Making Websites is More Complicated These Days - And That's a Good Thing
It's gonna get worse before it gets better... but once it gets better, it gets really good.
The Joy of Programming
Bob Ross nailed the name of his show — The Joy of Painting. It wasn't about the end result, it was about the joy of the process. Of uncovering what was hiding on the canvas, waiting to be revealed. Sure, his paintings sell for thousands of dollars now, but on air he only seemed concerned with one thing — helping have a good time doing something they love.
Hubris
I've had two moments of hubris, where in my defiance of the gods I discovered my potential.
Reality is Fractal
Did you know that when you measure a coastline, if you use a larger ruler, you'll get a smaller result. Likewise, a smaller ruler yields a larger result until. In other words, the closer you look, the more there is. Coastlines are fractal.
Stealing
This is put so well.
Storytelling
There's something so human about storytelling, and not just the kind we tell socially. The stories we only tell ourselves are even more impactful.
Additive Ideas vs Paradigm Shifts
One reason I like Tailwind is that it doesn't make it any harder to do things the old way, with plain old CSS. In fact, since it auto-generates theme custom properties, in some ways it makes things easier, even if you don't use the utility CSS classes.
Playing Spaceship
Friday night I did something I haven't done in 15 years.
Living Life
Remember to be happy.
Activation Energy of Talent
One of the hardest parts about being a human is how tough it is to do new things that you aren't good at. I don't know, maybe other people can just do things without much effort, but for me, it takes a lot of energy to get into something new that I've never done before.
My Latest Writing — Building Dialogue Graphs into my spaceship game
I've not been writing as much for the past two weeks, because that's when I started watching my two kids full-time. So far? No regrets whatsoever, though it's tough and time consuming.
I'm debating getting a new phone
My wife's phone is a sad, 5 year old iPhone SE 2nd Gen. The battery is shot. The camera is terrible. Liquid Glass constantly drags it to a halt.
Art Museum Strategy
Which type of person are you? Do you do research ahead of time, and then go straight to the piece that you know will captivate you? Or do you prefer to go in blind and be surprised by what you find?
Grieving my Profession, Embracing my Medium
Salma nails it. Read the whole thing. It's well worth your time.
Software As And End In Itself
I love everything published on Acko.net, this one was no exception. The quote above really stood out.
I'm having a hard time titling this one
But it comes from a place of both grief and love
Reflecting on my last job in tech
"Last" in every sense of the word
Confession: I like paying taxes
A well functioning government is a good thing, actually, and such a thing needs money to run. So, I pay my taxes.
Phantom Productivity
I first played Minecraft when it was in alpha, around 2009. I was quickly hooked — the allure of pure creation was inescapable.
Friction and Struggle
There is a lot to be said for moving fast, and to move fast you have to reduce friction — you have to make doing things effortless. But frictionless experiences cheapen life.
Reducitarian
I like meat, of all varieties.
Caring about Coffee
Jim's spot on.
How Representative Government Should Work
The answer is Love
Free AtProto Idea: Achievements and Stats
Someday, unless someone else does it first, I'm going to create an AtProto lexicon that does the following:
Simplify
A story of almost over-engineering lighting in a crawl space
Just-in-time vs Just-in-case Learning
Twice now this week someone referenced just-in-time vs just-in-case learning. I'm afraid I can't remember the first (probably a Bluesky post lost to the ether), but the second was the final episode of People I Mostly Admire.
Long Range Comm
Yet another Thorium Nova discussion, this time about Long Range Comm. I'm pleased with how it turned out and how some extra features that I didn't expect kind of fell out as I was looking around it. Enjoy!
Fraud Triangle
Fraud doesn't happen in a vacuum.
In Defense of Going Slow
I remember the browser wars.
When All You Have Is A Hammer...
Most of what AI can do is a happy accident. Maybe we should just use it for what it's good at.
My Personal History Part 1
1993-1997
What Counts as Art?
Are video games art? Can AI make art? What even counts as art?
Presenting to Kids
Can confirm. About once a quarter I give a presentation at the Voyager Club, which is a volunteer organization of 12-18 year olds that do work for the local space centers.
Beware the Pit of Success lined with razor wire
https://blog.codinghorror.com/falling-into-the-pit-of-success/
It's Easy to Overcomplicate
A great read by Paul Hebert that questions the tradeoffs of big, batteries-included accessible UI frameworks like Radix and React Aria Components. Isn't this supposed to be the browser's job? Why reinvent?
Thorium Nova Discussions
Today, my writing is focused on my spaceship game, Thorium Nova. Over the last few days I've written several discussions about the behavior of ship systems. I'll link them here, for you to enjoy. Feel free to comment as well — anyone is welcome to share thoughts and opinions or ask questions.
Critical CSS is a Hyper-optimization
I had a lovely chat with someone about critical CSS and optimizations. All optimizations come with tradeoffs, but many are acceptable tradeoffs. Algorithms might optimize for speed and Big-O complexity at the expense of memory. Websites might optimize for offline support at the expense of first load duration (needing to download an offline database). There are tricks and slight-of-hand to make optimizations feel better to users, but they're still there. Famously, the Instagram team makes it so your photo uploads silently in the background as you write the caption so that it's ready by the time you hit "Post". It's a neat trick!
To Be Curious
One of the biggest problems of the United States is a lack of curiosity — a genuine interest in learning things.
Notes from my Beginner Computer Literacy Class Part 3
Be sure to check out part 1 for context.
This Only Works If We Work Together
"Look around, figure out the most valuable thing to do, and then do that thing."
Noticing
I don't like going slow. Unfortunately, as a parent of a 4 year old, I don't get a choice.
The Value of RFCs
Wouldn't you know it, writing things down helps
Notes from my Beginner Computer Literacy Class Part 2
Be sure to check out part 1 for context.
Intentional Entertainment
Productivity-maxing is entertainment
Things I've Just Done
Continuing the theme from the past few days.
Just Do The Thing
Even... no... especially if it's bad
You Can Just Do Things
My daughter was disappointed. Nobody at the protest was chanting and, darn it, she was promised chanting!
What do you love to do?
A sure-fire question to make friends at unfamiliar places.
Why React Router v7 Doesn't Have A Good PWA Solution
It's tradeoffs, all the way down.
Best Media of 2025
Recently my wife asked me: "What is the best media you enjoyed in 2025?"
Notes from my Beginner Computer Literacy Class Part 1
Helping the uninitiated navigate this brave new digital world
React Server Components: Do They Really Improve Performance?
Nadia Makarevich has some great numbers from a realistic benchmark. (h/t to Chris Coyier for putting it in my feed.) The whole writeup is worth reading, since it goes in-depth into several data-loading strategies. The summary is excellent:
Cassette Tapes
A friend showed me a cassette tape that he found.
Unseasonably Warm
I pull on my jacket again.
Daily Writing
A post a day keeps the brain fog away