Jeremy Keith's Blog, page 28

Five websites

Some lovely people have recently made some lovely websites.

Dan has launched his type foundry, Simple Type Co. and it���s gorgeous!

For as long as I���ve been making websites, Dan���s designs have been an inspiration: Corkd, Dribbble, his own website; whenever he unveils something it always sits just right with me.

Oh, and I love the tagline for Simple Type Co.:

Never perfect. Always a-okay.

Someone who is a perfectionist is Marcin. He���s been working on his book about keyboards for years now (the Kickstarter project will launch in February) and he���s made a stunning website for the book called Shift Happens. Click around and find out.

Mandy has a lovely new professional website, courtesy of Ethan. It���s called everything changes. I love the subtletly of the different colour schemes for dark and light modes. It���s almost as if Ethan knows a thing or two about responsive design.

Look! Jason has new professional website too. The text is just scrumptious. It���s almost as if Jason knows a thing or two about typography.

And look! Lynn has done it again���a new site design for a new year. Beautiful stuff, as always���have a look through the archive if you want to the creativity she puts into this every single year.

All of these people are my web design heroes.

Blood

I gave blood yesterday. It was my sixteenth donation.

Yes, that���s a humblebrag. I feel like the gamification of blood donation is entirely reasonable. Levelling up in blood donation feels like the opposite of frequent flyer points. Instead of a growing sense of shame at how your accumulated activity is destroying the planet, you get increasing affirmation that you���re helping others.

Besides, I don���t have Strava, or Peleton, or rings to close, or whatever. I don���t even do Wordle. So this is the only ���streak��� I can legitimately boast about.

The more I give blood, the more I enjoy it.

I know that sounds weird. Surely having a needle shoved in your arm isn���t meant to be enjoyable?

It���s true that the first or second time you do it, it can feel intimidating, maybe even a little scary. I���m lucky that I don���t have much of an aversion to needles���much respect to those who do, but donate anyway.

But once you���ve done it a few times, it becomes routine. Actually, it���s more than routine. It���s like a ritual.

Not to get all spiritual here when we���re talking about an entirely biological process, but there is something special going on…

You join together with other members of your community. Strangers. People from all walks of life, all of them gathered in one place to do the same thing: sacrifice a small portion of themselves for the greater good.

It���s like a more egalitarian version of most religious narratives. Instead of a single saviour making a grand sacrifice, you get many individuals partaking in their own mini crucifixations. A little discomfort and that���s it. Multiply that by the number of people gathered together and you���ve got a magnificent network effect. Less dramatic than the hero���s journey, but far more effective.

Usually in our society, if you want to do good, it���s tied to money. You inherit wealth or accumulate it through work and luck, and then you can choose to do good by redistributing some of that moolah. The more you���ve got, the more you can choose to give away. So the amount of potential good that can be done comes down to the whims of the people who have the most money.

Giving blood doesn���t work like that. We���ve all got the same amount of blood.

The memento mori that are scattered through the history of human culture are there to remind us that death is the great leveller. Prince or pauper, we all meet the same end. That also applies to our blood. Prince or pauper, we���re all equal when it comes to blood donation.

That���s one of the reasons I like returning to give blood every few months. It restores my faith in humanity. I look around the room and see all these people that I don���t know, but we���re all there to complete our individual rituals. We all contribute the same amount. It���s a very personal choice, but there���s a communal feeling that comes from being with all these strangers who have made the same choice.

Besides, it���s just a nice opportunity to step away from the day-to-day. Bring a good book to read during the waiting periods before and after donation. During the donation itself, you���ve got this time to think and reflect. It���s quite meditative, opening and closing your hand to help the flow. Almost trance-like.

And then you get free biscuits.

That isn���t quite the end though. A few days later you get a text message telling you where your blood will be used. I love that part. It feels like closing the loop.

It���s funny that we often use the language of blood to describe supply chains: arterial networks carrying goods in and out of hubs; the pumping systems that keep society alive. When that text message arrives, it���s like a little bit of you is part of an infrastructure for helping others.

You can find a donation opportunity near you on the blood.co.uk website.

2022

This time last year when I was looking back on 2021, I wrote:

2020 was the year of the virus. 2021 was the year of the vaccine ���and the virus, obviously, but still it felt like the year we fought back. With science!

Science continued to win the battle in 2022. But it was messy. The Situation isn���t over yet, and everyone has different ideas about the correct levels of risk-taking.

It���s like when you���re driving and you think that everyone going faster than you is a maniac, and everyone going slower than you is an idiot.

The world opened up more in 2022. I was able to speak at more in-person events. I really missed that. I think I���m done with doing online talks.

There was a moment when I was speaking at Web Dev Conf in Bristol this year (a really nice little gathering), and during my presentation I was getting that response from the audience that you just don���t get with online talks, and I distinctly remember thinking, ���Oh, I���ve really missed this!���

But like I said, The Situation isn���t over, and that makes things tricky for conferences. Most of the ones I spoke at or attended were doing their best to make things safe. CSS Day, Clarity, State Of The Browser: they all took measures to try to look out for everyone���s health.

For my part, I asked everyone attending dConstruct to take a COVID test the day before. Like I said at the time, I may have just been fooling myself with what might have been hygiene theatre, but like those other events, we all wanted to gather safely.

That can���t be said for the gigantic event in Berlin that I spoke at in Summer. There were tens of thousands of people in the venue. Inevitably, I���and others���caught COVID.

My bout of the ���rona wasn���t too bad, and I���m very glad that I didn���t pass it on to any family members (that���s been my biggest worry throughout The Situation). But it did mean that I wasn���t able to host UX London 2022.

That was a real downer. I spent much of 2022 focused on event curation: first UX London, and then dConstruct. I was really, really proud of the line-up I assembled for UX London so I was gutted not to be able to introduce those fabulous speakers in person.

Still, I got to host dConstruct, Leading Design, and Clarity, so 2022 was very much a bumper year for MCing���something I really, really enjoy.

Already I���ve got more of the same lined up for the first half of 2023: hosting Leading Design San Francisco in February and curating and hosting UX London in June.

I hope to do more speaking too. Alas, An Event Apart is no more, which is a real shame. But I hope there are other conferences out there that might be interested in what I have to say. If you���re organising one, get in touch.

Needless to say, 2022 was not a good year for world events. The callous and cruel invasion of Ukraine rightly dominated the news (sporting events and dead monarchs are not the defining events of the year). But even in the face of this evil, there���s cause for hope, seeing the galvanised response of the international community in standing up to Putin the bully.

In terms of more personal bad news, Jamie���s death is hard to bear.

I got to play lots of music in 2022. That���s something I definitely want to continue. In fact, 2023 kicked off with a great kitchen session yesterday evening���the perfect start to the year!

And I���ve got my health. That���s something I don���t take for granted.

One year ago, I wrote:

Maybe 2022 will turn out to be similar���shitty for a lot of people, and mostly unenventful for me. Or perhaps 2022 will be a year filled with joyful in-person activities, like conferences and musical gatherings. Either way, I���m ready.

For the most part, that played out. 2022 was thankfully fairly uneventful personally. And it was indeed a good year for in-person connections. I very much hope that continues in 2023.

2022 in numbers

I posted 1057 times on adactio in 2022. sparkline

That���s a bit more than in 2021.

November was the busiest month with 137 posts. sparkline

February was the quietest with 65 posts. sparkline

I blogged 91 times during the year. sparklineI shared 382 links. sparklineI posted 583 notes. sparkline

That included about 237 notes with photos sparkline and 214 replies. sparkline

I published one article, the transcript of my talk, In And Out Of Style.

I watched an awful lot of television but managed to read 25 books. sparkline

Elsewhere, I huffduffed 130 audio files and added 55 tune settings on The Session in 2022.

I spoke at ten events.

I travelled within Europe and the USA to a total of 18 destinations. sparkline

Words I wrote in 2022

Here���s a highlight reel of some of my blog posts from 2022:

Today, the distant future ��� 2022 was once unimaginable to some web folks.Installing progressive web apps ��� How I���m letting people know they can install The Session to their home screens.Starting and finishing ��� Some advice for public speaking.Declarative design ��� Defining the inputs instead of trying to control the outputs.Re-evaluating technology ��� The importance of revisiting past decisions. Especially when it comes to the web.Democratising dev ��� How do we share the means of the web���s production?Work ethis ��� Don���t work hard.Accessibility is systemic ��� The difference between inclusive design and accessibility.That fediverse feeling ��� Mastodon is a vibe shift in the best possible way.

I also published the transcript of my conference talk, In And Out Of Style, a journey through the history of CSS.

Music in 2022

Usually an end-of-year music round-up is a list of favourite recordings released in the year. But in 2022 I wasn���t paying very much attention to new releases. I bought a few albums on Bandcamp. They were mostly of���surprise, surprise���traditional Irish music.

Still, I had a very music-filled 2022. Mostly I was playing mandolin in sessions, both here in Brighton and wherever else my travels took me.

These moments were undoubtedly highlights of the year for me.

Books I read in 2022

I read 25 books in 2022. I wish I had read more, but I���m not going to beat myself up about it. I think no matter how many books I read in any given year, I���ll always wish I had read more.

18 of the 25 books were written by women. I think that���s a pretty good ratio. But only 6 of the 25 books were written by Black authors. That���s not a great ratio.

Still, I���m glad that I���m tracking my reading so at least I can be aware of the disparity.

For the first half of the year, I stuck with my usual rule of alternating between fiction and non-fiction, never reading two non-fiction books or two fiction books back-to-back. Then I fell off the wagon. In the end, only 7 of the 25 books I read were non-fiction. We���ll see whether the balance gets redressed in 2023.

As is now traditional, I���m doing my end-of-year recap, complete with ridiculous star ratings.

I���m very stingy with my stars:

One star means a book is meh.Two stars means a book is perfectly fine.Three stars means a book is a good���consider it recommended.Four stars means a book is exceptional.Five stars is pretty much unheard of.Cowboy Feng���s Space Bar And Grille by Steven Brust

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Even the author doesn���t think this is a particularly good book, and he���s not wrong. But I have a soft spot for it. This was a re-read. I had already read this book years before, and all I rememberd was ���sci-fi with Irish music.��� That���s good enough for me. But truth be told, the book is tonally awkward, never quite finding its groove. Still a fun romp if you like the idea of a teleporting bar with a house band playing Irish folk.

A Ghost In The Throat by Doireann N�� Ghr��ofa

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Stunning. I still don���t know whether it���s fiction, autobiography, translation, or some weird mix of all of the above. All that matters is that the writing is incredible. It���s so evocative that the book practically oozes.

Parable Of The Talents by Octavia E. Butler

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A terrific follow-up to The Parable Of The Sower. It seems remarkably relevant and prescient. So much so that I���m actually glad I didn���t read this while Trump was in power���I think it would���ve been too much. It���s a harrowing read, but always with an unwavering current of hope throughout.

About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks by David Rooney

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A great examination of history and colonialism through the lens of timekeeping. Even for a time-obsessed nerd like me, there are lots of new stories in here.

The Lathe Of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin

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While I was reading this, I distinctly remember thinking ���Oh, so this is what Philip K. Dick was trying to do!��� And I say that as a huge fan of Philip K. Dick. But his exuction didn���t always match up to his ideas. Here, Le Guin shows how it���s done. Turns out she was a fan of Philip K. Dick and this book is something on an homage. I found its central premise genuinely disconcerting. I loved it.

Orwell���s Roses by Rebecca Solnit

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When someone asked me what I was reading, I was honestly able to respond, ���It���s a book about George Orwell and about roses.��� I know that doesn���t sound like a great basis for a book, but I thought it worked really well. As a huge fan of Orwell���s work, I was biased towards enjoying this, but I didn���t expect the horticultural aspect to work so well as a lens for examining politics and power.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

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A solid sequel to the classic The Handmaid���s Tale. It���s not more of the same: we get a different setting, and a very different set of viewpoints. It didn���t have quite the same impact as the first book, but then very little could. As with The Handmaid���s Tale, Margaret Atwood stuck with her rule of only including shocking situations if they have actually occurred in the real world.

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

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I wrote about this book in more detail:

For a book that���s about defending liberty and progress, On Tyranny is puzzingly conservative at times.

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

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Astonishing. I know that a person���s reaction to a book is a personal thing, but for me, this book had a truly emotional impact. I wrote about it at the time:

When I started reading No One Is Talking About This, I thought it might end up being the kind of book where I would admire the writing, but it didn���t seem like a work that invited emotional connection.

I couldn���t have been more wrong. I can���t remember the last time a book had such an emotional impact on me. Maybe that���s because it so deliberately lowered my defences, but damn, when I finished reading the book, I was in pieces.

East West Street by Philippe Sands

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An absorbing examination of the origins of international war crimes: genocide and crimes against humanity. The book looks at the interweaving lives of the two people behind the crime���s definitions ���and takes in the author���s own family history on the way. A relative of mine ran in the same legal circles in wartime Lviv, and I can���t help but wonder if their paths crossed.

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

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Just as good as A Memory Called Empire, maybe even more enjoyable. Here we get a first contact story, but there���s still plenty of ongoing political intrigue powering the plot. I can���t wait for the next book in this series!

The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win by Maria Konnikova

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A thoroughly enjoyable piece of long-form journalism. It���s ostensibly about the world of high-stakes poker, but there are inevitable life lessons along the way. The tone of this book is just right, with the author being very open and honest about her journey. Her cards are on the table, if you will.

The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett

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I wonder how much of an influence this book had on Walter M. Miller���s A Canticle For Leibowitz? They���re both post-apocalyptic books of the Long Now. While this is no masterpiece, Brackett writes evocatively of her post-nuclear America.

Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by Anil Seth

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A compelling and accessible examination of a big subject. It doesn���t shy away from inherently complex topics, but manages to always be understable and downright enjoyable. I liked this book so much, I asked Anil to speak at dConstruct.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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A good fast-paced sci-fi story that acts as a vehicle for issues of identity and socialisation. It���s brief and peppy. I���ll definitely be reading the subsequent books in the Murderbot Diaries series.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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Not in the same league as Station Eleven, but a solid work, looking at the events before and after the collapse of a Ponzi scheme. It���s not a ghost story, but it���s also not not a ghost story. And it���s not about crypto ���but it���s not not about crypto.

The Alchemy Of Us by Ainissa Ramirez

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I was really looking forward to reading this, but I ended up disappointed. All the stories about historical inventions were terrifically told, but then each chapter would close with an attempt to draw parallels with modern technology. Those bits were eye-rollingly simplistic. Such a shame. I wonder if they were added under pressure from the publisher to try to make the book ���more relevant���? In the end, they only detracted from what would���ve otherwise been an excellent and accessible book on the history of materials science.

Looking back, I notice that The Alchemy Of Us was the last non-fiction book I read this year.

Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler

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After reading this, I decided to read the rest of the Patternist series in one go. This scene-setter is almost biblical in scope. The protagonist is like an embodiment of matriarchy, and the antogonist is a frightening archetype of toxic masculinity.

Mind Of My Mind by Octavia E. Butler

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All of Butler���s works are about change in some way (as exemplified in the mantra of Earthseed: ���God is change���). Change���often violent���is at the heart of Mind Of My Mind. As always, the world-building is entirely believable.

Clay���s Ark by Octavia E. Butler

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This works as a standalone novel. Its connection to the rest of the Patternist series is non-existient for most of the book���s narrative. That sense of self-containment is also central to the tone of the novel. You find yourself rooting for stasis, even though you know that change is inevitable.

Pattern Master by Octavia E. Butler

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By the final book in the Patternist series, the world has changed utterly. But as always, change is what drives the narrative. ���The only lasting truth is Change.���

The Unreal And The Real: Selected Stories Volume 2: Outer Space, Inner Lands by Ursula K. Le Guin

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I���ve read quite of few of Le Guin���s novels, but I don���t think I had read any of her short stories before. That was a mistake on my part. These stories are terrific! There���s the classic The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas to kick things off, and the quality is maintained with plenty of stories from the Hainish universe. I was struck by how many of the stories were anthropological in nature, like the centrepiece story, The Matter of Seggri.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

The fourth and final book in the Wayfarers series was a satisfying conclusion. I still preferred Record Of A Spaceborn Few, but that���s probably just because I preferred the setting. As always, it���s a story of tolerance and understanding. Aliens are people too, y���know.

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The T��in translated by Ciaran Carson

As a story, this is ludicrous and over the top, but that���s true of any near-mythological national saga. Even though this is an English translation, a working knowledge of Irish pronunciation is handy for all the people and places enumerated throughout. In retrospect, I think I would���ve liked having the source text to hand (even if I couldn���t understand it).

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The Star Of The Sea by Joseph O���Connor

I���m less than half way through this, but I���m enjoying being immersed in its language and cast of characters. You���ll have to wait until the end of 2023 for an allocation of stars for this nautical tale of the Great Hunger.

There we have it. I think the lesson this year is: you can���t go wrong with Octavia E. Butler or Ursula K. Le Guin.

And now it���s time for me to pick one favourite fiction and one favourite non-fiction book that I read in 2022.

The pool is a bit smaller for the non-fiction books, and there were some great reads in there, but I think I have to go for Rebecca Solnit���s Orwell���s Roses.

Now I have to pick a favourite work of fiction from the 18 that I read. This is hard. I loved The Lathe Of Heaven and Ghost In The Throat, but I think I���m going to have choose No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood.

If you want to read any of the books I���ve mentioned, you can find them all in this list on Bookshop.org���support independent bookshops! I bought Octavia Butler���s Patternist books at Brighton���s excellent Afori Books, located in Clearleft���s old building at 28 Kensington Street. Do swing by if you���re in the neighbourhood.

Or try your local library. Libraries are like a sci-fi concept made real.

If you���re interested in previous installments of my annual reading updates, you can peruse:

Books I read in 2021,Books I read in 2020,Books I read in 2019,Books I read in 2018, andBooks I read in 2017,

An Event Apart

My trip to California went well. It was bookended with a few days in San Diego on either end. I relished the opportunity to hang with family and soak up the sunshine.

In the middle was my outing to San Francisco for An Event Apart. There were some great talks: Krystal talking about onboarding, Miriam blowing my mind with cascade layers, Eric diving deep into the :has() selector, and David closing out the show with a superb call to arms.

I gave my talk on declarative design at the very start of the event, just the way I like it. I was able to relax and enjoy all the other talks without having mine on my mind.

The talk went down well. I thought maybe I might have the chance to repeat it at another An Event Apart sometime in 2023.

But that won���t happen. An Event Apart has closed its doors:

Seventeen years ago, in December 2005, we held our first conference in Philadelphia. The event we just held in San Francisco was our last.

Whenever I was invited to speak at An Event Apart, I always responded in the affirmative and always said it was an honour to be asked. I meant it every time.

It wasn���t just me. Ask anyone who���s spoken at An Event Apart. They���ll all tell you the same thing. It was an honour. It was also a bit intimidating. There was a definite feeling that you had to bring your A game. And so, everyone did. Of course that just contributed to the event���s reputation which only reinforced the pressure to deliver a top-notch presentation.

I���m really going to miss An Event Apart. I mean, I get why all good things must come to an end (see also: dConstruct), but it feels like the end of an era.

My first time speaking at An Event Apart was in 2007. My last time was in San Francisco this month.

Thank you, Eric, Jeffrey, Toby, Marci, and the entire An Event Apart crew. It has been my privilege to play a small part in your story.

2007ChicagoBe Pure. Be Vigilant. Behave2008San FranciscoPattern In The Process2009BostonFuture Shock Treatment2010Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis, Washington DC, San DiegoParanormal Interactivity2011Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Washington DC, San FranciscoDesign Principles2012AustinThe Spirit Of The Web2013Atlanta, Washington DC, Chicago, Austin, San FranciscoThe Long Web2014Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Orlando, San FranciscoEnhance!2015Seattle, Austin, San FranciscoResilience2016Seattle, Boston, Orlando, San FranciscoResilience, Evaluating Technology2017Seattle, DenverEvaluating Technology2018Seattle, BostonThe Way Of The Web2019Seattle, Chicago, San FranciscoGoing Offline2020OnlineDesign Principles For The Web2021OnlineThe State Of The Web2022Online, San FranciscoIn And Out Of StyleDeclarative Design

Leading Design San Francisco 2023

My upcoming appearance at An Event Apart next week to talk about declarative design isn���t the only upcoming trip to San Francisco in my calendar.

Two months from today I���ll be back in San Francisco for Leading Design. It���s on February 7th and 8th.

This event is long overdue. We���ve never had Leading Design in San Francisco before, but we were all set to go ahead with the inaugural SF gathering …in March 2020. We all know what happened next.

So this event will be three years in the making.

Rebacca is doing amazing work, as usual, putting together a fantastic line-up of speakers:

They’ll be sharing their insights, their stories and their ideas ��� as well as some of their pain from past challenges. It’s all designed to help you navigate your own leadership journey.

I���ll be there to MC the event, which is a great honour for me. And I reckon I���ll be up to the challenge, having just done the double whammy of hosting Leading Design London and Clarity back-to-back.

I would love to see you in San Francisco! If you���ve attended a Leading Design event before, then you know how transformational it can be. If you haven���t, then now is your chance.

Early bird tickets are still available until mid December, so if you���re thinking about coming, I suggest making that decision now.

If you know anyone in the bay area who���s in a design leadership position, be sure to tell them about Leading Design San Francisco���they don���t want to miss this!

Jamie

Jamie Freeman passed away yesterday.

I first met Jamie as a fellow web-nerd way back in the early 2000s when I was freelancing here in Brighton. I did a lot of work with him and his design studio, Message. Andy was working there too. It���s kind of where the seeds of Clearleft were planted.

I remember one day telling them about a development with Salter Cane. Our drummer, Catherine, was moving to Australia so we were going to have to start searching for someone new.

���I play drums���, said Jamie.

I remember thinking, ���No, you don���t; you play guitar.��� But I thought ���What the heck���, and invited him along to a band practice.

Well, it turns that not only could he play drums, he was really good! Jamie was in the band.

It���s funny, I kept referring to Jamie as ���our new drummer���, but he actually ended up being the drummer that was with Salter Cane the longest.

Band practices. Concerts. Studio recordings. We were a team for years. You can hear Jamie���s excellent drumming on our album Sorrow. You can also his drumming (and brilliant backing vocals) on an album of covers we recorded. He was such a solid drummer���he made the whole band sound tighter.

But as brilliant as Jamie was behind a drumkit, his heart was at the front of the stage. He left Salter Cane to front The Jamie Freeman Agreement full-time. I loved going to see that band and watching them get better and better. Jonathan has written lovingly about his time with the band.

After that, Jamie continued to follow his dreams as a solo performer, travelling to Nashville, and collaborating with loads of other talented people. Everyone loved Jamie.

This year started with the shocking news that he had inoperable cancer���a brain tumor. Everyone sent him all their love (we recorded a little video from the Salter Cane practice room���as his condition worsened, video worked better than writing). But somehow I didn���t quite believe that this day would come when Jamie was no longer with us. I mean, the thought was ridiculous: Jamie, the vegetarian tea-totaller ���with cancer? Nah.

I think I���m still in denial.

The last time I had the joy of playing music with Jamie was also the last time that Salter Cane played a gig. Jamie came back for a one-off gig at the start of 2020 (before the world shut down). It was joyous. It felt so good to rock out with him.

Jamie was always so full of enthusiasm for other people, whether that was his fellow musicians or his family members. He had great stories from his time on tour with his brother Tim���s band, Frazier Chorus. And he was so, so proud of everything has done. It was so horrible when their sister died. I can���t imagine what they must be going through now, losing another sibling.

Like I said, I still can���t quite believe that Jamie has gone. I know that I���m really going to miss him.

I���m sending all my love and my deepest sympathies to Jamie���s family.

Fuck cancer.