Built something cool with HTML-in-canvas?
Go add it to https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/css-web-ui-demos/blob/main/html-in-canvas/awesome-html-in-canvas.md, which gathers all demos in one place.
(Only add the stuff **you** built though, not stuff by other folks)
Get the details on @scope here: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/css-ui/at-scope.
HTML DOM in Canvas? No. DOOM-ception in Canvas.
Maybe I should be working on my slides for Friday, instead I'm at @smashingconf.com creating a playable DOOM terminal in my cssDOOM project. It is a Canvas with an iframe of cssDOOM. And... it works. You can play DOOM in DOOM.
First talk of the year is done: CSS is DOOMed, which was just a very last minute idea for the @smashingconf Jam Sessions.
10 minutes. No preparations. No slides. Off the cuff. But I had lots of fun playing cssDOOM and showing how it works under the hood.
Arrived in Amsterdam for @smashingconf and booked an apartment for the coming days.
But… I did not expect to step into a Rembrandt or Vermeer painting… 🤩
To improve anything, we need to dare to think and make what doesn’t exist. Whether or not we’re just imagining things will become clear after the fact.
Madness and Imagination is Oliver’s opening talk at this year’s Beyond Tellerrand in Düsseldorf. It explores the tension between madness and the courage it takes to make new things.
Is it just me, or has Keynote has become terrible to use lately. Copying text blocks changes the font.... Copy source code... pasting a table?!?!
On a side note, the flame thrower video – and this one with the smoke machine – were one of the funniest things I've ever filmed for a talk. Not part of the final cut, but several times during filming cars drove by, slowing down trying to assess what was happening... 😅
The code for this is open and available at https://github.com/NielsLeenheer/WebDmxController
Want to know more? I have an upcoming talk about this – no promises on a live demo of the flamethrower – at @btconf later this month.
Tickets are still available:
🎟️ https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2026
You can also connect MIDI controllers and gamepads which set classes when you push a button. So you can trigger the flamethrower from a button.
Connect a heart rate monitor too. So imagine a CSS animation that controls the speed of the fireballs... timed to your heart beat. Thermal runaway.
CSS Flamethrower 🔥
We definitely need dedicated CSS specification for this. The flamethrower is connected with DMX and WebUSB. All DMX devices including lamps and stage FX devices get a DOM element with an id. You can use CSS to set colours or... throw flames.
Over the last week I've fixed some cssDOOM issues and improved the gameplay to better match the original game. And the best part – because it is just a website, you don't have to download any updates.
Best browser to run this is still latest Firefox, with Safari a good second.
And on Friday there is The Web You Want event at the CMD in Amsterdam. I will be giving a proper talk about how I used CSS to draw a clock on an oscilloscope... No wait, about how I used WebAudio and blew up my oscilloscope. It's a free event, so join us! There may be lasers.
Next week is @smashingconf week. I've never been before and can't wait to be there as an attendee.
On Monday there is the Jam Session, where I will be giving a 10 minute run-through of cssDoom. No slides, just me playing DOOM and showing how I build it.
RE: https://mastodon.social/@btconf/116362469509964678
I am so honoured to be part of #btconf this year. This conference has been such a huge inspiration to me over the years. Been working on this talk for at least a year and expect chaotic energy with lots of weird and wonderful web experiments.
Hot on the heels of iA Notebook winning the 2026 iF Design Gold Award, we took the opportunity to share some behind-the-scenes footage of how iA Notebook is made.
https://ia.net/topics/paper-alchemy-the-making-of-ia-notebook
Smoke machine powered by CSS!
Fully based on web platform tech, such as WebUSB for the DMX connection and CSS for controlling everything.
My projects can sometimes get a little bit out of hand. Want to know more? Come see my talk at @btconf
Sometimes I feel like I have too many projects. I move from one to the other and old projects get ignored because I am working on something new and shiny.
But that chaos also helps me be creative and challenge me to improve my skills. But today I'm feeling like a mad professor. In a good way.
