Notes

Notes from 2018

213 notes

Dec 2018

I've been emailing myself trivia names all afternoon. Now my phone thinks a bunch of ridiculous words like lastronaughts are real.

Ouch @googlephotos. I know the software isn't smart enough to know what's happening here, but it hurts being reminded that someone side swiped my car last night.

It seems like there are few social networks with the lasting power of @Twitter. After 9 years it's still one of my favorites. #MyTwitterAnniversary

For the last 4 years I've published a review that touches on what I've made, learned and accomplished. It's always interesting going back and reading past reviews. I was very focused on building things in 2014. solomon.io

There are so many interesting observations here about differences between Chinese and American software—Outgrowing Advertising: Multimodal Business Models as a Product Strategy a16z.com

I feel like there is some price deception in the rug market. Is it even possible to buy a full-price rug?

Nov 2018

To be fair, it's much better for consumers to have Walmart and Amazon battling it out. Without one the other would certainly become a monopoly.

Quoted post on X

Important question: Does a 12-1 Alabama team with a home loss to Citadel make the playoffs?

Oct 2018

Wow, some of these photos are absolutely spectacular—Jim Shaughnessy Essential Witness: Sixty Years of Railroad Photography hyperallergic.com

The last couple of weeks I've been playing around with @discourse. I decided to put together a little guide on getting the community up an running on @digitalocean. If you're interested in starting a community, it may be worth a look. solomon.io

Sep 2018

I'm compiling a list of devices and products that are great and don't have an Internet connection. Do you have any favorites I should add?

@erlend_sh @discourse I'm sure you will! I've been lurking there the last couple of day or two going through DO and mail server setup. Tons of useful comments.

Think my next project might be wrangling together a @discourse theme. Are there any other open source forum/news boards I should look into?

Absolutely horrible pass interference call to decide the fate of the #Auburn #LSU game. Agree @SEC office should be embarrassed.

Skye Underwood@SkyeUnderwood

The @SEC office should be absolutely ashamed for those two phantom pass interference calls against Auburn. There’s no one to blame but the atrocious officiating Greg Sankey put on the field for the biggest SEC matchup of the weekend. Just plain embarrassing, @GregSankey

View post (opens X)

I do like most of Chrome's new UI. Although, I'm not a fan of this trend towards super-rounded form fields.

Twitter, what should my fantasy team name be this year?

Aug 2018

Interesting. @Twitter shows me tweets from private accounts if someone I follow likes it. Certainly that is a bug, right?

Design friends—does anyone have example of bulk editing a multi-select field?

Think the most common scenario would be managing tags in a list.

I've rarely read 3 books back-to-back that move near the top of my all-time recommendations. These three are absolutely worth your time:
—Sapiens
—The Rational Optimist
—Seeing Like a State

Interesting thoughts on war from Sapiens—war has never been so expensive and peace has never been so profitable.

Dammit, I’m mad

...I find it amusing that this is a palindrome.

In Chicago the next few days. If anyone wants to grab coffee, hit me up.

Thread · 2 posts

To say that "the failings of socialism is almost as deep as those capitalism" is incredibly disingenuous. While income I equality has gotten worse under capitalism, socialist policies killed nearly 100 million in the last century. theatlantic.com

Excited for @WordPress's Gutenberg layout editor. My theme doesn't support it now, but it should provide a ton of flexibility going forward. No more shortcode hacks for layout changes.

How is every single men's room in this terminal closed for cleaning?

Jul 2018

@FlyFrontier trying to check-in. When prompted for more information, the continue button doesn't appear to work. Tried in Mac Chrome, Safari and Android Chrome.

It's not that this Target doesn't sell American flag apparel. It just sold out. 🇺🇲

Just an observation—since I started using Spectacle for window management at work, I rarely use the bump feature of BetterSnapTool on my personal computer. Everything is done via hot keys.

Unfortunately, Trustfuel Jobs is no longer maintained. However, here are a few thoughts for anyone considering building a job board. From the archives... solomon.io

A cool set of photos for all my Atlanta peeps—Atlanta’s skyline through a half-century of changes buff.ly

Jun 2018

A co-worker just described her neighbors as intimidatingly interesting.

One step further—describe the specific value the product provides. For a long time @SalesLoft's marketing site simply said "Increase Qualified Demos by 300%"

Ryan Hoover@rrhoover

Pro tip: When launching a product, especially for an unknown brand, avoid super-vague-marketing-jazz-hands copy.

E.g. I just saw a product described with the tagline, “For anywhere work takes you”. I have no idea what that means.

View post (opens X)

You know what? Other than the comment expand/collapse interaction, I'm a fan of the new @reddit UI.

There are a ton of good points in this thread.

Ivan Kirigin@ikirigin

As much as I hate Trump, the socialist left is full of bad ideas.

Let me address a few of them:
- expanding medicare
- tuition free college
- huge jobs programs

These are all from Ocasio-Cortez recently, but not new ideas.

View post (opens X)

Next newsletter goes out shortly—Factorio's UI, The Psychology of Money, A Fake Socialite Scams Hotels, Banks and Airlines
eepurl.com

I don't understand why so many financial tools fail to show cost basis vs market value charts. It seems like that would be a top interest.

Three types of people who will benefit from the changing economy according to Cal Newport:

—Those who work well with machines
—Those who are the best at what they do
—Those with access to capital

Wrote a bit about the team badge I was working on. Also, some alternative color palettes that we decided not to use. solomon.io

Every shot in this short film is spectacular—Careening through the desert, a massive railway sustains life in northwest Africa vimeo.com

First dribbble post in a while. This sticker was designed for one of my product delivery teams, License to Trill. It's pretty rad! dribbble.com

I just heard a co-worker refer to @Adobe's 4 hotkey save combo as the Save for Web Claw.

Psst. Our design team is looking for experienced product designers and UX researchers.

Salesloft@Salesloft

SalesLoft is having its own baby boom!

We're looking forward to welcoming at least 10 “Little Lofters” this year & today we’re proud to announce the arrival of New Parent Benefits that will deliver a better baby experience.

Learn more: sal.es #FutureRainmakers

Green banner reading Little Lofters Feel the #SalesLove with New Parent Benefits beside baby clothes and toys
View post (opens X)

May 2018

Working on another team badge for engineering day. There might be something here. 🤔

It's almost June. Time to start thinking about this year's Halloween costume.

Some competition in space is exactly what the US needs.

More GDPR hot takes: Nobody will be able to take on Facebook and Google in the EU now. Having a pool of users that have already provided consent for ad targeting is a huge competitive advantage.

My newsletter, Keeping Tabs, goes out this afternoon. If you've ever wanted to know what's in my browser, this is your chance.
eepurl.com

That time I went to Italy and could not stop taking pictures of doors. Here's a favorite post from the archives. solomon.io

There's a Bird scooter on every single block in Midtown.

Some incredibly fascinating charts of famines through history. A few observations: the low end of The Great Leap Forward death estimates are used—the high end is more than 2x (maybe 3x?) that estimate. Also, democracies have had virtually no famines. ourworldindata.org

Cool idea—finding an apartment using Facebook ads. There's probably a ton of uses for them.
buff.ly

It reminds me a lot about how I got my first post-grad gig at @crowdfunder using Facebook ads. Hard to believe 2011 was 7 years ago.
solomon.io

Think politics are bad today? Remember that time the sitting Vice President of the United States killed the leader of the opposing political party and then tried to start a new empire in the southwest?

Lecture 5: My notes on Jefferson, Hamilton and Burr
solomon.io

Sending out the first newsletter in a while tomorrow. It includes a bit of commentary on design, philosophy and arguing with people on the internet. Might be worth a read.
eepurl.com

Gmail's new smart compose feature is fascinating. I'm curious about the interaction design. As is there's only one suggestion that can appear. Maybe it's that good? blog.google

This is such a spectacular article on using different typefaces—The Value of Multi-Typeface Design buff.ly

Thread · 2 posts

For Direct to Consumer businesses to work the product has to be exceptional—so exceptional that people will seek it out as opposed to just ordering an equivalent from Amazon or Walmart. buff.ly

Love the composition of these—photosStanley Kubrick: Before He Wrote Scripts, He Took Photos buff.ly

Apr 2018

Interesting that Google Hangouts got a redesign and rebrand. Meet definitely seems more formal than hangouts.

The best thing about the new Gmail UI is how little functionality has changed. New icons and states. Some different looking buttons. Overall it feels like a big visual improvement without removing what makes it great.

Interesting move for Ford. It's probably wise to pair down models though—Ford to stop selling every car in North America but the Mustang and Focus Active techcrunch.com

Some good points about why light rail makes more sense for the Beltline than BRT. Existing bridges and tunnels will need to be replaced adding significant cost. ryangravel.com

I can't believe I've never had a sea salt latte before. Where has this been all my life?

We will go anywhere you want to go as long as it is to Noni's.

Interesting. Chrome now shows definitions inline with it's typeahead field.

So, I've been doing local WordPress development using MAMP forever. Trying out @HeyFlywheel's Local for a new project. Very happy with it thus far.

100 million, Amazon Prime has 100 million subscribers. I knew it was a ton, but that number is unreal. sec.gov

This might be interesting to you photographer peeps—An in-depth tour of Nikon’s Hikari Glass factory buff.ly

This guy's photography work is incredibly impressive. It's sad to see his that format has been discontinued—Landscape photographer races to finish decades of work youtube.com

The armchair analyst in me says Apple is trying to do too much and is ceding territory in areas where it was the clear winner a few years ago. bloomberg.com

American attitudes towards Britain, Formation of the Constitution, and a Critical look at Washington's career—I just published my notes from lectures 1 to 4 of A Skeptic's Guide to American History solomon.io

Thread · 2 posts

“Technology has undoubtedly created massive benefits for humanity. But it can cause problems — shifting into High Modernism territory — when it ignores, or even tries to replace our complex humanity instead of working with it.” calnewport.com

The opinions in this @99piorg story fascinating. Moving away from modernist American architecture back to ornate styles was unpopular opinion at the time. It's the same reaction Howard Roark faced in The Fountainhead for moving from ornate to modernist. buff.ly

Pretty happy with these. Final options for our product delivery team badge—License to Trill.

One one hand I would consider paying for Facebook. On the other hand, I'm certain that makes me worth much more than $7/mo to Facebook.

Jeff (Hot Type) Jarvis@jeffjarvis

So Facebook--like news--would ever more become a product for the priveleged in a redlined internet. You call that progress?
What if we paid for Facebook, instead of letting it spy on us for free?
wapo.st

View post (opens X)

I love all the quirky renders on @toggl's homepage. Especially the eye that follows your mouse in the "Follow the Money" section. toggl.com

Interesting thoughts on community building in this thread—Slack vs Forums and Newsboards.

John O'Nolan@JohnONolan

After 4 years of running a (11,000 member) public Slack community for @TryGhost — today we’ve decided to shut the whole thing down for good.

I’ve got a few interesting observations to share from the experience, and what we’re moving to now instead.

And so beginneth the thread:

View post (opens X)

Thread · 2 posts

Intercom moved their secondary navigation from the top to the side in their redesign. This could allow for more horizontal space—especially when no filters are applied.

I love some of the quotes in this thread.

Josh Wolfe@wolfejosh

1/ Here are some REALLY interesting findings from a controversial empirical paper asking:

*WHY do some people become ENTREPRENEURS?*

Of the many findings + hypotheses, a few stand out
-SIGNALING theory
-REJECTING a system that REJECTS them...

View post (opens X)

Lol, Range Rover makes a convertible SUV? That's not something I've seen before.

Mar 2018

We should be moving away from protectionism towards competition—that's how the most useful products are developed. I like @monteiro, but requiring product designers to have a license is flat out ridiculous. latimes.com

It's been obvious for the last year that @intercom has been after CRM. It's awesome to see such a great product succeeding—Intercom raises $125M to take on Salesforce techcrunch.com

I can't tell if this shirt is sold out or no longer being produced. In either case it's a shame. buff.ly

That's a real bummer. RelateIQ / SFIQ was one of my favorite products for a long time.

Andy McLoughlin@Bandrew

And in a move that surprises almost nobody, Salesforce finally announces the formal retirement of SalesforceIQ. This leaves a HUGE gap in the market for SMB and (non-startup) lower mid-market focused CRM companies like Pipedrive, Base and Prosperworks.

View post (opens X)

Thread · 2 posts

I'm trying something a bit different with my current audio course—I'm going to publish my notes from each lesson on this page. Here's lesson 1 of The Skeptic's Guide to American History. solomon.io

If you're interested in Stoicism, I would absolutely recommend it. Ego is the Enemy is a short read. It's well thought-out and I believe the underlying themes—even though I'm not crazy about all the examples.

Thread · 3 posts

I finished Ryan Holiday's Ego is the Enemy this morning. My friends who had read it were split. It was either life changing or hated for watering down the original texts.

Ready stop by the Pizzas would be an amazing song name for an Indy band.

@RandallAMorris @sketchapp Yeah, I usually stay about one update behind. I updated because I wanted to play around with the cool new stuff. If there isn't a fix by mon or tues I'll probably roll it back.

Feb 2018

Something compels me to write a haiku for all those online gift messages.

A warm summer day
Now you have an ice cream scoop
A haiku for you

Metallica is in Las Vegas in November. Seriously considering these tickets.

"Just because it's unlikely to happen here -- that we think it can't happen here -- doesn't mean it will not. That's what everyone in all of history has thought, but in fact by the time anyone realizes what's happening, it's usually too late." news.ycombinator.com

Initial impression of Vero—it looks like a lot of applications on dribbble with no context to how thing work.

“Had we kept 2000-levels of productivity and applied them to 2010-levels of production, we would have required 20.9 million manufacturing workers. Instead, we employed only 12.1 million.” slatestarcodex.com

Talk about attention to detail...

Benjamin De Cock@bdc

Fun fact about stripe.com : while the hero image is loading, the header displays an inline SVG illustration blurred with a CSS filter ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Flat vector illustration of mountains and a lake at dusk in blue and copper tones
Browser dev tools showing the inline SVG markup behind Stripe's hero with path fills and a sky gradient
View post (opens X)

That thing where you sit down to write about one topic and realize most of the post is about something else.

Meetings began as a concept I started at the engineering offsite last spring. It's been awesome to see this feature come together! salesloft.com

The second cup of coffee is where the magic starts happening.

This is an interesting new idea @Twitter is testing. Aggregating tweets about a single link.

I feel that @Twitter intentionally shows me tweets with like numbers that end in 9. That way I'm compelled to make it an even number and they see more engagement.

Jan 2018

@mattro Maybe it's a High Sierra issue? I thought this was how I've done it in the past, but it will only export the screen that is currently visible.

Is there something I'm missing? Is there no way to combine multiple files into a PDF on a Mac without Acrobat?

It drives me nuts when @SlackHQ tells me I I have an unread message, and that message is in view.

One one hand I like the live widgets. It's cool that I can use it on the landing page. On the other hand it wasn't entirely obvious. noticeable.io

Thread · 2 posts

Almost finished with my 2017 yearly review (I know I'm two weeks late). It's just shy of 3,000 words now. It will be interesting to see how much I can edit out.

Reading some old blog posts. I forgot about this one about naming an agency. There are some hilarious ones from our brainstorming session. I particularly like Tiny Giants, Big Trouble and Superweed. solomon.io

How does a critical alert system like the one in Hawaii take 40 minutes to communicate a false alarm? I understand that mistakes happen. There is some pretty terribly designed software. That is unacceptable. newyorker.com

Thread · 2 posts

Personally, I'd rather see the $1B go to heavy rail expansion over new cars. The cars—even the 40-year-old ones—seem fine. This seems like spending money on the wrong things. buff.ly

I wish they'd bring back the crystal ball. There's nothing interesting about the #NationalChampionship trophy.

@RossFloate It does sound friendlier. Elsewhere, I've heard people say priming users. I think they are all similar.

So much of UI design is setting and meeting the expectations of users.

@CaseyNewton @danbenjamin Agreed. I paid for Pandora for about 5 years. Each year the product stayed the same, but cost more. Switched to Spotify a year ago and haven't looked back.

Pretty wild that three NFC South teams are going to the playoffs.

Older notes from 2017