Steven

For more of my career than I care to admit, I thought the phrase “c-level executive” referred to executives who performed poorly (not like those A-level and B-level folks!). You can imagine how this led to some confusing conversations. actsofvolition.com/2026/10/c-sw...

Sometimes a contractor will ask if I’d rather pay in cash. The implication is that a cash transaction can be done without tax – and either or both of us can “save” some money. What’s not said, in these exchanges is: Hey, want to cheat on our taxes together? actsofvolition.com/2026/10/im-a...

A few of the silverorange crew will be at the #a11yTO accessibility conference in Toronto this week. See you there @a11yto.bsky.social!

The W3C released a new HTML element out of nowhere. It was the element of <surprise>.

Best new feature in macOS 27 (Golden Gate): A handy icon in the menu bar to show you how much milk is left in your baby bottle. actsofvolition.com/2026/09/gold...

I’m an adult and have been for several decades. Every time someone say “it’s the former”, or “it’s the latter”, or “more the former than the latter”, I have to stop, and think: “Which one is first, former or latter?” It’s not your problem, it’s mine. actsofvolition.com/2026/09/form...

Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada at age 92 (the quote is around the 11min mark, but the relevant section begins around 8min30): “Welcoming people from all over the world, [and] caring for each other, including the weakest in society, is a sign of strength.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

The Modern Day Typographer is impressive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ck-...

If you enjoy some piece of media (a story, a song, an image), and then find out it was created with AI, is it reasonable to have your enjoyment impacted in retrospect? It sure is. actsofvolition.com/2026/08/retr...

There’s a tribute album of Smashing Pumpkins covers that has some gems. A few tracks I particularly enjoy: 🍦 Today by YONAKA 🪨 Cherub Rock by Carpenter Brut 🦋 Bullet with Butterfly Wings by Palaye Royale 🌝 Tonight, Tonight by Starbenders actsofvolition.com/2026/08/smas...

New rule for the beach: Offsides. When swimming at the beach, you can never be the furthest from the shore. Q: What if you’re swimming with a friend? A: Worry about yourself! More FAQs: actsofvolition.com/2026/08/beac...

I must have made some good choices in my life, because I have a duck reserved for the harbour run rubber duck race more than a week ahead of Naufrage Harbour Day. actsofvolition.com/2026/07/duck...

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... You want ghosts? Because that’s how you get ghosts.

The most difficult position in soccer must be the goalkeeper’s parent. actsofvolition.com/2026/06/the-...

My friend and colleague at silverorange, Jacky, is a great designer and a great writer. For years, we've used "Uber for Dogs" as a shorthand for a hypothetical example of a solution coming before the problem. I found this to be a lovely serving of human thought without AI blurring the edges.

Each morning, I spend 45 min searching for design and product jobs at orgs that actually make the world a bit better. E.g., today I saw that Genomics England is hiring a senior service designer. I think we already have one of the best job boards for designers: www.hardproblems.com/jobs

A quick update from silverorange-land, which includes Manitoba again! 🧑‍💻 A great new front-end dev on our team 👩‍⚕️emrap.org has a new CEO & a hand in making HBO's The Pitt so realistic 🦊 New work with Mozilla 🚗 CarPlay & Android Auto support in EM:RAP's apps www.silverorange.com/blog/digest-...

CSS aficionado Maureen Holland writes about the enduring value of the CSS float property: www.silverorange.com/blog/float

Saying “I always review what the AI gives me and I don’t let it write for me” is the new “yes, dentist, I do floss every day.” actsofvolition.com/2026/05/ai-f...

Supreme Court Overturns ‘Right v. Wrong’ https://theonion.com/supreme-court-overturns-right-v-wrong-1819573211/

The New York Times Connections game is a good band name generator. I’d go see Hobo Mosey opening for Octopus Breeze. actsofvolition.com/2026/04/conn...

I endorse this Countdown Standard proposed by XKCD: xkcd.com/3232/

Over eight million Americans took to the streets today, which makes No Kings 3 the biggest single day of protest in the history of our country. #NoKings

Hat tip to our American friends at the #NoKings protests today. 🫡

Reminiscing about some cool sound-design work that @bradsucks.bsky.social did way back in 2004: actsofvolition.com/2026/03/soun...

I've been working with the web platform for years - and I was pretty blown-away to be able play my guitar through a website, and have it processed like a vintage amp.

If you have a kid around 10 years old loves soccer, I expect they'll love The Academy book series as our family has. I feel like someone plugged directly into my son's brain and formulated the perfect book for him. actsofvolition.com/2026/03/the-...

One of our fine developers has written about the challenges of estimating and navigating a complex re-architecture of a key app component. www.silverorange.com/blog/complex...

Every web developer should enjoy this (and if you’re not a web develop, skip it): www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE9W...

@jeffcannata.bsky.social In case you missed it, guitarist @rhettshull.bsky.social produced a great video on playing with The Midnight. Lots of great behind-the-scenes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOq5...

We're hiring for two remote-first web development positions in Canada. One is focused on #frontend and the other on #python. www.silverorange.com/job

I'm looking for good design conferences in Canada in 2026. Particularly for UI & UX designers work on web and mobile apps.

We have a saying in our house that's about our approach to cooking bacon, but it applies in many different aspects of life: Cook the bacon until the *fat turns to meat*. actsofvolition.com/2026/01/baco...

You don't need to read this - I just had to get my own obvious horror at the grotesque Donald Trump on record: actsofvolition.com/2026/01/it-g...

Environment Canada has a new color-based weather warning system. How do they know the snow is going to be yellow before it comes? actsofvolition.com/2026/01/yell...

When we create simulations, we seem to simulate passive consumption rather than active participation. Sports video games simulate the TV viewing rather than the player experience. Software instruments (like guitar amp sims) simulate listening rather than playing. actsofvolition.com/2026/01/simu...

We sometimes enjoy some prepared frozen breaded fish. A box usually comes with four pieces of fish. Occasionally, there are five pieces. We celebrate by singing “Bonus fish! Bonus fish!” to the tune of Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit Gloria. So, things aren’t all bad. actsofvolition.com/2026/01/bonu...

The max q of a puzzle: actsofvolition.com/2025/12/the-...

You might think someone in their late-forties, like myself, is too set in their ways to change their life. Well, dear reader, I switched to putting the tabs on the side of my browser! It’s never too late. actsofvolition.com/2025/12/old-...

Want to cry? YouTube can do that too! actsofvolition.com/2025/12/emot...

It's all trade-offs: actsofvolition.com/2025/12/its-...

Our own Maureen Holland has contributed to the 2024 #HTMHell Advent Calendar: htmhell.dev/adventcalend... It’s great to see Maureen’s expertise on display in the great company of writers like John Allsopp, Léonie Watson, and many others. blog.silverorange.com/htmhell

There's no sense in making sweeping absolute statements about aesthetics. That said, no electric guitar should have gold hardware. actsofvolition.com/2025/12/the-...

My MacBook Pro froze the other day. What surprised me most about this computer freeze was that I was surprised at all. Sometimes it seems like everything is getting worse. In one small corner, stability on a typical computer, has gotten better. actsofvolition.com/2025/11/comp...

Be resumable! actsofvolition.com/2025/11/resu...

Our generous net-metering system for surplus residential solar power has the unintended consequence of undercutting residential storage. actsofvolition.com/2025/11/unin...

It turns out that if you start a stopwatch in the Clock app on macOS, it will keep counting through reboots and upgrades. As of today, my stopwatch has been running for over 1,000 days. actsofvolition.com/2025/11/the-...

One of my co-workers is a contestant on MasterChef Canada this season, and one of our clients is a medical expert helping the writers of The Pitt keep it real. So, I'm fame-adjacent.

Don’t value judge the weather! It’s is a path to sadness! actsofvolition.com/2025/10/dont...