Mobile web design: The reign of morons, indeed - <AUTHOR> http://www.jwz.org/blog/2013/10/mobile-web-design-the-reign-of-morons-indeed/ <comment><USER2> I agree with a lot he said there. But I would like to comment on this:

 _.. it launches the App Store application, presumably trying to get me to go download their custom app. Which is undoubtedly just a wrapper around a WebKit view of this exact same web site, except with more surveillance built in._

Actually the app store version of that magazine uses a custom display view that parses a JSON structure that itself is created by a parsing tool for InDesign files. It's the same structure used by a few other well-known published apps and I inherited that project while I worked at a company called ScrollMotion in NYC. The content package for each magazine ends up being around 500MB to 1GB! Mainly insanely large image files. It does usually include some things like games and embedded videos. But the main reason it wasn't web-based was a requirement for offline viewing. Content is pre-cached.

Just wanted to add that. It was a very early platform and we went on to create a much better one with an HTML5 content creator that could create much smaller packages, but that one is AFAIK, still a legacy app. It's now under the control of Hearst.

<comment><USER3> So, why does that pop-up still come up inside the app: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6484924](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6484924) ?

<comment><USER2> Because, as that post you pointed out says, he clicked a _link_. That will open a web browser. They can embed links in the content and the app will open a browser just like most apps.

To clarify even further: We used a custom URL scheme that could signal that the content was local. Then they could also use a regular web address if they wanted.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here's a notion: what if we assume that the entire staff of Esquire is, at varying levels, competent at their job?

So jwz's use case is that he's an inbound link from a social media site, right? So Esquire is optimizing two things here: conversion rate to the downloaded app and amount of time spent on site. The first one is obvious -- people who have the app downloaded are going to spend much more time overall and are going to be more valuable; the second one is a bit trickier, since you play a balancing act between getting users to dive deeper into the publication while making sure they don't leave altogether. In this sort of case, it's pretty reasonable to assume that someone has either the data or intuition to say "Hey, if they're visiting our site from Facebook, they have a pretty big investment in trying to read the article than someone who Googled something vaguely related to the article."

(The same goes true from mobile, where audiences tend to be slower and more captive.)

So, if we understand the series of decisions that led us to such an experience, we then have to ask why were those decisions made? Clearly there's a backlash against this kind of thing -- nobody says "wow, what a great banner ad!" \-- but its hard to argue against the financial straits of such a publication. Esquire doesn't have the circulation they used to, and its not a non-profit; they need to make money somehow.

Either way, its hardly fair to pin this on Esquire's web designer. Esquire's management, maybe -- or maybe the legions of people addicted to AdBlock, the legions of people who put a low -- and getting even lower -- value on content.

Now, everything is hinging on that assumption that people are vaguely competent over at Esquire. While it's entirely possible that such an assumption is invalid, I find its a more comforting one than the opposite assumption.

<comment><USER5> Whatever.

Esquire has a great print experience, but their web one, mobile _especially_ , is awful.

I'm sure their lead print designer gets final say for what goes to press. If their web designer is caving in to every ridiculous demand of management, that's the fault of the designer, not management.

So either the lead "webmaster" has no idea what they're doing, in which case they should get a new job, or they know exactly what they're doing but are hamstrung by management, in which case they should get a new job.

<comment><USER6> You neatly skipped past the whole "making money" part of the OPs post. Esquire has a great print experience. It is packed with ads. You're just used to it, so you don't care. I very much doubt the lead designer of the print edition can dictate how many ads are in the magazine, or where they are.

<comment><USER5> Print ads don't have to be physically peeled off the page in order to read the content underneath. They don't cause the pages to fall out of the magazine when you flip them out of the way. They don't cramp the content into a postage-stamp sized corner of the page. They don't inline ads every third paragraph. The ads themselves don't roll around on the page or blink.

There's ads in the print magazine, but they're in a format that doesn't run into absolute conflict with the content.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The designer isn't to blame here. Its an executive decision designed to hinder use. They dont want you doing something obvious like reading content. They want you looking at all the other pages they have to offer where you also cannot read content. I've found that maybe about 10% of the time trying to scroll an article into view or pinch-zoom I accidentally trigger a click on a link or ad. More clicks! More revenue! Lets keep them struggling to find content and mine all the clicks we can!

<comment><USER8> It's up to web designers/developers to take the shitty ideas of their bosses and turn them into something that is at least usable, and hopefully doesn't do evil shit.

The problem is, most developers/designers get saddled with tasks like this, and they think, "I fucking hate that I even have to do this in the first place -- why would I spend another goddamn second on it?" And they leave it the shitty experience that they know their superiors will sign off on.

Like any other job your results are only as good as the pride you put into it.

<comment><USER9> Fixing your boss' shitty idea is an optional, difficult and mostly thankless job. Getting a boss/client that has at least minimal respect for quality design and engineering is much better for mental health.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I often wish websites would abstain from doing a mobile-optimized version. The many ways of messing it up:

1\. Redirecting to the mobile page after the desktop page loads, taking up to ten seconds before i can start reading the content

2\. Using some clever swiping / panning mechanic that relies on javascript animation. Yeah, let's build the heaviest ui on the slowest platform, great thinking there.

3\. Preventing panning side-to-side and then having content too wide for the page (got this today on arstechnica, cutting off the bars on a benchmark graphic)

4\. Asking me to install an app via a popup. On a content-driven site this is never, ever, ok. No site visitor likes this, and it doesn't bring in revenue. It is indefensible.

5\. Presenting less content on mobile and offering no clear path back to the full content. Dell does this, i couldn't find out hardware details of their laptops from my ipad. No details, no purchase.

Ofcourse, there are cases where a little attention to mobile goes a long way. My phone operator redesigned their flash-driven website with html5 ... where the primary navigation are dropdown menus triggered by hovering and half the content doesn't load on a mobile device.

<comment><USER11> I feel your pain, and I've experienced some of these problems myself. In my opinion, many of these problems relate to a (poor) assumption that Responsive Design = Mobile Design. So the train of thought is to fit the Old Design onto a Smaller Screen. Instead, they should be thinking about how they can re- design the UI/UX to compliment Mobile, and deliver a better Mobile Experience overall.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'd comment on this article on web design if I wasn't straining my eyes on that terrible website.

Glass houses = unreliable source.

<comment><USER13> What? Sure, green-on-black may not be your colours of choice, but that's a matter of taste, not of usability. It's not like a grey-on-grey low contrast choice.

<comment><USER6> I'm not so sure. I consider the colours used on a site to be a factor in how usable it is. I found his site difficult to read, how is that not a usability factor?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> As much as I agree with what he said, his neon green on black blog style really isn't pleasant to read. I almost didn't finish reading it because of it (and it's pretty short).

But the point stands, don't hurt your users!

(even if you technically have a user/customer differentiation, the customer relationship is likely predicated on you having users)

</comment><comment><USER15> Yep, a major argument for Safari's "reader" feature. Of course, on these crappy websites that often doesn't work either (because they purposely structured their markup to defeat it).

<comment><USER16> Ah, the great features Opera had for ages until they dropped everything. Safari adds them and it's all big news. Read a tech magazine recently that was so excited about this "amazing and ground-breaking new feature" that I wondered if they had ever used Opera before.

With that being said, yeah, being able to apply custom stylesheets to websites easily is great!

<comment><USER17> > _Ah, the great features Opera had for ages until they dropped everything. > Safari adds them and it 's all big news._

Much like everything Apple does, amirite?

> _Read a tech magazine_

Sounds unlikely.

> _recently_

Safari Reader debuted in 2010...

> _that was so excited about this "amazing and ground-breaking new feature"_

I believe you. Really.

> _that I wondered if they had ever used Opera before._

Statistically speaking, probably not. Then again, they weren't missing out on much. Unless you like your websites rendered incorrectly.

<comment><USER16> Hush, go back to your cave.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> So I see two sorts of comments here:

* The article is invalid because I find the author's website hard to read.

This is the ad-hominem fallacy and is not at all relevant to the correctness of his point.

* Don't blame the web designer, blame X

What is the role of a web designer? To design (hence the name) the experience of the user on the web (again, hence the name). The experience on the Esquire mobile site is very poorly designed. If higher-ups request more-visible ads and higher conversion rates for the app, there are ways to funnel this traffic without making the site difficult or impossible to use on a mobile device. This is the job of a web designer.

(If higher-ups are mandating the design itself, they have assumed the role of web designer and relegated the titular designer to simply a web design implementor).

This mobile website is poorly designed. Thus, by definition, it's the fault of the web designer. And nothing is going to change with finger-pointing or blame-passing or the victim mentality so blatantly evident in this comment thread.

<comment><USER11> From my Experience, Good Design and a good User Experience do not always go hand in hand. I've met Designers that were awesome at Designing Stuff, but did not really have any interest in User Experience at all. I've also met Designers that were good at both (which is what I strive for). In some sense, it may come down to what roles and responsibilities you assign to the Designer, how many Designers you have, and how that particular organization works. Generally speaking, bigger organizations tend to have more moving components, which means you may end up with multiple people fulfilling multiple roles. In this type of environment, it's possible that the people involved loose sight of the overall Project, instead focusing on their individual components. This could explain how you end up with a poor User Experience, even with a team of great Designers. Blame it on Management. (hehehe)

<comment><USER19> > I've met Designers that were awesome at Designing Stuff, but did not really > have any interest in User Experience at all.

Those are artists (photoshop pilots, pixel pushers), not designers. Unfortunately the term is so banalized it lost it's meaning, but strictly:

        Design (noun): a specification of an object, manifested by an agent,
        intended to accomplish goals, in a particular environment,
        using a set of primitive components, satisfying a set of requirements,
        subject to constraints

If it's not solving a problem, it's not a design solution. That includes providing the expected/desired experience to the user, which is often the case.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Jwz jumped the shark long time ago. (His site only looks marginally better than Esquire's BTW and all you can read there are rants and creepy things.)

<comment><USER21> upvoted,look who's talking...

<comment><USER22> Now if I didn't know any better I'd say you folks are jealous, I didn't see this anywhere else:

[http://www.jwz.org/blog/2013/09/hoping-that-the-monsters- don...](http://www.jwz.org/blog/2013/09/hoping-that-the-monsters-dont-do-what- monsters-are-always-going-to-do-because-if-they-didnt-do-those-things-theyd- be-called-dandelions-or-puppy-hugs/)

Horribly entertaining, maybe you don't like that sort of thing though.

<comment><USER23> My god, that is probably the best article on processor design I have _ever_ read (though that's not saying much).

You should submit that as its own article (the paper, that is).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The title is a little misleading; Just because one Website has a bad Mobile Experience does not mean we have a 'reign of Morons'. There are lots of Websites out there that have awesome Mobile Experiences, this just (apparently) is not one of them.

But even with this said, I think it's important to note that designing a great Mobile Experience is no easy task. To me, it all starts with the Viewport, which is not necessarily an easy thing to understand. It seems as though the original Use Case for the Viewport was to provide the capability of zooming, presumably to account for Websites that were/are not mobile friendly. Over time, it seems as though the preferred User Experience has shifted to a set (non-zoomable) Experience, which is common with Web Apps. In fact, many of today's common Web Frameworks (example: Bootstrap, jQuery Mobile, etc), set the viewport to a 1.0 scale, and prevent zooming with the max and min scale set to 1.0, and/or an explicit user-scalable=no. So it stands to reason that there are grey areas between the original use case, and how people use it today. This could explain why some of the "Bigger Name" Websites still have Mobile Experiences that require Zooming. But this is still no excuse for the overall User Experience described here, which does not sound good. Just like an App, I believe that Websites (or Website Projects) should have someone dedicated to a User Experience role, which would identify some of the issues raised here, and solve them. When the Advertising in conjunction with the Design makes the Website un-usable, that really is sad.

</comment><comment><USER24> Coming from working in a publishing company...

It's definitely not the designers fault.

This is purely the result of mixed objectives and committee design. There will be fighting between a publisher, editorial, marketing, sales, designers and tech team.

Each dept. will have a trump card to have there say. Trapped in a false numbers game of milking the most pageviews out of whatever they can. While giving media buyers whatever they need to sell the space to there clients.

The designer will usually have a little or no say in what goes where. fact.

</comment><comment><USER25> Interesting sidenote: the author invented mozilla (the name), and was a founder of netscape. It might not excuse the hypocrisy of his own blog's design, but I like the point he makes.

Is this becoming a common practice? I've had my own frustrations when I double-tapped content which triggered a giant subscribe/paywall ad to cover everything in my view.

</comment><comment><USER26> No one is mentioning the elephant in the room, which is that with declining online ad revenue, and now that sites have just about reached the limit of how much advertising they can put on a page layout, they have resorted to "Subscribe to my newsletter" popups, and the one that irks me almost as much, the unmoving bars at the top and bottom of the page to try to keep the user on the site, by providing ever-present links. (Damn you google news,mail,blogger,etc!)

The things jwz is complaining about aren't just a problem for tablet browsing, they are a problem for all browser types.

</comment><comment><USER27> Just went to look at the Esquire article itself on Firefox with noscript installed on a laptop. 73 scripts and 1 object, that is a record (but I don't usually use Web sites like Esquire).

Does iPad not have a noscript like thing?

<comment><USER28> You can turn off JavaScript in iOS Safari. Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > disable JavaScript.

There's also a Ghostery browser for iOS:

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghostery/id472789016?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghostery/id472789016?mt=8)

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> As one who has worked as a web designer and now currently occasionally designs in my fits of development work, I take offense to the first sentence.

This sentence heavily assumes that these decisions were made by a web designer. Or anyone who knows design or usability for that matter.

I can't tell you how many times over my career that I've stated "this is a bad idea" to no avail.

Now this wonderful critique is out there, on a popular blog, that points the finger directly at someone without really knowing if they were the cause of the problems.

</comment><comment><USER30> 'And, to be clear, I then never read the article. Because I know that whatever they have to say will be said better by someone else who isn't such an asshole.'

Here here!

</comment><comment><USER31> Apple could easily remedy this by denying approval to media apps for websites that offer degraded experiences for iOS users. Problem solved.

<comment><USER29> That's an extremely bad idea.

<comment><USER31> Why? Because FREEDOM!?

It funny how many here react to any move by Apple to improve their customer's experience as Evil Incarnate. Maybe Matt Cutts can come by and explain what happens to your website on Google Search when you have a 'download our app' popup.

[http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/62902-google-avoid- download-...](http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/62902-google-avoid-download-app- pop-ups-or-lose-mobile-search-rankings)

<comment><USER29> How exactly is requiring approval from Apple for your app based on their wishes of what your website should do or not do be considered freedom?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> One slight nit-pick: when he says he uses the term "writing" instead of "content" he _is_ talking about two different things. The photo at the top of the article is very much part of the content, and is very much visible. He may not care for the photo, but others do.

</comment><comment><USER32> Of course, but the time you've decided to hit the close button you've been exposed to all of the ads and esquire has gotten exactly what they want out of you. Hell, if their lucky you try to go back to the site and wait to zoom in and get to see all of the ads a second time!

<comment><USER33> Except you can't scroll far enough to close it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> The ads and fonts aren't so bad as you can pinch them away by zooming in.

Interstitial and popups are hell on mobile

</comment><comment><USER35> On a PC/Mac, this is easy enough to avoid by adding crappy websites to your hosts file, pointing them to 127.0.0.1. I do this for Wired and a few others. Or, install Ghostery.

Can you do either on an iPad? I'm assuming no, but I'd love to proven wrong.

<comment><USER28> Ghostery has a browser for iOS:

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghostery/id472789016?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ghostery/id472789016?mt=8)

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> Here's one mobile annoyance I'd love to see go away: fixed nav bars on mobile.

Here's what Wired looks like on my iPhone: [http://i.imgur.com/pvgWa0p.png](http://i.imgur.com/pvgWa0p.png)

<comment><USER29> Hah! I just recently finished a project where we made the header and footer become unstuck on mobile for that very reason.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Esquire UK recently launched their redesign and has much better UX: [http://www.esquire.co.uk/](http://www.esquire.co.uk/)

Perhaps they might apply the same design for the US sometime in the future.

</comment><comment><USER38> The reason why many media websites are terrible is because the ad/biz dev department sets the parameters. It's a mistake to blame the web designer for being told they have to work in those parameters.

</comment><comment><USER39> Clicking the link, something made me feel I landed on some sort of obscure hacker blog. I wonder what could have caused that!

</comment><comment><USER40> By the time I reached the third paragraph, I had to stop reading because of the font colors.

</comment><comment><USER41> Chrome should really speed up the browser back button. I almost lost my eyes.

</comment><comment><USER42> This happens notoriously on a Facebook I own. Always popping shit up about promoting posts and running campaigns.

</comment><comment><USER43> Says the guy with the green on black page...</comment>


The World's Most Beautiful and Unusual Chess Sets - <AUTHOR> http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-worlds-most-extraordinary-chess-sets <comment><USER2> My father taught me to play using this chess set:

[http://www.bonanza.com/items/like/239031639/Tag- Collector-s-...](http://www.bonanza.com/items/like/239031639/Tag-Collector-s- Mandarin-Chess-Set-Transco-Game-Set-Vintage-Great-Condition)

Somewhere, I also have a carved onyx chess set from Mexico in a sort of Mayan motif.

</comment><comment><USER3> they left out the Simpson's chess set.

[https://www.amazon.com/Simpsons-Chess-Laminated-fold-up- play...](https://www.amazon.com/Simpsons-Chess-Laminated-fold-up- playing/dp/B00006653F)

[http://www.simpsonscollectors.com/releases.asp?id=36](http://www.simpsonscollectors.com/releases.asp?id=36)</comment>


Backdoor in ssh-decorator package - <AUTHOR> https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/8hvzja/backdoor_in_sshdecorator_package/ <comment><USER2> The solution to the impersonation aspect of this is commit signing. It is literally built into Git. There are no good excuses for project maintainers to not sign commits at this point. Grab a yubikey or other gnupg smartcard and do it. Else someone is going to impersonate you and use your name, reputation, and repos to spread malware like this. Have your git hosting provider refuse unsigned commits (github/gitlab allow this).

Secondly stop trusting pip/pypi. You -can- upload gpg package signatures but clients totally ignore them. There is no way to verify the author of a pip package except by hand today.

Let me be really clear here. When you install a pip package you are executing arbitrary code from the internet with unknown authorship.

Pip is fundamentally broken until signature validation is implemented. Whenever possible use OS package managers like apt which actually verify authorship and integrity.

<comment><USER3> I only sign git tags and releases. I don't sign git commits, because it's supper annoying, especially when rebasing large number of commits.

Package signing and verification works for distros, because significant effort is spent on curating keyrings of trusted keys. (And even that isn't foolproof! See [https://bugs.debian.org/842939](https://bugs.debian.org/842939) for the latest example.)

It's not clear how automatic signature verification could work for pip. Who's going to decide which keys are trusted?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> That is such a dick move. There should be a blacklist of people that pull these kinds of stunts. I understand that blacklists aren't Sybil resistant but they're better than nothing. At the very least the scum would have to rebuild their reputation.

<comment><USER5> It's very easy to change identities online. That's why throwaway accounts are a thing... If you start trying to ban based on IP, then you're in the cat/mouse game that IRC folks have been fighting for decades.

<comment><USER6> You can solve this though a few user interaction metrics. I'm not active on hacker news thus I don't have privileges (karma) to down vote. A brand new account shouldn't be allowed to make a change such as this, getting enough reputation should require active involvement and code review of changes before they are accepted. Just as my karma can drop, people should lose privileges. That this is sensitive piece having high security requirements means that bar can be even higher requiring years of involvement before unverified commits can occur.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Maintainer's response:

[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vjUIkP...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vjUIkPX1-0EJ:https://github.com/urigoren/ssh_decorator/issues/11%2B%22ssh- decorate.cf%22)

[https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/issues/3896#issuecomment-3...](https://github.com/pypa/warehouse/issues/3896#issuecomment-387184492)

<comment><USER7> It seems there's no way to be 100% certain whether the maintainer ( _urigoren_ ) is a victim or the perpetrator in this case.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The module starts with "import requests" which should be a red flag even for a cause skim of the source. The "it's open source, I'm sure someone else read over it" excuse only works when the code is popular enough... and some obscure pip package definitely isn't.

The author of the package claims to be a "victim" here, but it's hard to tell. Too bad pip doesn't support package signing.

</comment><comment><USER5> Two questions:

1) can paramiko.RSAKey handle other encryption schemes (ED25519) ? If not, folks using non-RSA keys wouldn't be affected..

2) Having a (strong) passphrase for your key file would help prevent the perp from doing any harm with the key(s), or at the very least would give you time to invalidate the key(s). Right?</comment>


ASUS announces the Padfone - <AUTHOR> http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/asus-announced-padfone/

<comment><AUTHOR> From the press release:

 _The ASUS Padfone is a device that explores one possible convergence between two popular mobile devices - the smartphone and tablet. The Padfone solves the problem of data transfer hassles and multiple SIM cards when both a smartphone and 3G tablet are used. With the Padfone, the smartphone docks inside the tablet to give users an expanded view to suit their tasks. With the phone docked, it can recharge from the tablet's larger battery and the tablet can also make use of the smartphone's 3G internet connection. The dual interfaces for both the pad and phone ensure an enhanced user experience as the layout is automatically adjusted for all activities such as video conferencing, web browsing and emailing._

</comment><comment><USER2> If you watch their 'Behind the Scenes' video, they talk about the N+1 concept. Is one-upping the competition really the way to go?</comment>


Uber and Cheezburger will deliver you 15 minutes of kitten playtime for $20 - <AUTHOR> http://blog.uber.com/ICanHasUberKITTENS <comment><USER2> BTW I presume Uber implemented this in LOLCODE?

HAI

CAN HAZ UBERDEPLOY?

VISIBLE "O HAI! WILL U HAZ UBERKITTY?"

LOL VAR R USERSEZ

IM IN YR LOOP

        GIMMEH USERSEZ

    	IZ USERSEZ LIEK "KITTENS!"?

            YARLY

                VISIBLE "KITTYZ IN YR LAP!"

    	    UBERDEPLOY

    	    KTHX

            NOWAI

                VISIBLE "CAN U HAZ KITTYZ?"

    	    KTHX

    	KTHX

KTHXBYE

<comment><USER3> I'm so going to learn this. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOLCODE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOLCODE)

<comment><USER4> Please don't, the LOLCODE market is competitive enough already.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This does feel a bit weird - short-term rental of petting animals? I'm worried about mishandling, animal cruelty and the whole concept - pets form an attachment with you, doing it as a short-term rental isn't an acceptable way of building a relationship...

<comment><USER6> I had this idea a few years ago. Before my wife and I moved to a place that allowed animals, I used to wish there was a way I could rent a dog while at the beach.

<comment><USER7> The shelter I used to volunteer at had a program where you could take the dogs off site for the day -- it was the best thing ever for the dog as it got a day out in the world as opposed to in a kennel.

It never ceased to amaze me how quickly they would get adopted after an off- site day; seemed to just hit a reset button on their stress levels.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> This is kitten prostitution

<comment><USER9> Pretty much. I went to one of those places in Tokyo, years ago, where you pay to pet cats and it was a depressing place. There were cats who were into it, but there were cats who clearly didn't want to be there (and some who'd been confined to cages that looked like little human apartments and were pacing constantly inside them).

<comment><USER10> I've been to a cat cafe in Tokyo, and I don't remember seeing any cats in cages. I do agree that it was a depressing place though, none of the cats were interested in interacting with the humans.

The place still seemed popular. I don't know why. The one stray cat I found during my stay in Tokyo was much more friendly than any of the cats in the cafe.

<comment><USER11> > The place still seemed popular. I don't know why.

Isn't it because Japanese people love animals, but with the sizes of apartments in Tokyo it's pretty much impossible to have one of your own?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> [http://www.puppycopter.com/](http://www.puppycopter.com/)

</comment><comment><USER13> We just had the kittens at our office (they just left). They have 3 cars doing it, and we were only the second company to get that car.

One of them really liked me (Artemis). :)

</comment><comment><USER14> I know it's fun, but I honestly think they're testing the waters with this sort of thing - same goes with the "Call an Ice Cream Truck" campaign from this summer.

Uber = On-Demand... anything?

<comment><USER15> _> Uber = On-Demand... anything?_

Yes, Uber has said in their interviews (or maybe it was pg talking about them?) that once they have the infrastructure set up to deliver a car anywhere they can branch out into on demand delivery of anything.

<comment><USER16> It was soon after that Google invested $200M+.

I believe that Google's driverless cars have a bigger financial gain by delivering goods rather than people. We all think they're doing the automated taxi thing, but I think that's just to make the general public comfortable with driverless cars being on the roads.

<comment><USER17> It's a dessert topping! It's a floor wax! It's both!

Either a car is safe to drive on regular streets without human supervision or it isn't. It doesn't matter what's inside.

You could probably imagine a scenario in which the cost of the self-driving kit (not the software, but things like "a LIDAR array") was something like $100,000. In which case maybe most private individuals are priced out of the market, but some corporations are like, "This is still cheaper than paying for drivers." But I don't really see why that wouldn't apply to taxis as well as kitten-delivery. And in any case, it's hard to imagine why the cost of an automation kit would not drop in time.

So I don't think there are too many plausible scenarios in which it is persistently the case that automated cars only carry non-human cargo.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> This is genius marketing. I've already seen a bunch of friends go nuts over the idea and I hope those kittens find great homes through the initiative!

</comment><comment><USER19> "Sorry, all Kittens are currently being snuggled. Please try again soon!" :(

</comment><comment><USER20> This seems incredibly underpriced. Make it $50 and target office parties, add another $50-100 for catered cupcakes and they'd make a ton of money for shelters.

<comment><USER21> Kittens at office parties seems cruel. Cats can't stand crowds of people and will try to hide, not want to play.

<comment><USER20> I think it's learned. No kitten I've ever met shied away from people.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> It does look ok. Depending on the age of the kittens it would be nice to tag the mother along, but otherwise 15 minutes shouldn't harm anyone.

This kind of business, when not tied to an ethically operated shelter, has a lot of abusive potential, of course.

</comment><comment><USER23> My girlfriend is a big fan of both kittens and cupcakes. This would be perfect for her, too bad it's not in Amsterdam.

Over the summer Uber had some cool stuff here. You could hire a boat with friends, and the ice cream truck of course.

</comment><comment><USER24> Now do it with puppies!

<comment><USER25> "National Dog Day" appears to be August 26.

Of course, every day is a good dog day. Perhaps Uber will consider doing something like this quarterly.

</comment></comment><comment> cupcake-unicorn Has anyone done this yet? Or too early to get the kitty van? I see the "Kittens!" option in Uber but don't see the cat icon.

</comment><comment><USER26> All right, that does it.

If I see ONE MORE CAT on the Internet, I'm leaving.

I mean it. Don't push me.

Edit: Oh, they're adoptable? Well, all right then; I'm for that.

</comment><comment><USER27> The internet is leaking again...

Seriously, this is a great way to get some kittens adopted from shelters. I am in the UK, and very jealous.

</comment><comment><USER28> This seems like something that would come out at the beginning of April

</comment><comment><USER29> In the SF financial district; I could not get a kitten.

</comment><comment><USER30> This is completely, absolutely brilliant.

</comment><comment><USER31> What does this have to do with HN?

<comment><USER32> Uber is a company from the San Francisco Bay Area, and HN is a site about companies from the San Francisco Bay Area.

<comment><USER33> Uber is a startup, and HN is a site about startups. FTFY.

<comment><USER16> The internet loves cats. That covers all bases.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Raise demand for young cats, surely it will not impact more young cats being produced (and killed when they get older). Want a pet? Get and keep one.

<comment><USER35> 1 day, they're shelter cats, and the proceeds go to shelters.</comment></comment>


Elixir Tip: Case vs. With - <AUTHOR> https://preslav.me/2020/09/11/elixir-tip-case-vs-with/ <comment><USER2> The link seems dead. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. (Germany, both FF and Chrome)

<comment><USER3> Just checked. Works for me (post author here).

<comment><USER2> Tried again today and it works. No idea what the problem was.

Good read! Thanks for sharing. I haven't used with much. This is a good summary for when to reach for it, and a reminder to do so.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: New calendar app idea - <AUTHOR> http://www.oneviewcalendar.com <comment><AUTHOR> Hi all. Just wanted to show you my latest side project (been working on it for a couple of years now). It's a calendar app with a twist.

It's developed as a web app, thats wy it could be integrated directly on the landing page. It can also be run on any device directly from [http://app.oneviewcalendar.com](http://app.oneviewcalendar.com)

Instead of the traditional monthview and day view I have used a timeline that is zoomable and scrollable. Give it a try, it's quite a different experience.

Please leave me a comment :)

<comment><USER2> I like the idea but semantically, this is confusing. If I want to scroll, it zooms in/out. Even that, it doesn't keep the focus making me wanting to really scroll. Now I'm really confused how to scroll. (I know how but I'm giving you the cognitive load that's necessary here). What would be cool is to use zoom gestures to ....zoom . That is completely intuitive. Aside from that, vertical bars take too much screen space without adding much information. Perhaps they could be translucent or some such.

<comment><USER3> It's scroll-jacking to let users without a touchpad to zoom in and out. I expect the mobile/touch version to be way more sensible.

<comment><USER2> I know, but users without touchpad had zoom functionality (like ctrl+wheel or ctrl+scroll) for years. Don't get me wrong I like the zoomability of a calendar, it is an excellent way to visualise information.

<comment><USER3> Managing _both_ is very difficult, at least until we get pointer events supported ([http://caniuse.com/#feat=pointer](http://caniuse.com/#feat=pointer))

<comment><USER4> I'm confused by what is difficult. In this case I would make the UX allow the native scroll trigger to operate and then add a zoom trigger. If you make the zoom triggers to be both ctrl+click and two finger pinch then it will work across all devices (ie. mobile/desktop/touchpad/mouse).

I agree that it will be great to be able to target touch pads or mouse/keyboards but I believe it is pretty simple to fix the UX on this app.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Looks pretty nice. Some criticisms:

* I dislike how the website hijacks scrolling, the phone doesn't fit on a Macbook 13" screen so I tried to scroll down, but that just scrolled in the app

* When scrolling out to a view where I see many months at once it can only show a few events, in the demo it only shows Gym, and when I zoom in a bit more it also shows Hockey with kids. I feel these recurring events should have the lowest priority when zoomed out, it's more important to see "special" one-off events.

* It's not clear that there are events hidden. When zoomed out a lot it's of course expected that this is the case, but when zoomed out a bit more it might be unclear if all events for a time period are visible or not.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, thanks for the feedback. Sorry for hijacking the scroll, but it just had to be done :) Your second point on recurring events is good, I will look at that. Even more so the last point, that one is really important, but I haven't found a good way to solve it yet. Thanks /Peter

<comment><USER6> You could hijack the scroll only when the mouse is over the phone's screen not the entire page. Very interesting UI!

<comment><USER7> That's already what happens for me. I can scroll the page just fine if my cursor is off the demo device.

<comment><USER8> In Firefox the scrollwheel is hijacked regardless of where the cursor is.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> There's something existentially terrifying about being able to quickly zoom out from out from a view of 5 minute intervals to one of several decades.

<comment><USER10> Terrifying yet inspiring! Must make the best of such short existence :)

<comment><USER11> I'm not trying to be negative, but I disagree. It's deeply unsettling.

<comment><USER12> Respice post te. Hominem te memento.

<comment><USER13> Translation for us lesser humans: "Look after you [to the time after your death] and remember you're [only] a man.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> One point - when compressing the view I care for rare events (e.g. deadlines, conferences) not things like gym. So I would do the opposite of adding counts. (The same, when I do something daily and I compress days to a single line, I DO NOT want to see it.)

<comment> alch- I second that, recurring events aren't very interesting to me, and they crowd the view (even when just looking at today / this week). Would be great if they were somehow less prominent.

Awesome work though, I love it!

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Nice! I had a very similar idea, which I made a small prototype for in a HCI course (click on the logo to get test data): [http://humbit.com/longcal/](http://humbit.com/longcal/)

The vision I had was a horizontal rather than vertical timeline and discrete rather than continuous zooming (though I thought a lot about implementing continuous scrolling). Yours might be the better way to do it, at least for mobile.

In any case, I think existing calendar apps fall short. There's no support for planning anything that extends out of the current month. The absolute _worst_ is when you're in the last week of the month and you don't even see things coming up in the next few days. Someone has a birthday and you don't even see it until it's too late. And what about planning things (trips, 30 day challenges, contracts) that last weeks or months?

I even think that the shorter perspective affects our ability to do long term thinking.

<comment><USER16> This is why I use Google calendar in the special "4 week view". Always shows the current day at the top so do you only looking at the future.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> The demo is really slick. The app does feel better than Google calendar. What was it built with? :)

</comment><comment><USER18> Beautiful UI, very intuitive!

One issue I ran into (on a MacBook Pro, OSX El Cap) was that scrolling wouldn't work on my (external) trackpad. It interpreted 2-finger scroll as pinch (down) and zoom (up). Had to use trackball to scroll.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, glad you liked it!! On the trackpad scrolling and zooming is done as on google maps. That is a two finger scroll does zooming and a single finger pressed and dragged does scrolling.

Hope that helps.

<comment><USER19> This looks awesome! Would you consider Google maps style mobile zoom too? In particular their one finger zoom is really great on mobile.

Two typographic things on the recurrence settings: frequence should read frequency, "week days" is a bit confusing, I'd probably change it to "on these days"

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> > By Peter Molyneux, Sweden

Peter Molyneux, the designer of Black & White and Fable? Or just the same name?

</comment><comment><USER21> My biggest gripe with Google Calendar is the lack of consolidation of duplicate events. Often I have about 3-4 copies of various events and a storm of 10+ notifications for every appointment. If you can solve this problem, it would be a killer app for me.

<comment><USER22> FYI there is a chrome extension which solves this!

<comment><USER23> Do you have a link? I have many birthday duplicates on my Google Calendar for example.

<comment><USER22> Found it: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/event-merge-for- go...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/event-merge-for-google- ca/idehaflielbgpaokehlhidbjlehlfcep?hl=en)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Reminds me of the Fisheye Calendar from UMD's HCI Lab, which was doing experimentation with Zoomable UI's: [http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/piccolo/learn/fisheye.shtml](http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/piccolo/learn/fisheye.shtml)

</comment><comment><USER25> Reminds me of DateLens [http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/datelens/](http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/datelens/)

</comment><comment><USER26> Beautiful. How do you build something like this? Coding language? Stack? Dev environment?

<comment><USER27> Yes, all of those don't really matter. You just fire up whatever and start building the damn thing.

<comment><USER28> well in this case I think it does.. Animating this many DOM elements in a performant way would be really hard. Looks like the webapp is rendered in a <canvas/> element. I think its a better discussion than 'which js framework should I use?'

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your interest. Performance has been har to get good enough. Basically it is a javascript app on a canvas. Thats why it can be integrated on the landing page.

<comment><USER29> You seem to have accidentally invented a really slick UI library for canvas. I have been working off and on on something like that for the last 3 years, but yours is actually factually working. I really hope you publish it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I like the creativity, but I think for daily use I still prefer the table inspired week view (or 3 day view for portrait mode) as it gives me a better sense of orientation. For execution you get A+ :) really well executed.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Hi everone, Thanks for all the great feedback. Anyone applying for Beta- testing will have to wait a few hours. Got my hand full :)

Feel free to use the contact form for any questions or if you just want the IPhone version.

Cheers, Peter

</comment><comment><USER31> This is a cool demo, but why would someone want to have all these long running events on the screen at all times? It makes the UI cluttered and less clear what the next thing is you need to be doing. For example, do I really need the fact that I'm on vacation to be taking space at the side of the screen at all times? I'm not going to forget. This kind of design makes it easier for me to miss things I need to remember to do, perhaps defeating the point of using a calendar app

<comment><USER32> I like it, because I have things like "parents in town", "partner in Canada" or "no soda challenge" that are relevant to any specific decision I make for a few weeks. Do I really want to see that movie with friends while my parents are here, or should I keep that evening free? If he's out of town then I won't plan a date night then.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> Very clever design, looks great.

A few thoughts on navigation: I'm on a mac and I felt that the zoom using the "scroll wheel" (i.e. track pad) was pretty disorienting. I was expecting it to scroll. Having to click and hold down to scroll doesn't feel right.

I also instinctively thought the arrow keys would work but they didn't. I'd suggest up/down (obvious) and left = zoom out, right = zoom in.

</comment><comment><USER34> the main view is all rendered in a <canvas> element... wow!

<comment><USER35> Honestly it was probably way easier (and more performant) to implement it that way. I would hate to wrangle DOM elements and CSS to get it to perform that smoothly and lay out in an expected and consistent way. I think most game developers would likely agree.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> Very cool prototype. Like many in this thread, I've been dreaming of a calendar app like this, something that I can pick up and use without having to read a bunch of documentation. It seems like most of the calendar programs I've tried to use succumbed to feature creep and ended up being feature rich but unwieldy, so it's refreshing to see such a simple, easy to use program.

That being said, the one feature I could really use in a calendar app is to have a sort of ledger column that I could use for budgeting. As a person juggling multiple part-time jobs, it would be invaluable for me to be able to plug in my expected shifts for the week, get an estimate of how much my paycheck would be, and calculate that against my bills for the week/month/year.

</comment><comment><USER37> Love the pinch-to-zoom on this touch-screen Chromebook. It reminds me of Google Photo's!

</comment><comment><USER38> Thanks for making this app. I had a similar idea too, but never executed it. Of course, the idea was based on a certain need. Often, I would have unscheduled events such as "talk to Santosh sometime next week" or "go on a short bike trip with Francesca next month". Basically events that have not been assigned a defined date and time. These are the events that I would like to see in the week view or month view (when I zoom out) so that I know that I need to find a specific time for it. The other events (which have a set date and time) receive lower priority in the zoomed out views. Have you thought of implementing something similar? Would be nice.

</comment><comment><USER39> I've thought about hacking a calendar app for myself before. My pain points seemed very different. My main thing was being able to manage recurring events in a way that wasn't awful. I had a lot of recurring reminders to just take care of simple things during the week, but then I would go between time zones and some things would need to be shifted and other things fit an absolute time. Then I would go on vacation and some things needed to be snoozed on vacation but others were still important.

I never really found a good solution from this. I just happen to be on sabbatical from working and have a new kid so my life just doesn't work the same way.

</comment><comment><USER40> This app looks very similar to Timepage by Moleskin – which has been around for a while.

</comment><comment><USER41> This looks very promising, with a few improvements I can easily see this as my preferred calendar app.

Feedback: Is it possible to selectively enable/disable individual calendars? I have a "birthday" calendar from a large social network that results in multiple birthdays each day completely dominating the calendar. If I can't turn that off, it's virtually unusable for me unfortunately.

I tried to assign up for the Android beta but just received a confirmation email that I'd subscribed, no link to install the app. Is that to be expected?

[Edit: I just received a download link in an additional email. Thanks!]

<comment><USER42> Selecting a calendar allows you to access checkboxes that allow you to disable/enable subcalenders such as national holidays, birthdays and the main calendar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Give me a place for my email so you can tell me when it's iOS ready, please!

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry, I should have done that. For now could you use the contact form? Cheers Peter

</comment></comment><comment><USER44> When you add an event you scroll down, down, down. The final step is OK/Cancel and they are at the top of the page, centered. I can't reach those buttons with my thumb and have to use my other hand. They should be down at the bottom where the flow of the action ends, left and right justified.

Edit. I think it could also benefit from a 'snap to now' button somewhere. I don't have time to use your fancy GUI for literally seconds of my life to see what's going on this morning.

Just my 2c. Really nice app. (tu) I hope this doesn't come across as negative, I just want to help.

</comment><comment><USER45> Very slick. But something seems wrong with the two finger zoom (or I misunderstand it). It zooms, but it also scrolls a little... so the thing I was looking at will go off screen.

For example if I have Sunday the 10th at the top of the screen, and I two finger scroll/zoom, I'm preplexed why the date at the top shifts to earlier or later dates. This happens both directions. Maybe it's intentional, but it's unexpected (for me). I either want to zoom or scroll, not both.

I hope you take that as constructive. I really like it otherwise :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, I will try it out again. The zooming and scrolling should have been done to perfection, but maybe I've missed something. The two finger zoom is intended to follow your fingers vertically and ignore any horizontal movement.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Looks great, when it supports caldav (or uses the calender of my android which is synced via caldav by a 3rd party app) and otherwise keeps the information on my phone I'd happily jump in.

</comment><comment> yoz-y One thing I learnt from working on a calendar app is that the things which people want to see are seemingly very different from person to person.

In the case of your calendar I would prefer if the events that happen on the same time would "expand" much sooner. In the example if you want to see both morning-briefing and my-breakfast-day you need to zoom in to a day view. I would much rather see these events one under another in the "week" zoom level, especially since there is a lot of free space available.

</comment><comment><USER47> Hard to scroll down and read the stuff about this app of yours, since the "app" itself captures my scroll wheel. Had to use the scrollbar instead, which was a bit lame.

Interesting idea, though.

</comment><comment><USER48> Nice! Reminds me of Spence & Apperley's bifocal display ('fisheye') calendar [1], but on a single axis.

I remember thinking when I saw that in an HCI course a couple of years ago that despite being over 30 years old it was a better calendar app UX than anything available that I was aware of!

[1] - see Fig. 6 of [http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/r.spence/pubs/SA82.pdf](http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/r.spence/pubs/SA82.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER49> Really awesome app! My only advice would be to move the sidebar to the top when possible because horizontal real estate is important, especially if you have lots of long term events.

Other thing I'd love to see in a calendar app is prompting me to track the exact amount of time I spend on each thing in my calendar. Having contextual reminders and a split (planned/reality) view would be really interesting. It would help spot those people who are habitually late.

</comment><comment><USER50> Slightly off topic, but do you know what I want? A calendar app that allows me to add events that don't have an end time. Sometimes I know when things will start, but don't care/know when it will end. Let me make the end time optional, and then just give me the alert when something happens. It's not like you get an alert when it ends. I don't get why any single calendar app I've ever used won't do this.

<comment><USER51> On Google Calendar, you can make events that are 0 minutes long. That'll give you an alert when it starts.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> I just want to add to the chorus of people saying they would pay for this. I too would be delighted to pay for this app. Looks AWESOME, thank you for creating it!

</comment><comment><USER53> I can't connect to my Google calendars. It just gives me the spinning circle then tells me failed to connect. When I look after it fails, it shows me my calendar list but it can't seem to display events. I have tried refreshing and disconnecting then connecting again but it gives the same error. I love this calendar concept and would love to give it a go. Any hints? I'm using chrome on my phone (Nexus5x).

</comment><comment><USER54> I can't scroll the page using my trackpad on Firefox because the scroll events seem to be captured by the simulated phone and not passed to the page.

</comment><comment><USER55> I like it! A few things that'd be really useful: \- timezones when adding an event \- and "floating" for eg. morning run \- supporting different start and end timezones is really useful for plane flights \- a second timezone shown on the left

I use these things a lot currently (except for the separate start/end timezones cos no-one does that well, sadly)

<comment><USER56> Outlook does separate start and end timezones. It's still outlook though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER57> I'm getting a 404 on [http://app.oneviewcalendar.com/libs/jsWrappers.js](http://app.oneviewcalendar.com/libs/jsWrappers.js)

Also, I get a QuotaExceededError for the key oneview_allEvents

(Otherwise, I think this is really great! on android I can just add it to my homescreen and it feels almost like a native app)

</comment><comment><USER58> It looks awesome, but I have an error when I connect my google calendar. The header shows 'connexion failed', and the console says : appBundle.js:454 Uncaught QuotaExceededError: Failed to execute 'setItem' on 'Storage': Setting the value of 'oneview_allEvents' exceeded the quota.

Maybe my calendars are too big ?

</comment><comment><USER59> Make it into an Android App and add Microsoft/Outlook calendar support and you got yourself your first customer. Hell even if it's only an I'd still be your first customer.

On the more construction side it would be nice to have to see at what time an event takes place by just glancing and no only by clicking or taping on it.

</comment><comment><USER10> Very, very good! Works dandy on my mobile browser. May I ask what js framework, if any, are you using?

<comment><AUTHOR> No frameworks, just plain js on a html canvas.

</comment></comment><comment><USER60> Very nice!

One suggestion is to auto arrange to different number of columns based on the current time unit. Though zooming would get weird -- it would have folding/unfolding effect or snaky undulations! Not sure if this is possible but such "zooming" can have other uses....

</comment><comment><USER61> a lot like timepage for ios [https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/moleskine- timepage-calendar/...](https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/moleskine-timepage- calendar/id989178902?mt=8)

cool idea making it a web app

</comment><comment><USER3> I had that same exact idea years ago but didn't finished it. Congrats, looks very, very promising.

</comment><comment><USER62> I don't really understand how zooming works here — if I scroll up then down a bunch of times, I get really zoomed out and can't zoom back in.

Additionally, the zooming mechanic could use some improvement, as it seems really jerky on my Macbook.

Good idea, best of luck with it!

</comment><comment><USER63> Nice work. Love the UI, and general concept.

My only criticism would be that the two vertical buttons/labels take up a fair chunk of the horizonal real estate.

Perhaps just show the right one, and use strings such as "December 2015" and "22 Thurs (Dec)"?

</comment><comment><USER64> Are you planning an iOS native app? I would love this and would pay for it

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, glad you like it. Yes IPhone version is planned. But will be a few months yet. You could send me an email and I'll put you on the list.

</comment></comment><comment><USER65> Very nice. I was meaning to implement something like this in JS (this summer hopefuly if I dont get busy) as a fun project for my website but something much smaller. Got any ideas?

</comment><comment><USER66> That's awesome!

I have a suggestion: I love how when you tap a week number it zooms to that week. But I think it would be useful if it resets to the previous zooming if you tap it again.

</comment><comment><USER67> I would prefer it as a true app instead of as a webapp. @OP, You mentioned an apk somewhere in the comments. Is it on an appstore? Couldn't find it on the Play Store.

</comment><comment><USER68> I synced it to my Google Calendar, but it imported all the events of my coworkers calendars that I subscribe to.

It should have a way to remove it from view or not even import them at all.

<comment> alch- In the menu, you can manage which calendars are shown.

</comment></comment><comment><USER69> Very slick UI. A little sluggish if you zoom all the way out and then back in, but otherwise really nice man.

Also (not that it matters), you misspelled 'hockey'.

</comment><comment><USER70>
        Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'populateCalendars' of undefined
        Uncaught ReferenceError: moment is not defined

<comment><USER70> [http://app.oneviewcalendar.com/](http://app.oneviewcalendar.com/) works.

I like it a lot. Feels much better than Google Calendar, for its simplicity (although in the browser it feels kinda odd).

I won't use it because I don't like calendars.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback. I Haven't got the same error as you, but I will have to find out what has gone wrong. Better than Googles calendar was nice to hear :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER71> Looks nice! I think this could be a really successful app!

It would be nice if you could keep us (the HN crowd) updated on the business side of things.

</comment><comment><USER72> Amazing UI fluidness on mobile. Very good idea!

</comment><comment><USER73> Excellent app! I too am jealous you beat me to it.

I just wanted to say one thing, you can make it open source, or wait until someone else does it.

</comment><comment><USER74> Transitions feel very slow to me. If you can make that feel smoother and slicker, you're really onto something. Cool idea.

</comment><comment><USER75> I hope Apple hires you and makes this their default UI for the builtin Calendar app in next year's iOS/macOS. :)

</comment><comment><USER76> Really neat idea. I'm sad that the site requires JavaScript, but I don't know how this would work otherwise.

<comment><AUTHOR> Glad you like the idea. Yes, it would of been hard to build without javascript. But if you use android you can get the app :)

</comment></comment><comment> cha-cho A very clever idea. The UX and the ease to onboard with the demo are both well executed. Congratulations!

</comment><comment><USER77> Really nice design! I think the simplicity compared to Google Calendar could suit a lot of people.

</comment><comment><USER78> Great app. I hope you will make apps via apache cordova from it and upload it to the app stores.

</comment><comment><USER79> I signed up for the email but I didn't get a download. Did anyone else have any luck?

</comment><comment><USER80> Double-clicked on the left side bar and it locks it without being able to re- open it.

</comment><comment><USER81> Very nice and intuitive UI! Any thoughts about supporting ICS/VCS?

</comment><comment><USER20> It reminds me of the WinFS "Journal" demo application.

</comment><comment><USER82> Does this integrate with my current calendar, say at Google?

<comment><USER83> The website heavily encourages connecting your Google calendar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER84> This is cool. A search function filter might be nice.

</comment><comment><USER85> Anyone have a screenshot of this? (No JavaScript)

<comment><USER86> [http://i.imgur.com/7J0wHPk.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/7J0wHPk.jpg)

These are two levels of zoom pictured, that's the idea basically - you can zoom and scroll on the "timeline".

</comment></comment><comment><USER87> Awesome UI!

Does it support CalDAV?

<comment><USER88> +1 for CalDav support, currently it looks like it only works with Google Calendar.

I've moved away from Google Calendar to self-hosted CalDAV, but there's a frustrating lack of good Calendar apps that support it. I'd like to give this a try!

</comment></comment><comment><USER89> Still hard to add new event

</comment><comment><USER90> Where is the source code?

</comment><comment><USER91> Nice.

</comment><comment><USER92> I like it. I've been working in a similar view.

How do I get rid of all your items?

<comment><AUTHOR> Well your looking at the demo calendar. You'll have to switch to your google account to get total control. Hope that helps /Peter

<comment><USER92> Ah, got it. It would be nice to have a standalone option, though. I don't necessarily want to be integrated with Google.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER93> Hey, you quit designing video games to make a calendar? Godus sucks, BTW.

<comment><USER94> Different Peter Molyneux.</comment></comment>


Only Indians make, receive missed calls - <AUTHOR> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Only-Indians-make-missed-calls-Study/articleshow/4760120.cms

<comment><USER2> I do this with my cell phone too. I carry a Skype number that I use on my ipod and call people back on that rather than burn cell minutes. With caller ID on the cell phone it is pretty easy to know if the call is urgent or can wait 20 seconds till I call back on Skype.</comment>


Toilet paper startups - <AUTHOR> https://www.fastcompany.com/90400017/meet-the-artisanal-toilet-paper-startups-taking-on-big-tissue <comment><USER2> Reminds me of an old youtube video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRlBtabKRFM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRlBtabKRFM)

Anyway, the article made a point how they're "combating deforestation," but is that really true? I always thought that clearing land for farming and cattle was the main cause of deforestation by far, followed by construction and furniture, and that the paper industry tended to plant tree farms since they don't really require old-growth hardwoods, which is why I always opposed recycling paper. Was I wrong in my belief?

Additionally, it feels to me like this is more of a cynical attempt to capitalize on the eco-hippy market rather than any actual concern for the environment. All the people I've talked with who are concerned with environment and waste seem to be moving to bidets to minimize toilet paper use, and intuitively this makes sense to me, though I admit that I haven't done any research on the topic.

<comment><USER3> "It feels to me like this is more of a cynical attempt to capitalize on the eco-hippy market rather than any actual concern for the environment"

Is there a functional difference? The company will die or thrive based on the size of the 'eco-hippy' market (well lots of things, but lets keep it simple), motivation isn't really going to change that. I suppose yes from the customer perspective they are buying warm fuzzy save the polar bear feelings, but then the cynical company will tell them what they want to hear anyway.

A bidet for me would involve replacing plaster and floorboards, the payback time would be massive.

<comment><USER4> You don't have to replace the full toilet. There are plenty of options that fit on an existing toilet. You can get simple ones that are just spray all the way up to seat replacements with deodorizers and warm water (they require an outlet). It's easier than replacing your floor and not horribly expensive. Your butt and the environment will thank you.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> My wife started buying Who Gives A Crap for our household a few months a go and we love it. We went the "mid-tier" quality (although we experimented with the the lower - 1ply tier at first wasn't that bad either). We also get the huge pack with 10 or 20 boxes of tissues included.

> Most mainstream toilet roll brands source their wood pulp from boreal > forests in Canada, which are very old and take between 20 to 50 years to > regenerate.

it's this kind of crap (pardon the pun) that makes us feel good about using recycled TP.

also, i have to give a shoutout to whoever Who Gives A Crap's copywriters are; the stuff they put on the undersides of the tissue boxes and TP rolls is genuinely hilarious. I worked along side great copywriters years ago, and I can just picture those kind of people sitting around brainstorming funny stuff to adorn the wrapping with.

edit: it's made from bamboo, not recycled.

<comment><USER6> Why use much TP at all?

[https://www.squattypotty.com/shop/bathroom- accessories/dual-...](https://www.squattypotty.com/shop/bathroom- accessories/dual-stream-bidet/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I would like to know how they test for the crumble factor. Who is assigned to count the number of bits of paper in the butt left after wiping and how much do they get paid.

<comment><USER8> These are important questions that need to be answered.

<comment><USER9> nothing that cant be handled with good ol' AI.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> "Would you pay $3 for a "farm to bathroom" toilet roll?" \- Given my salary in Russia at $ 388, then I would not buy toilet paper for $3

</comment><comment><USER11> Still boggles my mind why the West doesn't use the bum gun.

Environmentally friendly (you can optionally use tissue to dry) and cleans better.

Wiping yourself seems primitive in comparison.

<comment><USER12> It's one of the best quality of life upgrades you can make, I recommend bidets to everyone!

<comment><USER13> The best quality of life upgrade you can make is eat less starch and enjoy non-sticky poop, fixing the root cause of the problem instead of its symptoms.

<comment><USER12> I wish I could eat keto, unfortunately my body requires starchy food.

And good luck getting the rest of America to voluntarily cut it out!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I miss ShitBegone ([http://www.shitbegone.com/](http://www.shitbegone.com/)), which we used to buy for our coop house.

</comment><comment><USER15> Artesenal toilet paper may be this bubble's WebVan...

<comment><USER7> Maybe Mr. Hanky will be the spokes-poo in superbowl commercials for the product.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Bidet disrupts big toiled paper roll.

<comment><USER17> We have three young kids, and I've gotten a lot of funny looks over the past couple years when I tell people that if one of them pooped in their diaper, we washed their nether regions with soap and water.

It absolutely baffles me that the same people who freak out about the possibility of there being germs on their kid's pacifier will wipe up poop with a wet wipe and send the kid on their way.

Even as an adult, I don't get how people think of toilet paper as having any "cleaning" power. It just seems wildly unsanitary if you bother to think about it, which is why I suppose most people choose not to.

<comment><USER18> I always liked the argument, if your belly button was your butthole, would you wipe it with TP and call it good?

<comment><USER19> Sorry but I think that's a silly argument.

Use the right cleanliness tool for the job. For a sidewalk, powerwash it. For a cast-iron pan, you wipe it out and maybe use oil and salt.

That's not to say that a bidet isn't the right tool - but the justification needs to show why it is the right tool, not just point at other body parts and say "the right tool for my hands is soap and water, therefore the right tool everywhere is soap and water."

<comment><USER20> Skin is the same everywhere, it seems disingenuous to claim that one skin area needs different care from another without more evidence. Similarly cast-iron pans seems to be an internet thing, soap and/or powerwashing would presumably work just fine.

The only exception I can think of to soap and water for cleaning is delicate fabrics or sensitive optics, but there the issue is the liquid used rather than the general process.

<comment><USER21> That's not quite true, anal region is slightly more sensitive. There are improved cleaning agents that are less irritating, but are still not commonly used. (Some old bidets have too strong water jet. It's unpleasant.)

It's not as sensitive as mouth though. We don't use soap with grit and fluoride anymore to clean teeth and mouth nowadays.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I'd like to try some of them but none of them pass the wife test. She's extremely picky on what TP we buy. I would eventually like to install a bidet however.

<comment><USER22> I can't believe they could highlight 5 toilet paper companies, and not find one Bidet startup to mention.

Especially with the focus on the environment in that article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> >> or have received pre-seed rounds of under a million dollars

Our priorities as civilisation are seriously wrong when these enterprises get _any_ funding. "Under a million" is a vast amount of money - that can be used to actually make someone's life better or save lives.

</comment><comment><USER24> I still have a roll of dot-com toilet paper that looks like a stock ticker. Most of them really did end up worthless, but AMZN is on there too.

</comment><comment><USER25> There's 2 boxes from "who gives a crap" on our foyer right now. When did instagram become the product discovery platform?

</comment><comment><USER26> I just use 3M 60 grit. Cheaper and less scratchy than the stuff they sell at Whole Foods.

</comment><comment><USER27> Reminds me of .com bubble

</comment><comment><USER28> Are any of these VC funded?

Else, I'm sure VC _firms_ , especially _Soft_ bank, are currently doing a due- diligence on some of these.

Perhaps we'll have a new entrant in the market with brand _Soft_ -n- _firm_.

/s

Edit: I guess the downvoter missed the /s at the end.</comment>


City of Ruins - <AUTHOR> http://www.behance.net/gallery/City-of-Ruins/4066411 <comment><USER2> What's really sad is how the city was rebuilt afterwards. The absolute last people you want rebuilding a grand city are Soviet engineers.

If you've never been to Poland, land in Warsaw, spend a day or two, then head south to Kraków. The amazing disparity between a city leveled in WWII and rebuilt by communists and a city untouched by the Nazis (and therefore the Soviets) is heartbreaking.

<comment><USER3> Was it rebuilt badly due to bad engineers, or just because the soviets had a lot to rebuild?

<comment><USER4> It wasn't the engineers, it was the architects.

Communist architecture followed the principles of communist architecture. Diversion from what the state thought was a good idea was highly un- recommended. The principles of communist architecture started off from a lot of high-minded platitudes about equality and national purpose, but in practice always translated to a monstrous block of filthy grey concrete with tiny windows that looks awful from a distance and only gets worse as you get closer.

It wasn't confined to the eastern bloc either, you can find plenty of horrible examples of a similar style dreamed up by western architects infected by similar principles; pretty much anything ugly, grey, concrete, and mid- century. They continue to blight our cities and (especially) our university campuses. But reconstruct a whole city in the same milieu, and you'll have Warsaw.

<comment><USER5> I didn't know that, but googling around to learn about communist architecture took me here . . .

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konigsberg_Castle>

. . . where they replaced a pretty castle with something like you describe.

<comment><USER4> One of the most visually offensive things about a lot of communist architecture is top-heaviness. It's not just a grey block of filthy concrete, it's a grey block of filthy concrete that looks like it's about to crush you.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> As a person of polish descent, I was heartbroken to visit Warsaw and see beside ~90% of the most beautiful buildings a little plaque and statement basically reading "this is a reproduction, the original was bombed to hell in WWII and here is a picture of the ruins".

<comment><USER7> As a Pole raised in Warsaw I can give you a different perspective: it's actually surprising for children to see things which were _not_ destroyed and are original.

I still remember my younger brother, as a 10-year old, visiting one of the French Loire castles and asking my parents: "so, all this was rebuilt after the war, right?".

We should all learn. Never again.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> My father fought in the Warsaw uprising when he was 16 years old. He spend the next year as a prison of war in a forced labor camp. This video has brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting it.

<comment><USER9> The Warsaw Uprising museum (<http://www.1944.pl/>) is well worth a visit. For a long time this history was suppressed as it didn't fit in with the prevailing orthodoxy that the Red Army did all the liberating. The existence of the museum is the culmination of many years of work by people like my grandmother, who also took part in the uprising, in preserving the history and pushing for its recognition.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I am struck by the relative peace, prosperity, and safety of our time. It is a costly gift from those of my grandfather's generation. I feel compelled not to waste it.

<comment><USER7> This is exactly why I (being Polish) go to vote in every election.

I feel I do not have the right to say "nah, I don't really care" — I haven't earned it. I owe a debt to our grandfathers, who ran around with guns, fighting for our freedom, as well as to my parents' generation, who managed to break out from under communist (Soviet) rule. People who did run around with guns have earned the right not to go and vote — I did not.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Wow, Platige Image has really knocked it out of the park with this. Kinda reminds me of the awesome work they did on their short film "The Cathedral". I still remember being in awe of that when it was at siggraph years ago.

It would be incredible to see this done to Dresden as well, another city that was absolutely decimated by the war.

<comment><USER11> Have you seen the Witcher 2 intro they made? Incredible:

<http://www.platige.com/frontend/project/the_witcher_2_intro>

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> whats also sad is how the Russians took advantage of the situation and instilled communist rule for the next ~50 years.

</comment><comment><USER13> Awesome imagery here...when I first read the title though it made me think this was going to be about Detroit again. The levels of destruction and abandonment there even today have to be seen to be believed.

<comment><USER4> Once again, in action, the unnamed law that decrees that any article about anything happening in any country in the world inevitably turns into a thread about much worse things are in the US.

<comment><USER14> The interesting part about Detroit, amongst others, is that Detroit's "ruins" are due to an exodus of industry and followed by population. That's to say, it's not exactly due to gov't mismanagement or some kind of systemic failure. The failure is more individual --for example, company goes bankrupt --leaves building. But no one comes in to rent the building out. In other cases, it's due to buildings reaching their useful life --and not getting torn down properly (in this case, too costly for the gov't since no one is willing to build, as they would in other cities). All this is aggravated by the flight form the city to the suburbs and elsewhere. To put it succinctly, this is more organic, than artificial.

So, for example, you could be in a nice building and look across the street and look at a dilapidated building in disrepair. It's a weird juxtaposition but one shaped by economics and demographics.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Um... wow... words are not enough...

<comment><USER4> Actually I think words are sufficient. As in "Oh man, those three and a half seconds of actual video of the reconstruction were awesome, it'd be nice if there were more of that"

edit: I found the full video! <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrlE99I_Q9A>

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> What technology is being used to create this?

<comment><USER17> From their job application forms, it seems like they use a lot of Autodesk 3D modeling tools along with Adobe creative processing/finishing software too. I'd also really like to know what software packages were used exactly.</comment></comment>


18 Million for Recovery.gov 2.0 - <AUTHOR> http://sunlightlabs.com/blog/2009/07/09/18-million-recoverygov-20/ <comment><USER2> sour grapes?

<comment><AUTHOR> No, not at all. I think the outrage over the price tag is a miscalculation. All we see right now is "= 18MM" but what we don't see is what comes before the = sign. THAT's the problem.</comment></comment>


Blaze CSS – Open Source Modular CSS Framework - <AUTHOR> http://blazecss.com/ <comment><USER2> "Un-opinionated" right next to "BEM". It's like saying WinAPI and COM is un- opinionated.

<comment><USER3> My thoughts exactly. Also labeling Semantic, Bootstrap etc. as monoliths, yet they both offer custom modular builds.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Really nice. The only thing that would prevent me to give it a real go to is that it is a one man project not backed by any company...

<comment><USER5> Wasn't Linux originally a one man job as well?

<comment><USER6> Would you use a 1-man-developed OS on your servers?

Linux is no-longer a 1-man show.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This looks really good. The grid is much more customisable than bootstrap/foundation.

<comment><USER8> Thanks! Worked hard on the grid!

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Is there a reason beyond the marginal performance difference, why there are no global modifiers in BEM?

I find the _c-button c-button--primary_ a bit annoying. Why not just _c-button primary_ and define them like this?

        .c-button.primary {
          …
        }

Or namespace it:

        .c-button.m-primary {
          …
        }

<comment><USER10> It's not so much about performance, it's about specificity. To override anything in `.c-button.primary` you'd need something to have equal or greater specificity (meaning you couldn't do `.c-button--large`).

Obviously this is a fairly basic example, but with more chaining comes more levels of specificity which makes for increasingly difficult changes and worse productivity.

<comment><USER9> I don't get your example.

What's the difference between

        .c-button.primary { … }
        .c-button.large { … }

and

        .c-button--primary { … }
        .c-button--large { … }
    ?

<comment><USER11> .c-button--primary has lower specificity that .c-button.primary

<comment><USER9> But _.c-button.large_ has the same specificity as _.c-button.primary_.

<comment><USER12> Indeed, but with BEM, you keep a specificity of 1, which means you can override styles simply by adding a class and ensuring that it is further down in the style sheet than its other base classes.

Like mentioned above, this keeps things simple and prevents the snowball effect of people continually adding classes or selectors to override styles.

<comment><USER8> Single Reaponsibility principal. Create a class called .button. The responsibility of that class is to define what a button looks like. Then create a class called .button--primary whose sole responsibility is to define what a primary button looks like. If you create a class called .primary it has multiple responsibilities spread over the solution making it harder to maintain and improve upon

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Small thing I noticed: on [http://blazecss.com/components/buttons/](http://blazecss.com/components/buttons/), the 'link' button made from a normal <a> tag is slightly larger (Chrome 51).

<comment><USER8> Could raise an issue in the repo if it's still a problem?

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Quite nice.maybe will be used it for future replacing twitter bootstrap.

<comment><USER8> Any feedback you can give would be appreciated ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I love the opt-in part. I really like building stuff in Bootstrap but I loathe the fact that it changes a lot of stuff implicitly, making me feel I lose control.

<comment><USER11> Correct me if I'm wrong or misunderstanding, but apart from basic typography (relative sizes and spacing of headings and body text), bootstrap has been opt-in since bootstrap 3.

Everything else requires adding classnames or using mixins before bootstrap starts to take effect.

If you don't want the typography stuff you can uncheck it on the customize page. (Or if you're using Less/Sass delete the typography import e.g. delete `@import bootstrap/typography` . from `_bootstrap.scss`).

<comment><USER8> Blaze doesn't mention Bootstrap specifically regards opt in. But Bootstrap does apply CSS to some elements without permission. Foundation even more so. SemanticUI too. Blaze is different than all of these in that it gives the power back to you!

<comment><USER11> Only what I addressed. Typography, which you can disable or override easily.

Let's be clear, Bootstrap is the most popular CSS framework in the world, whose Github issue threads have been pored over many times more than Blaze's are likely to be for a very long time, and Bootstrap 3 at least _never took any power away_.

There are some really cool looking elements to Blaze and I'm very interested in using it for some upcoming projects, but to infer that you should ditch Bootstrap for it, on the basis of opt-in vs opt-out is very misleading.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Despite "un-opinionated" being one of their main selling points, using BEM is SUPER opinionated.

<comment><USER8> Mentioned above: It's un-opinionated as in styling is drawn back but not to the point of it being ugly. Look at a Blaze site and it doesn't look like a Blaze site. Everyone can tell when a site has been Bootstrapped. It's aiming for an un-opinionated solution rather than source code

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Your dashboard example is freaking out a little.

Here is a short clip of it: [https://www.freeih.com/tAgTSr](https://www.freeih.com/tAgTSr)

<comment><USER18> os/browser? could not replicate here on mac/chrome

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Typo on the front page, 2nd info box - "Mirco-frameworks tend to sacrifice a lot of usefulness for the file size, leaving the developer wanting more".

<comment><USER8> Fixed ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Resizing feels very snappy!</comment>


Show HN: Goodnight Zoom - Connecting with isolated seniors via remote storytime - <AUTHOR> https://goodnightzoom.com/ <comment><USER2> This idea seams like a crowd-sourced evolution of [https://readastorytome.com/](https://readastorytome.com/)

recently launched on HN. We've had a great experience with it so far.

As a parent ( and I think on this note I can speak for all of them ) the #1 concern with an idea like this is SAFETY.

What can you ensure to us all that this won't be the #1 platform for pedophiles?

<comment><AUTHOR> I've added this page to our site due to your recommendation -- thanks again, and let me know if you have more questions.

[https://goodnightzoom.com/safety](https://goodnightzoom.com/safety)

<comment><USER2> ok that's better. Have you also considered tapping into a national sex offender DB as part of your pre-screening?

Also I noticed the limited library of kids books. It says i can find more online via NYLibrary.. but when i went there it was UX hell. i simply want you to seed the library and allow me to filter them by tags and show which ones i've already read.

thanks!

<comment><AUTHOR> No but that's a good idea — I will look into that, seems like an easy first step as far as screening goes. Thanks!

True, the NYPL UX is pretty terrible now that I think about it. That will especially be a problem for seniors who aren't confident with tech. I will add a bunch more stories ASAP and introduce a filter, thanks for your thoughts! LMK if there's anything else you think.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> While we've all been isolated, my grandparents have started to read stories to my younger cousins via videochat, which has been a great way for my grandparents to feel connected and loved. It's also nice for my cousins (4-7 years old) to interact with their grandparents, even if from afar.

Many of our seniors are especially isolated right now, so I wanted to setup a way for all of us to connect with them via remote storytime. Whether you are a parent with young kids, a senior, or anyone in between, this is a chance for us all to connect. Once you sign up, we'll reach out about finding schedules that work for both sides. We also link to open source books if you don't have any. Would love to hear your feedback!

</comment><comment><USER3> Haven't created an account or logged in. There is no pricing page on the site: which is their business model?

<comment><AUTHOR> Right now our plan is to make it free for users and connect as many people as possible. Down the road, we can make money by charging book publishers to feature stories, or possible getting insurance companies to pay us because of the improvement in well being for seniors. Thanks for the feedback though, we should make that more clear on our site!</comment></comment>


Python's unittest with Robert Collins - <AUTHOR> http://pythontesting.net/19 <comment><AUTHOR> Interview with Robert Collins, current core maintainer of Python's unittest module.

Some of the topics covered

\- How did Robert become the maintainer of unittest? \- unittest2 as a rolling backport of unittest \- test and class parametrization with subtest and testscenarios \- Which extension to unittest most closely resembles Pytest fixtures? \- Comparing Pytest and unittest \- Will unittest ever get assert rewriting? \- Future changes to unittest</comment>


Is marriage a broken model? Neil Strauss on non-monogamy - <AUTHOR> http://castig.org/neil-strauss-interview-on-the-truth/ <comment><USER2> To me, asking "Is it natural to be faithful to one person for life?" is about as valid as asking "Is it natural for man to lie with man?" Who gives a shit what is "natural"? We're homo sapiens. We can do what we want.

My wife and I are completely monogamous and we _like_ it that way. Oh sure, I see attractive women on the street or have conversations with them in various scenarios and I feel that old feeling of "wow". But there's a lot more to having a relationship than that. I don't know what to call it, but there is a quality to our relationship that extends past just being "roommates" who sleep together. I've known quite a few people who have been unfaithful in their relationships. And I think where they have failed to be faithful is in failing to find that "more" in their primary relationship.

I think where cheating happens is when you have a relationship that is fundamentally narcissistic, where it's all about you, where it's not really about the other person but what the other person does for you. In that sort of relationship, swapping that person out for another is easy. And we know in general that narcissism is on the rise, so I don't think it's any surprise to see that cheating is on the rise. To ask if monogamy is "natural" is basically carte blanche accepting that narcissism _is_ natural, plus nothing we should change about ourselves.

I had never had this deep level of connection that I have with my wife with any of my past girlfriends. When I felt that feeling that a person _could_ be swapped out like that, when I felt an urge to flirt with another woman I had just met in a bar, instead of cheating on my girlfriend, I broke up with her. And that's another place where I think people get in trouble with their relationships. Most people seem to think it's important to always be in a relationship. I never did. I cut them off early if I felt reservations about the relationship. I didn't exactly know what I was looking for all those years, but if I wasn't aware that I had found it after a month, it was done. And I thought it was unfair to both me and her to continue a relationship I knew was ultimately going nowhere, no matter how much I enjoyed the sex at the time, or being seen in a relationship (I used to get a lot of flak from certain people about being single). I think if more people were not afraid of being single, fewer people would cheat. Not just because you can't cheat on a partner that doesn't exist, but because people who are in relationships will be more secure in them, not clinging to them just because they fear singlehood. But I think people are getting more afraid of singlehood, so I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

Being unfaithful is a difficult proposition for me to understand now, because I know I can't have the kind of relationship with a new person that I've built with my wife. I get pleasure out of making her happy. She clearly is the same. And it feeds on each other. Sure, there are women who are more physically attractive. I'm certain my wife finds certain other men more physically attractive than me. But that's not the only criteria to a relationship. With whom else am I going to have arguments about Star Wars (her) vs Star Trek (me)? Who else is going to put up with my farts and nose picking? Who else is going to be the mother of my baby boy? I don't cheat because I don't _want_ anyone else, because what I want is my wife and the relationship we have.

If our relationship is "unnatural", I don't really care. It's freaking awesome, whatever it is.

If you've never experienced it, it's difficult to understand what it's about. So when I see people talking about "monogamy isn't natural" or I hear about people cheating, it just seems like a very obvious case of never having had a really deep relationship in their lives.

And if you've been in relationships and have not had a deep relationship, despite being with someone for years, I'd start asking yourself some tough questions about why that is the case. Are with a person you truly care about and want to have around you, or are you just in the relationship to be in _a_ relationship? It's a hell of a thing, inviting another person into your life and making one life out of two. You have to and get to be extremely picky about it. You have to be able to bend, too. You have to learn what is actually important to you and what is just window dressing. And you have to be emotionally available enough to let the other person do the same to you. And if you get lucky, the two will coincide and you'll have that great relationship.

So I guess what I'm saying is I don't get how you can lay these problems at the feet of marriage itself. When you say "marriage is broken", what you're saying is that the marriage itself is what caused the issue, because otherwise, two people could live together into perpetuity "unmarried" and in this model they wouldn't have problems. It's like blaming the Ikea for bad furniture when you didn't follow the assembly instructions correctly. You're not supposed to get married in a bad relationship. Most people have bad relationships. How is that at all a problem with marriage? He even so much as admits that it's a people problem. So again, why the continued rhetoric "marriage is broken"?</comment>


Ask HN: Should I self host? - <AUTHOR>

I own a few websites, one of them with about 20-30 concurrent users on average, 40-60 during end of the year's peaks. It runs WP and it's hosted at WP Engine. My problem is that I feel I'm paying a lot for it. Also, I need to have a second host to handle webmail and my other domains. But my second host just updated its plans and wants me to pay twice as much to be able to host simple one-page projects I do from time to time. I feel now's the right time to gather everything in one place.
I can install a LAMP server and have a website running but I'm really not sure if I should do this by myself. My website brings some cash in and I want to maximize its uptime. What kind of emergency situations could arise once it's setup? I've seen the guides at Linode and I'm confident I can follow them. What kind of specs should I go for, too? Or is this a bad idea and I should stay on shared hosting?
Thanks for any advice! <comment><USER2> How much in total are you paying for your hosting a month under the new plans? That amount is the maximum amount of money you can save by spending days/weeks/months migrating everything to your own server and assuming near- total responsibility for your own hosting.

You'll be in a better position if you can grow your revenue instead.

<comment><AUTHOR> Even if I had more revenue I would rather have a more unified hosting setup with billing occurring at one place. The situation is pretty confusing for me right now - I'm a minimalist and I like simplicity. Speaking of that, I've just realized that if I could simply get rid of WordPress, I wouldn't need such complexity. And I think this is what I must do. What kind of junk is a piece of software that requires so many engineers' work (theme designers, plugin developers and sys admins) to load at normal speeds? This is ridiculous, my site is mostly static. I've been playing with Hugo (gohugo.io) this weekend for another project and I've just realized it might be a perfect match.

<comment><USER2> Is this a company or a hobby? If it's just a hobby then have fun exploring new platforms and tools. If this is what you do instead of a full time job at someone else's company...

> Even if I had more revenue

A hard problem you will suck at most of the time.

> I would rather have ...

A fun distraction that you can easily, and enjoyably, work on forever. When you finish you can just invent new technical challenges for yourself.

> The most dangerous way to lose time is not to spend it having fun, but to > spend it doing fake work.

[http://paulgraham.com/selfindulgence.html](http://paulgraham.com/selfindulgence.html)</comment></comment></comment>