James Basoo

@Jbasoo
232 Followers
668 Following
2.5K Posts
Front-end dev. Enjoys nerdy stuff, cars, cooking, tinkering etc. UK based.
Mehttps://jamesbasoo.com
James Basoo6d ago
I'm glad there was a copy of this on eBay.
James BasooAug 20
Chris Lilley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aug 20

CSS now has a new, alpha only, relative color syntax.

alpha(from var(--mycolor) / calc(alpha * 0.6))

Result is in whatever color space the origin color is. Just the alpha is changed or overwritten.

https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color-5/#relative-alpha

CSS Color Module Level 5

James BasooAug 13
It's kind of awkward to have your first session with a physio then realise she's leaving in the same direction. I'm now waiting on a bench for her to get some distance.
James BasooAug 8
Bluebberry vodka tonic 🇫🇮
James BasooAug 8
Perfection. No notes. https://youtube.com/shorts/5aZcd8ZqhAc
Before you continue to YouTube

James BasooAug 5
Star Trek Minus ContextAug 5
#StarTrek
James BasooAug 5
Aaron GustafsonAug 4

On the 20-step problem and the economics of agentic AI.

https://utkarshkanwat.com/writing/betting-against-agents/

Why I'm Betting Against AI Agents in 2025 (Despite Building Them)

I've built 12+ AI agent systems across development, DevOps, and data operations. Here's why the current hype around autonomous agents is mathematically impossible and what actually works in production.

Utkarsh Kanwat
James BasooJul 25
I wasn't expecting to be singing The Rasmus and Black Sabbath on Singstar tonight but here we are!
James BasooJul 24
Cassidy James   Jul 24

I’m looking for anyone in my circles who:

• is a front-end web developer
• has some design sense
• understands the allure of buying a Linux computer
• is open to paid work

A Linux computer company reached out asking if I was available for paid work on their website and while I would love to, I’m just not able to find the time right now. But they’re a great company and I would love to connect them with someone!

#Linux #OpenSource #WebDesign #WebDev

James BasooJul 24
Fesshole 🧻Jul 24
We are now encouraged to use Copilot AI app in work. I prefer to learn and use my brain so I pretend I use it. In my latest 1-2-1 my manager said it's great I'm 'on side' and I'm a role model for my quality of work & embracing the change in a positive way. Guess that was from AI
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Louie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28

You know, I could write a whole blog post about this—and I might—but I think we need to start addressing the very likely possibility that the *entire thesis* that “UI should get out of the way” and “apps should focus on content” is wrong.

Apps aren’t just for looking at photos or videos. They’re for navigating through these things, organizing them, editing them. The tools to do those things should not get out of the way. They should be clearly defined and separate from the content.

Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
The problem is not the introduction of glass as an element of the visual design language. If used as the Dock background alone, it would be totally fine! But because someone said “UI should get out of the way” and no one challenged it—instead of content literally being the focus, Apple has to intentionally put content *out of focus* (blurring) to make the glass elements visible. They have to put a gradient behind the glass so you can see it. That should’ve been the “oh, it doesn’t work” moment.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28

But here we are with a new visual design language that somehow manages to compromise on both the content area *and* the UI.

I’m *living* on macOS Tahoe and I’m here to tell you that the apps that are a pleasure to use are the ones that haven’t adopted Liquid Glass (in essence... all the third-party apps.)

This should be a blog post. But I need to collect my thoughts and write it all better. So consider this a beta version. lol

Show threadRiccardo MoriJun 28

@louie > But here we are with a new visual design language that somehow manages to compromise on both the content area *and* the UI.

This. So much this. I’ve had this truth before my eyes for the past 3 weeks, and I couldn’t condense it in so few words.

Show threadSenna 🌷Jun 28

@louie I'm taking away a lesson from this: UI should be visually apparent such that it is easily found and recognized when needed. The user needs UI to interact with the content, so why shouldn't it have a distinct presence?

UI usually shouldn't be so flashy that it draws attention away from the content, but simultaneously it should not fade into the background and become illegible. Somehow Apple seems to be missing the mark on both of these points.

Using the AVP as a point of inspiration for the UI of their other OSs is a big mistake I think. It's more of a neat science project than a successful product.

Show threadJohn ParkerJun 28
@louie It feels a lot like they’ve forgotten that a computer is a tool, rather than a means of consuming content.
Show threadNot🐧A🐧Convicted🐧FelonJun 28
@Middaparka @louie This.
Show threadJonathan HendryJun 28

@Middaparka @louie

Or they want it to be for consuming content - F1! Intruding into a space near you! - and nothing else.

Show threadÓscar Morales VivóJul 4

@Middaparka @louie it can be both, but used to be they were tools first and now are consumption devices first.

Which may be one of the main reasons the macOS UI changes of the last years have rubbed so many people the wrong way. They are still meant to be tool-first devices but are being evolved with the sensibilities of consumption-first devices.

Show threadJohn GruberJun 28
@louie I have never once gotten the impression that anyone on Alan Dye’s UI team uses serious pro tool apps. They love making beautiful looking things, not solving difficult UI problems with clever solutions. And I suspect when confronted with difficult UI problems, they say “Shut up with that nerd stuff.”
Show threadHimalayaJun 28
@gruber @louie where did Alan dye come from?
Show threadJohn GruberJun 28

@Himalaya @louie Levi’s and Kate Spade.

https://debbiemillman.blogspot.com/2007/11/design-matters-live-tonight-with-alan.html

debbie millman: Design Matters Live, Tonight with Alan Dye

Show threadHimalayaJun 28

@gruber @louie I am trying to make sense of one more thing, why glass?

When Google introduced material design, it was inspired by paper & ink which makes sense tbh. We write on paper and we interact with paper in real life.

But why glass? I get that glass is a real life thing, but where do we see this liquid glass in real life? Or am I missing something and I am dumb?

Show threadJimmyJun 28

@Himalaya @gruber @louie You’re not dumb, but I don’t think Material Design is all that useful either. Translating paper and ink into a glass screen makes less sense (to me) than trying to make it feel like you’re directly interacting with the glass.

I think Liquid Glass is a great direction, but v1 definitely has some poor implementations.

Show threadAdam FairclothJun 28

@gruber @Himalaya @louie Dye himself has said that he's "terrible" and is afraid someday Cook will realize that.

I mean we all have imposter syndrome sometimes, but surely some of us are right when we think it...

Show threadJonathan HendryJun 28

@fcloth @gruber @Himalaya @louie

Sometimes the imposter syndrome is trying to help you escape a situation that isn’t right for you.

Show threadCraig HockenberryJun 28
@gruber @louie I’m not even sure they’ve used a Mac for a full day’s work.
Show threadMindaugas RudokasJun 28

@chockenberry @gruber @louie Wait, what are you implying here? They do the UI design directly in Keynote? :)

Who is Mica for then?

Show threadJonathan HendryJun 28

@mrudokas @chockenberry @gruber @louie

The underlings who implement the bad ideas?

Show threadMindaugas RudokasJun 28

@jonhendry @chockenberry @gruber @louie Looking at the Icon Composer and how it was presented during the WWDC, I kind of don’t know what to think.

I know it’s v1, but it’s like doing the handoff to yourself, over, and over, and over again – more or less.

If that is the understanding of the proper tooling and development convenience, then it’s really fucked up – the bicycle for your mind ideology may be gone. But how? There are smart people inside, guaranteed!

Show threadMindaugas RudokasJun 28

@jonhendry @chockenberry @gruber @louie

Best course of action after beta period? What would be the modern version of pitch forks and torches in this situation?

1. Lawsuit based on demanding accessibility rights.

2. Infiltrate Apple, teach good taste.

3. Show how it is done from outside. (No leverage to apply force.)

4. Infiltrate Apple, steal the macOS source code, release as torrents, die in jail.

5. Hack Apple, steal the macOS source code, release as torrents, live anonymous.

...

Show threadMindaugas RudokasJun 28

@jonhendry @chockenberry @gruber @louie

6. Bring back the modding, the skinning, the Winamp/beOS era through OS patches without having source code, use other UI frameworks, build new ones.

7. Build fucking web apps.

8. Write angry blogposts and tweets, if you can see where to click to send those.

9. Do nothing. Wait for RC. Die in despair.

10. All move to EU, pass laws from there.

...

Show threadMindaugas RudokasJun 28

@jonhendry @chockenberry @gruber @louie

11. Mass-downgrade. (Global user base will not follow, can’t make apps as business without new versions of toolchains).

12. Pitch forks and torches.

Show threadsullustJun 28
@chockenberry @gruber @louie Apple should force their UI team to use Windows for all corporate tasks. No phones, nothing but windows. They will become passionate about UI design.
Show threadCraig HockenberryJun 28
@gruber @louie The leading indicator for that is notifications, of course.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@chockenberry @gruber this. I’ve said it so many times now but I’m not convinced the people making decisions even like computers.
Show threadSt. ChrisJun 28

@gruber @louie I’m reading these posts in Ivory on iOS 18 on an iPhone 16 Pro and noticing how this huge tall screen has plenty of space for the reading material *even with* solid zones at the top and bottom where the buttons are. It suddenly strikes me that it’s like an iPhone 7 with the controls moved off to the forehead and chin, and it feels right. I wish there were one persistent full-screen toggle button (onscreen *or* physical) to show/hide the UI.

I honestly still miss the home button.

Show threadFabienJun 28
@gruber @louie see also “how do you make a beautiful ui with many buttons”… “hum, I don’t know so… hide them all into a single one?
Show threadPeter van BroekhovenJun 28
@gruber @louie it’s almost as if playing with glass baubles on a table isn’t enough when designing a new UI.
Show threadesconnerJun 28
@gruber @louie I’m not sure when in the design process they made those physical clear and tinted glass/plastic objects seen in the Liquid Glass introduction and how exactly they used them (Do you know?). It seems to me that they could be a pretty good tool for imagining beautiful and very large or extremely zoomed in digital mockups and demos of UIs. Actual normal sized (comparatively small) UI not so much.
Show threadJimmyJun 28
@gruber @louie Every feature Alan Dye doesn’t personally use gets stuffed behind the 3-dot menu.
Show threadChris HansonJul 4
@gruber @louie You’ve got it. Human interface is about how it works, not what it looks like, and focusing overmuch on the look doesn’t just do users a disservice, it perverts the application frameworks themselves. The existence of NSVisualEffectView is an abomination.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jul 4
@eschaton pardon but how it looks is very important. People love to pluck out the Steve Jobs “design is how it works” but forget he said “design isn’t just how it looks” first.
Show threadVictor ZambranoJul 4
@louie @eschaton and the looks also have to work.
Show threadJamie FroggattJun 28

@louie If you’re interested in other takes, I’m using iPadOS 26 full-time, and I like it.

It feels physical. Controls feel like they’re ‘on top’ of the content the same way tools sit on top of a desk.

For gallery apps (Files, Reminders, Photos), the use of floating buttons, rather than solid toolbars with empty portions at many window sizes, is a much better use of space.

Button grouping is useful.

It also just fits well with the shape of the screen and the device, and looks cool.

Show threadJamie FroggattJun 28
@louie Looking at the Xcode beta, it seems they do have an answer for editor apps which need to be more down-to-business.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28

@SalvagedTechnic Yes, where the answer is “well of course we still have delineated toolbars.”

They know they can’t apply this everywhere.

Show threadJamie FroggattJun 28

@louie Yeah! Perhaps having more choice in design approach between apps with different goals is a deliberate move?

We’ve only seen one editor app from Apple so far with the new design, and there are more to come, and designers at Apple knew this. They’re smart people too. I think it’s interesting to try and get inside their heads through their decision process, and I think it starts from seeing the minimal toolbars in consumer apps and wanting a better answer for those cases.

Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@SalvagedTechnic I’m sorry, but the crux of this is the requirement to think they’re right and we need to understand it rather than the possibility they might be wrong. I cannot possibly subscribe to any thought process where I cannot evaluate the possibility of it being wrong.
Show threadJamie FroggattJun 29
@louie Sorry if it seemed like I was suggesting they’re right. My reply wasn’t about picking a side, just around the idea of knocking down a steel-man rather than a straw-man as a tool for insightful critique.
Show threadJamie FroggattJun 29

@louie Because for sure, there are problems with the new design.

But a lot of the critiques I’ve seen so far just throw everything out and come up with a new design, or suggest the old design but modified. Which then doesn’t actually go into the problems with this design in much detail or depth, it becomes more of a ‘Look, I can design better than Apple’.

Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@SalvagedTechnic well, I wasn’t really inviting others to share their opinions but good for you I guess (??) I’m not trying to be rude. I just wasn’t asking for that.
Show threadJamie FroggattJun 28

@louie Fair! I’ve been critiquing some of the new stuff, and would love new perspectives on it where it can make me feel better about the changes.

Looking forward to the article! I think with your experience you’ll put the issues into focus better than I could!

Show threadMaxJun 28
@louie yeah this is it in a nutshell
Show threadMike PiontekJun 28
@louie One thing that’s really wild is that there’s no longer any indication of where you can drag a window? Not even a hover state or pointer change. The only way to know where you can drag a window from is if you know how it used to be designed. They’ve really crossed a line where “focus on the content” has become a goal itself rather than a goal to serve a purpose (like maximizing screen space, or removing clutter when it’s a distraction)
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@robotspacer dude yes it’s killing me. It entirely relies on your platform memory and guessing. Terrible.
Show threadReimarJun 28
@louie Totally agree. And to add: By placing the UI elements onto the content, by adding blurs and translucence, by introducing floating sidebars with seams around them where content shines through, the designers are adding visual noise. This does the opposite — it smudges over the content instead of getting out of its way.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@reimar Definitely compromising on what’s good about both to make both... worse.
Show threadChristian BeerJun 28
@louie 💯
There can be apps that are ONLY about the content and the UI should get out of the way.
But most apps should have both modes, like Keynote, Photos, Preview, … one mode is about the content and the other is about the UI. View mode vs. edit mode. The edit mode should then focus on the UI/UX #my2ct
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@chbeer Right. Glass away in a QuickTime Player window. See if I care! (The tab bar in these kinds of apps is atrocious, however.)
Show threadRiccardo MoriJun 28
@louie We’re on the same page, once again. From my latest post:
Show threadMatt GoddenJun 28
@louie Someone at Apple created a tool to make realtime glass physics a thing the compositing engine could do. Then everyone fell in love with the tools so much they lost sight of what they were using the tools to make. It didn't matter if the OS became unusable, the UI a dumpsterfire of wasted space and excessive corner radii, as long as they got to use the Glass tools to make it, they were content. Soon everything that fails to serve using Glass will be gone.
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@metaning well, that’s a nice story but there’s no way I’m going to put that narrative into my brain as anything that resembles a fact.
Show threadMatt GoddenJun 28

@louie people get lost in their tools all the time - how many coders do you know who are only interested in doing a project if they get to use their preferred language, or dev environment to do it.

Same thing here... someone was so busy making Liquid Glass "cool", they're too deep in emotional sunk cost to consider if it's good. It's been clear for a long time that Apple has been decorating macOS to look like a VR environment fanfic UI, this is just another step.

Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@metaning this is just fan fiction. Stop replying to me with it.
Show threadMatt BonneyJun 28
@louie and all they had to do was make buttons look like buttons and NOT REMOVE THE TOOL BAR BACKGROUND
Show threadLouie Mantia, Jr.Jun 28
@bonney As I said the other day about the Finder icon— The right solutions are simpler than what they’re doing.
Show threadMark GrambauJun 28
@louie 100% to all of this. Misguided goals lead to misguided solutions.
Show threadDana ScottJun 28
@markgrambau @louie More like finding solutions to problems that do not exist.
Show threadJon_AlperJun 28
@louie Please do! It’s an absurd premise and every change under the banner of trying seems to fail at doing the dumb thing anyway. @gruber