Optimizing WordPress for Speed

So, let’s say you’ve built out your new WordPress site. It’s looking like you want it, and you’ve got your content search engine optimized. Then someone mentions you should check it using Google PageSpeed Insights or some other speed testing service. That’s when you discover your site is lowsy as far as visitor load/render times […]

WWDC 2018 Keynote Highlights

Here’s a quick rundown of the new features coming to your Apple devices as announced at today’s Apple WWDC 2018 Keynote: iOS 12 iOS 12 will be available on the same devices as iOS 11. When you combine those devices with any new devices Apple will release this fall, this will be the widest device […]

Fennel Macro – Wallpaper

I’ve learned the following about fennel in the past month: 1) It’s great on pizza, 2) fresh from the garden it tastes like licorice, and 3) it makes for great wallpaper on my phone: If you’d like to do likewise, here’s a link to my full-size shot. If you want to try it on pizza […]

SSHman – #cli SSH Manager

As the number of servers I manage has grown, I’ve developed my own command line script to help me keep track of all those connections. SSHman (i.e. SSH Manager) is a CLI tool for managing multiple SSH connections. Now I’m making it available via PHIVE (the Phar package manager). Read on for more details → What is […]

HowTo: Backup your data with Dropbox

If something happened to your computer, would you still be able to access all your important files? If you answered, “No,” you need a backup solution. Allow me to recommend my goto option for backups: Dropbox Perhaps you’ve heard of Dropbox, or you may even have it installed on your computer, but you’ve never understood […]

Biggest Freelancing Fear

Biggest fear when I started as a freelance #webdev 17 years ago: my skillset stagnating. Without co-workers in an office setting, I was afraid I wouldn’t gain the knowledge I needed to keep up. Quickly I discovered that wouldn’t be the case. Rather than being a hinderance to learning, working on my own has given me […]

TypeRocket – WordPress Framework

In recent weeks I’ve discovered TypeRocket. It’s a WordPress coding framework that makes it easy to extend WordPress themes and plugins with your own custom UX, custom fields, and custom data structures. I’ve already used it for two plugins I’ve coded in the past week, and I’ll be using it again for another project I’m […]

Office Rotation: Pianissimo Drift by Niklas Aman

It has been my habit to post what I’m listening to on Fridays; however, I plan to have Niklas Aman’s latest release, Pianissimo Drift, playing in the office all week. So, I’m sharing early to give you the same opportunity. Aman’s instrumental music has a way of getting my creative juices flowing. I discovered his […]

Found: NASA’s Long Dead IMAGE Satellite

Stories like this one are some of my favorites on the web. Scott Tilley has found a NASA satellite that’s been “lost in space” since December 18, 2005. In his post, he details how he happened to find it. Then, in the comments, things get more interesting as some of the NASA folks who worked […]

Links of Interest: Setting my sights on GatsbyJS

This past Friday I was reacquainted with GatsbyJS, a static site generator for React. Out of the box, GatsbyJS gives you a true JAMstack framework, page resource prefetching for super fast page loads, and the ability to use your favorite CMS as a backend via GraphQL. These features are the foundation for the next generation of […]

Osmo Mobile 2 – smartphone gimbal

DJI has announced the second generation of their popular smartphone gimbal, Osmo Mobile 2. Priced at $129, it’s an affordable way to capture some amazing video with those cool cameras/video recorders we all carry in our pockets.

CFP Title Game – Freshman QB’s Legendary Performance

Perhaps you’re not a fan of college football or sports in general; however, the drama in last night’s College Football Playoff title game between Georgia and Alabama is the stuff of legends, and that’s not hyperbole. With Alabama down 13-0 to start the second half, head coach Nick Saban benched his 25-2 as a starter […]

#Status

Ella and I got in some Light Saber practice before bedtime. The Force is strong with this one…

Apple Watch Perfect Year 2017

Yesterday I closed all three Activity Rings on my Apple Watch for the 365th time in 2017. That made for a perfect year of achieving my daily fitness goals. To celebrate, I made a graphic featuring my rings for the entire year, my move goals, and my Move Goal awards for each month: If you’re […]

#devnotes – Bash scripting for fun and profit

It has been a busy year in the home office and a couple of months since I’ve gotten one of these published. Allow me to share a smattering of my development related thoughts… My first Bash scripting gig If you’d told me ten years ago I’d be writing Bash scripts for client projects, I wouldn’t […]

AppLaunchpad – generate mockups in your browser

AppLaunchpad looks like a super handy tool when you’re creating mockups of your product. This webapp lets you upload your app screenshots and comp them on all manner of devices, use lineart style graphics or choose from photo-real scenes.

WhatTheFont 2.0 – ID fonts with your phone

I’ve long been a fan of WhatTheFont! However, I didn’t realize they had a mobile app until today. It has just received an update: We’ve completely reinvented the WhatTheFont experience. WhatTheFont is now powered by machine learning which makes it faster and easier to use than ever before. Now you can: Identify multiple fonts in one […]

Portable Dual Display Setup – The best of both worlds?

Luna Display turns any iPad into a wireless, 2nd display I love my desktop, dual 4K display setup. When I’m coding a website and checking how it looks in a browser, having a second display means I don’t have to switch back and forth between windows. I code in one window and preview the output […]

Friday Listen: The Unfolding by Chequerboard

I’ve had The Unfolding by Chequerboard playing in the office pretty much all day. Nice beat. I could code to that. ~@mwender