As a dev/architect in my 50s who has been on the sidelines for a few years, thank you for sharing. I'm on a long sabbatical of sorts and I appreciate hearing that getting back into the game is still possible.
I've been wondering if BlueSky has been growing too slowly, doling out invite codes too cautiously as people move onto other platforms and sort of give up on it.
Looks like I'm wrong. Other platforms don't seem to be scratching that twitter river-of-news itch for me.
How has BlueSky been for you? It's just been such a have & have-nots situation to me (from the outside). I have no real idea if people are enjoying how it works other than just having it.
You are spot on on UI changes. My octogenarian father called last year telling me his bank account had been hacked. Long story short, his bank had put an interstitial ad for loans showing a vacation beach scene between the login page & the account summary page he was used to. With his eyesight and patience level he didn't notice to scroll down for the "continue to your accounts" link. Ergo, only explanation was that he'd been hacked.
This took way too long to diagnose now that I live hundreds of miles away.
I wish UX designers would slow their roll on things like this in sensitive applications like online banking. There are times for ads and times for when ads should not be present.
I have been using NoScript for years and I selectively whitelist enough domains until the site loads properly. Typically the actual domain, perhaps a web server & CDN. The raft of ancillary domains I just leave blocked.
Working at a major e-commerce company, I get I why they're there. Like many others, I've found the web much more... responsive... without the huge page loads, and I don't like the idea of how far my data travels around and is shared, corss-referenced, etc.
Its fantastic. Simple on the one hand, but pretty sophisticated on the other.
A UI suggestion: When I am "in" a box, there should be a clear indicator of how to go back to the top level. The "x" for closing the box is a little too subtle, and possibly overoaded with "delete". I'd rather see a back arrow utilized. Hovertips helped of course.
I also think when your view is with the box open, then adding a note should by default add that new note to be a child of the box.
Not sure about the UK, a little of the googles shows me that there are age discrimination laws there. I don't know if its kosher or just another indicator of this firm's cluelessness. (edit: or satire?)
Always takes me aback when I see age explicitly specified in a job description. That wouldn't fly in the US, you have to be more subtle with age discrimination here.
I think it definitely depends, the firearms purchasing public is as diverse as most other groups.
As someone who collects both, I find it amusingly similar to camera gear. Nikon vs. Canon, Glock vs. Sig, 9mm vs .45 or was it APS-C vs. Full-Frame? In both cases there exists the mass-produced item most analogous to the "tree find". Glocks and DSLRs found at big box stores. Then there are collectibles such as Leica or something from the Springfield Custom shop, or Les Baer. I could go on.
At any rate, I think some things haven't changed, craftsmanship is still valued and prized, but the common purchase is definitely of the more affordable items such as the mentioned $600 price point.