Angels in the architecture

Strolling around Strasbourg

Checked in at Chez Yvonne. Choucroute garní — with Jessica

Reading Ariadne by Jennifer Saint.

Going to Strasbourg. brb

Picture me holding Trys back and telling him, “Leave it alone, mate, it’s not worth it!”

adactio.com/links/21459

Monday session

The Session goes through periods of getting spammed with automated sign-ups. I’m not sure why. It’s not like they do anything with the accounts. They’re just created and then they sit there (until I delete them). In the past I’ve dealt with them in an ad-hoc way. If the sig...

If you only write when you’re sure you’ll produce brilliance, you’ll never write.

adactio.com/links/21456

Comparing web components to React is like comparing a good bicycle with a cybertruck.

They do very different things, and they’re used by different people with very, very different mindsets.

This project, based on OpenStreetMap, looks great:

OpenFreeMap lets you display custom maps on your website and apps for free.

You can either self-host or use our public instance.

I’m going to try it out on The Session once there’s documentation for using this with Leaflet.

adactio.com/links/21454

This special in-depth edition of Quanta is fascinating and very nicely put together.

adactio.com/links/21453

Oh, how I wish that every team building for the web would use this sensible approach!

adactio.com/links/21452

Sunday session

Websites have always been tiny mutinies, perfectly designed for rebellion!

— Robin Rendle, Coming home

https://robinrendle.com/notes/coming-home/

This rhymes nicely with Mandy’s recent piece on POSSE:

Despite its challenges, POSSE is extremely empowering for those of us who wish to cultivate our own corners of the web outside of the walled gardens of the major tech platforms, without necessarily eschewing them entirely. I can maintain a presence on the platforms I enjoy and the connections I value with the people there, while still retaining primary control over the things that I write and freedom from those platforms’ limitations.

adactio.com/links/21449

Every problem at every company I’ve ever worked at eventually boils down to “please dear god can we just hire people who know how to write HTML and CSS.”

adactio.com/links/21448

Wow! Grace Hopper has always been a hero to me, but I had no idea she was such a fantastic presenter. She’s completely engaging, with the timing and deadpan delivery of a stand-up comedian at times.

adactio.com/links/21447

This is how I write:

As an online writer, my philosophy is link maximalism; links add another layer to my writing, whether I’m linking to an expansion of a particular idea or another person’s take, providing evidence or citation, or making a joke by juxtaposing text and target. Links reveal personality as much as the text. Linking allows us to stretch our ideas, embedding complexity, acknowledging ambiguity, holding contradictions.

adactio.com/links/21446

The datalist element is good. It was a bit bumpy there for a while, but browser implementations have improved over time. Now it’s by far the simplest and most robust way to create an autocompleting combobox widget. Hook up an input element with a datalist element using the ...

While one of the reasons oft declared for using POSSE is the ability to own your content, I’m less interested in ownership than I am in context. Writing on my own site has very different affordances: I’m not typing into a little box, but writing in a text file. I’m not surrounded by other people’s thinking, but located within my own body of work. As I played with setting this up, I could immediately feel how that would change the kinds of things I would say, and it felt good. Really good. Like putting on a favorite t-shirt, or coming home to my solid, quiet house after a long time away.

Mandy’s writing positively soars and sings in this beautiful piece!

adactio.com/links/21444

Wednesday session

This is a terrific presentation from Paul. He gives a history lesson and then focuses on what makes the indie web such a powerful idea (hint: it’s not about specific technologies).

adactio.com/links/21442

In an earlier era, startups could build on the web and, if one browser didn’t provide the features they needed, they could just recommend that their users try a better one. But that’s not possible on iOS.

I’m extremly concerned about the newest bug in iOS 18:

On-screen keyboard does not show up for installed web apps (PWAs) when focusing a text input of any kind

Whaa? That’s just shockingly dreadful!

adactio.com/links/21441

This is a very handy piece of work by Rich:

The idea is to set sensible typographic defaults for use on prose (a column of text), making particular use of the font features provided by OpenType. The main principle is that it can be used as starting point for all projects, so doesn’t include design-specific aspects such as font choice, type scale or layout (including how you might like to set the line-length).

adactio.com/links/21440

Cairo in Lawrence Of Arabia, Naboo in Attack Of The Clones, Minos’s palace in Kaos.

Breakfast in Seville

Late night indoor session

Night time outdoor session with Kíla

Afternoon session outdoors