Command line interlude

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I was just going through my feeds, which I read in the OS X Terminal with Canto, and I thought it was interesting just how much time I spend in the terminal, and how I seem to rely more and more on the command line for speed and efficiency. As a schooled designer with a long career in art and creative direction, it’s strange enough that I use vim, but if you think that’s weird, here’s the rundown of the terminal/cli apps I use most frequently:

  • Writing, coding: vim (usually MacVim, to my credit as a visual person, thank you)
  • E-mail: mutt (I know. But really, my skin has a healthy glow and I do go outside and enjoy the sun)
  • IRC: irssi
  • RSS: canto
  • Twitter: twitvim
  • Written documents: LaTeX
  • Drupal: drush (Drush rocks.)
  • Task management: Taskwarrior

It seems weird, but for me, these types of activities don’t need eye candy, but effectiveness and speed. And these apps provide that. They are also all free to use and work on several platforms.
I’m especially happy with mutt and canto. Mail and feeds, in the amounts I consume them, usually take up huge amounts of time. With these apps, I can zip through them relatively quickly.

Are flashy HTML5/CSS3 “demos” helping?

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The lack of forward movement in front-end web development by government agencies may be our own fault, says Chris Heilmann. And I agree. Completely.

I’ve been increasingly biting in my reactions to many admittedly fun but practically useless “demos”, “experiments” and other assorted HTML5 and CSS3 nonsense like CSS3 icons. I always get flack for this, and I probably will now.

While these experiments are easily defended—“just wanted to see what was possible”—they are generally non-complex (though they can be tedious; take one look at a CSS3 icon or font). They are, put bluntly, simply a way to show off. And as long as that works, it will continue. But what are these experiments helping, aside from the reputations of those who make them(!)?

Please note that many of these experiments utilize a technique that I and many other art directors and designers have used for ages, which greatly enhances product appeal. It involves simply combining two things you wouldn’t ordinarily expect to be together: CSS and fonts. CSS and icons. HTML and games. Peanut butter and chocolate—Hershey/Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have used this to their advantage for years. And so forth. The first person to build real beer from Javascript will be speaking at conferences for years to come.

I could say more, but Chris Heilmann said it so well, there is no need:

Right now, we are happily thinking we innovate and push the envelope where in reality we are making each other go “Oooohhhh” while a large chunk of the audience that could benefit from our knowledge is stuck with really poor experiences on the web.

If you haven’t, please take a moment to read his article.