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Macro photo of ice clinging to the window of a car after an ice storm. It has a very lumpy texture with polygonal shapes
Ice clings to the window of my car after an ice storm.
Source: John Williams

Archives: 2 of 2

A picture of a code sample showing CSS being assigned to a string, but without any visible syntax coloring.

Syntax coloring in template literals

Template literals are great for assembling bits of CSS and HTML in Javascript, but what about the syntax coloring?

 Oatmeal with blueberries and slivered almonds in a blue bowl

Instant Pot steel-cut oatmeal

The easiest way I know to make oatmeal that doesn’t come in an envelope.

 A closeup of Medusa’s sneering face from the 1981 movie “Clash of the Titans”

Prefers reduced motion

Supporting your site visitors who have motion sensitivities.

 A picture of a flower doctored so that the leaves and blossom are brilliant green and purple on the left, but fade into shades of grey on the right.

Exploring HSL

We continue exploring color in CSS by taking a close look at HSL.

 Closeup of tiny red, green and blue LEDs arranged in a matrix for a display.

Exploring RGB

We begin exploring color in CSS by taking a close look at RGB color.

 Twenty-two corinthian columns arranged in a rectangle in a field, supporting nothing.

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 art of a bunch of gerbils riding an antique-looking open-top car across a dry lake bed, a cloud of dust behind them.

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.

 AI art of a large spaceship with many antennae and protrusions landing in a fog-filled forest canyon.

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.

 Still from a Coyote / Road Runner cartoon. The Coyote holds a business card saying Wile E. Coyote Super Genius

User-initiated element resizing in CSS

CSS offers a browser-native way to make elements resizable, but it comes with a lot of limitations.

 The cockpit from Airplane the movie. Left to right, the Autopilot, Elaine, and Ted.

A month (or so) with GitHub Copilot

Some thoughts on GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered code assistant.

 A page set with moveable lead type

Article typography

Three CSS typography properties to improve your site’s readability

 Cato, an orange and white cat, looking at the camera and loudly meowing.

Here is a cat picture

John discusses the history of HTML’s image tag.

This is an alpha

The Thudfactor First Post

 Open books spread out on a table.

What studying the humanities taught me about software development

At its heart, “Agile” is just the technology industry learning how to work like artists.