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Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

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Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#171

Post by doug1001 »

"technical friends" (which i believe was name given by the man who invented them, Ray Jardine). "Friends" is still the category name used by Wild Country, which i believe was the first shop to sell the devices.

more generically, i believe they are known as spring-loade cam devices (SLCD).

these simple devices transformed granite crack climbing from slow, rock-altering aid climbing that required pitons hammered into cracks to clean "free" (ie, no aid) climbing.

sure nuts and hexes were (and still are) available but they require some sort of constriction in the crack (change in the width) to hold them in place, which granite cracks often lack.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#172

Post by rayalez »

SideFX Houdini (a tool for 3D VFX and animation) is by far the most brilliant software I have ever used, it is like Emacs of computer graphics. It is designed as a system of nodes that gives you a visual interface for visually "programming" 3D scenes and shaders.

It is incredibly well thought out, and every time I learn something new about it - it blows my mind how elegantly and beautifully it is implemented.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#174

Post by kalleboo »

* Chopsticks. One-handed eating is just convenient.

* Palm Vx. At the time this thing has fantastic functionality (all that freeware!), the OS had great charm, and I still think it looks really handsome.

* Sony Ericsson w580. One of the last really small cell phones before huge screens took over. And the slide mechanism was really satisfying - the ultimate fidget

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#175

Post by Buttons840 »

rayalez wrote: post #172

SideFX Houdini (a tool for 3D VFX and animation) is by far the most brilliant software I have ever used, it is like Emacs of computer graphics. It is designed as a system of nodes that gives you a visual interface for visually "programming" 3D scenes and shaders. It is incredibly well thought out, and every time I learn something new about it - it blows my mind how elegantly and beautifully it is implemented.

It is commercial software, right? What's the closest open source alternative? (Not that I'm opposed to commercial software, but as a hobbiest I don't want to deal with it.)

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#176

Post by polemic »

Ok, this corkscrew:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MONOPOL-Bell-Corkscrew-BAROLO-Germa...

(Note this appears to be a later design, slightly less pretty as the original IMO)

My parents bought one of these years maybe 15 years ago and I was always fascinated how he thread was so smooth, well machined and balanced that you could unwind it and it would smoothly wind back up under its own weight. When it hit the bottom the momentum would allow the inner thread to continue winding so it would bounce a couple of times.

Years lately, and we don't get many cork bottles in NZ any more, but I still like to get it out occasionally to check that, yes indeed, it still does it beautifully.

A simple thing, made well.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#177

Post by owenjonesuk »

richardw wrote: post #55

Earhoox. https://earhoox.com/ For whatever reason, all earphones fall out of my ears. Exercise, walking around the house, whatever - they just don't work for me. The Earhoox sort that 100%. Only issues: I had to use a nail-clipper to cut the rough mold edges. They do fall off the earbuds quite easily when e.g. in pockets. But if I lost them, I'd order another pair that day.

In-ear headphones always fall out of my left ear. At first I thought it was something to do with the ridges in my ear, because they're quite different between my left and my right ear. Then last year I had an ear infection and the doctor told me that I have a narrow ear canal in my left ear, so I'm guessing that's the reason. Apparently it also means I'm more prone to getting ear infections.

Bose have something for in-ear headphones called StayHear tips. They work really well for me. They look exactly like Earhoox, so maybe if I'd found Earhoox first I could have just used them.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#178

Post by EpicEng »

theonething wrote: post #139
saryant wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 2011 Fit Sport. Great little car. Doesn't hurt that it's dirt cheap to maintain and insure. I have maxed-out liability limits on my policy and only pay $35 a month.

> $35 a month Wow! Are you in the US? May I ask what insurance you have?

Liability only shouldn't be expensive. I pay $85 / month on my v6 09 accord coupe for comprehensive.

Re: Ask HN: What're the best-designed things you've ever used?

#179

Post by rayalez »

Buttons840 wrote: post #175
rayalez wrote: post #172

SideFX Houdini (a tool for 3D VFX and animation) is by far the most brilliant software I have ever used, it is like Emacs of computer graphics. It is designed as a system of nodes that gives you a visual interface for visually "programming" 3D scenes and shaders. It is incredibly well thought out, and every time I learn something new about it - it blows my mind how elegantly and beautifully it is implemented.

It is commercial software, right? What's the closest open source alternative? (Not that I'm opposed to commercial software, but as a hobbiest I don't want to deal with it.)

It has a free version with almost complete functionality, it's definitely usable for learning or as a hobby.

I don't know about any open source alternatives. The closest thing I can think of is Nuke, also commercial, which is a compositing software built around the same principle, and also really well designed.

I've heard that Unreal Engine has some sort of a node-based system, but I'm not a game developer, so I haven't used it and don't know how it compares.

Also Blender has a node editor, and I think it's the closest open source thing to Houdini, but it's not the same thing, and is nowhere near as good, so I would not call them similar.

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