That Time I Made A Website • Hacker News Board

Re: That Time I Made A Website

#121

Post by KirinDave » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 3:30 PM UTC

dandelany wrote: post #80

mb_72 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well .... making a website != programming. Maybe it's because I'm old (41, starting programming on a TRS-80 in the early 80s), but I'm astonished sometimes at how much fuss is made over such relatively minor achievements. This is lowering the bar on what stories are 'interesting', and - honestly - turns me off coming to HN because of the (for me) lower signal : noise ratio. And I disagree that accessibility is so imp…

I took a nontechnical friend of mine to Maker Faire in NYC a couple years ago and for the first 20 minutes or so all she could ask was "why?" As in, I know it's possible to make a robot that paints weird pictures or a flowerpot that sings or a giant, iron propane-flame-breathing dinosaur, but why would you? What purpose does it serve? Who's paying for this stuff anyway? The answer, I think, lies at the center of the…

> I took a nontechnical friend of mine to Maker Faire in NYC a couple years ago and for the first 20 minutes or so all she could ask was "why?" As in, I know it's possible to make a robot that paints weird pictures or a flowerpot that sings or a giant, iron propane-flame-breathing dinosaur, but why would you? What purpose does it serve? Who's paying for this stuff anyway?

I get really sad when I hear this question, because it is like this fundamental question people have and it lies at the heart of why some people appreciate art and some simply cannot.

But yeah. I got this from a relative and asked, "Why do you go out drinking and dancing?"

Re: That Time I Made A Website

#122

Post by DaemonXI » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 3:48 PM UTC

Does anyone know of that Adobe post and JS script to equalize the line length of text for aesthetic purposes? I remember if one line was full div width and the next line was only a couple words, it would insert line breaks to try to make both lines closer in width to one another.

Re: That Time I Made A Website

#123

Post by mb_72 » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 3:45 AM UTC

iamwil wrote: post #118

mb_72 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a beginner to programming I had enough self-awareness to realise that my achievements were of little to no interest to those with more ability and experience, and certainly would not have been worth publishing in a magazine (as the equivalent would have been at the time). This is 'Hacker news' - but these days the word 'Hacker' has been diluted in meaning to something that doesn't really mean 'hacking' any more. T…

I think you identify as a programmer and hacker, and things that encroach on that identity--such as beginners doing html/css calling it programming--causes you discomfort. And that blinds you to the interesting things about this. Of course it is. Driving is a skill. You only consider driving the operation of a tool rather than a skill because its accessibility is so good.

It causes me discomfort, yes, because if a beginner over-estimates what they are doing then they are in for more disappointment when they discover what they are really doing.

Re: That Time I Made A Website

#124

Post by mb_72 » Wed, Sep 04, 2013, 3:46 AM UTC

rwg wrote: post #106

mb_72 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well .... making a website != programming. Maybe it's because I'm old (41, starting programming on a TRS-80 in the early 80s), but I'm astonished sometimes at how much fuss is made over such relatively minor achievements. This is lowering the bar on what stories are 'interesting', and - honestly - turns me off coming to HN because of the (for me) lower signal : noise ratio. And I disagree that accessibility is so imp…

Well .... making a website != programming. A friend told a story about a recent job interview for a devops position. He'd already had phone interviews and a breakfast chat with some engineers from a company with offices in his city, and all that was left was meeting the bigwigs at their office. As the interview started, one of the executives asked, "So what programming languages do you use most often?" My friend repl…

In this instance clearly there was no scripting involved; your point addresses a straw man, not the reality of the situation in the original article.