Scott Alexander criticizes websites using flashing or changing elements, arguing they significantly worsen user experience despite being widely disliked. Longer summary

Scott Alexander criticizes websites that use flashing or changing elements in their user interfaces, arguing that these elements are annoying and detrimental to user experience. He provides examples from various websites, including a Jewish law site, Substack, AdBlock, Bing, and Gmail. Scott cites survey results showing that 88% of users find such elements at least a little annoying, with 16% saying they wouldn't use a website that has them. He expresses frustration that companies continue to implement these features despite user complaints and suggests that it negatively impacts his use of these services. The post concludes with a plea to interface designers to reconsider the use of such elements. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander explores why readers prefer his old amateur blog layout to Substack's professional design, presenting survey data and considering various explanations for this unexpected preference. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses the consistent preference of readers for his old Slate Star Codex (SSC) blog layout over the new Substack-mandated Astral Codex Ten (ACX) layout. He presents survey results and reader comments supporting this preference, despite the SSC layout being an amateur design compared to Substack's professional one. Scott explores possible explanations for this phenomenon, including selection bias, mobile optimization, WordPress vs. Substack, and the general trend towards minimalist designs in various fields. He questions why Substack's standardized layout appears to be less appealing than his old amateur design, drawing parallels to the MySpace vs. Facebook design philosophy and the concept explored in his 'Whither Tartaria?' post about the transition from complex to minimalist designs. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a new list of internet annoyances for 2015, ranging from argumentative tactics to web design issues. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reflects on his 2014 post about things he wanted to stop seeing on the internet, noting some improvements. He then lists 10 new annoyances for 2015, including misuse of Poe's Law, overuse of violent language in debate, cheap shots in arguments, Wikipedia-shaming, intrusive web design, clickbait tactics, overuse of 'entitled' as an insult, confusing 'post-' labels, and pedantic disputes about human evolution. The post is written in a humorous and slightly exasperated tone, critiquing various internet habits and trends. Shorter summary