2018 in numbers
The quantified site. With sparklines.
Journal archive: 2018
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Words I wrote in 2018
Blogging the year away.
Books I read in 2018
Fiction and non-fiction, in more-or-less equal measure.
Songs I liked from 2018
Five songs.
Audio I listened to in 2018
Three podcasts from 2018 that I can recommend.
Cindy Li
1975-2018
Vienna
This means nothing to me.
Browsers
I’m on Team Firefox.
Programming CSS
A language so powerful that we have to stop ourselves from using all its features.
Prototypes and production
Don’t build prototypes with a production mindset. Don’t release prototype code into production.
Food and music
The same, but different.
Conferencing
November was a busy month for events.
Optimise without a face
Sprinkle some machine learning on image optimisation.
Push without notifications
Making use of the real-time nature of push notifications without the annoying notification part.
Webmentions at Indie Web Camp Berlin
Technical and ethical questions.
Service workers and videos in Safari
Diagnosing a video playback issue in Safari, thanks to a timely blog post.
Service workers and browser extensions
If you’ve got a service worker issue, it might not be a problem with your code.
An nth-letter selector in CSS
The latest installment in the long tradition of calling for this pseudo-element.
Declaration
HTML. JavaScript. Why not both?
Preparing a conference talk
The four steps I took in putting together a presentation.
Service workers in Samsung Internet browser
Samsung Internet browser doesn’t yet support asynchronous `waitUntil`, but that’s okay.
A framework for web performance
Where should you be focusing your efforts when it comes to improving your site’s performance? Here’s a reusable framework for figuring it out.
Several people are writing
Anne Gibson, Alice Bartlett, Patrick Rhone, Sara Soueidan, Laura Kalbag, Brendan Dawes, Robin Rendle, Khoi Vinh, Amber Wilson, Austin Kleon, and Tim Kadlec write.
The top four web performance challenges
Counting down the charts—what will be in the number one spot?
Robustness and least power
A tale of two principles.
Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari’s bestseller is a frustratingly uneven work.
Flexibility
Web design is a two-way street. And that’s okay.
Console methods
Debugging fetch events in service workers.
Greater expectations
Some anecdata about installation expectations for progressive web apps.
Switching
I’m using Firefox (for now).
The history of design systems at Clearleft
From pattern portfolios to Fractal.
Altering expectations
How do we let people know what the web can do?
CSS grid in Internet Explorer 11
IE11 doesn’t support CSS grid.
Links, tags, and feeds
You can filter my ramblings by subscribing to specific tags.
Twitter and Instagram progressive web apps
You have nothing to lose but two oversized native apps on your home screen.
Components and concerns
Gotta keep ‘em separated.
The trimCache function in Going Offline
An error in chapter seven.
Speaking my brains in Boston
Four talks in two days.
Name That Script! by Trent Walton
A presentation at An Event Apart Boston 2018.
Building More Expressive Products by Val Head
A presentation at An Event Apart Boston 2018.
Why Design Systems Fail by Una Kravets
A presentation at An Event Apart Boston 2018.
New tools for art direction on the web
Variable fonts + CSS grid + service workers
Praise for Going Offline
I got yer social proof right here…
Detecting image requests in service workers
It turns out that you can’t rely on the `accept` header.
Registering service workers
Pour one out for rel=”serviceworker”
Clearleft.com is a progressive web app
The Clearleft website works offline …and about time too!
Expectations
Offline could be the new normal.
AMPstinction
Thinking about the end game.
Document
In praise of unmonetisable enthusiasms.
The Gęsiówka Story
Republishing a forgotten piece of history.
Frustration
Applying the principle of least power to tools and technologies.
HTTPS + service worker + web app manifest = progressive web app
Defining the damn thing over and over again.
Unworn Pleasures
The T-shirt of the band of the scientist.
Choosing tools for scaling design
We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape our processes, budgets, and recruitment.
Google Duplicitous
Computer Human Interaction
Alternative analytics
Google Analytics is not the only option.
Process and culture
Process is a four letter word.
Design systems
The pattern library map is not the design system territory.
Good griddance
How CSS grid is making my life easier.
Thanos
Avengers are wizards; Thanos is a prophet.
Service worker resources
Hyperlinks to help you get your site working offline.
Acknowledgements
Giving thanks.
Going Offline, available now!
A Book Available.
Workshops
Three upcoming workshops on field research, web animation, and responsive web typography.
Timing
Thanks, Apple. Thapple.
That new-book smell
Going Offline.
Technical balance
Why I had two technical editors working with me on Going Offline, with opposite levels of experience.
The audience for Going Offline
A book about service workers that doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of JavaScript.
Table of Contents for Going Offline
From zero to service worker hero in nine short chapters.
2001 + 50
The fiftieth anniversary of the greatest film ever made.
Live-blogging An Event Apart Seattle
A run-down of the talks I managed to document.
Understandable excitement
Why I get more excited about new CSS features and JavaScript APIs than I do about new frameworks, libraries, or build tools.
Designing Progressive Web Apps by Jason Grigsby
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Navigating Team Friction by Lara Hogan
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Announcing Going Offline from A Book Apart
I’ve written a book about service workers for web designers. You can pre-order it now.
Everything You Know About Web Design Just Changed by Jen Simmons
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Fit For Purpose: Making Sense of the New CSS by Eric Meyer
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Graduating to Grid by Rachel Andrew
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Scenario-Driven Design Systems by Yesenia Perez-Cruz
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Digital Marketing Strategies for the Busy “Web Master” by Sarah Parmenter
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Beyond Engagement: the Content Performance Quotient by Jeffrey Zeldman
A presentation at An Event Apart Seattle 2018.
Links from a talk
Hyperlinks for the curious.
A workshop on building for resilience
The progressive web: a day-long workshop.
Minimal viable service worker
Boosting performance with a general-purpose service worker script.
Just change it
Pull requests to remove the word “just” from documentation.
Faraway February
One month in less than one minute.
Offline itineraries with service workers
Turbo-boosting travel sites into progressive web apps.
Ends and means
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
Global Diversity CFP Day—Brighton edition
This Saturday, February 3rd—come one, come all!
Famous first words
Hello, world.
GDPR and Google Analytics
Do you have permission for those third-party scripts?
Design ops for design systems
Defining the damn thing.
Needs must
The tension between developer convenience and user needs.
Heisenberg
JavaScript and the observer effect.
Analysing analytics
Ain’t no third party like a Google Analytics third party.
Words I wrote in 2017
Best of the blog.
Food I ate in 2017
Portugal, Singapore …and Brighton.