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Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

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Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#101

Post by TeMPOraL »

Klathmon wrote: post #96
zeveb wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know that many disagree with me, but for most "web apps" progressive enhancement is dead … Javascript is part of the platform It shouldn't be, it really shouldn't be. The web should be about GETing, PUTting, POSTting & DELET(E)ing resources (i.e., documents); it shouldn't about GETting executables. There's definitely a place in the world for a well-thought out universal executable platform, but HTTP + HTML + CSS…

>It shouldn't be, it really shouldn't be. See, but why shouldn't it be? Would it be valid for me to say that python shouldn't be a part of linux? That people should stop using python on their linux command line tools because linux is really about C. The web is an application platform, and I still haven't heard any convincing arguments as why we shouldn't use it as one besides "Because it wasn't one in the past". I ag…

> Would it be valid for me to say that python shouldn't be a part of linux? That people should stop using python on their linux command line tools because linux is really about C.

Somewhat fair point, but at least it would cut out the number of language runtimes one has to have on a Linux computer. For simple command-line tools, besides C/C++, you end up needing Perl, Python, Ruby, and now probably also Go and Rust.

> Having something that's not perfect is better than not having anything at all.

Arguable. The Internet is a perfect example of having a lot of things that would be better off not existing in the first place. Like, e.g., most of the sites for which ads are the only viable business model. But that's a longer discussion.

I think the important point is that, while the individual choices of a software engineer in a particular time and moment can be excused, the trend as a whole is pushing us towards increasingly batshit insane pseudo-engineering.

A static list like that should not need anything more than plain HTML/CSS and a little bit of JavaScript sprinkled on top to do the click effects. That people end up using shit ton of frameworks and external services for simple sites (this one is far from the only case) suggests that there's something very wrong with the industry as a whole. It's worth identifying it and figuring out how to fix it.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#102

Post by TeMPOraL »

paradite wrote: post #66
10dpd wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interactive search/filter bar: Alt+F

Why not curl | grep?

Frankly, a lot of websites would be infinitely more useful if they were curl | grep friendly. It's like current generation doesn't realize that it is technically possible to fetch valuable information you need efficiently from the Internet - one just has to not make it insanely difficult on purpose.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#103

Post by TeMPOraL »

ericflo wrote: post #21
10dpd wrote: post #9

Technologies used for a static list (!): react redux reselect aphrodite material-ui stylz redux-form react-helmet webpack faker lodash moment

Also: html, css, js, tcp, ip, electricity, and language.

> electricity

Since we're going there - bloating your website for no reason whatsoever wastes electricity. Not just for the mobile users who may be annoyed by fast-draining battery; also in general, you're literally wasting coal.

It's worth at least keeping in mind when deciding to include that another JS framework to save yourself 10 minutes of typing.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#104

Post by TeMPOraL »

zeveb wrote: post #77
fixermark wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And depending on the toolchain the author chose, it may also be made in less time than it'd take to hand-roll and tags into a list.

With a decent editor, hand-rolling and tags ain't too bad. With a good scriptable editor, hand-unrolling the different options is also surprisingly easy.

I agree. In this specific case, assuming the author had to type-out (or paste) the actual contents of the list, then "hand-rolling" it into a HTML list using a decent editor will be less (probably much less) work than plugging in all that JS cruft.

And, it only happens once, instead of wasting a tiny bit of electricity for computing the exact same thing for every visitor.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#105

Post by TeMPOraL »

gvurrdon wrote: post #97
Klathmon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ask to send a message, then wait for it to prompt for who, and after that wait for a prompt for what you want it to say. I use that function while on my motorcycle through my helmet a bunch, and breaking it up like that allows me to confirm/deny each step because often the wind noise makes it impossible to hear what i said.

I find that sometimes, after the "OK Google, send a text to $PERSON" my watch will ask whether it should be to their mobile, work or home landline. A way to set it to only send text messages to mobiles would make sense but I can't find any way of doing that.

You probably need to go to Contacts and long-press on the proper number, and use "set as default" (or something similar) option.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#106

Post by Klathmon »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #101
Klathmon wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It shouldn't be, it really shouldn't be. See, but why shouldn't it be? Would it be valid for me to say that python shouldn't be a part of linux? That people should stop using python on their linux command line tools because linux is really about C. The web is an application platform, and I still haven't heard any convincing arguments as why we shouldn't use it as one besides "Because it wasn't one in the past". I ag…

> Would it be valid for me to say that python shouldn't be a part of linux? That people should stop using python on their linux command line tools because linux is really about C. Somewhat fair point, but at least it would cut out the number of language runtimes one has to have on a Linux computer. For simple command-line tools, besides C/C++, you end up needing Perl, Python, Ruby, and now probably also Go and Rust.…

>The Internet is a perfect example of having a lot of things that would be better off not existing in the first place.

I just can't agree with that. Sure, there are things like malware which shouldn't exist, but outside of that I just can't agree that something shouldn't exist because some don't like the business model (or the technology used).

>A static list like that should not need anything more than plain HTML/CSS and a little bit of JavaScript sprinkled on top to do the click effects.

It doesn't need more than that, but having more than that provides a lot of benefits. A nicer look and feel, a more "responsive" view in terms of massively changing UI depending on the screen size, inline search, a unique and pretty useful way of showing different possibilities of each phrase, etc... All while being very simple to make (which is an extremely important point for something like this).

I know many people don't like those things, but to dismiss them as "something very wrong with the industry" is incorrect in my view. People want eye-candy, and they want it instantly. If they can't get it through the web, they will get it through downloaded applications, or apps in closed app stores, or some other methods that we haven't even thought up yet. And blaming people for wanting it isn't the answer, nor is "fixing" it against their will.

Just like how you could make this website with plain html, then layer css and javascript on top to make it look nicer, you could make a package manager on linux that has 0 dependencies, then add python and perl to enhance it. But nobody has the time or money for that, and in the grand scheme of things it's not going to hurt anyone.

This is a website about voice commands that you can say to your phone, have them sent to google, analyzed, and a result sent back (which might go to a search page which uses more data than this whole site does). Building the website in the way you feel it should would not have improved live for many people at all, and it would have possibly made the author never want to make it in the first place.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#107

Post by chain18 »

Klathmon wrote: post #62
kps wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you actually have a problem that any of those are causing? Inability to select the text.

That's because the author set the css property `user-select` to `none`. Why? I'm not sure, but that has nothing to do with any of the libraries listed, or even javascript at all.

I assume it is because you can click on the commands to cycle through the examples. If you didn't have this css property set you would end up selecting text.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#108

Post by 8note »

zeveb wrote: post #90
Klathmon wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I disagree with you on disabling javascript being an "essential security precaution", but that's another discussion... As for the rest, there's also the point that the author probably wouldn't have done this that way. That seems like a dumb sentence, but hopefully i can explain it. This kind of thing isn't going to make any money, even with ads this is an niche thing and would probably end up making him tens of…

> I know that many disagree with me, but for most "web apps" progressive enhancement is dead … Javascript is part of the platform It shouldn't be, it really shouldn't be. The web should be about GETing, PUTting, POSTting & DELET(E)ing resources (i.e., documents); it shouldn't about GETting executables. There's definitely a place in the world for a well-thought out universal executable platform, but HTTP + HTML + CSS…

yeah, and whats all this about mobile apps? a phone is for making phone calls, not browsing web pages and playing games. these thibgs would be better off if you called a phone number that would read out the weather to you and so on. If you want to leave a text message or an email, you should call up a phone service and tell them to write the email for you.

Re: Show HN: “OK Google” – Explore Google Now voice commands

#110

Post by LastZactionHero »

Klathmon wrote: post #28
10dpd wrote: post #9

Technologies used for a static list (!): react redux reselect aphrodite material-ui stylz redux-form react-helmet webpack faker lodash moment

Do you actually have a problem that any of those are causing? I mean the site comes in at around 500kb transferred. That's not small, but it's also not obscenely large. A single large-ish image can easily blow that out of the water. Yeah, it could afford to lose some weight in the javascript (although looking at it now, i'm not sure they can. much of the size of the javascript is string literals for all of the option…

At the time of this comment, looks like the site's been hugged to death.

So without knowing what's on it, maybe a smaller size could have kept it from falling over.

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