A lot of you have been complaining about the background being too bright, and I think many of you really need to install f.lux. I’ve been using it for years and it is superb, but here is a vox explainer just in case.
It’s super easy to use, it’s using 0% cpu and 9.7 megs of memory, and it is probably my favorite free piece of software since Lview or Winzip.
Open Thread: Another Unfortunate Coincidence for JEB
Baud
Pure win on the photo.
Arm The Homeless
F. Lux is great as long as you expect some funny things to happen to your screensaver and Android lock screens. The blinking looks like your device is about to fail, but it’s not. Well, probably not.
As an aside, I think my new laptop might be my favorite tech toy since the Nexus Player. Dell has certainly upped their midrange laptop game
Baud
I’ve heard about this issue for a while, but I finally took the initiative to add an android app that does this. Thanks, John.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My cat’s name is Mittens.
ThresherK (GPad)
I installed CF Lumen. It looks better, and I wasn’t even aware of the light color / surrounding lumens thing.
PigInZen
You freaking nerd. I’m not installing a piece of software to read your crappy blog, no matter how much I love you.
OK, I might.
Srsly, tho, either make it a light gray or shade of blue.
Gin & Tonic
I’m going to be that guy, and point out that WinZip was never “free” as in beer. It was developed by a guy named Nico Mak, who was also then working for a company called Mansfield Software, whose primary product was a PC-based text editor for mainframe-type people. He expected to be paid for WinZip, and probably got way too little overall. I don’t know whether or when he parted ways with Mansfield, but WinZip the product (and the company) were bought by Corel at some point. Mansfield is in the process of closing their company, since the market for their product (which was very good) is now non-existent.
John Cole
New site design can’t stop the Anne Laurie stomp!
John Cole
@Gin & Tonic: I bought it, so stop wanking. I also bought winrar.
redshirt
The future’s so bright…
Betty Cracker
A thing I’ve learned from this redesign: photophobia is WAY more widespread than I ever imagined.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@John Cole: Nothing can stop the AL Stomp. By design; it’s part of the joint’s charm. PS – f.lux won’t help with the background hex number issue for the olds. I’m one of them.
Arm The Homeless
@Betty Cracker: While we are taught that monsters and madmen lurk in the shadows, it’s just as easy for them to hide in the blinding light.
Permanent Dusk is the only answer.
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: I’d consider a career in vampirism, but I like garlic.
Aleta
John. Thanks for this and all the rest. You’re a generous guy.
John Cole
@efgoldman: For the love of everything holy, give it a couple hours. Try installing it during day light and then have it slowly turn to your night setting.
NotMax
Altering the site will work for everyone, without their having to install any extras or bells and whistles to view it with less agita. It ain’t rocket science, it’s not even water rocket science, it’s a fershlugginer background color.
Winzip? Oy vey. 7-zip is where it’s at (handles a wider array of file types, includes a broadr choice of options, and a paltry 4.3 megs, to boot).
Belafon
I’m not allowed to install plugins or add-ons at work.
RSA
@Betty Cracker:
Photophobia?
ETA: Never mind. I got it.
gian
@NotMax:
I was a kid in high school and paid for a zip shareware program for my commodore.
I got a personal thank you letter as about the only person who ever sent a check. I think I sent a couple hours of pay at my $5 an hour job.
dexwood
@NotMax:
Wow, water rockets, they were fun. I could go out onto a third floor balcony and launch them from there. For a time, my little brother could be talked into running up and down all the flights of stairs to retrieve them for me.
Second f.lux, it really helps my aging eyes feel more relaxed.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
You can adjust it to better suit you. Open it up and go to custom colors, slide the bar for the time of day how you like it and boom it works.
greennotGreen
I’m not comfortable installing a piece of software for one blog, even if it’s my favorite one. I’m happy with the way my screen looks for everything else.
NotMax
Speaking of favorite free software, Metapad. No fuss, no muss. Simply wonderful at doing what it is supposed to, since 1999. (Don’t know offhand if it has ever been released anywhere else in a version for post-Windows 7 devices since going open source.)
greennotGreen
BTW, is the lexicon coming back?
NotMax
@greennotGreen
Look at the listings of “About Balloon Juice” at the top.
J R in WV
OK, why not ask Tommy to make a gizmo to adjust the background brightness and color for any user? It’s a variable, surely you can read a new value and set the background color/brightness for a session, or even keep the settings in a cookie. Two sliders, one for color and one for brightness, store the selected values, let escape reset to the default values.
A challenge for the team!
f.lux isn’t available for Ubuntu – probably not for any version of Linux. If anyone can suggest a Linux version, I’ll be happy to try it.
satby
@NotMax: Seriously this. This is the only site that is so ridiculously bright that it hurts my eyes and I’m reading on the laptop or my kindles all freaking day, I work on the internet. Why should I have to install something else for just one site that worked fine before?
That’s the mark of a project run amok BTW, you start blaming your users for stuff that was fine and not an issue before an “upgrade”.
I admit, as an IT manager for 20 years trying to rein in the developers and engineers and stay on project without scope creep, I may be a bit biased here. Because I was the one who had to sooth users and unfuck shit while the developers whined about rolling back their perfect creation.
.The fonts were fine,, the background colors were fine, the comments were fine. Now they’re all borked, but it’s OUR fault and we should fix it all ourselves??
pat
When will the links for the blogroll get fixed?
Omnes Omnibus
@pat: My guess is: eventually. Give Tommy a few days to work on it. Jeebus. Yes, I have some issues with the way things are right now, but most of them have been raised in the relevant threads. If this gets put to bed without fixing a bunch of them, then it’s time to complain.*
*I can’t believe I am finding myself in the position of defending Tommy.
redshirt
Change is scary.
satby
@Betty Cracker: Very funny.
Photophobia Treatment
The best treatment for light sensitivity is to address the underlying cause. Once the triggering factor is treated, photophobia disappears in many cases.
BruceFromOhio
F.Lux manual: Reach out to the monitor. Hit the menu button. Drop the brightness.
HOLY FUCKING GAIA TECHNOLOGY
It’s like being lost in the wilderness and stopping to make a martini, or singing the lyrics to any Broadway show produced in the last century: seven people will pop up out of nowhere to claim you are doing it wrong.
Gian
@BruceFromOhio:
Does Slate really employ that many people?
Steeplejack (phone)
@Arm The Homeless:
Which model did you get?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@greennotGreen: Seconded. Why should I use it for the only blog I read that has a background in a headache inducing hex range? When said blog was fine prior to the redesign? @satby: It’s the same great place when Cole blames us for a fucked up part of the redesign. That’s how we know we’re part of the crew.
Which is not to say that Tommy isn’t working hard. I just think it’s hard for someone who has no issue with the background to understand that it is a real issue for a (not insignificantly sized) set of the blog commenters. I’ll not get nit picky about design coherence issues – I’d just like the site to not give me a headache.
The Other Chuck
What is with all the whiny little princesses complaining about the background? It’s white. Same as the old blog. Or was it just recently changed from the solid grey, which apparently also offended peoples eyeballs as being more harsh than … white?
Omnes Omnibus
@The Other Chuck: The old format had a number of colors. Alternating colors in the comments, for example. Some people’s eyes are more sensitive to brightness than others. BTW, nice sexism in your complaint.
Roy G.
Since i’m just a longtime lurker, I hate to be a bitch, but this redesign is not working out. The site is simply not readable now, except to the most hardcore BJers. Design is much more than just formatting, and that’s not at all meant to knock anybody on the BJ staff, especially Tommy. I strongly suggest rolling it back to the previous theme, and holding a fundraiser to pay for professional UX design.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roy G.: The roll out isn’t finished. There was a fund raiser, and Tommy is actually a professional web designer.
Roy G.
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, so I missed the fundraiser. I know Tommy’s line of business which is why I didn’t want to knock him, and if the rollout ends up making things right, I’ll gladly be wrong. I won’t waste time trying to establish my own expertise, and just say this; If the site doesn’t match up with the competition, readership and participation will suffer. Cruel to be kind.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roy G.: What competition? Most of the people who comment here are addicts.
Roy G.
@Omnes Omnibus: Addicts are comfortable in any situation, I don’t think that’s the aiming point. I was hoping Cole would get this feedback, it’s not a point of debate. Leave your pajamas on all day, who cares?
Maeve
yes – let’s address ourselves only the illuturati – we don’t need those plebes who don’t know how to install additional software!
Omnes Omnibus
@Roy G.: In that case, I apologize for responding. I should have known that you were just commenting to Cole. My bad.
Roy G.
@Omnes Omnibus: No worries, I know everyone here is tight, and i’m not really part of the group, but I like to visit and really want it to be readable. I know how I came across and how hard it is to get this right. Keep on keeping on, and I will hope for the best.
John Cole
Roy G.- Give it some time.
The rest of you, you aren’t installing f.lux just for this site. You’re installing it because it makes EVERY site better and the monitor easier on your eyes.
Jeebus.
Donalbain
Our new design sucks. But download this piece of new software and it might suck less!
Brachiator
You got to jail break some iOS devices for this? Sorry. Not gonna happen. And you can’t install this on a Chromebook.
Not as simple a recommendation as it appears.
Nate Dawg
Is the background different for some people? It looks like a plain white background to me. Same as it used to be. Doesn’t hurt my eyes at all.
Brachiator
@Nate Dawg: On my main larger monitor, there is something about the new fonts and the white background that is more tiring than the previous version.
SteverinoCT
My overriding issue with the old site was the three columns– I use Ctrl-+ to zoom the text, and the columns stubbornly refused to yield width, making it a compromise between being able to read the text, and stacking everything in one narrow center column. That has gone away with this design, and everything else is livable for me.
And I have installed f.lux and like it. I do adjust my screen brightness for ambient light; this is for warmth and is helpful. Yes, I can adjust my monitor warmth using the hidden black-on-black labels-on-the-side buttons (who designs these things?) but having it automated (and reachable with a mouse-click) is preferable.