Static sites: Pager | Hugo | Astro
UI Frameworks: Solid | React
Hosting: Cloudflare | Digital Ocean | Netlify
DAW: Garageband on iPad | Logic Pro
Design: This sketchbook | tldraw
Practically speaking, I have an immediate todo list ahead of me:
- client work at Webcraft
- writing on this site
- and re-thinking Scatterpad
Which is well and good, it is useful to have the current things front and center. But I also find it useful to maintain (with frequent revision) a sense of “what am I about right now?”, i.e. a list of current…
Frames, Focuses & Frontiers
Listed in order of “most recently decided on a name for” first.
Software for Groups
I have a fondness for software as a communal act, as communication medium, as a global commons. Anything other than insularity of “personal software”, which leaves me cold. Groups as a design space is just so much more fertile — requires dealing with the nuances of collaboration tools, notifications, selection effects, shared environment design, etc.
The Visual Display of Qualitative Information
Which is the problem of choosing what to say and deciding how to say it. As an example example, after years of thinking about it, I’ve framed the problem of journalling to be about finding a representation of facts that resonates with yourself in the future. Similarly, websites involve communicating with visitors, within constraints of brevity, screen size, etc.
The tools of this trade are numerous and span multiple mediums; the written word alone has dozens of useful tricks! An infinite game if there ever was one.
Calibration
I’ve been looking for a word that means “thinking better” while being wayyy more broad than just the meagre act of thinking. I now think calibration is that word. Active practice often involves engaging with, and improving, other people’s models of things (e.g. my friend’s concept of practice). And occasionally, yelling at people who make it harder.
The Emotional Affect of Software
Popular technologist lenses include looking at things as a system, attempts at a physics of software, solving problems on a “fundamental” level, defining Lego pieces, etc. I believe these approaches help create good tools a layer below the end-user interface, but struggle above it.
Because where the software touches the user, behaviour is the thing that really matters. All kinds of interesting problems exist here — one example of which is Interface Anxiety. But the larger vision is simply the careful consideration of people and what feel and do.
Previous FF&Fs
UI frameworks
All the ways you can choose to build reactive interfaces (I prefer signals, btw), and it’s intersection with animations, async programming, etc. The tradeoffs of having a virtual DOM as a powerful control layer vs. the simplicity of “just update things”.
Sync engines/databases (same thing)
I like to joke about how I’m probably owed reparations from the Ink & Switch folks for colonizing a large part of my brain for the last 3 years. As a result of which I have built half a dozen sync engines (each buggy in their own way), and refused to make web apps with loading spinners.
I now know too many cursed facts about transaction isolation levels, SQLite limitations, query invalidation, the beauty of the log as data structure, etc. etc.
Economics
[TODO]
Physical performance
[TODO]
If any of these items overlap with your interests, and seem worth discussing, reach out to me at judah@joodaloop.com
