Updated 03-Aug-2025 Markdown Extra Unofficial is a WordPress plugin supporting Markdown Extra the parser by Michel Fortin. There are several markdown plugins for WordPress, however most require that markdown be put in a block or a shortcode. This plugin is meant to be used with the Classic Editor and parse all text in pages and ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Nurtureshock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman is an amazing read that challenges so many preconceptions we have about children and child-raising. As the parent of a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old I can say that this book has had a big impact on my thinking. There are so many insights across the chapters, ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 It is obvious that nearly all babies are not Einstein, the archetypal genius and polymath. Einstein is famously not created but arrived sui generis, emerged out of himself. As a child he didn't speak in full sentences until the age of five. This would be considered severely problematic, though it was obviously not ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Mothering our Boys by Maggie Dent Janet Lansbury spoke on her podcast with Maggie Dent who wrote the book Mothering Our Boys. Several interesting points came out of the discussion. Many people see gender differences in raising children as being purely cultural, and cross-cultural studies definitely bear this out. However, there are as ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Daily habit tracking is something useful, but can clutter up a calendar view. Also, not every day is each habit necessarily completed, for example if the target is 5 workouts per week, then missing two days per week is not terrible, but expected. Therefore it can be useful to have a separate widget that helps provide the overview of habits and to quickly check off the habit completion.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
As of early 2021, Notion does not have recurring tasks. There are several workarounds for this, with various tradeoffs. Which approach to use has to do most with what kind of recurring tasks are being supported: daily habits, weekly or monthly tasks, ongoing tasks such as shopping lists, etc.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
In the attempt to remove as much of javascript as possible, certainly not relying on jquery and its ilk, we need a CSS-only sticky header and/or footer.
This is normally quite straightforward. However, the trick comes when logged into WordPress and the Adminbar is present.
If only the #mobile-header, .site-header, #site-navigation, or #masthead is needed for sticky, then voila:
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Sibilant whispers Far afield the breeze beckons Rustling smiles sing Cold promises of seasons' Sussuration of sorrows
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Thin content that Google clearly does not value (indexed but few impressions and clicks) is a problem for SEO and not only for that page, but for other pages on the site. The idea is that thin content detracts from higher quality content that Google does prize.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
This will be updated throughout 2021. For now, we start with John Mueller's take from SMS Virtual 2020.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Markdown makes editing easier and faster. It is faster to use markdown than having to reach for the mouse to format things, and even if one wants to use the mouse there are markdown editors that provide. Markdown is very portable and since it is in plain text can be used across a plethora of devices and interfaces. It is highly readable without hiding any detail.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Google PageSpeed and web vitals are clear: a relevant site must load fast and not messily. The should be a speedy first contentful paint (FCP), and there should be little cumulative layout shift (CLS). A better user experience means a better search engine optimization.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Image optimization is a big deal when it comes to Google PageSpeed. There are several things to consider with images: compression, image dimensions , file format, and number of files.
Updated 03-Aug-2025 WordPress is highly functional, yet expensive to run in terms of resources (ram, processor), and maintain (time). Static site generators are meant to reduce this by a factor of 5 or more. However, there is a lot of functionality to support with the new system as well as a basic learning curve. Let's ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 Pelican is a python-based static site generator (SSG). Pelican has been around for a while (~10 years). It takes files, control files, and template files and generates static pages. Those pages can be kept inside git and then pushed to GitLab Pages or CloudFlare Workers. Installing and Configuring Pelican Installing Pelican Pelican Wiki ... Read more
Updated 03-Aug-2025 First up, Python 2 is dead dead dead. Long live Python 3. Here are some steps to perform: Update alternatives for Python update-alternatives --remove python /usr/bin/python2 update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3 10 Edit ~/.bashrc to include an alias to python3 nano ~/.bashrc alias python=python3 Install the python-is-python3 application sudo apt install python-is-python3
Updated 03-Aug-2025
The future of the web seems to be the past, namely static sites produced by static site generators. These effectively remove the database component (or reduce it tremendously) so that websites become much faster and easier to scale. This is not to mention the great impact that PageSpeed and Web Vitals are having on increasing the need for speedier and better user experiences on the web.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
WordPress, which we've used for years, is the most popular publishing platform. However, it is not the only one and there are definitely better options, depending on one's needs.
Updated 03-Aug-2025
Inkscape is an amazing vector graphics editor. It is free and open source and works on a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows and OSX. Inkscape replaces Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator and can read their files, and is a first class citizen among these other editors.
