ā2016ā
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, theyāre not. Yes, they are! No theyāre not.
#38 Ā· Ā· development, css
Why I Donāt Use CSS Preprocessors
A tribute to Roger Johansson as well as the craft of web development.
#37 Ā· Ā· 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 logicā¦
#36 Ā· philosophy
Highlights From Myerās āOldest Books in the Worldā
āStudy on a subject before giving an opinionā and other truly old realizations.
#35 Ā· philosophy
Highlights From Scovel Shinnās āYour Word is Your Wandā
Short excerpts that convey a rather unconventional view on our realities. āHappiness and health must be earned by absolute control of the emotional nature.ā
#34 Ā· philosophy
āDonāt Believe Everything You See, Sophieā
#33 Ā· Ā· interviews, development, philosophy
About the Mindset for Quality
In my view, quality starts with quality thinking. Quality thinking is broad, but it quickly leads to a quality mindset. This mindset, now, Iāve long regarded as criticalā¦
#32 Ā· Ā· development, quality
Stop Using the Old āClearfixā
I had thought the old method of clearing through .clearfix:after { clear: both; content: ''; }
long dead, but then I spotted it quite alive, even being taught to developers.
#31 Ā· Ā· development, css
Privacy, Obscurity: Randomizing New Tabs
You want to leave a less predictable online trail? I wrote a little browser extension for Chrome that accomplishes that: the New Tab Traffic Randomizer. The extension requests a random URL every time a new tab is openedā¦
Living and Mistakes
We canāt make a mistake living our own lives. A counter to the fear of doing wrong, the harmful idea of guilt, as well as unhelpful doubt, the statementās power lies in the realization that itās impossible for us to live our lives āincorrectly.ā
#29 Ā· misc
Why Philosophy Matters
Philosophy is a field that once combined all the sciences and had considerable influence. Over time that influence waned, to an extent that philosophy is now simply one of the humanities, a āsecond orderā discipline that some people wonder what itās useful forā¦
#28 Ā· philosophy

New Book: āThe Little Book of Website Quality Controlā
The hallmark of a professional is not the pursuit of activity, but the expertly pursuit thereof. Whatās worth doing is worth doing well; and whatās done well exemplifies quality. A professional website is no exception, and there are criteria and tools to help.
#27 Ā· Ā· books, development, quality
Highlights From Paineās āCommon Senseā
āSociety is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.ā
#26 Ā· philosophy
Highlights From Thoreauās āCivil Disobedienceā
Launching a new series of highlights and factoids from public domain books, classic or not, that had piqued my interest, and perhaps excite yours. Here from American polymath Henry David Thoreau.
#25 Ā· philosophy
Accelerated Mobile Pages, a Critical View
Last year Google introduced AMP and the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project. Independent of suggesting tech paternalism when AMP gets treated preferably in search rankings, Iāve been concerned about what the AMP spec entails exactly.
#24 Ā· development
10 Photos III
Establishing a three-, four-, or five-monthly series, here are ten more of my photographic favorites as of late. Of my own works, sure; if it was public what one liked on EyeEm Iād happily disclose which 4.200 photosā¦
#23 Ā· Ā· design, photography
Lifeās Golden Rules
From all my cheeky laws and a number of absolutistic posts you already know I have a thing for dramaturgy. The same here.
#22 Ā· philosophy
The Bio Enhancement Dilemma
Or, what if Donald Trump was Iron Man.
#21 Ā· philosophy
WordPress Themes and Web Development
Like everyone on this planet I work with WordPress. Just setting up a new project I ended up using and building on one of their default themes, Twenty Sixteen. Had I better not?
#20 Ā· development
The Anatomy of a Coding Guideline
Coding guidelines produce consistency, help (code) usability, collaboration, and maintainability, and lead to quality. That is what we all typically learn in development practice. Now, what does a guideline consist of?
#19 Ā· development
On Tailoring and Web Frameworks
After building early frameworks for GMX and Google I had rushed to squeeze my experience into a (literally) little book. In it thereās emphasis on a priority Iāve always deemed critical for us developers: the idea of tailoringā¦
#18 Ā· Ā· development, frameworks
A Note on meiert.com Feeds
There are a number of ways to follow what I write on this website, from a very low volume newsletter for German publications to an enriched account on Google+. The most reliable and focused option, however, is to subscribe to one of this siteās RSS feeds.
#17 Ā· misc
The Dilemma of the Kind Person
Imagine a fine human being who has a laudable goal. She wants to become a genuinely, cordially, most truly kind person. So she works on her objectiveā¦
#16 Ā· philosophy
On Rationality, and Love
Philosophy can be heart-breaking, orā
#15 Ā· Ā· philosophy, misc
On Consciousness
Speaking of which.
#14 Ā· philosophy

New Book: āHow to Work on Oneselfā
Doubt led me to explore ways to grow, doubt now led me to ask my editor three times whether to publish under a pseudonym: I sketched, in what resembles an essay, how to learn, how to grow, orāHow to Work on Oneself.
#13 Ā· Ā· books, philosophy
Problems, No Problems, Desires
In my own non-academic studies Iāve found common definitions of āproblemā unsatisfying. Iāve tried to redefine āproblemā for something more flexible, leading to a redefinition I believe to hold up well. Philosophize together with me.
#12 Ā· philosophy
Thatās in a Guideline
About two weeks ago I ended a little lottery to give away signed copies of my last book, The Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines. Here are feedback and winners.
#11 Ā· development
Whatās in a Guideline? Win a Copy of the Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines!
I give away five signed copies, and to win one just comment or tweet (to @āj9t), until April 30, why you deem coding guidelines important or what you find to be the most useful coding guideline.
#10 Ā· development
198 Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Action
Just when one wonders how many options there are exactly.
10 Photos II
Some more of my EyeEm photos, published over the last few months, that have become othersā or probably my own favorites.
#8 Ā· Ā· design, photography
The Reminder Trick
This tool is so powerful and at the same time so trivial to make a routine that I ask everyone who regularly employs it to transcend their disappointmentāIām mentioning it for the people I meet who donāt use it.
#7 Ā· misc
Humanity and āThe Other Manifestoā
On a wish for more work on a vision, on values, on principles, on goals actually worth striving for, on utopias, on a good future, a good cause, a good world for all of us.
#6 Ā· Ā· philosophy, misc, activism
Itās Not Too Late
ā¦to contribute to good causes.
#5 Ā· misc
Stream Theory
Not just since the Law of Attraction is there this idea of ālike attracts like,ā of self-fulfilling prophecies, of better being ācarefulā what we wish for. Thereās another concept that I do like to work with though, in another thought experiment.
#4 Ā· philosophy
Coding Guidelines, the Gist
Whatās not to ā„ about coding standards.
#3 Ā· development
The Law of Maintainability
One cannot not maintain. This is an important axiom, critical even when we recognize how little understanding and prioritization this topic enjoys in our industryā¦
#2 Ā· Ā· development, maintainability
Endless Peace
Amidst all the wars we never wanted but our governments and industries wage and participate in regardless of our will, we threaten to lose sight of our goal. That goal, surely, is peace. That goal, clearly, is durable peace. That goal, indeed, is endless peace.