existing business model. Walling-off self driving cars and contact lenses from Google's core business could give it the room it needs to grow (before some VP of whatever cuts the project for not being profitable).
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Calculator Construction Set (1982)
Yeah I couldn't tell if "esthetic compass" was a nice way of saying asshole.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Calculator Construction Set (1982)
No, you missed my point. Why does it matter what Steve Jobs liked? The tweaks in this story seemed to stem from Job's personal preference, and not any usability concerns.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Presumption of stupidity
Yes! I wish more people would actually read that book instead of throwing the word "disruption" around vaguely. After reading it, you'll realize the established business almost always has the advantage, and start ups only succeed in certain environments.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Calculator Construction Set (1982)
I'm not on the function end of things. Form makes a measurable difference. But some of it's subjective. Steve might have had the perfect calculator in mind, but perfect for whom? We knew so little about usability in those days - it's likely his employees could have come up with something just as good. Just not "his" idea. And if you're leading a team, you can't think like that. You must recognize that other people have good ideas too (That's why you hired them!)
Furthermore, if he wanted to communicate how the calculator should have looked, he could have DRAWN it.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Calculator Construction Set (1982)
Some of you will present this tale as proof of Job's restless devotion to perfecting the Macintosh down to the last detail. I see it as an anal retentive bully having his way. For all we know, the original calculator app might have looked great. It just wasn't how Steve would have done it. So instead he wastes his programmer's time with tedious changes. (The fact that he wasn't finished with just one round of revisions tells me either Steve couldn't communicate what he wanted, or wasn't sure what he wanted.) Was the calculator app really that much better in the end? And were the improvements worth all that effort? Only the original mac team would know. Who knows--The original calculator could have looked better.
normloman
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10 years ago
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on: Presumption of stupidity
Founders presume the stupidity of the competition because they're arrogant. Silicon valley, with it's notion of creative destruction and disrupting the establishment, encourages arrogance. We're blinded by the notion that new always trumps old, so we never consider that the established industry has reasons behind how it runs.
