Top all-time · #3799
Joe Clark
Personal blog · blog.fawny.orgdesignwebculture
Joe Clark's personal blog at blog.fawny.org covers design, web and culture. Since 2009, 20 different Hacker News readers have linked it 22 times, most often “Where Microsoft beats Apple (Fonts)”. The last post was in 2024, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (11) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Readers link this blog for posts on line length and typography, Apple, the Eudora inventor, the NYC subway manual, sexism in software, and gay role models, with two comments calling specific posts worth a read.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 11 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- /2005/09/21/measures/3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2009-08-26
- Where Microsoft beats Apple (Fonts)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-04-13
What Hacker News says?
The only article i could find with her name (if it's her at all)... but nothing regarding why! I'm also rather curious now. https://blog.fawny.org/2013/07/02/transphobia-lexicography/
Comment linking /2013/07/02/transphobia-lexicography/
on “iPhones are hard to use”Submitted iPhones are hard to use as a story · 976 points
HN discussionI don't think Apple need to hire someone so publicly transphobic. https://blog.fawny.org/category/tranny/
Comment linking /category/tranny/
on “iPhones are hard to use”Submitted Design and the Google brain as a story · 23 points
HN discussionThis is such a great thread, I'm excited to begin reading quite a few of the linked blogs (such as this one: https://acoup.blog/ ). These ones are some of my favorites: - www.wall.org/~aron/blog/ (physics, theology, history, philosophy) - http://xahlee.info/ (math, emacs, keyboards, etc.) - https://matt.might.net/articles/ (academy, compsci, etc.) - https://www.joelonsoftware.com/ (programming, companies, etc.) - ht…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Favorite Blogs by Individuals?”Submitted Where Microsoft beats Apple (Fonts) as a story · 12 points
HN discussionFor me it's teh other way around. I hate these narrow designs where two third of the site is blank. Mostly gleaming white. Additionally I have to scroll even though the text would have fit on one page. The value for the optimal column width does not seem to be saved either: http://blog.fawny.org/2005/09/21/measures/
Comment linking /2005/09/21/measures/
on “Full-Bleed Layout Using CSS Grid”Submitted Popular Unaccesible iOS apps by irresponsible developers as a story · 3 points
HN discussionHe tells people what to build. He's very good at it, but he doesn't build things himself. Vision is cheap; negative taste [1][2] is easy; it's the implementation that counts. I have no problem valuing the industrial engineers who figured out how to make the iPad 13 mm thick more than Jobs who decided it would be 13 mm thick. [1] http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/2taste [2] http://blog.fawny.org/2010/04/12/appletype/
Comment linking /2010/04/12/appletype/
on “Steve Jobs’ Email Debate With Gawker Blogger”Submitted Seemingly every Apple designer in one photograph as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHe did just fine: http://blog.fawny.org/2015/07/04/stevedorner/ "Qualcomm Contrary to rumour, Qualcomm, which had bought Eudora early on from the University of Illinois, had always treated him well, he says. (“I am very happy to correct that impression. I was not shafted by Qualcomm. Qualcomm did very well by me.” And actually, Steve worked for that company for over 20 years.) He doesn’t have to work anymore – “and…
Comment linking /2015/07/04/stevedorner/
on “For Inventor of Eudora, Great Fame, No Fortune (1997)”Submitted Steve Jobs at Apple vs. Edwin Land at Polaroid as a story · 2 points
HN discussionNot a proper scan, but still pretty decent: https://daringfawnyball.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/nyctaman... via http://blog.fawny.org/2013/02/19/nycmta1970/
Comment linking /2013/02/19/nycmta1970/
on “The Manual That Dictates Every Detail of the NYC Subway”Submitted Every happy Web developer is happy in the same way as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis article is pretty relevant, whatever side you are on, it's worth a read. My fundamentalism is better than your fundamentalism http://blog.fawny.org/2010/07/28/stubbornella/ Bear in mind that the author is not a computer scientist, and views narrow-minded geekery with some distaste. But he raises quite a few interesting points. I quote: >“Underrepresentation” is an insulting concept. Who exactly gets to decide h…
Comment linking /2010/07/28/stubbornella/
on “Why do we let sexist creeps pervade the software industry?”Submitted Smart designer exports dumb pictures of text as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI disagree with OP on his bullet points of what doesn't matter (and I don't think it follows from the anecdote): > That indentation is more than an incidental detail. > That good programming is about following a set of rules. > That aesthetics matter in code beyond the behavior being implemented. I'm going to leave indentation aside for the moment, and talk about line length. People do serious research into how line…
Comment linking /2005/09/21/measures/
on “Teaching taste”Submitted Google smothers designers as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI could have used some geeky gay role models growing up. This matters to me. Things are a lot better almost three years later, but we still have a long way to go. The article linked at the bottom is also worth a read: http://blog.fawny.org/2011/02/02/gaylives/
Comment linking /2011/02/02/gaylives/
on “Felix Salmon explained why Tim Cook's sexuality wasn't common knowledge (2011)”Submitted Courier Prime: Continuing to solve the wrong problem with screenplay typography as a story · 1 points
HN discussionwell, this seems to be a fairly balanced summary of the research (available if you explore the link you mention): http://blog.fawny.org/2005/09/21/measures/ In essence, most studies indicate longer line length leads to faster reading. But also, people on average seem to prefer having a moderate line length over a longer one. In my view the latter measure is more important. I'd rather have a layout which is more plea…
Comment linking /2005/09/21/measures/
on “Blog design best practice: Scrollbars not sidebars”Submitted Denial of expertise as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
