/reader

I tried a tactical reset and took the “No deodorant challenge”, the legend –which I remember my hippie step-brother Nik telling me about thirty years ago– that if you stop using deodorant for two weeks the oils in your body naturally recalibrate and you stops smelling… but this urban legend very much did not work. I smelled horrible all the time.

I casually mentioned this issue to my dermatologist and he was quick to recommend this homely teal bottle of over-the-counter 1970s logotype, Hibiclens.

I like to think the “hibi” part of Hibiclens stands for “hibiscus” because it’s a pink liquid (or foam) that you apply like soap and rinse off. It’s colored pink because it’s an anti-septic and hospitals like to color their liquids, but the reason it works –as my dermatologist explained– is that bacteria creates the odor in your armpits. That was news to me. My prior understanding was that puberty causes teenagers to grow green stink lines that shoot out from their bodies. Guess the science there has evolved.

I’m happy to report that Hibiclens works wonderfully and I’m pleased with the results. I don’t wear deodorant everyday anymore, my armpits aren’t irritated, and I only need to apply a squeeze of Hibiclens every three days or so (but even that timeline appears to be stretching out). I do sometimes wear deodorant when the stakes are high, but day-to-day working form home is au naturale. There’s a small satisfaction that the answer to my fragile-masculine deodorant FOR MEN problems is a pink liquid in a Tiffany blue teal bottle. Time will tell, however, if it really does solve my problems. I’ll follow up in two-to-four years to see if it still works.

• Good forms work without client JavaScript (Brian LeRoux)
• Good forms always submit (Brian LeRoux)
• Good forms remember values and display problems inline (Brian LeRoux)
• Good login forms work with password managers (Mingo Hogan)
• Good forms use a <form> tag
• Good forms use appropriate input types
• Good forms have clear labelled inputs and buttons
• Good forms have focus states
• Good forms have logical tab order
• Good forms allow paste
• Good form elements leverage the inputmode attribute
• Good form elements leverage the autocomplete attribute
• Good search forms wrap the <form> tag in a <search> element
• Good forms can be reset with a <button type=reset>
• Good forms participate in formData
• Good forms don’t use placeholder as a label
• Good forms work on phones
• Good forms don’t popup and ask for personal information
• Good forms only ask for what is necessary and aren’t too long
• Good forms use HTTPS
• Good forms use the proper HTTP verbs
• Good forms validate on the client AND on the server
• Good forms have been driven with a screen reader before going to production
• Good forms clearly denote required attributes
• Good forms warn about costly or destructive actions
• Good forms make the baby Jesus smile
• Good authenticated forms should have a server-generated nonce value
• Good forms should do a pre-flight check for navigator.onLine before attempting a submit
• Good forms start with accent-color for styling and only get more complex if necessary
• Good forms see custom controls as a radioactive asset that must be removed at the earliest opportunity

Anyways. People should talk about forms more. Here’s some more resources on good form design.

• Form Design Patterns by Adam Silver
• Web Form Design by Luke Wroblewski
• Form Design Mastery by Adam Silver
• Better Onboarding by Krystal Higgins

Of all the injustices happening in the world… you know who needs to be taken down a peg? The Book-a-Week People. Fuck those guys. With their books in their Zoom backgrounds. That bothers me. Fuck them.

I know the original post is part of some weird hustle culture subgenre, but it’s probably no surprise to folks reading that I like books and fit this targeted demographic. After pondering whether I’m “finding answers to questions or questions to answer” my answer is a resounding, “…I guess?”

A lot of why I read is about juxtaposition. I read business books to juxtapose my experience against the Platonic ideal of “good business”. I read about social justice to juxtapose my lived experience against others lived experience. I read science fiction to juxtapose the present against futures I haven’t imagined. I read non-fiction airport books because I like facts and social science garbage. I read books on topics I’m already an expert in to see if there’s information that further informs my perspective. I read to teleport to different places, minds, times, and rooms where it happened.

I read to escape. I read to find myself. I read because I like facts. I read because I like fiction. I read for entertainment. I read to fall asleep. I listen to books to help me finish mundane tasks like doing the dishes every night. And I listen to books because there’s a slight communistic thrill of getting them from the library.

There’s a widely accepted idea out there that “the best way to become a better writer is to become a better reader.” I think Stephen King said it, but I can’t find the quote. Either way, I want to become a better writer. Whether fact or fiction, I want the ability to not struggle when putting thoughts on the page. Oh to partake in this magical osmosis! The transitive impartation of skills! Let me flex the language encoding and decoding synapses in my 40-watt brain.

And sometimes reading is out of due diligence. Like… if you’re going to start a job as a manager… read a book on management? Or ten? You’re dealing with people’s lives and careers, seems like the least you could do. If you’re going to talk or blog on a topic and there’s a relevant book… read that before showing your ass? A thought backed by some literature seems better than regurgitating TikToks.

Books are strange objects. Chapters and chapters of coherent research and lived experiences assembled by people who wanted to put it all down in one place. Edited by actual editors who like editing. Designed— down to the weight of the paper, the typography, and the illustration on the cover— to make the experience of reading it enjoyable. Books are uncanny and impractical objects. A terribly inefficient way to encode information from one brain to another, but an excellent way to tell a story.

You can also just like books for no reason.

Anyways, books. Check ‘em out.