Link tags: lag

The Main Thread Is Not Yours — Den Odell

Every millisecond you spend executing JavaScript is a millisecond the browser can’t spend responding to a click, updating a scroll position, or acknowledging that the user did just try to type something. When your code runs long, you’re not causing “jank” in some abstract technical sense; you’re ignoring someone who’s trying to talk to you.

This is a great way to think about client-side JavaScript!

Also:

Before your application code runs a single line, your framework has already spent some of the user’s main thread budget on initialization, hydration, and virtual DOM reconciliation.

What’s the fun in writing on the internet anymore?

The dark forest expands:

To put any thoughtful labour into crafting words online today is to watch them get sucked up, repurposed, and often monetized by someone else. It feels a bit like a digital wasteland; overrun with pirates, replete with armies of robots regurgitating everything into a gooey cocktail of digital sludge.

ChatGPT is not ‘artificial intelligence.’ It’s theft. | America Magazine

But in calling these programs “artificial intelligence” we grant them a claim to authorship that is simply untrue. Each of those tokens used by programs like ChatGPT—the “language” in their “large language model”—represents a tiny, tiny piece of material that someone else created. And those authors are not credited for it, paid for it or asked permission for its use. In a sense, these machine-learning bots are actually the most advanced form of a chop shop: They steal material from creators (that is, they use it without permission), cut that material into parts so small that no one can trace them and then repurpose them to form new products.

James Meek · In 1348

This makes me want to re-read Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror.

The International Flag of Planet Earth

A proposed flag for the planet.

Transform your type online with variable fonts | Creative Bloq

This is a great interview with Rich on all things related to web typography—including, of course, variable fonts.

I’m so lucky that I literally get to work side by side with Rich; I get to geek out with him about font stuff all the time.

Flags are not languages – A blog about designing global user experiences: beyond language, location & culture.

It’s a bit finger-pointy but this blog should be useful for anyone working on internationalisation.

This blog has two general aims: to show the fundamental flaws in using flags to represent languages and how to create good experiences when dealing with multilingual and multi-regional content.

Jon Aizlewood | Visual inventories for agile design

Jon outlines his technique for keeping “the 30,000 foot” view when patterns are coalescing during a project.

See also: Andy P.’s experience of working with Jon this way.

The Village and The Village

In which Dan simultaneously goes to the Netherlands and Belgium in a Miévillian sort of way.

Have a listen to the dConstruct 2011 talk from Kars for context.

The Scourge of Helvetica Neue Light | Clagnut

Richard never rants.

Here’s Richard ranting.

College Misery: Henchminion Sends In the Tale of “The Magna Carta Essay!”

A trojan horse for plagiarised college papers, much like the fakery on maps (“Lie Close”, “Arlington”) and in dictionaries; traps to be sprung on the hapless copy’n’paster.

The Ampersand Story | Clagnut § Brighton · Typography · Clearleft · Conferences

Getting the background on Ampersand from Richard is getting me very excited for the conference.

What’s Golden | Jason Santa Maria

An excellent piece by Stan in which he questions (without rejecting out of hand) applying proportion-based rules to the web, a medium with inherently fluid proportions.

Typefaces we can all share : Open Font Library

A repository of liberally-licensed fonts to link to with @font-face.

Striking Web Sites with Font Stacks that Inspire - Inspiration Bit

A look at different font stacks out there in the wild.

A new design | Clagnut § Blogging · Information design · Clagnut news

Richard has launched the redesign he's had bubbling away for a while now. 'Tis lovely and gridilicous.

Seed Conference | Chicago | 6 June 2008

The typography on this page is simply gorgeous. And the event looks good too.

Apostrophe Atrophy

Documenting typographical abuse, specifically when single primes are used instead of apostrophes.

TypeTrust

Epic is a lovely looking new typeface from Neil Summerour.

Clichés are hard

An offhand remark I made on Twitter spurs Dom on to do a whole lotta research on character encoding in class names.