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  3. ↪ Ben Werdmuller: I don't get why you'd use markdown to blog on your own site. Markdown is useful: an easy-to-use notation system that allows you to mark up your text in a safe, fast way. Because you're never letting your users write raw code, there aren't any worries about them posting malware or exploit attempts, or accidentally writing bad markup. At the same time, simple lines and dashes are converted to valid HTML. Everybody wins. But when you're writing your own site, you don't need to worry about those things. You don't care about you posting malware or exploit attempts. (Either you want to, or you won't.) You also don't need to worry as much about bad markup - and if you're not proficient in HTML, you can install a WYSIWYG editor, like the one in WordPress. Unless you're a Dr Jeckyll who morphs into an id-like alter ego without warning, you don't need to worry about your own trustworthiness as a user of your own system. On a self-hosted #indieweb site, all #markdown does is restrict what you can do. It has a syntax to learn, just like basic HTML does, and because you actually have to keep in mind which HTML tags it uses when you write it, it's actually a little bit more complicated to remember. I like a lot of the goals of new publishing platforms like Ghost (I backed it on Kickstarter) but this feature sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I'm not at all sure this is the best writing experience on the web. And I don't see what's wrong with HTML. Updated to add: I've had lots of feedback by people who point out that they just want to write text, not HTML, which is more than fair enough. But surely this shows demand for a smarter, context-sensitive rich text editor rather than another syntax to learn. Why couldn't an editor know to start creating bullet points when you type an asterisk and a space at the beginning of a new line? 13m

    @benwerd I use markdown for initial authoring purely for speed, esp. when typing on mobile devices. After that I just edit the HTML. I’ve yet to come across a WYSIWIM editor which satisfied my semantic, well-structured HTML needs, any suggestions?

  4. UI : service which finds the average number of characters/words/lines in a note and automatically makes the “new note” box that size. Potential extension: Make it one line bigger/smaller to encourage longer/shorter writing.

  5. @scottjenson RE google maps, I hear you. This particular problem could be solved by an app which remembers your speed, then displays the concentric rings. It assumes internet access/cached maps, GPS data and a device capable of displaying it — what if the device transmitting the information was a pedometer/similar which knows my speed but not location, has no internet access or way of displaying maps?

    I’m a fan of more ambient approaches like this because they enhance my own senses (in this case my poor sense of timing) without trying to run my life, as apps seem to want to do. I see it as a fundamentally different approach; apps make me perform a task and give me output. Ambient information enhances my senses and gives me more context within which to make decisions.

  6. Requesting a nonexistent page whilst testing on old IE incorrectly blames the user with message “files on this webpage require a program that you don’t have installed”

  7. Miyazaki says, "Our job as animators is not only to draw scenes. We must find the minimum necessary and important lines for the specific movement in a given action. The techniques of animation drawing are not the same as those of painting a still picture. Animation is a consequence of the audience's perception of movement created by sequential drawings. For this reason, each drawing in the sequence -- especially the lines -- should not be drawn too detailed; rather, they should be drawn less [detailed] and create an instant pause in the sequential movement.” (source)

    Sounds a lot like UI design to me.

  9. That Icelandic register things is a great example of technology making bureaucracy redundant. Ironically, having said that, there are some prime examples of technology mindlessly being applied and increasing bureaucracy and waste here…

    I’m looking at you, fancy touch screen machines who’s only function is to spit out a bit of paper (average life span maybe 2 mins?) which tells me when a desk is free to serve me :/

  10. Cross-browser selection UI injection flow:

    1. Listen for mouseup on body
    2. When triggered, let s be window.getSelection()
    3. If s.isCollapsed === false, return
    4. Else, let r be s.getRangeAt(0)
    5. Create a new element e
    6. Call r.surroundContents(e)
    7. e.innerHTML and e.textContent now return useful values, and e’s coordinates can be used to inject UI into the page

    To resolve: what element should e be? Or more accurately, what display property should it have? Possibly inline-block (inline mucks up if selection is across block elements, block mucks up selections within text nodes)

    Turns out there are problems with r.surroundContent, namely that it does not handle partial element selections. See MDNs explanation and solution.

  11. The problem with all mapping software ever:

    “Hm, that placename is a bit small to read” (zooms in) “TEXT, WHY U GET SMALLER AGAIN”

  12. Why do XYZ reader applications mark things as read as soon as I select them? Just because I’ve glanced at them doesn’t mean I’ve read them. At least defer that judgement until I’ve scrolled to the bottom of the main content

  17. I am hugely annoyed at @twitter’s API stupidity, but almost as annoyed by their failure to provide a consistent tweet authoring experience across their platform.

    If I see “remaining chars = 0”, I expect the tweet to post, not give me some near-meaningless error message. I also expect URLs to be automatically detected and compensated for consistently across the platform. This is just crap .