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The Evolution of eInk

eink

The Evolution of eInk

Sure, smartphones and tablets get all the press, and deservedly so. But if you place the original mainstream eInk device from 2007, the Amazon Kindle, side by side with today’s model, the evolution of eInk devices is just as striking. Each of these devices has a 6 inch eInk

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Because Reading is Fundamental

user experience

Because Reading is Fundamental

Most discussions show a bit of information next to each user: What message does this send? * The only number you can control printed next to your name is post count. * Everyone who reads this will see your current post count. * The more you post, the bigger that number next to

By Jeff Atwood ·
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The Tablet Turning Point

mobile devices

The Tablet Turning Point

Remember how people in the year 2000 used to say how crazy and ridiculous it was, the idea that Anyone Would Ever Run Photoshop in a Web Browser? I mean come on. Oops. One of my big bets with Discourse is that eventually, all computers will be tablets of varying

By Jeff Atwood ·
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What If We Could Weaponize Empathy?

community moderation

What If We Could Weaponize Empathy?

One of my favorite insights on the subject of online community is from Tom Chick: Here is something I’ve never articulated because I thought, perhaps naively, it was understood: The priority for participating on this forum is not the quality of the content. I ultimately don’t care how

By Jeff Atwood ·
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social media

Your Community Door

What are the real world consequences to signing up for a Twitter or Facebook account through Tor and spewing hate toward other human beings? Facebook reviewed the comment I reported and found it doesn’t violate their Community Standards. – Rob Beschizza (@Beschizza) October 15, 2014 As far as I can

By Jeff Atwood ·
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programming languages

Level One: The Intro Stage

Way back in 2007, before Stack Overflow was a glint in anyone’s eye, I called software development a collaborative game. And perhaps Stack Overflow was the natural outcome of that initial thought – recasting online software development discussion into a collaborative game where the only way to “win” is to

By Jeff Atwood ·
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markdown

Standard Markdown is now Common Markdown

Let me open with an apology to John Gruber for my previous blog post. We’ve been working on the Standard Markdown project for about two years now. We invited John Gruber, the original creator of Markdown, to join the project via email in November 2012, but never heard back.

By Jeff Atwood ·
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markdown

Standard Flavored Markdown

In 2009 I lamented the state of Markdown: Right now we have the worst of both worlds. Lack of leadership from the top, and a bunch of fragmented, poorly coordinated community efforts to advance Markdown, none of which are officially canon. This isn’t merely incovenient for anyone trying to

By Jeff Atwood ·
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user experience

The “Just In Time” Theory of User Behavior

I’ve long believed that the design of your software has a profound impact on how users behave within your software. But there are two sides to this story: * Encouraging the “right” things by making those things intentionally easy to do. * Discouraging the “wrong” things by making those things intentionally

By Jeff Atwood ·
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programming languages

The Infinite Space Between Words

Computer performance is a bit of a shell game. You’re always waiting for one of four things: * Disk * CPU * Memory * Network But which one? How long will you wait? And what will you do while you’re waiting? Did you see the movie “Her”? If not, you should. It’

By Jeff Atwood ·
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gender diversity

What Can Men Do?

(The title references Shanley Kane’s post by the same name. This post represents my views on what men can do.) It’s no secret that programming is an incredibly male dominated field. * Figures vary, but somewhere from 20% to 29% of currently working programmers are female. * Less than 12%

By Jeff Atwood ·
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productivity

Three Things

I’ve expressed my disillusionment with to-do lists before. But let’s try something simpler, a little experiment. What do you use to keep track of what you need to do? Hold it up, so I can see it. Humor me. Seriously! No no no, hold it closer, near the

By Jeff Atwood ·
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