Archive (Web Development, Mostly)

2024

Now Available: Upgrade Your HTML V!

The newest part of the ebook series for HTML craftspeople and minimalists, touching on past, present, and future of the greatest document language ever specified.

Published on May 8, 2024, filed under Web Development.

Critical Feedback: Four Approaches and One Twist

Feedback is important so that we can learn and improve. Critical feedback is important to expose, validate, and address areas of growth and development. I believe that fundamentally, there are four approaches to critical feedback.

Published on May 2, 2024, filed under Everything Else and Engineering Management.

April 24 Is JS Naked Day

Every year on April 9 we, a part of our field, do without CSS; from this year on, on April 24, there’s an opportunity to temporarily swear off JavaScript.

Published on April 21, 2024, filed under Web Development.

Declining 1:1 Meetings Without a Message Is Rude

It happens everywhere, but it sets a bad example.

Published on April 15, 2024, filed under Everything Else.

Sustainability Trap

On the need to take and at the same time reassign responsibility for consumption and pollution.

Published on March 31, 2024, filed under Everything Else.

Exploitation

What and who is easiest to take advantage of and exploit, how is that being justified, and what can be done about it? On one piece of the puzzle what the fewest things are that need changing, to change everything.

Published on March 30, 2024, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

Julia and Sybil

The early manuscript of a novel I started in 2015, and that will still take a few years to be finished.

Published on March 24, 2024, filed under Philosophy and Everything Else.

On the Gift of OKR for Company Culture

“OKR,” short for aspiration, candor, and accountability.

Published on March 21, 2024, filed under Engineering Management.

Building Websites and Building Websites Well

On exercises, orthogonality, and—choice.

Published on March 12, 2024, filed under Web Development.

The Next Adventure

On leaving Germany again, and the next big chapter of my life.

Published on March 5, 2024, filed under Adventure and Everything Else.

How to Counter Provocation and Rumor

Are there effective responses to being provoked, picked on, blamed, attacked? Absolutely—but they’re not all being taught or shared a lot. A few quotes that I’ve found useful.

Published on February 25, 2024, filed under Everything Else.

“Web Design as a Process” in Charts: Maintenance, Decay, Tech Debt, and Big Bang Launching

Web design is a process. This process relates to the quality and completeness of a given website, as observed over time. We can chart and understand different types of this process.

Published on February 19, 2024, filed under Web Development.

Why I Like Scrumban

Over the past years, I’ve become a fan of Scrumban, a mix of Scrum and Kanban. But what is Scrumban here, and what is there to like about Scrumban?

Published on February 13, 2024, filed under Engineering Management.

Website Optimization Measures, Part XXII

Web design is a process, running our own websites is awesome, and together it means there’s always something to tweak and improve and optimize. Select things I’ve done over the last few months.

Published on February 4, 2024, filed under Web Development and Art and Design.

On the Well Astonishing Verdicts on Social Media

We may speak anything from 470,000,000 to 860,000,000 words in our lifetime. The tiniest fraction may be too much.

Published on January 21, 2024, filed under Everything Else.

Performance and Stay Questions in 1:1s

On a set of questions that are useful to ask every few weeks, for close alignment and connection, as well as well-being.

Published on January 15, 2024, filed under Engineering Management.

My Web Development Wishlist 2024

Respect, UX before DX, quality output that starts with conformance, running one’s own website, and adding as much as necessary, but as little as possible to web standards—five wishes to benefit our field, our users, and us as professionals.

Published on January 7, 2024, filed under Web Development.

Stop Closing Void Elements

Some developers believe in closing all HTML elements. Some have to close all HTML elements. Others don’t believe in doing so, or aren’t forced either way. In Upgrade Your HTML IV, I wrote a little about closing void elements.