656: Onboarding Woes, Coloring Links, and AI Slop Theories

Show DescriptionDo we sound drunk on Shorts? What speed do you listen to your podcasts at? Happy Birthday to Dave, Roblox scams, having silly fun on the web, Crashlands 2 released, a Balatro moment, non-standard browser use testing, and color-mix follow up. Listen on Website →Links The Adventure Zone | Maximum Fun Don't let your voice be flattened by the über theme - daverupert.com Crashlands 2 Adam Coster: Crashlands 2 Balatro University jQuery Reunion SponsorsWebflow x GSAP Community ChallengeGSAP and ALL the plugins are now FREE for everyone thanks to Webflow (even for commercial projects)! The SplitText plugin has had a complete rewrite (half the size, accessible, and smarter text splitting). To celebrate: a community challenge all through May. Make something fun and win merch! One prompt each week featuring a different (previously paid) plugin.

Show DescriptionWe're talking browsers and discussing alternative options like Vivaldi and Brave, the implications of Chrome's potential sale to OpenAI, the impact of AI on browser functionality, Discord vs Circle, and building with Hotwire. Listen on Website →Links Newfangled Browser Alternatives – Frontend Masters Blog Zen Browser Horse Browser Vivaldi Browser | Powerful, Personal and Private web browser Opera GX | Gaming Browser | Opera Thorium Browser Mullvad Browser Fast and Private Web Browser DuckDuckGo Microsoft Edge Download OpenAI Chrome Acquisition Mozilla on U.S. v. Google HTML5 CSS3 Support Opera Air | Mindful Browser Opera Mini Download Hotwire Drawer Component CodePen Circle Discord Zulip Netlify Support Forums Retro Photo app Media Diet – Chris Coyier Sponsors

Show DescriptionWhat are the non-US cloud services options, falling off the blogging train and trying to get back on, working on vacation, Chris recaps the Alaskan Folk Festival experience, how often do you go back and clean out JavaScript, and the idea of gilding just one lily on a new project. Listen on Website →Links European Alternatives A lack of frequency increases the pressure to deliver quality Trap (2024) Reviews Polyfilling Concepts ex-Googler · April 10, 2025 Gild Just One Lily Blog Questions Challenge CodePen Development CSS clip-path maker Sponsors

Show DescriptionFollow up on thoughts about teaching CSS from scratch, questions about conferences to attend as well as a way to kickstart a conference idea, some Balatro thoughts, and our thoughts on the recent Grid vs Masonry debate. Listen on Website →Links The Homebrewery - NaturalCrit SmashingConf in-person Conferences 2025 — Friendly, inclusive & fun events for web designers and developers. - SmashingConf New York, Freiburg, Antwerp and Online Web Design Event State of the Browser 13 Bring live to life Sponsors

Show DescriptionAdam Argyle joins us to chat about new CSS features that are demo'd in a carousel configurator - a builder-like experience to help visualize the capabilities of a CSS only Carousel: buttons, markers, paging and inertness. Listen on Website →GuestsAdam ArgyleGuest's Main URL • Guest's SocialCSS at Google. Links Chrome Canary Features Demo Space CSS Carousel Configurator Black Emperor Sponsors

Show DescriptionWe're joined by Andy Bell, the founder of Set Studio. They discuss the evolution of web design, the importance of client relationships, and the innovative approaches taken at Set Studio and Piccalilli. The conversation covers the shift from traditional design methods to a more browser-centric approach, the challenges of client work, and the significance of documentation in maintaining project integrity. Andy shares insights on creating customizable design systems and the necessity of having a decision-making framework in client interactions. Listen on Website →GuestsAndy BellGuest's Main URL • Guest's SocialDesigner, front-end developer and the founder of Set Studio and Piccalilli. Links Pen.new mdn.io Set.Studio Front-End Development Skills Obsidian Thinking Connected Workspace The Telepathy Tapes Complete CSS If it works, it's right - Piccalilli Carousels with CSS Sponsors

Show DescriptionDavid Darnes joins us to talk about his work on the Nord design system, writing web components, working with embeds and web components, thoughts on building a progress bar or notification component, keeping design systems and design tools in sync, and tricks for components and variables. Listen on Website →GuestsDavid DarnesGuest's Main URL • Guest's SocialDesigner, Front-end Developer & Writer. Links Nord Health Ariel Salminen Design Systems WTF Awesome Standalones DesignSystems.wtf SponsorsJellyKeeping up with customer emails shouldn’t feel like flying a 747. Jelly’s team email inbox makes it easy and affordable: one flat price per team, not per user. No surprise bills—just a simple shared inbox that helps your team respond faster, stay organized, and keep customer conversations flowing smoothly. Try Jelly now for free and get 15% off!

Show DescriptionOnboarding users is a lot more difficult than you might think it is, how should links be coloured or styled, keeping web software up to date, why does some AI slop get created in the first place, getting context for why things happened or decisions were made, and our first bullet point dev career story (Steve's version). Listen on Website →Links Subscribe to us on YouTube! Riverside: HD Podcast & Video Software | Free Recording & Editing Automate without limits CodePen PRO Link Color Idea Ludacris Freestyle Front Tag, You're It Watch the video version of this episode Sponsors

Show DescriptionIt's a speed run meeting edition episode and we're talking conspiracy theories, getting hypnotized, disinformation on TikTok vs the news, view transitions vs CSS animations vs the web animation API, follow ups on font-weight and attire, and classic autocomplete vs AI autocomplete. Listen on Website →Links SubwayTakes (@subwaytakes) | TikTok Motion - A modern animation library for JavaScript and React font-weight: 300 considered harmful | CSS-Tricks Sponsors

Show DescriptionUI and state struggles, AI missing important sand context, should we look forward to AI browsers, how bad is the mobile web in 2025, what does scalability with websites actually mean, and is there a role for someone as a project manager with tech insight? Listen on Website →Links Dribbble - Discover the World’s Top Designers & Creative Professionals UI = f(statesⁿ) - daverupert.com Welcome to Steam Thoughts on embedding alternative text metadata into images – Eric Bailey The Browser Company | Building Arc Dia from The Browser Company Perplexity teases a web browser called Comet | TechCrunch Introducing Operator | OpenAI Daring Fireball: One Bit of Anecdata That the Web Is Languishing Vis-à-Vis Native Mobile Apps Sill | Top news shared by the people you trust Sponsors