HN Gopher Feed (2017-11-10) - page 1 of 10 ___________________________________________________________________
All about whiteboard markers
70 points by idoco
https://medium.com/graphicfacilitation/all-you-need-to-know-abou...___________________________________________________________________
joezydeco - 32 minutes ago
Am I the only one that finds the caps on Expo markers tear the tip
apart after a few dozen open/close cycles?A brand new Expo marker
is a joy, but a month-old one tends to be a piece of shit.
CarVac - 24 minutes ago
I use them for months without that ever happening, and I'm very
particular about capping them every single time I even pause for
a short time.
bitshiffed - 1 hours ago
Is there something off about those photos, or are all those
"green"s very cyan?
macintux - 55 minutes ago
Good point, not sure what to make of that. Given the nightmare
that is color management, hard for me to guess what went wrong.
zokier - 33 minutes ago
If I had to guess, then maybe something to do with the poor
spectrum of the office lights (fluorescent?) that combined with
narrow enough spectral response of the camera sensor make the
curious effect. I think it is interesting how uniformly cyan
the greens are, suggesting maybe that they are based on a
similar dye?
chasedehan - 22 minutes ago
Its amazing what HN can do for you. I have never cared about
whiteboard markers but just spent 20 minutes reading about the
differences and then looking on amazon to see what the price
differences are.
knolan - 59 minutes ago
Slow day in the office?!I use a roll of dry erase film for the
walls of my lab. They stick to wall with static charge. I can keep
pieces of work on the wall for reference for weeks by just moving
them to out of reach areas. It does make me look a little mad...
tdalaa - 1 hours ago
Got way too much pleasure from this! I use these all day. Will now
never not think about this every time I pick one up.
politelemon - 48 minutes ago
I actually prefer markers with a smell, and wholeheartedly disagree
with its placement in the "cons" as part of an evaluation criteria.
I'm also sure that I am not alone in the enjoyment of the olfactory
sensations such markers provide, there are probably dozens of us
who feel the same.
pokpokpok - 7 minutes ago
Whiteboards are usually used for collaboration, and your
coworkers or candidates can't really "opt out" of a smell, so it
does make sense to be thoughtful about this (some people have
strong aversions)
colinloretz - 2 hours ago
As a coworking space operator, I thank you for this treasure trove
of whiteboard marker research.
spodek - 1 hours ago
I prefer chalkboards so much more.Reason #1: You can tell how much
chalk is left.Reason #2: Not filling up landfills with plastic.
chasedehan - 18 minutes ago
My god - no!As a former professor I was once (only a couple years
ago) assigned a classroom with a chalkboard and it was easily the
worst semester. They look nice when they are clean, but as soon
as you erase something it ends up being unreadable.Not to mention
I would end up covered in chalk at the end of a lecture.
cortesoft - 1 hours ago
I HATE chalkboards. I hate the feeling of chalk on my hand, I
hate the sound chalk makes on a chalkboard, I hate the chalk
dust, I hate the feel of chalkboards themselves.
einrealist - 30 minutes ago
I am on the opposite side of your spectrum. Serious question:
Are there any bad experiences from school that you might
associate with chalk and chalk boards?The only thing I hated
was to clean the board, if the sponge was old and stinky. But I
always liked the idea that chalk is so simple. There is always
this feeling of guilt when I have to use a whiteboard, because
of the eco balance.
hnzix - 39 minutes ago
Plus flasbacks to school and angry teachers throwing the duster
at you for daydreaming.
CoryG89 - 1 hours ago
> Reason #2: Not filling up landfills with plastic.Nope, instead
filling landfills with tiny pieces of chalk that are now too
small to write with. Some dry erase markers can be refilled with
ink.
ams6110 - 1 hours ago
Are you serious? Chalk is a natural substance. Its presence in
a landfill is harmless.
ucaetano - 1 hours ago
Both of you don't seem to understand how a landfill actually
works. Plastic and chalk have the same impact in a landfill.
bsder - 59 minutes ago
Um, chalk is weakly water soluble, last time I checked.
That's significantly different behavior from plastic in a
landfill.
ucaetano - 50 minutes ago
Again, you don't seem to understand how a landfill works.
Waste materials aren't expected to decompose in a
landfill, they are compacted and then covered (usually
daily) to form a solid, stable, ground (that's why they
are called "landfill", and not just "a gigantic pile of
rubbish").Neither the chalk nor the plastic will
decompose. And that's intentional.So one cubic meter of
chalk will have the same impact on a landfill as one
cubic meter of plastic.
bsder - 14 minutes ago
Landfills are quite far from inert and require active
systems to mitigate the result:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate
ucaetano - 11 minutes ago
Indeed, but that's undesired; ideally, they should be as
inert as possible.The last thing you want is a landfill
collapsing after it was covered and transformed into a
park. Often, waterproof polymer liners are used to
surround the thrash and prevent water from seeping in and
out.
karlshea - 34 minutes ago
There's also something ridiculously satisfying about cleaning off
a chalkboard with a damp sponge.
louprado - 1 hours ago
Fun fact: You can use a dry erase marker to erase the writing of a
permanent marker. Assuming a smooth surface, scribble the dry erase
marker over the permanent mark and erase.
simonbarker87 - 46 minutes ago
Spray deodorant also does the trick
LeifCarrotson - 43 minutes ago
Any organic solvent will do it. Acetone is ideal, in a
metalworking shop Sharpie marks are constantly being cleaned
off metal using acetone.
rhizome - 1 hours ago
This is a beautiful thing.