2014 (Archive) · Jens Oliver Meiert

2014

The One Assumption About Our Reality

We’re bringing 2014 to a close, and just as with 2013 I like to end with something constructive, something encouraging.

Post from December 31, 2014, filed under Philosophy.

My Year in Cities, 2014

This is going to be a bit, lengthy. I told you I had traded activities for locations. Continuing the trip around the world that I began last year, here’s where I went in 2014.

Post from December 28, 2014, filed under Adventure.

My Year in Activities, 2014

At the end of every year I’m recollecting new things I’ve done and new places I’ve seen. Here’s what I tried in 2014.

Post from December 27, 2014, filed under Adventure.

I love what technology has allowed all of us to do, from writing and publishing for the masses to designing and coding for the masses to photography and arts for the masses. But as a professional in an industry that is easy for people to enter…

Post from December 22, 2014, filed under Art and Design.

Maintainable Social Script Integration

In my book a website embeds all those third party share and like and +1 scripts, whether from Facebook or from Twitter or from Google (or from AddThis) like this: <div id=social></div>. That’s it. The reason for this brevity is maintainability.

Post from December 19, 2014, filed under Web Development.

Ground Rules for Working with Web Agencies

After we identified inherent problems of working with agencies, let’s look at some of our options. We may still need to hire an agency after all, or make the best out of an existing project. The leg work we’ve done in the first part will help us keep this brief…

Post from December 15, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

The Problems of Working with Web Agencies

I started my career in a small agency, I later worked for a big agency, and I at other times collaborated with or managed agency staff. I’ve never enjoyed working for nor with agencies. That was not because of the people, but because of some inherent issues…

Post from December 11, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

CSS and Specificity

On one of CSS’ greatest features, and from using graphs for greater understanding to affirming fundamentals for saner coding.

Post from November 27, 2014, filed under Web Development.

Questioning Electronic Data as Evidence

We need better defenses against assaults on our rights and privacy. In a world in which most happens electronically, one such defense gets surprisingly little attention: Everything electronic can be forged.

Post from October 29, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

Google and HTML/CSS Code Quality

For much of Google’s life time there have been few Google web pages of high code quality. That had changed over the last years, but now there are regressions. On the rise and fall of Google’s websites.

Post from October 21, 2014, filed under Web Development.

CSS, DRY, and Code Optimization

Why we should minimize repetition in style sheets—perhaps through using declarations just once—, focus more on CSS optimization, and consider that avoiding problems is also a way of solving them.

Post from October 9, 2014, filed under Web Development.

On Declaration Sorting in CSS

I keep on seeing people advocate to sort declarations “by type.” And every time I wonder, why is this idea still going around? Type sorting is extraordinarily ineffective, for it’s extremely slow and consistently unreliable…

Post from September 24, 2014, filed under Web Development.

Interlude

I’m quite fine with jumping from something trivial to something very serious, but not the other way around. So this post is intentionally left blank.

Post from September 21, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

On Net Neutrality

We need net neutrality, and we need to insist on net neutrality. Everywhere, not just in the United States. Throttling internet access, or charging select content providers extra, much appears like a brazen combination of profiteering, extortion, and, effectively, censorship.

Post from September 17, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

On Privacy

A few theses on a critical subject. The most important ones: One cannot be free without privacy, all living beings have a right for privacy, and we shall punish intentional violations of privacy.

Post from September 15, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

On America

The United States have so far engaged in 71 wars in which they killed 13.8 million people; not counted are the World Wars they ended with nuclear strikes on Japan. The U.S. have led 26 proxy wars in which they took 1.4 million lives…

Post from September 9, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

How to Travel the World and Stay Healthy

For long travels, another key beside safety is health. And as my track record in this regard is flawless, essentially, I thought to share a few quick ideas on this, too.

Post from September 8, 2014, filed under Adventure.

How to Travel the World and Stay Safe

I’ve traveled for the last 13 months, with no end in sight, and have so far visited around 150 sites in 30 countries. I’ve stayed safe the entire time even though I didn’t lock myself up. Here are a few thoughts and tips.

Post from September 3, 2014, filed under Adventure.

HTML and Specifying Language

I question the importance and ways of marking up language in HTML documents, in particular changes in language. More specifically, I question the officially recommended practice of using the lang attribute to…

Post from August 25, 2014, filed under Web Development.

Sources

I always like to learn what people turn to for information, education, and also entertainment. In particular what they deem most excellent. That’s part of trying to be open. Yet, learning about people’s sources typically requires inquiring directly. Here I’m extrovert and share…

Post from August 8, 2014, filed under Everything Else.

Code Responsibly, Explained

A professional web developer focuses on at least ten priorities in his work. That’s the populist claim Code Responsibly has made since 2008. It was time to explain why these things matter.

Post from July 30, 2014, filed under Web Development.

How to Prepare to Travel the World

I’ve written about what I deem important in order to quit and travel the world. One of the points I called out was “Planning and Preparation,” and it’s what I like to explore a bit more here.

Post from July 28, 2014, filed under Adventure.

Animated Traffic: My 10 Favorite Travel Photo Animations

Last December I launched Animated Traffic. Animated Traffic is an experiment in which I play with photo animations that feed off my eternal journey, of which I’ll share the results. The material, as of this moment, made for 302 posts covering 4 continents…

Post from July 25, 2014, filed under Adventure and Art and Design.

On Web Documents and Web Apps

I’ve just elaborated about research and production code, and why that distinction matters. And I hinted at but put off another distinction: that between web documents and web apps. Pronounced distinction seems important to protect existing document practices…

Post from July 22, 2014, filed under Web Development.

All Code Is Not Equal: On Research and Production Code

Web development is at a point at which we need to make more fundamental distinctions. One of them is a more determined one between web documents and web apps, another one is between research and production code…

Post from July 16, 2014, filed under Web Development.

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