Vale

The sudden sinking feeling when you're given a codebase to work on, then you notice the HTML tags are all written in uppercase, that there is no document declaration, and that there are conditional comments for Internet Explorer.

It should be illegal to have hold music with an imperfect loop, such that it cuts off for a brief moment and fills you with a fleeting period of hope before throwing you back to the wait.

It has been a while, so I just wanted to resurface this gem. A brilliant and interactive bit of work.

jgthms.com/web-design-i...

Web Design in 4 minutes

Learn the basics of web design in 4 minutes with this interactive tutorial.

Okay folks. People are interested in this idea – it has legs and I want to make it happen. If you're a digital professional and interested in being part of such a freelancer collective, send me a message.

Nothing set in stone yet, but I've got concepts of a plan and would like to establish this.

I love CSS, but it isn't perfect. Even the CSSWG admits so, with a published list of design mistakes.

FixCSS is a little library that tackles these mistakes and presents the CSS syntax that could have been. A fun little look at an alternate universe.

tangled.org/vale.rocks/F...

vale.rocks/FixCSS

Library to rectify mistakes in the design of CSS.

There are plenty of things I'd love to see added to the web platform or improved in browsers. Especially things I want in CSS.

While we've already got so much great stuff and a lot more on the way, there are still some assorted little bits I'd love.

Here is my wishlist: vale.rocks/posts/web-pl...

Web Platform Wishlist

A list of features I'd personally like to see added to web platform standards or better implemented in browsers. Improvements to HTML, new CSS, other web systems, or wider parts of the web platform that I think could be improved or expanded on to make the web a better place for users to use and for developers to develop on.

Reply to @vale.rocks

It is gutting to feel I'd see greater success if I didn't care who I worked for, gave up on my morals, and embraced the latest harmful fad. Grifting has long been a thing, but at present it seems there aren't any consequences beyond one's own conscience and that it is the optimal way to make a buck.

The use of 'he/she' really annoys me.

'They' is much more inclusive than 'he/she' and is also quicker to both say and write. Anyone using 'he/she' today is either forced to by some obtuse requirements, or is purposefully being bigoted.

'(s)he' is no better and is just as needlessly difficult.

Reply to @vale.rocks

'Hi. Yeah, it's me. I couldn't help but notice when I opened the folder you sent me that boss music started playing, and in the distance I heard what I think might be the eternal screams of the damned. Can you just confirm this is expected behaviour?'

Personally extremely disappointed to see Mozilla proudly and cheerfully announcing that Firefox is active again on X (formerly Twitter).

A short little musing on the content presentation challenges presented by television's switch from 4:3 to 16:9, with a parallel drawn to progressive enhancement.

vale.rocks/micros/20260...

15 July 2026 04:50 UTC

Reddit is slowly winding down Old Reddit. Functionality is being removed and features are discreetly disappearing. They're quite obviously eroding its functionality so that when they finally kill it there is less outrage.

Sucks as someone who makes money from Old Reddit stylesheets...

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com

Reddit will require you to log in to use old.reddit.com

Logged-out Old Reddit access is “significant source of abusive scraping."

I've collected up everything I know about Hacker News into a substantial article for your reading pleasure. It is rather long and covers the site's history, obscura, and various undocumented and under-documented details.

vale.rocks/posts/hacker...

A Great Deal of Information About Hacker News

Everything I personally know about the forum and news aggregator Hacker News spanning the site's history, the people behind it, the software that runs it, the site's culture, and its features. Generally undocumented or underdocumented details and features are also included.

I grow ever weary of people telling me that the Facebook app is listening to them via the microphone. It doesn't need to.

vale.rocks/micros/20260...

Your Devices Are (Probably) Not Listening To You - 22 July 2026 05:00 UTC

I've been asked what framework I used to make the dashboard for my Stoat bot AutoMod so fast and snappy.

It is genuinely just slick HTML/CSS/JS that communicates with an API layer I developed. The dashboard itself doesn't depend on even a single external library.

Currently voting on conference talks based entirely on which talk is less about AI.

Reply

Apple were big on web apps when the iPhone first launched. The App Store was added reluctantly in mid-2008 as the original idea was for third parties to create web apps, but that didn't pan out.

I don't know if it is archived anywhere due to an iPhone user agent being required.

Can't wait to see AI-driven dementia become a big thing with people offloading all their thinking and their brains thusly deteriorating.

After much ado, I've finally shipped the swanky new dashboard for my Stoat bot AutoMod. So glad to finally have it out there and live. I must admit, back-end is far from my strength.

All the deets and informative bits and bobs here: automod.vale.rocks/blog/a-web-d...

#Stoat #StoatChat

A Web Dashboard For AutoMod

A dashboard that dashes.

You can say 'the industry is fucked and we're all doomed' and people don't even dispute it. They just look at you like:

Reply to @vale.rocks

Couple all that with the erosion of rights and companies being increasingly anti-consumer. Forcing features unwanted, removing features wanted, taking away physical media, making all a subscription, taking away our control of our devices and what software we can run on them, and eroding privacy.

Reply to @vale.rocks

Many conferences are coming to their end, seeing lower attendance, and are dominated by AI talks. Of those that are surviving, many are cutting budgets or catering to smaller, focussed audiences. Most publications are seeing declining readership, and many are turning to AI for their content.

Reply to @vale.rocks

Businesses seem wary of investing in people or just spending money at all. I feel I have to sell the very basic concept of doing 'good work', rather than 'good enough work'. Accessibility feels like something I discuss but don't get to see through.

Things are stagnating for genuine professionals.

Reply to @vale.rocks

A very brief few words on topic and the library: vale.rocks/micros/20260...

FixCSS - 1 July 2026 04:00 UTC