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Save your eyes, start using f.lux

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Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#251
post #138

Does anyone else notice the slight display lag that f.lux exhibits? On my mac it's just the slightest bit annoying, and I had to get rid of it. Otherwise I'd love to use it. Maybe I'll try redshift.

f.lux caused my mouse to randomly jump on OS X. It didn't seem to matter how fast I'd move it, every 10s or so it would jump 1" in the direction I was moving. Really, really annoying.

Yep, that's what I saw as well. I attributed it to display lag or something. It was unacceptable and I had to remove it.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#252

This thing gets a lot of love by a bunch of folks here, so I gave it a good half year of trying. But it's just too annoying. Around 5pm, your display turns pinkish orange and it becomes a lot harder to see anything. Code gets harder to read, colors display wrong, video just fades to black. None of the advertised happiness ensues. The second half-year it remained installed, my only interaction with it was to notice it…

Whenever Flux gets mentioned, there's two groups of people: 1: Doesn't understand it, hates the "wrong" colors. Can't get used to it. 2: Appreciates the candle-like colors, says it helps them sleep in the evening or relaxes their eyes. I wonder if there's some sort of genetic difference? Maybe some people just aren't sensitive to bright light in the evening?

3: Hates how f.lux makes the display jumpy and slow when active. (Sorry, it's true, and once you see it, you won't be able to unsee it)

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#253
Does flux practice readable colors on their own website?

It seems like they do - I just returned to HN from reading flux's pitch, and my eyes did not take too well to the higher contrast on HN. Can anyone confirm if the colors on their website change over the day?

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#256
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might there be a way to sample white balance throughout the day to calibrate it using a webcam and a white sheet of paper? I'd probably start using it again if I could avoid fine tuning color temperatures manually.

Yes we have three implementations of this, and they mostly work but only some of the time :) Problems: in a lot of dim rooms, the monitor is the main light source, and some webcams have terrible auto white balance. If you're on a Logitech camera it's totally easy, and if you're on a cheap netbook, it's awful. Still, you can solve all that, and we probably will ship a version of this soon.

That's great to know. I could probably turn the screen backlight off for a second while taking the shot. I'll play around with some shots from my camera to see how they vary. I'm looking forward to hearing more about these sorts of features!

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#257
Installed on Xubuntu 12.04, using dual-monitors. "f.lux indicator applet" shows up in my Accessories menu. First time running it I gave it latitude & longitude. It starts up (its icon shows up in the tray), but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Trying to open the applet's Preferences has no effect.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#260
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if that's sarcastic or trolling or not. In the event that it's earnest, software patents are relatively frowned upon by most non-corporate entities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent_debate

Not sarcastic or trolling. Can't one hold a patent and also offer the product for free, provide open source code, and allow others to do the same? On the flip side, suppose the patent holders do lock down this idea. Do you really think that humanity (or the US) is going to benefit from competing copies of a program that changes the color of our screens? Are you truly concerned that the patent is going to take this pr…

> Can't one hold a patent and also offer the product for free, provide open source code, and allow others to do the same?

Yes, or you could write open source software and defend prior art in precisely the same way as you'd defend a patent. Given that one option is free and the other one requires the patent process, it's unlikely that they're patenting something just for kicks.

> Do you really think that humanity (or the US) is going to benefit from competing copies of a program that changes the color of our screens?

Yes. How about this as a built-in feature on iOS?

> Are you truly concerned that the patent is going to take this program away from us?

Yes. The lifetime of software, especially indie software, is dwarfed by the lifetime of a patent.

> Why is the pantent-pending "pretty important" for this piece of software? Why not patent this idea?

Software patents are rare outside of very large corporate entities, and it's worrying to see that a small group would think that they're worthwhile.

> If the only answer is "software patents are bad!", then it's worth thinking about these questions more.

Even a brief, two-minute read of the wikipedia page or any other of the top few google results on software patents should make the case that this is more than knee-jerk reaction.

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