1754 days ago, I made a comment on here about how my music of the past seemed a lot more popular. And how each new track got fewer and fewer listeners. kleinbl00 responded by saying this: Today, after 3 years of sending tracks across, I got the go ahead for an LP from a label I have great respect for. Needless to say, I am thrilled. I remembered the above comment many times during those periods where I doubted myself. So thank you for that, kb.
Damn. Sorry to see bfv go. I was always impressed to see the post up every week. I can keep the weekly post going if no-one else volunteers.
----- Feed ----- 1. Increase font size to improve readability 2. Increase spacing between elements to improve readability 3. Domain and tag information moved over to the right to unclutter the left side of small text 4. Increased margins on main div to focus information into the centre as it stretches wide on larger displays ------ Posts ------ 1. Increase title and body font sizes to improve readability 2. Increase spacing between paragraphs to improve readability 3. Limit body text div so it averages around ~15 words per line. This makes it easier to track writing line-to-line and maintain focus ---------- Comments ---------- 1. Similar font and div size adjustments to posts 2. Increase spacing between comments to let them breathe more ----- Chat ----- 1) Import modern font and force it to override retro font 2) Reduce main div width and centre it to focus information 3) Increase font sizes to improve readability. 4) Increase spacing between messages so it doesn't look like one massive block of text 5) Move usernames and timestamp above the message. This gives separation between the username and the message and unclutters the start of the message.
I dislike it. I think it makes things more complex. And in the history of attracting users and improving their experience on a website, the answer has rarely been: "let's make things more obscure and add more option toggles." Not to mention, if you need to introduce a core piece of functionality with the option to turn it off, it's probably not the right direction. You say that people have complained to you that comments are tiring. Isn’t that just a consequence of ‘thoughtful discussion’? Thoughtful discussion demands time, effort and the willingness to be open to and understanding of other views. And sometimes it requires you to look at yourself and reassess what you thought and believed. Sounds tiring to me. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile. So it seems to me that by introducing this functionality, you’re trying to open up spaces where people can more casually chat without the worry of being called out. That’s fair. But the solution to that has little to do with governing the way we share posts and comments. Instead, it’s about increasing the amount of content on the site that offers those opportunities. That either has to come from the existing user base or new users. I do not believe that this experiment will address that. All it does is risk segregating an already small community. Also, I agree with kb. My suggestion for any immediate change would 100% be the UI. I've complained about it before, but it literally goes against a lot of the most basic contemporary UX guidelines. I inject over 100 lines of custom CSS just to make this place look okay. That's not right. Those of you older than me who grew up at the beginnings of the internet may think it's not that bad. But bad web design will absolutely drive newer generation users away before they even look at the content. And if users view the design of a website negatively, that will tinge their experience of the content. I mean, default Hubski is 9pt body text and 30 words per line (though the latter differs based on display size). That is egregious. Not to mention that it defies basic web accessibility standards.
I engaged my dad in a discussion about systemic racism and racial inequality in the UK today. He doesn't believe it exists. It's only a problem in the USA apparently. Most of the arguments I made were dismissed with the reasons of "that's the way they choose to behave" or "they're genetically predisposed to be that way". I pressed him on evidence for those claims but couldn't really nail anything down. I was more forthcoming with the basis for my claims but I don't think my arguments were good enough. I am committed to reading more and gaining more knowledge so that next time I am in a better position. Still, I was saddened to see this reaction from my dad, even though I half expected it. The 38 days since I posted this poem have been a blur. I wrote it not long after we got the news that my aunt had committed suicide. I live with mum and game daily with my cousins so I encountered a lot of powerful emotions in the weeks following. Never have I felt empathy-based emotions so strongly before. The initial rawness appears to have passed now but I have no doubt that there's a lot of healing still to happen. Otherwise, things have been good. My exercise and strength training has been going well. I'm really happy with how my music is sounding at the moment, even if I could be working harder. Nearly all the houses surrounding our communal garden are now occupied, which is nice. It really feels like a community now and seeing people in the garden every day helps lessen the isolation of lockdown. But most importantly, I am going to go kayaking again soon. I can't wait.
Name: Jez Location: Brexit Age: An expensive bottle of whiskey Current Preoccupation: Trying to distill some sort of personal essence into music; challenging and bettering myself through kayaking, yoga, and strength workouts; creating and implementing new processes at work to improve things for both customers and employees; mostly lurking on Hubski. Previous Preoccupation: Anxiety and panic attacks, getting high all the time, student, more music
Pubski on my birthday, aw yeeee. Drinks are on me. I've always loved bonsai trees and I was gifted a 5yo Chinese Elm. Unfortunately, its potting situation is a bite dire. It's all pot-bound and stuck in a compacted, organic nursery soil. This makes it more difficult to keep it watered correctly and it will also hamper its growth. What's more, it's too late in the season to fully re-pot it. I'm going to try to slip pot it, which consists of just lifting the whole thing out, placing it into a larger pot, and then surrounding it with new bonsai soil. I've got some molar clay for this purpose, which will allow for much improved drainage and aeration. Usually a soil mismatch like this wouldn't be advised as the roots might not grow into the new type. However, there's lots of long roots hanging loose out the bottom of it currently, so hopefully they should take to the new soil without too much trouble. I'll also gently rake the edges of the root ball to loosen some of the smaller roots to help them find their new home. I'm going to let it live outside too, which I hear they much prefer. Fingers crossed I can turn it into a happy little tree.
I'm half-way to completing my goal of meditating every day for a year. Speaking of which, Frankie Boyle had a funny bit about meditation in his latest stand-up: "I'm having all these terrible problems with my thoughts." "Yeah, what you need to do is go and sit over there and be very, very quiet for an incredibly long period of time. It takes a really long time to get this right. Concentrate on your breath, rather than your talking... In fact... GO TO CHINA, SIT OUT ON A MOUNTAIN, AND SHUT THE FUCK UP OVER THERE! I've also been getting Piano lessons which i'm enjoying. That's about it in terms of updates. Life continues on a steady path.
I think meditation is just something we came up with to get rid of people that are annoying us:
I've been continuing to learn my front-end web development stuff. My first website, the idea for which was indirectly courtesy of flac, is now well underway. Here is a screenshot: It's also fully responsive, though the specifics aren't quite nailed down yet: https://streamable.com/e3y3z Still, i'm pretty proud of how it's looking. Though I must say that the design of the site was done by my brother who is a professional UX Designer, so the layout looks infinitely than my initial version! I don't know if it's just because I'm wrapped up in learning something knew, but I've played hardly any games for the last 2/3 weeks. I've just been learning and playing around with making websites. I just need to find a way to redirect some of this energy back into my music as that's been neglected as of late. Though I do have one new track finished if you mighty fine hubski folk fancy a listen.
I did manage to catch up with him. I don't think it's my place to be his spokesperson here; if he wants to come back and talk about things then that's his prerogative. However, I will say that: 1. Whilst his exchanges with kleinbl00 did come up, they were not ultimately the reason why he left. 2. He has no intention of returning.
I'm probably back off to Canada for 3 weeks later this year. This time exploring the east coast. We'll be starting in Toronto and following the coastline round to Halifax, then back to Toronto via train or plane. So that should be pretty great. I've just gotten over a bit of a unproductive/unenthused slump of a week or two. I've got about 5 tracks finished of the album I'm working on (from a composition standpoint, they still require post-production) and I've just started another. However this new one accidentally has a very similar motif to the track I just finished, albeit in a different key and time signature. I'm going to keep it though and make one track the opener of the album and other the closer, so a sort of reprise. I've been unhappy with my contribution to Hubski recently. I really wish to post and talk more with all the great people here, and foster stronger relationships. But at the same time I rarely have anything that worthwhile to add to the majority of conversations on this site. And I don't want to just comment for the hell of it. Part of it is I that don't have that many strong opinions on things. I find a lot of the topics discussed interesting, but when it comes to having a say I don't feel that I have a strong enough connection to them to make a valid contribution. I guess that's personal issue to explore.
I handed in my dissertation for my masters.
'Sitting quiet' is boring only if you never taken the time to fully experience sitting quietly. There is more value and meaning to be found in considered silence than forced noise. What is gained by reinforcing to everyone here that you do in fact exist?
I just got my masters transcript through. Distinction!
How would the people of Hubski feel if I were to set up some sort of weekly/bi-weekly accountability post where goals, progress, and plans were discussed? thenewgreen mentioned how it was helpful having eightbitsamurai holding him accountable so it could be good to have that sort of environment. I'm guessing it would be a bit like Pubski, but specifically for our goals/plans/resolutions. Perhaps there could be some sort incentive scheme? Who knows what that could be though. Tagging people who replied to this post for feedback. nowaypablo, ghostoffuffle, kleinbl00, ButterflyEffect, thundara, veen, OftenBen In terms of my own goals:
- Achieve a distinction in my masters
- Wake up early every day
- Meditate every day
- Continue to listen more/talk less, but allow myself to ask more questions.
- Learn more things outside of my specialisation
- Learn more Unity. I made some pong clone in the summer, that was fun
- Create a considered daily schedule to facilitate all this
Well, in site terminology it's known as 'sharing' if that does anything to ease your qualms. If I think it's interesting or something that needs more exposure I'll just share it whether I approve of the authors viewpoint or not. If I feel I need to further explain my views I'll leave a comment. Personally, if I saw you share an article about gang rape in india, Bradley Manning, a mass shooting, an injustice, or something alike I wouldn't think 'this person is endorsing this', I'd think 'this person thinks I need to see this'.