Web Development × Engineering Management × Philosophy (8)
Articles and books on the craft of web development (with a focus on HTML/CSS optimization and maintainability), engineering management, and philosophy.
What Happens When You Email the Companies That Are Responsible for 71% of All Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A few months ago I ran into an article referring to data from the Carbon Disclosure Project. I realized that the data may have been inaccurate and incomplete but also that it presented an avenue for us to actually do, a little.
What Happens When You Email Each of the 1,380 Members of the German and European Parliaments
Over the last couple of months I have emailed, each individually, all the 631 members of the (departing) German Bundestag as well as 749 members of the European Parliament (I was short two MEPs).
Freedom = ƒ(Money)?
No, this question is not new. However it’s one I want to ponder with you because it much seems like something truly terrible has happened over the centuries.
#338 · · philosophy, advocacy
Why It Would Be Bad if Jesus Was Here
Arguing is something we have to learn. I observed this particularly in recent years when I started studying philosophy and went through courses for logic and argumentation theory. These courses…
#337 · · philosophy, misc
The Cost of Frameworks, Illustrated
A visual attempt to show how for everything built for the long run, external frameworks are a pricey crutch that has to be avoided or be thrown away at the earliest time. The reasons: quality—and cost.
#336 · · development, frameworks, quality
CSS @-Rules, an Overview
From @charset to @viewport. Or from @bottom-center to @top-right-corner.
#335 · · development, css
In Defense of Bad Luck
There seems to be something to luck, and bad luck.
#334 · · philosophy
What We Should Teach Up-and-Coming Developers
Evidently, learning is important, and learning strategies are, too, and how to generally work on ourselves, absolutely, but what else to aim for apart from understanding computer science fundamentals, reading the specs, and—coding?
#333 · · development, management
What Kills and What Saves Content Management Systems
Imagine you just moved into a new place, and realize that you lack a screwdriver to put up some of your furniture (it’s not from IKEA). You ring at your neighbors’, find one who’s home, and she…
#332 · · development
10 Photos V
The next part of the x-monthly series.
#331 · · design, photography
On Being a Philosopher
I call myself a philosopher even though some people would disagree with me being one. Why would I be a philosopher? What makes a philosopher?
#330 · · philosophy
Living Websites, Living Books
To me, websites are living objects. They require regular care and maintenance. Such care starts with monitoring, from uptime control to visual site tests, demands technical quality control, and ends with content checks…
#329 · · development, misc
Website Optimization Measures, Part VIII
Eight years. Eight years has it been since the last episode of this series, “Website Optimization Measures.” In October of 2009, I last talked about more or less random things I did on my own websites…
#328 · · development, optimization
On Adventure
While I’m not nearly as adventurous these days as in past years, the idea that adventure is about being open and curious and easily ready to try activities and localities seems sound to me. On what adventure can mean to us.
#327 · · adventure
Web Development: How Making Our Own Lives Difficult Is More Important Than We Think
Many moons ago I wrote that web developers wouldn’t need debugging tools. I was half joking and half serious. We were just coming out of the dark ages of web development, so to speak, undernourished of useful tools, frameworks, libraries…
#326 · · development, maintainability
Frameworks, Libraries, and the Modern Web Developer: Web Development, Overdone
We are raising tool-dependent rather than self-reliant developers. Aren’t we.
#325 · · development, frameworks
What I Learned Building Google’s Web Frameworks
On building Google’s Go and Maia HTML/CSS frameworks, and succeeding and failing as a tech lead.
#324 · · development, html, css, frameworks
Boyscout Code
Of course, always leave code better than you found it.
#323 · · development, quality
Stop Using Resets: Visual Examples of the Practical Nonsense of Resets and Normalizers
Or, when Jens found out that he could just collect websites that use reset style sheets and the like, disable those style sheets, document the results and write a post with the diffs for visual evidence. All because “we ran after this mirage for more than a decade.”
#322 · · development, css
Highlights From Martin’s “The Behavior of Crowds”
“When most of our neighbors are motivated by certain ideas, those ideas become part of the social environment to which we must adjust ourselves. In this sense they are ‘real,’ however ‘crazy.’”
#321 · · misc
Highlights From Dewey’s “How We Think”
“The very importance of thought for life makes necessary its control by education because of its natural tendency to go astray, and because social influences exist that tend to form habits of thought leading to inadequate and erroneous beliefs.”
#320 · · philosophy
Two Paradigms of Web Development
On a sunny Tuesday in Düsseldorf a few weeks back, at Beyond Tellerrand, I had a pleasant recorded conversation with the team of Working Draft. In our discussion we briefly touched on the idea of web development paradigms…
#319 · · development, css
The Great Web Maintainability Survey Results
Four weeks ago I started a survey about good and bad practices when it comes to the maintenance and maintainability of websites. Participation was amazing, and here are the first results.
#318 · · development, maintainability
Why I’m Suspending Interviews With U.S. Companies
Over the last few quarters I was in conversations to move back to the United States. Over the last few weeks I noticed that that would feel like endorsing U.S. policy, and contradict my principles and values.
#317 · · misc
The Simple Answer to Our Terrorism Problems
How about we stop invading countries and murdering people. How about we allow those who are too afraid to live in freedom to live in supermax prisons (for free). And how about we finally remove from office who ever proposes to violate a human right.
Regarding the Fermi Paradox
When not finding signs of extraterrestrial intelligence says more about us than them.
#315 · · philosophy
70% Repetition in Style Sheets: Data on How We Fail at CSS Optimization
Looking at data for some of the most popular websites, we repeat ourselves too much in CSS; using declarations just once is often one solid avenue to avoid repetition; together, we need to put more focus on style sheet optimization.
#314 · · development, css, maintainability
The Great Web Maintainability Survey
The maintenance and economics of websites is a much-neglected topic in the web development community. Here are three questions for developers, to gather practices as well as resources.
#313 · · development, maintainability
On Work
On work, retirement, definitions, and mixing things up.
#312 · · misc
Highlights From Lippmann’s “Public Opinion”
“Who actually saw, heard, felt, counted, named the thing, about which you have an opinion? Was it the man who told you, or the man who told him, or someone still further removed? And how much was he permitted to see?”
#311 · · misc
Highlights From Wattles’s “The Science of Getting Rich”
“Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the forms that man fashions with his hands must first exist in his thought; he cannot shape a thing until he has thought that thing.”
#310 · · philosophy, misc
My Top 10 Android Apps
Years ago, in 2009, I wrote an enthusiastic post about my then-favorite apps for Android. More for fun than anything I decided to write a follow-up.
#309 · · misc
Foreigners Are Heroes
Foreigners to our countries—expats, immigrants, refugees—are heroes. Foreigners, people like you and I, add to our lives and our cultures. Foreigners deserve our respect and our support.
On Socialization
Several months back, to myself, I noted how we may have all already been what we’ve later wished to be: for example, authentically curious, open, unbiased, worry-free, joyful, happy, confident, loving. Then, I thought, came socialization.
#307 · · philosophy
Principles of Web Development
Web development, at more than 20 years of age, is becoming an increasingly mature profession. Web development is yet also subject to constant change, and the field produces more of that change, out of itself. More technological standards…
#306 · · development, quality, maintainability
HTML Statistics: 5 Take-Aways
A few quick comments on Catalin Rosu’s interesting follow-up analysis of his sampling of eight million websites. Some practices are wonderful to note, others have been commented on, yet one or the other point drowned.
#305 · · development, html
10 Photos IV
Continuing the x-monthly series, here are yet again ten of my photographic favorites.
#304 · · design, photography
A Digital Charta
When we think about it, although we live in a time of rights violations we don’t lack good intent, nor good law. That leads us to a particular initiative, the Digital Charta.
The Great Neglect
What is most important for us to learn in our lives? Are we learning it? Teaching it? On “one of the greatest motive powers in the world,” and “the noblest of possessions.”
#302 · · misc
Highlights From Atkinson’s “Thoughts Are Things”
“Thoughts strive to take form in action. Thoughts strive ever to materialize themselves in objective material form.”
#301 · · philosophy
Highlights From Emerson’s “Nature”
“Each creature is only a modification of the other; the likeness in them is more than the difference, and their radical law is one and the same.”
#300 · · philosophy
Highlights From Smiles’s “Character”
“The very sight of a great and good man is often an inspiration to the young, who cannot help admiring and loving the gentle, the brave, the truthful, the magnanimous.”
#299 · · misc
The Constructivist Preference
When we are presented with conflicting beliefs and ideas, which ones are we to support or assume? That question, in our age of scientism, is usually answered with “those that are true,” or “those that are more realistic”…
#298 · · philosophy
On Quality and Logistics
Clearly, quality requires quality thinking. But then it requires a lot more, like definitions, criteria, tools, planning, enforcement, &c. pp. And it relies on some organizational foundation.
#297 · · development, quality
Apocryphal Apostrophes
Oh, typography. How have you been.
#296 · · design, development
CSS Shorthand Syntax Considered Important
CSS shorthands are no anti-pattern, just as little as universal selectors, just as little as !important, and just as little as no-js would not be one. Now we learn that shorthands were an anti-pattern. No, they’re not. Yes, they are! No they’re not.
#295 · · development, css
Why I Don’t Use CSS Preprocessors
A tribute to Roger Johansson as well as the craft of web development.
#294 · · development, css
Contradictions: A Problem of Logic, a Feature of Reality?
On my list of research topics and article drafts is one that covers root assumptions: assumptions at the core of what we assume about our two realities, psychical and physical reality. One of these root assumptions covers logic…
#293 · · philosophy
Highlights From Myer’s “Oldest Books in the World”
“Study on a subject before giving an opinion” and other truly old realizations.
#292 · · philosophy
Highlights From Scovel Shinn’s “Your Word is Your Wand”
Short excerpts that convey a rather unconventional view on our realities. “Happiness and health must be earned by absolute control of the emotional nature.”
#291 · · philosophy