August 2011
2 posts
Why text-shadow
This post is largely a reply to David Parry’s post regarding my use of text-shadow for Lectio, my entry alongside Lachlan Hardy and David Goodlad for Node Knockout. I figured it makes for an interesting discussion though, so I’ve decided to write a short post on it.
The problem that I tried to address by using text-shadow is the fact that WebKit will wreck text rendering on elements...
The masterful programmer
He is henceforth known as a person, independent of gender.
Software is expression. The more domain you have over a given programming language, the more freely you can give shape to your ideas.
Frameworks are tools built on top of languages to help you perform a given set of tasks more easily. The tradeoff is they get in the way of expressiveness. i.e.: they’re not your ideas anymore,...
June 2011
2 posts
Hiring front-end developers
I’ve been getting a handful of emails offering me front-end jobs recently. Probably about time I admit that I like spending most of my time doing that, even though I ♥ my Rubies and I still believe developers who specialise end up worse off.
So I’ve decided to put down in words some thoughts that I had as I read through the job ads. This isn’t another post on how to hire...
On not being a writer
TL;DR - I can’t sell you something I personally don’t believe in.
I’ve recently emailed Manning and informed them of my decision of not going ahead with writing a book, reverting from my original decision. For those who missed the discussion on Twitter a while ago, the title was going to be “Building Well-Structured JavaScript Applications”. I was approached by them...
January 2011
1 post
November 2010
1 post
danieltsosie asked: As a person starting my own new business, I got a kick out of your article. I searched for a picture of Tony Stark because I wanted to have the images of what I wanted to create and your blog post was awesome. I had designed my own logo and totally got the idea of doing something from front to end so you can know it all. Thanks :D
August 2010
1 post
1 tag
Too much fucking abstraction
You know what the problem with Rails Ajax helpers is? It’s not that they’re done wrong. Well, up until 3 they were done VERY wrong. But in the upcoming Rails 3, they adopted a set of practices popularly known as UJS (Unobtrusive JavaScript, I guess). Which is short for “JavaScript done right”, and nothing particularly groundbreaking since people who know their JS/HTML...
July 2010
1 post
1 tag
Software architects
Koziarki’s recent post inspired me to share my opinions on the matter, seeing that throughout the years I experienced a handful of similar situations myself.
First of all, let’s understand the role per se. Someone gets hired for defining those requirements, generally by talking to the customers. That person is usually a software architect with some experience in development, which...
June 2010
1 post
1 tag
On distorted messages
From amconmag.com, which in turn quotes the original article on The New Yorker:
But, unlike authoritarian regimes, democratic governments hold secrets largely because citizens agree that they should, in order to protect legitimate policy.
That quote doesn’t make any sense. How can any judgment be established as to whether a secret works for legitimate policy or against it if...
May 2010
3 posts
Religious leaders
I read this piece on the Guardian today: Texas schools board rewrites US history with lessons promoting God and guns.
Which made me think: at the head of every political religious authority group lies a mind that corrupts others. Don’t think for a second they need to believe in what they’re saying. Every contemporary religion converges on the subject of good morals, and a man of good...
1 tag
Small and sexy
UPDATE: The latest version is now hosted at Forrst.
Since the days when it was less than very popular, I’ve been a huge fan of Sinatra, among many, many good reasons because:
massively sexy HTTP DSL.
single file apps. Though I confess I write very few of those, it looks neat because it’s minimal.
possibly the thinnest layer between your app and HTTP that can still be called a...
1 tag
Yeah but you didn't come up with this one
Disclaimer: this is an opinion piece. Probably as much as the subject anyways, except that Joe Hewitt wrote Firebug, and is generally known for being awesome, unlike me. So at any rate, I’m from now on allowed to say whatever the fuck I want without linking any evidence because I’m just saying how I feel towards his thoughts.
What’s it about?
Joe Hewitt recently wrote a series...
April 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Free learning material
There’s two things that happen when you visit a web page.
you get to see it from a end-user’s perspective (see images, read content, interact).
you get to read the source and styles or inspect the document and all that comes with it, should you choose to.
Surprisingly not enough people who have an interest in understanding how to write good HTML / CSS do the second. In the circle...
1 tag
Why Tony Stark is better than you
My all time hero as a developer is Tony Stark.
It has nothing to do with the fact he’s rich, famous, or that he gets the ladies. It’s because Tony Stark builds his tech, front-end and back-end. He doesn’t make things that just do the job. They do, but they look awesome while at it.
You see, most developers nowadays fit in one or more of the following brands of bad:...