It’s so easy to complain about poorly-designed and poorly-built systems, and just as easy to forgot to note (or even notice) when they are well done.

I filled out the 2024 Census Test from Statistics Canada yesterday and it was pretty good. The interface was simple, understandable, fast, and allowed for a combination of mouse and keyboard input.

Well done.

Is (are?) Aurora Borealis the only phenomenon that actually looks better when photographed than in real life?

There was a minor internet brouhaha over an Apple iPad ad where they crush a bunch of musical instruments and creative tools. It was just a video in (very slightly) poor taste. No one got hurt.

I also didn’t really like the ad – it felt like if Amazon made an ad where they burned thousands of books, and dumped the ashes into a Kindle. Burning books is never good a good look (unless it’s The Day After Tomorrow and you need to keep warm), neither is crushing pianos.

That said, I’m not sure apologizing is a necessary or appropriate step. I’d save the apologies for when people get hurt.

A co-worker of my, James, released a new album with his band brainrust. Creating an album is a top-tier life achievement in my books.

The album sounds great and feels like a fitting, if unintended, tribute to Steve Albini, who died this week.

It is available on Spotify, Tidal, and other streaming services. There’s a video for the track ordinary on YouTube.

In the world of those who build out the web platform, and CSS in particular, there’s some drama.

1. The Webkit team at Apple have put forth a compelling proposal for how to make the Pinterest-style layout (aka, ‘masonry’) by building on CSS grid.
2. The Chrome team at Google have an alternative approach to the same problem, introducing a new ‘masonry’ display type as a peer to flex and grid.

The folks at the ShopTalk Show talked through the state of the debate with a Google rep in episode 614.

My take is lukewarm:

• “Masonry” layout is too specific a use case and not valuable enough to build in to the web platform.
• I needed grid and flex a million times before they came along. I don’t think I’ve ever found myself needing masonry layout.

If you need it, that’s great. It doesn’t have to be for everyone. There is a cost to adding to the platform though.

I posted last year about hiring designers at the lovely company I work with, silverorange. Well, we’re doing it again!

As I said last time, it’s a great place to work. We’re looking for a Senior Web & App Designer able to work remotely from within Canada who can help us design great systems for our clients.

Our company blog is a great way to get a sense of who we are.

What color are my teeth supposed to be? According to Crest’s YouTube ads, the same color as a kleenex.

We have a law in our house that I think should be a universal law:

A person who stops a kitchen timer bears the responsibility for resetting the timer (if additional time is required) or taking the item out of the oven.

See Garrity’s Law of Eponymous Laws

Have you ever heard a story about a veteran software developer who decides a major change in their field of technology is enough, and it prompts them to retire?

This is how I feel about my regular grocery store rearranging the aisles, but instead of retiring from a tech career, I’d be retiring from buying food ever again.