Top all-time · #384
Matt Gemmell
Personal blog · mattgemmell.comprogrammingwriting
Matt Gemmell's personal blog at mattgemmell.com covers programming and writing. Since 2007, 139 different Hacker News readers have linked it 191 times, most often “What have you tried? (2008)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-26, and you can follow it by feed.
Rarely recommended · 5 of 38 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Matt Gemmell's posts on Apple platform development, iOS accessibility, network simulation, API design and the software business.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 38 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Thriller, Horror, and Suspense author
Most-linked posts?
- What have you tried? (2008)7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2013-12-10
- /2011/07/25/network-link-conditioner-in-lion/4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2011-11-30
- Entitlement and Acquisition4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2012-07-21
- API Design - Matt Gemmell4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2012-05-24
- What have you tried?3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2012-02-17
- Writing Techno-Thrillers3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-03-02
- Using PDF images in iOS apps3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2012-02-11
- Accessibility for iPhone and iPad apps3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2011-02-23
- Closed for Business3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2012-07-24
- A Laptop for Writers: 12“ MacBook2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2015-07-15
What Hacker News says?
OS X has a handy GUI tool called the Network Link Conditioner, which lets you easily set up simulated network conditions. The inbuilt profiles are a bit optimistic, I find, but it's easy to add more. It's just tc or the BSD equivalent under the hood, but it's point and click and easy to turn off. More details at: http://mattgemmell.com/2011/07/25/network-link-conditioner-i...
Comment linking /2011/07/25/network-link-conditioner-in-lion/
on “Page Weight Matters”Submitted iOS 7 as a story · 648 points
HN discussionI don't think that's what Gemmell has been saying at all. He has been dismissive of the Windows 8 "No Compromises" approach, but Metro, as found on Windows Phone and the Surface (not Surface Pro), he has always seemed rather positive to me. Some examples: "It’s not quite minimalist, though; it’s more like finding yourself living inside an infographic. The presentation is flat and high-contrast, but there’s little th…
Comment linking /2013/05/12/tail-wagging/
on “iOS 7”Submitted API Design - Matt Gemmell as a story · 253 points
HN discussionMatt Gemmel has earned himself a place among the great Apple apologists, too. http://mattgemmell.com/2012/07/23/closed-for-business/
Comment linking /2012/07/23/closed-for-business/
on “The Marco.org Review of John Siracusa’s Review of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion”Submitted Mac keyboard shortcuts as a story · 217 points
HN discussionPaper from FiftyThree[1] is very good. Omnigraffle is a useful tool to, but pricey. Photoshop for ipad looks promising too. Matt Gemmell recently wrote a blog post about using the iPad from a UX designers point of view[2]. [1] http://www.fiftythree.com/paper [2] http://mattgemmell.com/2012/05/02/ipad-productivity-apps/
Comment linking /2012/05/02/ipad-productivity-apps/
on “How text editing on the iPad should be”Submitted Apple has damaged the perceived value of software as a story · 211 points
HN discussionSpaces most certainly is still there, only it's not called "Spaces" anymore. (see http://mattgemmell.com/2011/07/27/using-spaces-on-os-x-lion ) If you've been using Lion all this time thinking spaces no longer work then this is your lucky day!
Comment linking /2011/07/27/using-spaces-on-os-x-lion
on “Mountain Lion: John Gruber's personal briefing”Submitted Entitlement and Acquisition as a story · 175 points
HN discussionEvery so often I come across a simple, elegant site. Since I bitch about the others, some kudos: Matt Gemmell, from aa few years back: https://mattgemmell.com/staying-creative/ Matthew Graybosch https://www.matthewgraybosch.com/starbreaker/ Mark Pilgrim's Dive Into HTML5 is a classic. http://diveinto.html5doctor.com Outline is a lifesaver: https://outline.com (Especially for browsers/platforms w/o Reader Mode.) I've…
Comment linking /staying-creative/
on “The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text”Submitted Working from home as a story · 169 points
HN discussionMy blog and podcast feeds go around these few main interests of mine: software, art, design, music and Apple. Podcasts: Varieties, science, design. * This American Life. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ * Radiolab. http://www.radiolab.org/series/podcasts/ * Planet Money. http://www.npr.org/planetmoney * Stuff You Should Know. http://www.howstuffworks.com/ * The Infinite Monkey Cage. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: What tech blogs, podcasts do you follow outside of HN?”Submitted Designing blogs for readers as a story · 123 points
HN discussionWhy this trend of using large font size on blogs? (1.225em from http://mattgemmell.com/stylesheets/screen.css ). This is ridiculous, especially when this is done on mobile too. I have to scroll to be able to even read the first word of the first paragraph on my phone!
Comment linking /stylesheets/screen.css
on “Mac keyboard shortcuts”Submitted Letting go as a story · 119 points
HN discussionWhy not get an N64 controller and a USB connector: http://mattgemmell.com/playing-nintendo-games-on-a-mac/ I bought the GC/XB360/PS connector and the SNES connector, and it's been a blast playing games with them! For the SNES games I even got two controllers so I can play Bust-a-Move and whatnot with friends.
Comment linking /playing-nintendo-games-on-a-mac/
on “Steam Hardware pre-order”Submitted Review of the 11" MacBook Air as a story · 106 points
HN discussionI would strongly advice against using these. While these type of toggle switches work great on mobile, they can we really confusing on desktop/mobile web: where does one click to change state, which state is active etc. Matt Gemmell wrote a good post about toggle switches some time ago: http://mattgemmell.com/2011/11/01/on-off-switches/
Comment linking /2011/11/01/on-off-switches/
on “Bootstrap Toggle Buttons”Submitted iPhone development emergency guide as a story · 100 points
HN discussionThis is a great resource. Feels like the next step after Matt Gemmell's post "API Design" ( http://mattgemmell.com/2012/05/24/api-design/ ) where he called APIs "UX for developers".
Comment linking /2012/05/24/api-design/
on “Best Practices for Designing a Pragmatic RESTful API”Submitted Releasing Outside The App Store as a story · 97 points
HN discussionHasn’t the original author of “What Have You Tried?” themselves discouraged blind application of that prompt? http://mattgemmell.com/hindsight
Comment linking /hindsight
on “What Have We Learned from This Open Source Project?”Submitted Nintendo games on a Mac as a story · 91 points
HN discussionIf you have a recent (>=10.7) version, pf [0] is installed. pf is a more capable firewall than ipfw, and can shape upstream connections in a number of ways. As an example of what it can do, the Network Link Conditioner [1] is built using pf. The version in OS X is not the most recent version in OpenBSD, but that FAQ is a good start, and the man page [2] can fill in the details. 0: http://www.openbsd.org/faq/pf/ 1: h…
Comment linking /2011/07/25/network-link-conditioner-in-lion/
on “Why is Spotify chugging upload bandwidth when it is not streaming?”Submitted Your App’s Website Sucks as a story · 87 points
HN discussionI am surprised that no one linked the What Have You Tried article by Matt Gemmell. http://mattgemmell.com/what-have-you-tried/ This is how I almost never got my SO topics closed. I state beforehand what I have tried, how certain SO questions may look related but are still not giving me enough knowledge to solve my problem. I do my best to make a convincing argument that I need help and can't make it on my own. A few…
Comment linking /what-have-you-tried/
on “Friction Between Programming Professionals and Beginners”Submitted Closed for Business as a story · 85 points
HN discussion> pretty straightforward for developers to implement Although true, many developers don't even take the time out to do it[1]. This video demonstrates that the creators of Instagram did take the time out to do it, even though a lot of interaction their application is based on vision. [1] http://mattgemmell.com/2012/10/26/ios-accessibility-heroes-a...
Comment linking /2012/10/26/ios-accessibility-heroes-and-villains/
on “How blind people use Instagram [video]”Submitted A Declining Trajectory as a story · 77 points
HN discussion
