Neil
neil.computer · Personal blog · on HN since 2019
Neil writes a personal site on design, hardware, and engineering, with posts on ZFS NAS builds, datasheets, and Hacker News design.
What HN saysCommenters praise the site's design as functional, accessible, and free of clutter, and the author says his posts voice common engineering frustrations.
21HN people shared it
12linked it in comments
37stories submitted
3.5Kstory points
3 months agolast shared
2019people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Homepage5 people · first shared 2019
- 21950's Graphic Studies from a Gujarati Designer (2020)3 people · 35 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 3How to Build a Minimal ZFS NAS Without Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS3 people · 14 points · first shared 2024 · 2 comments on HN
- 4Berkeley mono february update3 people · first shared 2022
- 5Overkill objects for everyday life2 people · 860 points · first shared 2021 · 706 comments on HN
- 6Unsung Beauty of Analog Devices Datasheets2 people · 173 points · first shared 2019 · 65 comments on HN
- 7Bell Labs Org Chart (1980)2 people · 173 points · first shared 2022 · 71 comments on HN
- 8Hacker News Design Is Ugly2 people · 15 points · first shared 2020 · 9 comments on HN
- 9Lab Snacks2 people · 13 points · first shared 2020 · 1 comments on HN
- 10ZFS RAIDZ2 – Achieving 157 GB/s2 people · 10 points · first shared 2021 · 14 comments on HN
- 11The Design of Diskprices.com2 people · 6 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 12Oh Sorry, I was on mute.2 people · 5 points · first shared 2021 · 1 comments on HN
- 13Creating Diagrams Using PCB Design Software (ECAD)2 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 14Introducing berkeley mono2 people · first shared 2021
- 15Apple ux ui is regressing2 people · first shared 2021
What HN people wrote when they linked it
neilpanchal · 2022-07-18
I bitch about stuff that resonates with most HN'ers and the comments here release pent up frustrations in engineering/design. Both the writing part and the reaction on HN is a fun activity. My favorite aspect is getting emails from people and making random friends on the interwebs. So it is worth it for me. My blog here if you want to check it out: https://neil.computer/. Through HN and the blog, I've made a couple of good friends that I talk to on almost daily basis.
It brings 2k unique visitors per day according to Cloudflare analytics.
flobosg · 2022-03-04
What a great marketing page. I loved the animation!
I’m also a big fan of the design of the author’s website: https://neil.computer/
thomascountz · 2026-08-04
Not OP, but I think the take is similar to: "why market yourself as a rip off of Neil's[1] work?"
[1]: https://neil.computer/
iFreilicht · 2021-01-17
I don't agree with you 100% here, I believe some small tweaks could make diskprices.com more accessible. But your own main website is so damn good: https://neil.computer/
Functional, high visibility, accessibility, discoverability. There's no bullshit, no hidden anything, it's true minimalism and 100% honest. This is what actual good design looks like.
A dark mode would be nice, though.
hugolundin · 2019-12-08
I really like http://notes.eatonphil.com/ and http://neil.computer.
landl0rd · 2025-10-27
It's not precisely the same but you may enjoy Berkeley Mono: https://neil.computer/notes/introducing-berkeley-mono/
I enjoy using it for reading and writing code.
Terretta · 2025-07-23
I still prefer Andale Mono.
Here's an interesting take on the two: https://neil.computer/notes/berkeley-mono-december-update/
See if you can figure why I linked this one.
---
More about Andalé: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalé_Mono
This conversation may still be going on 20 years from now: https://nedbatchelder.com/blog/200602/monospace_fonts_compared.html
Nice we have more choice since this capture in 2006: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/?topic=2499.0
gus_massa · 2025-04-23
> Berkeley Mono
Link for the lazy https://neil.computer/notes/berkeley-mono-font-variant-popularity/
oceliker · 2022-03-05
Merhaba :) they are visible in this image [1], so I assume they are supported, but I sadly don't have the font myself to try it out.
[1] https://neil.computer/content/images/size/w1600/2022/02/berkeley-mono-…
lidavidm · 2022-03-04
This may be a dumb question, but how do you make a document like that fake patient chart in this demo? [1]
Is there an editor that can do things like this? Or is it all laid out by hand?
[1] https://neil.computer/notes/berkeley-mono-february-update/
CamperBob2 · 2022-02-21
Neil's site is one of those where it pays to manually edit the URL to back up a level or two: https://neil.computer/notes/ has a great collection of rants and raves.
Some favorites from the last five minutes of surfing:
Apple's UI is Regressing: https://neil.computer/notes/apple-ux-ui-is-regressing/
Unsung Beauty of Analog Devices Datasheets: https://neil.computer/notes/analog-devices-datasheets/ (this one really hits home because of the downright-revolting design of their newest data sheets)
Release Notes: https://neil.computer/notes/release-notes/
The Design of Diskprices.com: https://neil.computer/notes/the-design-of-diskprices-com/
Oh, Sorry, I was on Mute: https://neil.computer/notes/oh-sorry-i-was-on-mute/
herpderperator · 2020-11-25
Edit: It looks like satire. My bad :)
Doesn't your article here go directly against what you're saying? https://neil.computer/notes/hacker-news-design-is-ugly/
Specifically, you redesigned HN to have more "pop" and have rounded corners and padding: https://neil.computer/content/images/size/w1600/2020/07/Screen-Shot-20… which is exactly what you were saying macOS looks like...
Isn't that hypocritical?