Tag: webdev

Today’s Haiku, As Well As Some Frustrations With WordPress

Carl Setzer2 Comments 
flowing over stars
moonlight's gentle grace flows down
caressing my eyes

Though I’ve been writing lately, I’ve been having issues with uploading images in WordPress (I do post to Bluesky and Instagram a fair amount, too). Well, using anything other than the browser. I tried both with my iPad and my Pixel: nope. Sigh…these issues do make me want to explore a WordPress alternative. There are so many options nowadays: Wix, Squarespace, Substack…the list is impressive. For me, these options are all proprietary. As one of my core principles is that I don’t want to hand over that kind of control to a company. I can lose access to my content for any of a number of reasons, from financial to company governance. It’s the same methodology for why I won’t just go solely on a social media platform. In a similar vein, I deeply value using open source tools. WordPress is one, and Joomla is another. I could port everything over to a hand-coded static site as well. The ultimate in freedom, really. That would most likely mean that posting remotely would be impossible. So, here we go.

So, that’s where I am. Are you using WordPress? Or some other tool? And what sort of tools are you using to maintain and build your community?

Some thoughts on Web 3.0

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I came across this video today, which I think is a great, high-level, introduction to Web 3.0, and how it relates to Web 2.0.

As I just finished a degree in Web Development which focused on the Web 2.0 stack, I see the importance to expand into Web 3. It is the future, after all. Still going to be a bit for the key details to shake out, but I want to be ahead of the curve. And have every intention on making that happen.

The Web and the Future

Carl Setzer
black laptop computer turned on showing computer codes

Ah, web dev! The path of the future! Well, that’s been my thought for the past few years. I believe that web interfaces are a key part of most every software system we’ll be dealing with over the next few years (not sure what I mean by few…but, you know).

With that focus on the future, I want to consider what the future of the web looks like. I’ve explored web 3.0 a little bit, but there’s quite a bit more to wrap my head around. The key parts seem straightforward: immersive experiences and dispersed architecture. How much of that is the “metaverse”? What’s the role that blockchain will play? That is quite hard to glean right now.

As with any frontier, there’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s a lot of risk. And, let’s be fair, a lot of fraud/snake-oil/charlatans. But there’s also great opportunity. Discerning between the two is the challenge. And those that get that figured out the earliest will reap the greatest rewards.

Social Media, Platforms and Control

Carl Setzer
Social Media

I’ve been kept in the loop about the different groups encompassing the #StopeHateForProfit initiative and their meeting with Facebook a few days ago (here’s a recap of the situation if you need it). Other folks have written about Facebook’s strategy and risks, so I really have nothing to add there. However, one element has given me pause. What happens if the site collapses?

No, I don’t think that Facebook is going to fail simply due to this issue. However, there are a huge number of challenges that Facebook faces, from privacy to a lack of public accountability.  All of that makes me wonder what the breaking point will be? Ultimately, I believe Facebook’s Waterloo will be a combination of all the issues facing it, along with the natural conservatism that comes with huge success and an IPO, and the creation of a challenger. And I have something of a fatalistic view: that the end will come for it. Not that it will suddenly vanish. It’s a well-run business. However, I expect it will simply fade from relevancy once the new thing appears (i.e.: MySpace).

For me, this speaks to the importance of having my own website, my own place on the interwebs. One where I control everything. My own personal brand, I guess. Mainly, though, where my presence is independent of decisions made by some random group of individuals.

I realize that, in many ways, this is a fantasy. This site is hosted by a company, built on WordPress…external factors that I don’t have much control over. However, I can move my site to another host. I can port my blog from WordPress to some other platform if need be. Everything on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, will simply vanish if those sites end.

Now, maybe this makes sense as I’m currently studying web development and design. As I was told many years ago, “having your own domain is the height of being a nerd” (I own that with delight). So, I guess this might be my inner geek. But I see deep value in having my own site, using it as a hub to the rest of my internet presence. And I see the value for you, too.

Animated PNGs

Carl Setzer
Yesterday, it took me ages to figure out how to convert a .mov to an animated PNG. One of our services can’t use gifs at all, only pngs. (Here’s more insight into the format.) I remembered that there were such things, but damn, I’d never created one before. It looks like browsers don’t support then that well, so that Adobe doesn’t support their creation natively. I saw in several forums that you can download a plug-in to do that, but no one linked to one. I found EZGif.com, a free website that let me do the conversion. It’s not the most elegant process. It works fine if I open it in a browser, but not if I try to open it in Windows. My, what a pain!

The IRS and 21st Century Annoyances

Carl Setzer

So, one of my current projects is helping a non-profit get up and running. One of the things we need is an EIN (Employer Identification Number…the organizational equivalent to a Social Security Number). So, I go to the IRS page to request this, and keep getting the old “Can’t connect to the website. Please try again later” error. I don’t think too much of this, but after a couple of hours, it’s getting to me. So, I explore a bit and find this.

image.png

Really? A website that’s only useful during “business hours”? It’s a WEBSITE! Why on earth is this not available 24-7? I guess that there’s some manual approval that happens during the process. Even so, I should be able to apply and be dropped into a queue that’ll be checked Monday morning, or whatever. A website with office hours just boggles my mind.

Ok, this clearly is a 21st Century problem. But it’s just so antithetical to the zeitgeist.

Oh Dear God, More Autoplay Video Annoyances

Carl Setzer

 

Ok, gobs of us non-silicon types have vented on the internet about auto-play videos. But instead of listening to us, webdevs are now playing “here, hold my beer” in a case of outdoing each other in obnoxiousness. Just loaded a site that flooded my office with a cacophony of raucousness reminiscent of the Tower of Babble.  About 1 second in, I no longer cared, much less remembered, what I opened the page to read. Closed it and moved on, as is my policy.

So, again my webdevy chums, I know you folks need to capitalize on your work. I get it. But don’t render your site useless in either blinding greed or desperation.