Minimal Universe

Minimal Universe collect posts from our favorite minimal-related blogs listed on the right.
  • Feature bloat and the art of keeping things simple

    Software, like pretty much everything in this world, is succeptible to clutter and bloat. More specifically feature bloat. Developers keep on adding new features until their products can send email, or in other words their software gets so full of features it’s no longer agile and fast and it’s very hard to maintain.

    Take Firefox for example. Firefox started as a response to the Mozilla Suite. Mozilla was big, slow and wanted to be an all in one internet suit. For people wanting to browse the web this was an overkill. Firefox, then called Phoenix, was lighting fast with very few features; because of this small number of things the program allowed people to reach the main purpose of the program right away: to browse the web.

    The Phoenix browser

    Unfortunatelly when Firefox reached version 1 and added plug-ins and add-ons the story changed. It changed again in successive versions with more features added. Slowly but surely Firefox became as heavy and bloated as it’s predecesor Mozilla by trying to be and all inclusive answer to your online needs. This of course brought security problems as well.

    I used to love Firefox. I even hosted and Version 1.0 launch party. But it’s just not a good browser anymore. Even out of the box, without any add-ons installed, Firefox is slow and its UI went from a simple and easy to learn (and I mean every bit of it) experience to a huge mess.

    All this brings us to my point.

    I started Simple Software as a reponse to the software I was using everyday; software that was bloated beyond recognizion and had no real solution. I wanted, no, I craved for simplicity and easy of use. I craved single task programs, programs that can help my already busy mind stay focused on the task at hand. Leo Babuta sumarized this perfectly:

    I like focus — simple software that doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles helps me find that focus. I like things that do very little, very well. I try to cut out distractions…

    What developers in this day and age of countless frameworks and computers that have almost limitless resources forgot is that a program has to have a main purpose. This purpose dictates the features a program will have and if it were to have only one feature it would be the one that serves the purpose of the program.

    A lot of developers don’t think about this. They think Oh, let’s add this, we can now join the uber-cool social network and send email and browse the web from our Todo Manager or Cool, this new feature will put us ahead of the competition. Continuing this way will cause the program to grow until its main purpose is lost.

    It’s also true that software evolves; but if you keep on adding without reviewing what you already have, things will eventually grow out of control.

    Jason Fried points:

    What’s the most ignored paradox in software development? Every time you add something you take something away.

    You have to review every single feature every time a new version will be out. Features that are no longer needed (they were put in place to solve a very specific problem) or no longer used (most users no longer want it or care about it), then you have to remove it. Yes, some users might be unhappy with it but they can do two things: they can still use the previous version or they can learn to live without it. Chances are the latter will happen.

    One you have this problem solve and before adding the new feature, you can then ask yourself: is the new feature adding something to the main purpose of the program or is it just candy?

    Jason continues:

    A product people loved can turn into a product people liked. Then the product people liked can turn into the product people can live with. Then the product people can live with can turn into the product people can live without.

    Code with intent. Be clear of what you want to achieve with your program. Keep it simple. Keep it minimal and focused. Keep it easy for the users to learn every little thing, make every user an expert by giving them fewer things. Keep the user happy, and also, keep your sanity: there will always be bugs, what programs do you think are easier to debug? Feature-rich, bloated software? Or agile, simple and focused programs?

  • What we believe in. (via iFixit and submitted by Marc Oliveri)



    What we believe in.

    (via iFixit and submitted by Marc Oliveri)



  • Not what we believe in. (via iFixit and submitted by Marc...



    Not what we believe in.

    (via iFixit and submitted by Marc Oliveri)



  • The Problem With My To-Do List (And Yours, Too)

    The Problem With My To-Do List (And Yours, Too):

    abetterfreelancer:

    All great freelancers get there by mastering their to-do lists. To get the job done, you’ve got to do the pieces. My good friend Randy provides a fabulous pep-talk for anyone needing to tighten the screws on their GTD machine. This is a must-read.

  • Photo





  • Morning routine

    I’ve always been an early riser, more so after spending time in the military. I found that the early hours, when everyone else is asleep and the house is quiet, are the best and in my case they help me clear my thoughts, find solutions to problems and generally be content and at peace.

    Now that my baby is sleeping through the night I have my early mornings again and I can go back to my morning routine.

    Usually I wake up between 4:30 and 5:00 AM. I put a range because I don’t use an alarm clock, I wake up without it. First thing I do is to prepare a fresh pot of coffee. I am a coffee drinker: the stronger the better. I like tea sometimes, but nothing is like a good dark-roasted super strong coffee to start the morning.

    While the coffee is getting ready I do some pushups, pullups and situps (and lately I go running for 30 min, I hate it but it’s good for you). Then I either prepare some cereal or toast and have a breakfast. I don’t touch a connected device while I am having breakfast. I usually sit by a window to see the sunrise (not anymore since it’s later now) or to see the city lights. I might have a book with me or my favorite magazine Alpinist. Once breakfast is over and if the baby is still asleep I open my iPad and read some of the sites I check often.

    By the time I am done reading some of the posts and news the baby is up, my wife is up and I am ready to help feeding the baby. Then off to the shower and to work.

    A simple routine that keeps me happy in the morning. My days are usually busy and stressful sometimes, but since my wife and I also have a route for the night (since we had the baby) we can both unwind and relax. More on that on a future post.

  • sameshizdifferentway: Chase Coy - Mockingbird ‘Autumn was on...



    sameshizdifferentway:

    Chase Coy - Mockingbird

    ‘Autumn was on it’s way and summer was on it’s way out’





  • startupquote: Create a 4-day work week. The benefits are a...



    startupquote:

    Create a 4-day work week. The benefits are a happier team, increased efficiency and easier recruiting.

    - Ryan Carson



  • "Google hasn’t yet provided any direction on Android as a tablet platform, which means that the Tab..."

    “Google hasn’t yet provided any direction on Android as a tablet platform, which means that the Tab is held back by lagging application support and software that doesn’t fully take advantage of the extra screen real estate.”

    -

    Part of the conclusion of Engadget’s Samsung Galaxy Tab review. This is going to plague every Android tablet until Google takes a clear, bold stance by making their own tablet versions of Android’s built-in apps — which may never happen.

    There’s likely to be a big chicken-and-egg problem: Google probably won’t care to devote any resources to good tablet interfaces for Android software unless one of the hardware tablets takes off, but none of the tablets are likely to take off with half-assed tablet interfaces on its software. It sounds like today’s Galaxy Tab is the Android equivalent of “just a big iPod Touch”, and it’s up to Google — not Samsung — to make it more meaningful.

    This is the kind of problem that Apple simply doesn’t face in their products: by keeping it all under the same roof and having a ruthless dictator with high standards and great taste at the top, they would never release hardware that begs for software. They’d just hold the hardware back until the software was ready — and not just running, but thoughtfully tailored for the device.

    (via marco)



  • Tilted Arc

    This piece of minimalist sculpture is called Tilted Arc, a 120 foot long Cor-ten steel structure by Richard Serra that was installed in the Federal Plaza in New York in 1981. By 1989, however, it was removed after much controversy. Amongst other things, it was accused of promoting totalitarianism, vandalism and crime.

    Of the work, Serra has said:

    The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. As he moves, the sculpture changes. Contraction and expansion of the sculpture result from the viewer’s movement. Step by step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes.

    A beautiful work. It’s a shame it’s been destroyed.

    Richard Serra Tilted Arc-1
    Richard Serra Tilted Arc-2
    Richard Serra Tilted Arc-3
    Richard Serra Tilted Arc-4
    Richard Serra Tilted Arc-5

  • Ten Thousand

    Thank You.

    Just a short post to thank each and every one of you. Just hit ten thousand followers on Tumblr. No words could ever be sufficient so I will have to leave it at that.

  • The last post just got edited

    The last post just got edited

  • Meet the Resistance

    Meet the Resistance:

    In an article making its way around the web, Jeffrey Goldberg details his recent experiences with the TSA and their new policy regarding opting out of the new back-scatter machines. In short, if you opt out of the incredibly invasive machine scan, you’ll now be subjected to a very intrusive pat-down instead, wherein the security agent assigned to you will feel up the thighs until he meets “resistance” in the form of your testicles.

    I linked to that article a few posts before this one. Paul Kafasis continues:

    So let’s try to put an end to security theatre. Let’s take back our rights, along with our dignity. Let’s remember what Ben Franklin taught us, that those who sacrifice liberty for security (or worse, the illusion of security) deserve neither. Let’s find our balls, and then make them touch ‘em.

    The next time I fly, I’m going to have the TSA “meet the resistance”. Who’s with me?

    (Note: check the article, at the end… You can see how the perverts at the TSA can invert a scanned image of a woman and make it more “pervy”)

    EDIT: I just want to make sure that people understand that I don’t have anything against being checked before boarding a plane. What I, however, am trying to fight here is stupidity.

    Making you remove shoes, jackets, the laptop out of a backpack and making you throw away your water, toothpaste, deodorant and other things is NOT going to help. You can still go by security and have what the TSA considers dangerous substances without being noticed.

    I’m sure the TSA people on the ground, at the airports are hard workers and great people, but you have to agree that they operate by the book, anything outside the book, well, they just stand there looking dumb.

    How about the TSA starts implementing something similar to what El-Al and the Israeli security do at the airports: They ask each passengers 3 questions, if the passenger doesn’t look suspicious it continues with the check in, if the passenger looks suspicious to the security checker, he/she will ask the passenger another 3 questions, this time a bit deeper. If, after the 2nd group of 3 questions the passenger still looks suspicious, then he/she will be take aside for a good check.

    In the meantime all the luggage is being smelled for explosives and other substances and scanned before you check in. And yes, the US does have the technology.

    Super fast and super efficient. By the time you reached the security scan for your carry on (before the gate) you are done. You slide the carry on onto the scanner, remove whatever metal you have on your person and go through the metal detector. No need to undress, remove shoes, remove laptops, remove my testicles and other stupid and useless things.

    Oh, but I keep forgetting something… All this costs money: mainly training the security personnel that will check the passengers. No.. that’s bad, if it costs money we can’t do it…

    SECURITY COSTS MONEY, YOU DUMB STUPID CRAP!

    Instead of spending gazillions on a huge x-ray scanner to see naked women, spend it training your guys!

    FUCK!

  • simpledesks: At our office, we use a communal table with...



    simpledesks:

    At our office, we use a communal table with wireless peripherals to make desks as we need them.


    Submitted by kirindave.

  • Mac Mount

    Mac Mount:

    Are you sick of spilling coffee on your Mac Mini, or dropping staplers onto your expsensive AirPort Extreme? By bolting your gadgets to the underside of your desk, you instantly create physical, usuable space on the desk top. You’ll have more room to work and your devices sit safely under your workspace, but still within easy reach.

    This looks like a really great solution. (via Jorge Quinteros)

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