F.lux(justgetflux.com) |
F.lux(justgetflux.com) |
It's funny how, even after years, it's such an amazing tiny piece of software... that still almost nobody knows about, outside of mostly just the hacker community.
I mean, it's almost a crime it isn't already a native part of OSX and, especially, iOS.
At every new Windows, OSX, iOS, Android release we get new features (some debatably useful - i.e. notification center in OSX, or integration with the new social network of the day) - but some key stuff that would make human-computer interaction noticeably better is just missing.
A few other things that I can't believe are still not standard in a 2014 OS: better copy and paste (the damn thing has been clunky for 30 years, see Ted Nelson's rant), better window management, better support for interacting across multiple nearby computers (Airdrop is a tiny step in that direction), ...
Every once in a while I'll get a little bored with the orange hue (perhaps I need to tweak my settings a bit) so I'll turn it off, and my god! So vibrant but the physical eye pain is tormenting.
You really don't even realize how bad things are until you've F.lux and tried to go back. Try it out if you aren't already using it!
I'm happy to assume that the reason why flux getting reposted and more importantly why it keeps getting upvoted to the front page is because new people are hearing about this great tool everyday.
I'm surprised of how few people even in our industry know about it. There hasn't been a single case where I show it to someone and he/she wasn't impressed. I'm so accustomed to using it that if for some reason it stopped working I believe my productivity would suffer at least 40%. Especially for those long winter hours it's a life saving app.
Where's the damn donate button?
It really is easier on the eyes if you're often working in darker places (coffee shops, your bedroom, etc...)
(apt-get install redshift)
I definitely make a habit of telling everyone I know, especially when I happen to be looking at their screen at night.
My current 'solution' is simply manually starting f.lux when I get home, and killing it when I go to the office. Tedious!
Tell F.lux it you live on the equator in the settings. If it's triggering too early, move your fake location west.
What I'd really like is to tell it 'turn yourself off at sunrise, turn yourself on at sunset or 2100, whichever's later'.
1) It's not open source, or is it? I don't see anything about getting the source. In today's world, utilities like this are open source, or have an open source alternative. This is something that runs in the background of my computer all day, every day, so I would like to know what's going on.
2) How does this affect graphic design? Does it make it impossible to get colors just right?
3) Why does this matter? My lights are on in my office. It's ALWAYS the same brightness in my office, all the time. Daytime. Nighttime. I don't really understand what my monitor is adjusting to. Is it JUST that my eyes are probably more sensitive when I'm tired? If so, that makes sense I suppose, but how does it know that I'm tired just based on the time that I'm using my computer?
Anyway, I'm not trying to be negative, these are just the questions I have and the reasons why I haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet.
3) It's not about brightness, it's about color temperature. If you have fluorescent lights in your office that are on at 10pm, you're right, it's not going to help. It really only makes sense to use F.lux under non-super-bright warm-ish nighttime lighting, or in a dark room.
http://www.charcoaldesign.co.uk/shades
If I run them simultaneously my monitor flashes yellow-and-normal.
For anyone who's never used it, it's certainly worth trying. This is particularly true if you have mild insomnia that's likely caused or exasperated by staring at a screen before bed. It's not a panacea, but used with other habit changes, it can certainly help!
Oh well. Soon I hope!
For those using GNU/Linux, use Redshift instead: http://jonls.dk/redshift/
That's amusing.