Jeremy Keith's Blog, page 107

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As I was making my way homeward through the North Laine last week I noticed that a building around the corner from The Skiff had changed somewhat. I saw kitchen equipment where previously no kitchen equipment had been.

Turns out it’s a new pop-up restaurant called Isaac At. It’s only open on Friday and Saturdays, and you have to book online ahead of time. “Why not?” I thought to myself, and booked a table for myself and Jessica.

We just got back and I’m happy to report that it was most excellent—five courses made from local ingredients, beautifully presented.

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For a while there on Twitter yesterday, web people took some time to give props to other web people who have inspired them. #HonoringWebFolk was the hashy sack (or whatever that thing is called that the lawn kids use).

There are so many generous people I could mention: Veen, Zeldman, Champeon, Holzschlag, Çelik, Meyer…

But I want to give special mention to an unsung hero of the web: , a JavaScript genius who created the mother of all polyfills—before polyfills were even a thing. Take a look through the annotated jQuery to see how large his influence looms.

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Steven Johnson has oft waxed lyrical on the benefits of keeping a spark file—the modern equivalent of a nineteenth century commonplace book.

I started keeping a spark file. But I was keeping it the late lamented Editorially so my experiment was cut short. This is far as I got…

The transatlantic telegraph cable :: the space elevator.

The web :: the patent that never was.

The Mechanical Turk as design fiction, influencing Babbage.

These are the ramblings of a madman. But I might be able to use some of this—I need to prepare a new talk for later this year.

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There are certain attributes of design—or the design process—that are spoken as if they are unquestionably positive. The adjective “innovative” is one of them. But not all innovation is positive. It is possible to create innovative ways to do harm.

Likewise, the word “seamless” is used as though it were by definition a good thing. But hiding the seams in a system is a way of denying a user’s power and autonomy. The problem is that when something goes wrong—as Murphy’s Law dictates it must—the only recourse left is to turn it off and on again.

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A Dao of Web Design by John Allsopp is a document that stands outside of time. It was a perfectly crafted message for its own era, and amazingly it’s even more relevant now, a full fathom fifteen years later.

We once took on the tropes of print design and tried to apply them to the web. I fear that today we run the risk of treating web development no different to other kinds of software development, ignoring the strengths of the web that John highlighted for us. Flexibility, ubiquity, and uncertainty: don’t fight them as bugs; embrace them as features.

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An article in Wired highlights a key feature of the new Apple watch—to free us from the tyranny of the smartphone screen.

I’ve never set up email on my phone.

If I install an app on my phone, the first thing I do is switch off all notifications. That saves battery life and sanity.

The only time my phone is allowed to ask for my attention is for phone calls, SMS, or FaceTime (all rare occurrences). I initiate every other interaction—Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, the web. My phone is a tool that I control, not the other way around.

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I had a very early start yesterday. It was Anna and Cennydd’s big (and yet little) day. I needed to get to the registry office in Walthamstow by 10am which meant leaving Brighton before dawn. In my befuddled state, I forgot my phone.

I realised when I was in the taxi to the station. I readily admit that for a brief moment, I thought about asking the taxi driver to turn around so I could retrieve my camera, address book, city map, music collection, and web browser.

But I didn’t. And it was fine. I had a book to read.

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I don’t sign NDAs. I’m not good with secrets. But I’ve been keeping a secret for a while now. It was difficult. But now the secret is out.

Earlier today Anna and Cennydd got married (that whole “housewarming party” thing was a clever cover story). It was a small but lovely civil ceremony first thing in the morning, followed by a pub lunch, and then a party at their house …a sort of “housewarming” if you will.

So if you’re keeping track, that’s been two weddings in two days …of two different former Clearleft interns. Just like unfeasibly specific buses.

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We had a houseguest yesterday evening—Emil was back in Brighton. Emil was the first ever intern at Clearleft. He’s back in the country for Cennydd and Anna’s housewarming party tomorrow. Anna was also an intern at Clearleft; that’s where Anna and Cennydd first met.

Jon was also an intern at Clearleft. He enjoyed the experience so much that he ended up moving to Brighton. Good thing too: this is where he met Hannah, the love of his life. Today, Hannah and Jon got married. It was all rather lovely.

And now they’re off to San Sebastian on their honeymoon.

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The time had come for Jeremy to leave Brighton. He was being called away to the far shores of the Pacific Northwest. What would have once been a sea voyage and overland trek lasting for weeks and months took him just nine hours in the belly of a flying machine. Having made landfall in Seattle he then had to stand in front of a room full of his peers at An Event Apart and speak to them about progressive enhancement. Jeremy tries to remain humble but as he stepped off that stage, two words went through his mind: “Nailed. It!”