Links by Friday 005 - Apple won't Love you back
Intro
This week we look at the evolution of the Xbox console design, why corporations are not your friend, a new filesystem API for JavaScript and more.
FSX - A Modern Filesystem API for the JavaScript Ecosystem
After spending years fighting with the Node.js
fsmodule while maintaining ESLint, I asked myself, what would a modern filesystem API look like? Here are some of the things I came up with:
Common cases would be easy. At least 80% of the time, I’m either reading from or writing to files, or else checking if files exist.
Errors would be rare. My biggest complaint about the
fsmodule is just how frequently it throws errors. Callingfs.stat()on a nonexistent file throws an error, which means you actually need to wrap each call in atry-catch. Why?Actions would be observable. When testing filesystem operations, I really just want a way to verify that the things I expected to happen actually happened. I don’t want to set up a network of spies with some other utilities that may or may not be changing the actual behavior of the methods I’m observing.
Mocking would be easy. I’m always amazed at how difficult it is to mock out filesystem operations. I end up using something like
proxyquireor else need to set up a maze of mocks that take a while to get right. This is such a common requirement for filesystem operations that it’s surprising no solution exists.
Introducing fsx: A modern filesystem API for JavaScript - Human Who Codes
Filesystem APIs in JavaScript runtimes haven't been great for a long time. This is my attempt to make a better one.
How the Xbox got its good looks
A deep dive into Xbox console design. Why they don't put the same effort into naming the darn thing is beyond me.
How the Xbox got its good looks
This is the story of how the Xbox became a design icon worthy of museum collections.
Getting Unstuck in a Creative Activity
Recently, these two things helped me greatly with my creative drought:
- Try to push through it by just showing up and working for a few minutes.
- Look for inspiration in other people.
Just Do What You're Excited About - by Simon Peng
How many different ways do you know how to say "I'm not allowed to do that?"
Apple won't love you back
Apple is a corporation, and corporations aren’t people, and they can’t love you back. You wouldn’t love GE or Exxon or Comcast — and you shouldn’t love Apple. It’s not an exception to the rule: there are no exceptions.
https://inessential.com/2024/01/17/corporations_are_not_to_be_lovedXSXX
Where have all the websites gone?
A call for more human curation of content and less algorithmic timelines. I believe in the Indieweb and would like to see it come back in some form.
Where have all the websites gone?
It feels like all the cool websites from the late 2000s are gone. But maybe we are looking at this the wrong way. Maybe it is us who vanished.
That's it, see you next time.