The (Real-ish) Reason Spotify's Disco Logo Feels Wrong
Spotify introduced a 20th-anniversary icon that violates their own design guidelines. I suspect I know why it happened, and it involves A.I.
@XianHain's Blogs, Articles, and Memos
A collection of my thoughts on life and the Web
Latest posts
If I did it, then I did it right
"Mediocre? That just won't suffice." I think about these lyrics from NF's "SUFFICE" almost daily, especially when developing software. For the past couple of years I've been professionally balancing one of my favorite Amazon Leadership Principles…
Thnks fr th Memes
Even though they weren't so great. Yes, I too, have decided to deactivate my Meta accounts. And it's kinda a big deal. I'm proud to be a Millennial, a social-media pioneer, and an early Twitter user (back when there was a 140-character limit).
I don't speak German, but I can if you'd like!
Hey! Recently I’ve been looking through Google Search Console to try and resolve some non-indexed page issues. Anyway, I kept seeing a 404 report for www.christianhain.com/k1. Well, I finally figured out how to tell where Google was indexing the link…
Uh-oh, goodbye `.io`?
If you haven’t heard by now, the .io ccTLD is at risk of removal due to a British Treaty that was signed on October 3, 2024. In short, the Chagos Islands (ccTLD: .io) in the Indian Ocean have been given to Mauritius (ccTLD: .mu)…
Did Apple Fix Email or Make it Worse?
Hello, World, I hope this message finds you well. This is my umpteenth attempt to reach you about generative content and how much I don't want to read it…
2024-W23: My Tea's Gone Cold
Oooh-wee! These past two weeks were a struggle, ngl! Building this blog has been a back-burner idea of mine for years, and I’m so proud to have finally got something set up. 49 people read my original post! WAY-YYY more than the zero I was expecting.
Week in Review: 2024-W21
Hey, what's up! So… now that this blog is set up and ready for content, it's time to actually write about things. I'm hesitant to put myself on any strict schedule because I don't want to produce sloppy content for the sake of ritual…
Live in three… two…
One day, in the late ‘90s, I came home from school to find a Gateway Computer in the living room; the Windows 98 screensaver bounced around, waiting for me. It wasn’t something I asked for, in fact, I’m not even sure I understood what computers were.
A week with the Apple Vision Pro
Wow 🤯, what a crazy week in the Apple universe. By now, I'm sure you've seen the videos of people driving while wearing Apple Vision Pro's, or perhaps you've seen memes of people gesticulating wildly in public. All I can say is, "Yikes!"
Great Documentation: Formatting
Welcome back! I've missed you. It has been weird to think about blogging in the wake of ChatGPT, but I promised a series, and here it is! This is part two of the Great Documentation essay series. In part one, I talked about giving context, and today I'll discuss formatting…
Great Documentation: Context
Knock-knock, who's there? Documentation about documentation! Just kidding, it's more like a series of essays, so even better. In the first part of this series, I want to discuss the most important thing anyone can do to make their documentation the best: give me context
Good Design Solves Problems
Good design is about solving problems, regardless of the medium. American architect, Bertrand Goldberg, designed the Marina City in 1959 to address what he believed to be an issue with Chicago residents leaving the city to live in the suburbs.