Notes

• Dusting cobwebs

  Giving the design of this website a small refresh.

• Oops, I built a headless frontend with 11ty

  Building a headless HelpScout docs site with 11ty.

• House Fan

  The how & why behind building a house fan emulator progressive web app.

• Chasing color

  Adventures in designing a modern CSS color system.

• The inhuman computer

  Thoughts on the launch of the Apple Vision Pro.

• “AI Inside”

  The bad/better/best approaches to integrating LLMs into existing applications.

• Behavior wrappers

  Using custom elements to encapsulate behavior, not entire components.

• Taming Tailwind

  Utility-only CSS doesn't work, but Tailwind can still play a useful supporting role.

• View transitions + Quicklink

  Using Quicklink to make cross-document view transitions even more seamless.

• Building vs. optimizing

  Building software has two major phases, and it helps to know which you prefer.

• “Craft at scale” is a white whale

  Mass-manufacturing and craft are mutually exclusive.

• Step into the light (DOM)

  On the benefits of custom elements.

• Consistent with what?

  Consistency is good, as long as you pick the right frame.

• Complexity creeps

  The dangers of choosing complexity over simplicity.

• Revisiting PJAX

  Building a modern version of a classic hybrid technique.

• Extending 11ty’s page variable

  Adding slot-like support to 11ty.

• Fundamentals

  Why it's worth investing in fundamentals.

• On brand

  My pitch for the strategic value of branding.

• Generalists, specifically.

  A manifesto for when & why generalists trump specialists.

• Death to process machines!

  Why process principles are better than process playbooks.

• Everything I know about marketing I learned from the 1990 movie “Crazy People.”

  The power of telling the truth.

• There’s such a thing as “too helpful”

  Remember to keep your customers needs and wants in mind.

• Are you sure?

  The three worst words in software.

• Vinyl is dead. Long live vinyl.

  How emotion and experience drives behavior.