2016 (Archive) · Jens Oliver Meiert

2016

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.

Post from December 21, 2016, filed under Web Development.

Why I Don’t Use CSS Preprocessors

A tribute to Roger Johansson as well as the craft of web development.

Post from December 14, 2016, filed under Web Development.

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…

Post from December 9, 2016, filed under Philosophy.

Highlights from Myer’s Oldest Books in the World

“Study on a subject before giving an opinion” and other truly old realizations.

Post from November 24, 2016, filed under 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.”

Post from November 22, 2016, filed under 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, I’ve long regarded as critical…

Post from November 17, 2016, filed under Web Development.

Stop Using the Old “Clearfix”

I had thought the old method of clearing through .clearfix:after { clear: both; content: ''; } long dead, but then I spotted it quite alive and even being taught to developers.

Post from November 14, 2016, filed under Web Development.

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 opened…

Post from November 10, 2016, filed under Everything Else.

Living and Mistakes

We can’t 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 statement’s power lies in the realization that it’s impossible for us to live our lives “incorrectly.”

Post from November 7, 2016, filed under Philosophy.

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 “second order” discipline that some people wonder what it’s useful for…

Post from October 31, 2016, filed under Philosophy.

The cover of “The Little Book of Website Quality Control.”

New Book: The Little Book of Website Quality Control

The hallmark of a professional is not the pursuit of activity, but the expertly pursuit thereof. What’s worth doing is worth doing well; and what’s done well exemplifies quality. A professional website is no exception, and there are criteria and tools to help.

Post from September 27, 2016, filed under Web Development.

Highlights from Paine’s Common Sense

“Society 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.”

Post from September 8, 2016, filed under Philosophy.

Highlights from Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience

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.

Post from August 27, 2016, filed under 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, I’ve been concerned about what the AMP spec entails exactly.

Post from August 18, 2016, filed under Web 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 I’d happily disclose which 4.200 photos…

Post from August 8, 2016, filed under Art and Design.

Life’s 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.

Post from August 4, 2016, filed under Philosophy.

The Bio Enhancement Dilemma

Or, what if Donald Trump was Iron Man.

Post from August 2, 2016, filed under 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?

Post from July 31, 2016, filed under Web 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?

Post from July 18, 2016, filed under Web 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 there’s emphasis on a priority I’ve always deemed critical for us developers: the idea of tailoring…

Post from July 13, 2016, filed under Web Development.

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 site’s RSS feeds.

Post from July 11, 2016, filed under Everything Else.