
This is a regular text file. People will read it. Maybe. - blinry
http://slopjong.de/words.txt
======
weinzierl
Nice, I like text files. Paragraph width is a little too wide for me, however.

I assume you made the line breaks manually, but it IMHO looks better if you
let a decent algorithm do it.

Most Unix systems should have _fmt_ , but _par_ is better. If you are a vim
user, just hit _gqip_ inside of every paragraph.

The manual of _par_ [1] has an example that shows the superiority of a dynamic
programming algorithm (par, TeX) over a greedy algorithm (fmt, aprox. format
manually).

[1] [http://www.nicemice.net/par/par-doc.var](http://www.nicemice.net/par/par-
doc.var)

~~~
asdfaoeu
> Nice, I like text files. Paragraph width is a little too wide for me,
> however.

This is why we need markup languages like HTML. Inevitably people will want
different widths paragraphs due to different devices, preferences, etc. Just
because some people use HTML badly doesn't mean we need to go back to text.

~~~
Tloewald
People who want to modify paragraph widths and mess with the designer's vision
are why we need PDF.

~~~
vanderZwan
As a European designer who hates the fact that so many PDFs are in US letter
format: fuck designers.

~~~
Tloewald
You Europeans have things too easy with your metric paper sizes and sales tax
included in displayed prices and standardized road signage and drinkable beer
and functional healthcare systems. We'll stick with PDFs, and fluid ounces,
and trying to calculate 18% of pretax dinner tabs thanks. Excuse me while I go
fight with my health insurance company over my last doctor bill.

~~~
lazerwalker
If you're implying that the US doesn't produce drinkable beer, I'd humbly
suggest you're going to the wrong bars :).

~~~
Tloewald
It's true that the beer situation in the US is just fine these days.

~~~
yarianluis
I'd say it's more than fine. I just spent three weeks in Europe and I was
underwhelmed by the beer everywhere except Munich, Berlin, and Copenhagen
(Mikeller was great). Foreigners seem to think of American beer as PBR, Bud
Light, Miller, etc... and they have a good reason to--it's what most Americans
drink.

But the strong microbrew renaissance going on right now is producing some of
my favorite beers. Beers with the same depth and complexity as the finest of
wines--he said, opinionatedly.

Now, I've learned that this experimental attitude towards beer is highly
American. I don't think I've seen anywhere else in the world, except maybe
Belgium, that is quite as crazy and experimental with what they put in their
beers. After all, who in their right minds would like _sour_ beers?

If you think the beer situation in the US is poor try out some Russian River,
Boulevard, or Elysian brews and come back to me.

~~~
vanderZwan
As a Dutch man, I think our beer is _highly_ overrated. Belgian and German
beers are great though.

------
PavlovsCat
This made me laugh harder than it should have. Or maybe it was just really
good, I am not sure yet. Either way, thanks. I had a slightly cranky response
to that other thread I never typed, and enjoying this instead is much better.

And yes, some people read that stuff. Though I would rather read something
silly that is honest, than something that ultimately tries to sell me
something. Which reminds me of this!
[http://textfiles.com/directory.html](http://textfiles.com/directory.html)
<\-- Anyone remember spending hours being fascinated by that as a teenager?
Text files are the best files.

~~~
znowi
This is how I basically keep notes on assorted topics like bash.txt, vi.txt,
postfix.txt, etc :)

------
gabemart
Does anyone know of an easy way to improve the readability of raw text files
in the browser? I'm writing a novel using github and the raw text file output
looks very ugly in the browser, even using things like readability [1].

It's easy to convert a static text file into something more readable, but I
can't seem to find a solution for a dynamic text file at a static address.

[1] [http://readability.com/](http://readability.com/)

~~~
weinzierl
Make sure your text files are readable in the first place (line length,
paragraph length, etc.).

Chose a readable font. Text files are shown with the browser default monospace
font, but you change it to whatever you like best.

I think there is not much else you can do with raw text files in the browser.
The next level would be to write in something like markdown and view the
processed text, I think.

~~~
gabemart
I've been trying to avoid adding manual line breaks to the text file because
in prose, unlike code or poetry, line breaks are presentation, not content.

I suppose I could try to write something that scrapes the text file, adds <p>
tags around paragraphs and presents it with some really basic CSS. I don't
know how to code, but I might try cobbling something together.

~~~
pioul
You could alternatively use an online markdown editor (such as
[http://markdown.pioul.fr/](http://markdown.pioul.fr/)). It'll wrap your
paragraphs in <p> tags.

Additionally, since it uses the Markdown syntax, it might give you more than
paragraphs if you use more than line breaks. (Have a look at the _quick
reference_ for more about the syntax.)

 _Edit: Didn 't see your answer to @kybernetikos. I still think this could
help you out. Also note that in HTML (what you'll get by adding <p> tags to
your text), whitespace is collapsed (except inside <pre> tags)_

------
nverba
I think this is a bridge too far. Justin Jackson made a good point about
approaching your content first etc, but stripping back to just plain text just
makes this harder to read. In fact, if you've read the first post
[http://justinjackson.ca/words.html](http://justinjackson.ca/words.html), I'd
argue that this almost impossible to read through to the end without skipping.
Which sort of dilutes the whole point...

Perhaps the post should read:

This is a regular text file. Nothing advanced and not much to see here but
some words. And you're pretty sure you've read this already, quite recently in
fact...

AND THAT'S ANNOYING!

You're probably not even reading this bit, as most of you will have elected to
skip to the end only to find I'm plugging something.

Now that's amazing...

~~~
agargarg
> In fact, if you've read the first post
> [http://justinjackson.ca/words.html](http://justinjackson.ca/words.html),
> I'd argue that this almost impossible to read through to the end without
> skipping.

That's interesting: I saw the plaintext version first, which I had no problem
reading. But in the HTML version, the fact that all bold sentences are pretty
mundane and the excessive use of italic and bold just made me want to skip the
whole page. In fact I didn't even notice it was the same content until I went
back to your post!

~~~
alan_cx
My instant thought is that the bold headings draw the eye away from the bit
you are currently reading.

"You" read the first heading, and decide to read the plain text below. As you
are reading that, your eyes notice another heading below what you are reading,
and if the paragraph you are currently reading is not holding your attention
enough, the next heading gets your attention. Your eyes then leave the
paragraph you are currently reading because the heading below it now has your
attention. So, you start on the next paragraph and the whole thing loops as
you go down the page.

So, I would suggest that one should use headings and attention grabbers as
little as possible, make the paragraphs worth reading, and try to get the
message of the paragraph across in the first sentence or two.

Does that work?

------
samsquire
I don't think not using a CMS was Justin Jackson's point: his core point was
that content is king - design can come later, it's a distraction before your
content is written. You can easily use a CMS with a very lightweight template.

Plain text can be readable too: you can keep it to 72 columns like the RFCs.

------
pistacchioso
When referring to the post that inspired it, it would have been useful to take
advantage ad some kind of technology that, let's say, allowed me to click with
my mouse on that link you wrote and be magically transported there.

------
ginko
>I wrote this in a text editor. It's 4.9 KB.

That's 0.9 KB too large for a 4K demo.

------
olalonde
Love this (assuming it's satire). I think there is a bit of group think on HN
lately.

Sometimes, we have a highly up voted UX article that tells us users "can't
read" so we should not rely on text.

At other times, we have this highly up voted manifesto that tells us we should
focus more on text.

Am I the only one to see a contradiction?

PS: I do think text/plain HTML files are great (in some cases).

------
parsabg
If you look carefully, this dilemma exists in all forms of creative work.

Say I'm creating a piece of electronic music, do I start working on the bare
melody on a piano first or do I start with picking voice textures that blend
well together? Both can be exciting to work on and both can lead to great
songs. Just two different points of entry. Two different layers of
abstraction.

This is extensible to almost any type of creative work that I know of, and I
think people who regularly create things have tried at least a few of these
points of entry in their creation process.

For me, if I want to narrow down my focus, I go with the piano, the pen, the
text editor – black and white, minimum degree of freedom. Otherwise, I start
by finding two or more voices/tones/shapes/colors that go/interact well
together and focus on the overall experience instead.

------
raldi
Looks awful on an iPhone due to the manual line breaks. If your goal was to
let your words speak for themselves, you failed -- I was so distracted by the
jagged text I couldn't make it to the end.

------
Nekorosu
Made me laugh. Thanks. :)

It's time for someone to step up and write an article that says the conscious
choice of tools (or medium) most adequate for the particular problem is what
really matters.

------
alenox
Someone please do a snarky markdown one next.

~~~
DanBC
Or maybe an HTML5 or PURE CSS or asm.js?

------
sbinetd
Is that you Mark McCahill?

------
olgeni
cat this_is_a_regular_text_file.txt | morse

~~~
raimue
Useless use of cat!

------
VaucGiaps
Again?

~~~
cranefly
Different guy, written because of that previous webpage
[http://justinjackson.ca/words.html](http://justinjackson.ca/words.html)

