Archives
Playing catch-up
Where my head is at after a three-month hiatus
Agile’s insistence on co-location is disabling
Does “face to face” communication require our bodies to be in the same space, too?
Don’t drive screws with a hammer
Sometimes developers will solve problems with the handy tool, not the right tool, just because it seems like less work. It's probably not.
The Regrettable State of Cross-Browser Testing
Update-by-default has pushed the platform forward, but has also put browser testing out of reach for many
Uptake of the new CSS seems slow. Why?
There’s so much great new stuff in CSS, some of it with extraordinary support. Why aren’t people leaping on it?
Adventures in VIM part 2
The continuing story of migrating my brain from VSCode to vim
Adventures in VIM part 1
Some thoughts on the first view days using neovim
Seeking a new editor
Some thoughts about changing up my typical toolset
Popovers and Dialogs, a (kinda) case study
The differences (and similarities) of the new Popover API and the Dialog element.
Some rules about making rules
My first one is “never call them rules.”
Is CSS a programming language?
And why does it seem to matter to so many people?
AI, computers, and looms
We seem to be very selective about whose jobs deserve to be automated.
“Keeping up” should not be an extracurricular activity.
Businesses that don’t strive for perfect efficiency are more creative and have happier employees.
Using modern font stacks
Goodbye Google Fonts, hello (again) system fonts
Maybe sometimes you should use pixels
The conventional wisdom is that you should not use pixel units, but maybe sometimes you should?
Thudfactor has gone super retro
An explanation and apology of sorts for things looking like 1992 around here.
Real punctuation for programmers
How to give your UI a more polished look just by using the correct punctuation.
The underappreciated reason Google is useless
Search Engines have been overwhelmed by SEO spam, but is the struggling open web part of the problem?
Syntax coloring in template literals
Template literals are great for assembling bits of CSS and HTML in Javascript, but what about the syntax coloring?
Instant Pot steel-cut oatmeal
The easiest way I know to make oatmeal that doesn’t come in an envelope.
Prefers reduced motion
Supporting your site visitors who have motion sensitivities.
Exploring HSL
We continue exploring color in CSS by taking a close look at HSL.
Exploring RGB
We begin exploring color in CSS by taking a close look at RGB color.
Web development of auld lang syne
Removing any form of CSS post-processing has me nostalgic for the other web development strategies that have become obsolete thanks to modern development strategies.
AI integration: challenges and discoveries
I spent a couple of weeks diving into coding _with_ AI, and there are a lot of challenges. The most concerning, however, have very little to do with the technology.
Some notes about working with AI Art
AI art is often described as just “writing a prompt,” but of course it’s more difficult than that.
User-initiated element resizing in CSS
CSS offers a browser-native way to make elements resizable, but it comes with a lot of limitations.
A month (or so) with GitHub Copilot
Some thoughts on GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered code assistant.
Article typography
Three CSS typography properties to improve your site’s readability
Here is a cat picture
John discusses the history of HTML’s image tag.
This is an alpha
The Thudfactor First Post
What studying the humanities taught me about software development
At its heart, “Agile” is just the technology industry learning how to work like artists.