I love art directed websites. There’s something about the way people use beautiful design to make engaging content that always draws me in. But, let’s be honest, art directing your own site is a lot of work. The thought of...
As a programmer, I am always on the lookout for ways to improve my workflow. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly popular tool in the tech world, and I have found myself using it more and...
I have recently rebuilt the Binary Moon website. It’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and a recent issue with my web host pushed me to finally make a start. In this post, I’ll share some of...
As a blogger who works with, and writes about WordPress and its related topics, I always find myself in search of the latest news and updates. However, I don’t listen to podcasts. I find them too long and I get...
Recently, there have been a number of court cases in Europe suggesting that Google Fonts may not be GDPR compliant. The concern is that when you link to a Google Font using their CDN (Content Delivery Network), it could potentially...
When I was making my generative art I needed to generate a lot of random things. The simplest way to do that with PHP is to use the rand() function.The rand() function selects a random integer (whole number) between 0...
These last few weeks I’ve been experimenting with Generative Art, using PHP. You can see the evolution of my latest series on Twitter. Generative Art is creating artworks through programming. Generative art has a few different names, Procedural art and...
I recently had the idea to make a Twitter Emoji Maze bot, so I tweeted my idea and it was suggested I write a tutorial about how I made it. So I’m going to try to write the article as...
Recently I wanted to duplicate a WordPress database table but I couldn’t because I got the error ERROR 1067 (42000): Invalid default value for 'post_date'.This fix also works for other Invalid default value errors such as invalid default value for...
Over the past few years, online privacy has become a significant concern, with companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google being criticized for their tracking practices. The Cambridge Analytica scandal in particular has had a profound impact on people’s attitudes towards...
This tweet from Kelly Vaughn caught my eye recently. It came a couple of days after another tweet from Brad Touesnard who said “I have run out of empathy for people whining about having to learn React”.I really sympathise with...
I’ve tweeted my thoughts on Medium before: I’m not a fan! I work with WordPress but I like competition, and try to be objective, but Medium is not a good solution.Not a day goes by without someone tweeting a screenshot...
A lot of the internet is powered by open source technology. WordPress being a perfect example. This article looks at the practices behind open source development and considers just how sustainable it all is.One story looks at OpenSSL and how...
When I was at school in the 90’s everyone argued about which was best, Nintendo or Sega? You had to be on one side or the other, there was no way you could like both.A few times recently this article...
I don’t often recommend specific WordPress plugins but I rather like Slim SEO for it’s simplicity. SEO plugins is a hotly contested category in the WordPress space and Slim SEO brings something new to the table.The go to plugins these...
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the frustration and in many cases, arguments, happening between designers (CSS & html specialists) and Javascript developers. Increasingly Javascript developers, who are experts at programming, are taking on CSS and HTML roles....
For many Facebook has lost a lot of it’s allure over the last couple of years. With all the reports of the social giant being used by advertisers to manipulate people, and spread fake news, many are leaving the site.With...
I’ve been thinking about writing about learning javascript for a while now, but seeing Brad Frost and Heydon Pickerings articles appear over the last couple of weeks has really made me consider my approach to the technology.Ever since Matt suggested...
Following the Gutenberg discussions in recent weeks, the Core Gutenberg team have posted an update on accessibility in Gutenberg, in which they try to establish there are some accessibility features in Gutenberg. This is true!However, whilst what has been done...
In this article for WPTavern Chris Van Patten shares his experience with contributing to the Gutenberg project. The original article was a Twitter thread, but it’s nicer reading a proper long form piece.For Chris, the experience of contributing to Gutenberg...
I really like the Smashing Magazine website. Unlike a lot of tutorial sites they don’t keep repeating the same basic content and focus on more challenging and newer things. So when I was contacted by Vitaly and asked if I...