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honestlyvan · 10 months

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As someone who doesn’t use Twitter and hasn’t used it since 2016, at this point I feel like every even slightly Twitter-esque (let alone overt Twitter-esque) design choice Tumblr makes gets yelled about because People Really Just Fucking Hate Twitter whether they realise it or not.

Which, like. Fair ‘nuff. I also hate Twitter, which is why I don’t use it. But nobody ever really gives these design decisions any time to percolate on this site in favour of kneejerk “they changed it and we hate it” reaction. Public likes are not new. Multiple tabs on a dashboard (some of them not things you opted into seeing) are not new. Having to block ads with external tools is not new (and it’s a big deal that photomatt said the words “ad blocker”, like, you couldn’t get that shit on any other profit-driven site, everyone is too scared for their precious monetisation)

The new sidebar, also, I think is pretty ugly right now but it’s probably going to go through a few iterations. I, personally, really wish they’d put the search bar literally anywhere else (maybe group search and discovery together IDK I’m not an UX designer) and I think accessing sideblogs has been too complicated for a while now, but none of those are the same as “this looks like The Other Blue Site”.

Like I’m not a graphic designer. I am certainly not a fucking UX designer, and I think those people are either all nuts or all geniuses. I’m pretty sure the new layout is being extensively heatmapped rn, and what changes it’ll undergo are gonna be done based on that, based on comments that are along the lines of ‘this change would make me more productive’ and less on “WEEEEEH CHANGE IT BACK CHANGE IT BACK CHANGE IT BACK”.

Your animosity towards change is not meaningful user experience information. You misclicking on shit more *is*. If this layout is really *that* bad and terrible, Automattic’s research tools will demonstrate it as such. The developers now are actually much better versed in Web 2.0 design, for better and for worse.

#van stuff #Also like yes I also hate the touchscreenification of desktop sites #as someone who does not have and does not want a touch screen computer #but that's not a design trend I get to dictate as I am in fact a minority user for this site #and the complaints I am tired of seeing are also coming from other legacy minority users of desktop #There are many good UX reasons to opt for a vertical layout instead of a horizontal one #and I think the majority reason is so that people who are on mobile and desktop simultaneously don't have to have two different brainmaps #for their muscle memory on this site #but like... the vertical sidebar is not the same as 'randomly swapping 'Close' and 'Post'' lol #the top of the screen horizontal bar still does things and there's way less empty space there now #and I get wanting negative space and less screen clutter #like... that's the ONE criticism of this update I can agree with #but that's STILL NOT THE SAME as 'arbitrarily fucking over the muscle memory of EVERY site user'#how many people on this site *ever* move out of their dashboard? I know I do!#but I think it's the minority of people considering the user-curated model of propagation this site is still #*actively* promoting #This site looking superficially more like twitter doesn't change that!#like the sky is not falling call me when they eliminate the ability to browse the tags in favour of a flat search #AGAIN #remember when we had that? Remember how *BAD* it was?#remember how much easier finding stuff became when we got 'browse tags' back as the default search?

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ginasneesby · 4 years

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September- Viv and Andy part 2

On my previous trip to New Zealand in 2008, I and my friends spent a crazy month driving around the whole country with multiple stops and lots of road time, this time round I wanted to spend less time in the car and more time doing things. Top of Viv and Andy’s list was Whale watching in Kaikoura which is on the South Island near Christchurch. With our base in Auckland we decided to fly down meaning maximum time doing stuff and no long days hauling ass down the country. Domestic travel is super easy in NZ so I booked us some last minute fights to Christchurch for the Monday and with no plans till the next day we were able to take our time and minimise travel stress.

We got in mid-afternoon and with google maps in hand tried to work out where our hostel was in relation to the airport, fairly typically I remember it being the opposite side of town, but decent buses and small bags meant it wasn’t too much of a hardship. We stayed at a youth hostel near the botanical gardens in a 3 person room, I guess meant for a family with one child, Viv and I hadn’t shared a room for a good few years so that was a bit weird; but it was comfy enough and we were going to be out most of the time anyway. After a quick freshen up, and a mini google, we headed back out to find somewhere to eat, Monday night in a big city, shouldn’t be too hard eh?

The town centre was absolutely dead. The shopping streets were clean and well-kept with big high street brands, wide streets with multiple pedestrian crossings and yet no people around except us. There didn’t appear to be any little bars dotted around, no bustling restaurants, the only place we found that had a few restaurants/bars in one location was dark and shut up. Perhaps this is different at the weekend, but it gave a slightly abandoned vibe, since the 2011 earthquake it seems lot of people left town for safety/work/the ability to drive on roads that hadn’t collapsed; and really you can’t blame them. We eventually found a small place that was one of those airstream caravans with a heated outdoor seating area that did burgers and pints of beer, by this point we were pretty hungry so it would have been good but honestly, I remember it being particularly good. On the way back to the hostel we passed a giant old school joystick controller mounted in the pavement which was linked with a large screen on the side of a building, with this you could play a giant game of space invaders. Again, we were the only people around in the streets so we played undisturbed for some time; although Andy was the only one good at it so after a while we gave up.

We were picked up Tuesday morning by a local man with a van who drove us all the way up to Kaikoura for the day, it’s about a 3 hour journey so a lot of driving for a day trip, but if you wanna see whales, Kaikoura is where you need to be. It was also really great to have a local drive us as we didn’t know much about the earthquake, save what had been on the news, so getting his insight and experience was sobering but important. On the way out the city, he pointed out some of the local sights that were no longer there, including the CTV building that completely collapsed leading to 115 of the 185 deaths in the disaster. The roads up the coast were also all twisted and broken having been fixed up slowly over the previous 7 years, at one point completely undriveable due to landslides and collapse. They took a long time to be fixed to the point of everyday use partly due to the extensive damage but also lack of money in region (Canterbury is quite a large area to share a budget).

Looking into the earthquake, the reason it was so devastating was three fold:

1) It measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, the epicentre was only 6 and half km from the city centre and it was shallow. This meant there was simultaneous vertical and horizontal ground movement, with eye witness accounts describing people being ‘tossed in the air’ as well as increased liquefaction causing more ground movement, undermining many building foundations.

2) There had been 2 large quakes in 2010, one measuring 7.1, which had already weakened some buildings and infrastructure in and around the city.

3) It was midday so the city centre were full

We made our way fairly slowly up the coast with a bit of chat and narration, over the last 7 years despite the money problems, a lot of work had been done to make these roads passable. Highways in New Zealand are pretty much all single lane and in most places it’s the only road, so with highway 1 out of commission there is no way north from Christchurch without going across to the west coast and back again (a 400km dogleg.) We were booked on a whale tour in the early afternoon and arrived with just enough time to have a loo stop and a quick drink before heading out; we had to watch a health and safety video first which was basically, boat go fast/sit down. The company then took us the last bit of the way to the harbour and onto the boats which were catamaran style and set up inside with swish bucket seats. The boat was pretty full with what seemed to be one large group of Chinese tourists so if we had any hope of getting 3 seats together and by the window we needed to be quick; I knew from experience that I get a bit sick so having somewhere to sit inside where you can still see the sea is useful. After another small health and safety talk (boat fast/sit) we were on our way; most of these tours have the ‘if we don’t see anything we’ll book you on another tour’ policy which isn’t always great coz people don’t tend to hang around Kaikoura for more than the day they’re booked, but it does mean the company would lose money so they really want to see something as much as we do.

Sick as a dog, I spent the whole time sitting outside on the back staring at the horizon coz I was told staring at a stationary line can help (it didn’t) but I made it through without spewing so I call that a win. We didn’t see much to begin with but these boats are set up with all sorts of underwater gadgets so they can try to identify where whales can be located. Kaikoura sits at the southern end of the Hikurangi trench which has depths of 3km very close to shore which has led to a large number of deep sea species ending up here; this food source is pretty irresistible to whales and so unlike a lot of places they can regularly be seen within a short distance of the coast. The boat sent out a pulse thing and the responding squeaks gave us a heading and eventually we came upon some sperm whales; the sickness subsided for a few minutes so I could watch and take some pics. To be honest, the whales were great, but even just being on the sea and looking back across the southern alps was amazing enough to justify the days travel, I’ve never heard my sister exclaim as much as our drive up once we got near the mountains. We returned to the harbour and were met by our driver who took us into Kaikoura for our included fish supper, having felt sick for the last few hours a giant pile of chips with decent ketchup was literally the best.

On our journey back we went at our own pace stopping for photos across Kaikoura, the southern alps and the pacific ocean; every one suitable for display like most of the south island. We also came across roughly a billion seals lying on spits of rock right next to the coastal road who were totally unfazed by our proximity and were, I swear, posing. The main bulk of the journey back we spent listening to our own things, I’m pretty sure I had the newest episode of ‘My dad wrote a porno’ which I was trying to get through without disturbing the driver or laugh so hard he asked what I was listening to. Having consulted my guests, we cannot remember what we did that night so it was clearly super important but having had a long day I’m sure we just flopped into bed.

Our flight back wasn’t until the evening so we had the whole day to play with in Christchurch; I wanted to go to the earthquake memorial which was a short walk through town. I had been the CHCH briefly in 2008 but only stayed for a half day due to time constraints so I don’t really remember what it looked like; I only really have a picture in my head of an old cathedral with a spire on a square. This, as it turns out, was the famous Christchurch cathedral who’s spire fell in 2011 and still wasn’t safe for visitors so they had built a ‘transitional cathedral’ while they fixed up the original. This was right next to the earthquake memorial so we were able to see both; the memorial ‘185 empty white chairs’ is a sombre little patch of grass on a junction with a bunch of chairs all painted white to represent the 185 people that lost their lives. The chairs are all different and range from wicker to kitchen to office to wheelchair, there’s even a baby carrier as sadly there were some children who died. There is discussion of how to make this memorial permanent as the chairs are just made of normal chair material and have required some upkeep and painting since 2012; I think it’s totally worthwhile as it’s a poignant reminder of the 5th worst disaster in NZ history.

After lunch we still had some time so we headed to the Canterbury museum in the botanical gardens, here there was a large exhibition on Antarctic exploration as a number of famous expeditions have taken off from CHCH. Now people tend to travel from Chile or Argentina as it’s a shorter journey by sea and they come to the Antarctic Peninsula which has a lot of wildlife, however, what’s-his-name Scott and thingy Shackleton didn’t know this in advance so left from NZ on a few trips. I don’t remember what else was in the museum but we did head to the café for a cuppa and large piece of cake before retracing our steps from a few days earlier and heading to the airport. I was really hoping for us to get back in time for my regular Wednesday night pub quiz at Zac’s bar; we just about made it only missing the first round. As we were 3 extra we had to form our own team so Canterbury UNT were not the same size as all the other teams put together; I don’t remember how we did but I’m sure we won. Right?

#newzealand #travelling #christchurch #earthquake #kaikoura #whale watching #wildllife #fish and chips #canterbury museum #pub quiz

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badlypackedtraveller · 5 years

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Nobody supports the home side.

Crossing the border into ROMANIA the vibe changes again. We are immediately in a country still trying to shake off its past. Big industrial plants belch thick, acrid black smoke onto the atmosphere. There are few eco credentials to boast of and the people look beaten and depressed. Compared to where we have just been it’s all just a bit shit.

However the industrial wastelands soon give way to beautiful scenery and great, empty motorways. We end the day at the Hotel Palace[1] in Turda, which despite the unfortunate name is actually rather lovely.

As we are parking up the bikes on the pavement outside the hotel a couple of local cops wander over giving both us and the bikes a disapproving once over. “Here we go”, thinks I, expecting to be immediately moved on. Instead they mumble something to each other, give us a nod and wander off to resume their boredom elsewhere.

On a Saturday night waitress Anna can’t think of anywhere exciting to send us. A couple of street cafes boast chain smokers, grumpy staff and local football on the TV, but not much else. Turda’s highlight is the theatre, started in the 1980s and never completed.

We leave Turda as soon as breakfast is over and Anna waves us goodbye.

A target of this trip has been to ride the Transfargarasan Pass, that’s what we’ve come all this way to do. Somewhere south of Turda at a petrol stop we meet up with another UK couple of GSs who have sold up everything at home in Halifax to follow their dream of life on the road. Good for them. “You’re too late”, they advise, “You need to be at the bottom of the pass by 0600 at the latest”.

It was all a bit of an anticlimax. A magnificent road to be sure – Top Gear describe it as the best road to drive in Europe – but we end up nose to tail in a traffic jam all the way to the top. Even allowing for racing past on the wrong side of the white lines when gaps in the traffic allow it takes us at least an hour to get up to the top. Cars take three hours easily. At the top the majority of the Sunday drivers fight for a parking space, buy some tat from the numerous stalls lining the road, likewise bad food before joining the jam on the same road back down.

Clarkson and his chums had the road closed, methinks.

However, if you keep on the road south you are rewarded with long sweeping curves that are a joy to ride and coffee at Conacul Ursului.[2] All the way to Pitesti.

Pitesti is a much more interesting bet, although with an unfortunate legacy. Pitesti’s history includes brainwashing experiments carried out at the prison here. The idea was to force convicts to brutalise and torture each other in order to make them have no sense of loyalty to anyone other than the regime that provided for them. Of course, it never worked and eventually the experiment was curtailed in 1952, the prisoners executed and the prison staff and scientists given light sentences, promoted or shuffled off somewhere else. Securitate officials who had overseen the experiment, were tried the following year; all were given light sentences, and were freed soon after.

At the four star La Strada Boutique Hotel’s[3] restaurant the waitress looks terrified when we say hello to her and scurries off to find a colleague who speaks some English. She then spends the next 24 hours hurrying out of any room we walk into.

Double bed again and so Phil makes his usual drama out of informing whoever is on reception that we are not gay, not a couple and we definitely booked a twin room. “Look, it says so on my phone”. Somebody is duly summoned to move the beds a foot apart. Who knows what horrors are averted and Phil sleeps soundly and safely.

On an amble through the town later in the evening I find plenty of busy cafes and a large public screen showing a Romanian Premiership football game. Pretty uninspiring stuff. Nobody I speak to admits to supporting the home side.

On the road between Pitiesti and Brazov we happen upon the Mateias Mausoleum;[4] a tribute to the glorious Moldovan dead knocking lumps out of the Russians. Same sad story everywhere. The Mausoleum is dedicated to the heroes of the National Union War (1916-1918). The Central Powers advancement towards the Romanian Plain was arrested by the battles fought here by the Namaiesti Group, led by the General Traian Gaiseanu. The Mausoleum was built between 1928 and 1935 by the contractor de Nicolo, after the blueprints of architect Dumitru Ionescu-Berechet, the impressive mausoleum, made mainly of Albeşti limestone comprises two bodies: the first, horizontal, houses ossuaries, with marble plates bearing the carved names of fallen soldiers placed on the walls. A spiral staircase leads to the second body, a vertical tower containing, in 31 crypts, the remains of over 2,300 Romanian soldiers.

Memorials I get but why historians feel a need to accessorise them with instruments of death is beyond me. At Mateias we are treated to a diorama of the sound effects of battle and killing.

Romania doesn’t want us to leave. Biking requires discipline and a couple of near misses today are testament to that:

1. A drunk walks out of a hedge and ambles unaware across the road in the path of the oncoming traffic. One, two, three cars ahead of me hit the brakes hard. The drunk pauses to gaze bemusedly at the cars oblivious to how close he has been to not being.

2. I check my rear-view and pull out to overtake. The powerful Mercedes behind me does exactly the same thing at exactly the same time but accelerates quicker. He gets very close to my back wheel. Too close for comfort.

You have to challenge the voice in your head that says “another ten miles” or “nearly there, I’ll stop soon” and just stop, slow down, pull over, enjoy the ride.

Arriving in Bacau I pull up outside the decrepit Hotel Moldova waiting for Phil to catch up with me. There is a well reported con that goes like this – Hi, I’m an English student. Let’s go somewhere and I’ll buy you a drink so that I can practice my English. So you adjourn to a bar and two beers appear. The student soon makes his excuses and disappears off to the loo and is never seen again. The barman then requests payment for two beers at £100.00+ The doors are locked and heavies appear. The bill must be settled in cash.

No sooner have I got of the bike than I get the “Hi, I’m a student approach”. It turns out that this guy has noticed the UK plates on my bike and genuinely wants to offer help if needed. Sometimes cynicism catches you unawares.

The Bohemia Hotel[5] is in a dodgy part of town bordered by scruffy industrial units on one side and railway tracks on the other. We are on the wrong side of the tracks, literally. When I go out to find a cigar shop (none, what is about Eastern Europe’s aversion to cigars?) fat rats scurry amongst the roadside bins. Strangely, a very nice hotel in an ugly part of town. Twin beds and tonight Phil’s snoring is augmented by the sounds of passing rolling stock. I zone them both out.

Leaving Romania is great, not because we are leaving Romania, although that has taken some stamina, but because eastern Romania is beautiful. Leaving Bacau less so when we get caught in a downpour and thunderstorm. As we take shelter passing cars send tidal waves over our bikes. Of course, we do all the things you are advised not to do in such a situation i.e. take shelter under some trees, next to an electrified railway line, next to a makeshift iron cross to a dead railway worker. The clues are all there to be ignored.

Romania has proved to be a strange country and full of surprises and contradictions. Heavy industry, cruel to the environment, peasant living, prematurely aged people the product of a life of drudgery, brand new Dacia Dusters everywhere, cheek by jowl with horse and carts, pockets of ostentatious new wealth, ugly fashions. It is a country wanting to change but still too firmly rooted in its past. It’s all just a bit shit.

[1] Str Piata Republicii 31, Turda, jud Cluj. T: +40 264 317230 E: [email protected] www.hotelpalaceturda.ro

[2] Cazare Restaurant, Transfargarasan DN7C, Km 107, jud Arges. T:0752 877877 E: [email protected] www.conacul-ursului.ro

[3] Boutique Villa, Bulevardul Republicii 63, Pitesti. T: 0770 225078 www.lastradapitesti.ro

[4] E574, Valea Mare-Pravat

[5] Str. Ghe. Donici 2bis, Bacau. T: 0040 234 516008 E: [email protected] www.hotelbohemia.ro

#wanderlustmag #DKtraveller

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