Category: Technology

OK Computer: how to work with automation and AI on the web

Automated systems powered by new breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence will soon begin to have an impact on the web industry. People working on the web will have to learn new design disciplines and tools to stay relevant. Based on the talk ā€œOK Computerā€ that I gave at a number of conferences in Autumn 2015.

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Hardware APIs coming to browsers

There are many future web stack features that I see as being vitally important to the long-term health of the web. These include extensible web projects such as web components and CSS Houdini, as well as the scripting capabilities in ES7 and beyond. These features give developers better tools, and more fine control and power.

But I feel that whatā€™s more important to the immediate success of the web are features that provide parity with native mobile apps. Iā€™ve written previously about the importance of service workers in providing this parity, but there are also a few new features breaking through that Iā€™m equally excited about, as they provide access to previously unavailable hardware.

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Eddystone – A Briefing Note on Googleā€™s New Beacon Format

Yesterday Google announced ā€˜Eddystoneā€™, a new open Bluetooth beacon format which works on Android and iOS. Iā€™ve been doing a bit of reading about it to understand the technology and its potential, and I put together a briefing note about it for my colleagues. Iā€™m a believer in maximising returns on my content, so it seems like a good opportunity to republish that briefing note here.

This is a very rapid and shallow look into beacons, and Iā€™ve no doubt made some omissions or inaccuracies, so apologies in advance for that. If you think Iā€™ve made any huge oversights or errors, please feel free to let me know in the comments.

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A More-Than-Bearable Wearable: The LG G Watch

Yesterday I read Christian Heilmannā€™s article Bearable Wearables, a review of the Samsung Gear Live and Android Wear. Christianā€™s overall opinion was that itā€™s too flawed for him to currently find useful. Iā€™ve been using an LG G Watch for the last few weeks, and have come to a different conclusion; that being the case, I thought Iā€™d give my own opinion. Consider this my review of the G Watch, in the form of a response to some of the issues Christian raised – meaning you should first read his article in order to get the most from this one.

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The Thoughtful Web: a new email newsletter

There are very many excellent email newsletters covering web technologies: Smashing Magazine, CSS Weekly, Web Designer Depot are the first three to immediately spring to mind. But I think thereā€™s space for another one, one that has the focus less on code and process and more on philosophy and reflection. So Iā€™m going to start one.

Itā€™s provisionally titled ā€˜The Thoughtful Webā€™, and my intention is to post an occasional email (not weekly, more than monthly), featuring articles I think are really worth reading. Itā€™ll cover the web, new and emerging technology, science, society, and philosophy – but I think it will all be relevant to the work we do making the web.

If youā€™re interested, you can sign up today. I intend to send the first email later this week, and I promise Iā€™ll never be spammy; I hate email noise, and donā€™t intend to contribute to it.


A simple explanation of High DPI screens

NB: This post is based on a briefing note I sent around at rehabstudio, the agency I work for. It’s intended to clear up some of the confusion around resolution on mobile devices with high DPI screens, especially when talking with clients, and is aimed at all roles in the agency, not only developers. As such, it may not be one hundred percent ‘correct’, but I think it does a good enough job of explaining the subject.

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Aside

I’ve updated my Speaking page to include more conferences, more videos, and a little on my speaking requirements and preferences. I’m planning to cut down on the number of talks I give in 2014 (twelve is too many), but am always open to interesting offers and opportunities, so please get in touch if you’re organising an event.

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