Firehose

Lea Verou published a post titled ‘Dark mode toggles: two states are enough’, discussing the UX of light-dark toggles. I can understand the reasoning, but I disagree with it. The system setting option being lumped with the selected theme feels a tad too magical to me (and not in the intuitive way). It feels like it is taking my control away as a user.

I reliably fall exactly into What if users get confused? when interacting with the demo. Even with it front of mind I still stumble over the same interaction while switching it back and forth.It isn’t fitting my mental model of how I expect it to function and it really twists my mind around trying to comprehend it.

Historically, I’ve been lazy with my theme toggle on websites. I’ve typically reached for a cyclical button which toggles between light, dark, and system default. However, this is a far from optimal approach and has major usability issues. It isn’t an intuitive interface pattern:

• You can’t see all the options until you’ve cycled through them.
• Switching between the system theme and the explicit theme that matches it doesn’t trigger a change, which causes a weird interactivity disconnect.

However, it is compact, and compactness is one of the main points Lea argues in her blog post, and I do agree that three-state toggles with a button for each are too much. The approach does show the system setting as an explicit setting, however, which Lea argues shouldn’t be exposed to the user. Instead, I’ve come to find a different approach I prefer:

By default, the page follows the system default. Pressing the light mode icon sets the page to light mode. The dark mode icon sets it to dark mode. If the user wishes to return to the system default, they click on the active theme button again, which toggles it off. It only takes up the space of a two-state toggle while representing all three states in an intuitive way. At least, it has been intuitive and immediately understood by the great majority of people I’ve tested it with. The minority usually assume it can’t be returned to a system setting.

This approach treats the system option as something slightly different, too, which feels correct given that system is fundamentally different to light and dark. It also avoids the pitfalls of too many displayed items or the added complexity of a drop-down. It feels like a reasonable middle ground. I look forward to when we get this toggle as a native part of browser chrome eventually.

Online code sandbox site CodePen recently released a major update: CodePen 2.0.

I use CodePen a fairly reasonable amount. I often access CodePen demos embedded in articles, I’ll spin up CodePen for my own experiments, and I’ll use it to share little examples and bits of code. In articles I’ll embed CodePen demos where applicable.

Almost everything I do on CodePen is extremely simple. Anything more complex, and it is just not something I’d go to CodePen for. I’d sooner release it as a Git repository or place it on my tools site. As such, the changes 2.0 have brought aren’t really to my benefit and complicate my existing usage.

However, there might be some rare cases for me where I need to show multiple files or a framework in a demo for an article, though generally in-article demos are best kept extremely simple so the added complexity is of little benefit. Perhaps it could also be useful for demonstrating frameworks or libraries, though that was mostly possible before too – it is just more streamlined now.

It certainly will be brilliant for people just wanting to learn to create websites. Previously I’ve had to coach people through creating a HTML file, opening it in their browser, inputting text formatting files, et cetera, but CodePen 2.0 will provide essentially a pre-configured development environment complete with hosting capabilities.

Overall, it is a solid update that makes CodePen much more versatile. It isn’t an update for me, but it is an update that isn’t hostile against me and is beneficial for many others. The CodePen team are lovely folks, and just to see a product make meaningful improvements rather than hostile regressions is very much welcome.

Thankfully, the old editor can be accessed at https://codepen.io/pen, and the new editor can be configured to function like the old editor using the Classic Block and the Minimal UI option.

I love being a cyborg. Really comes in handy during repairs to save me from misplacing screws.

My head is on a swivel, left and right. I’m trying to find something to look at as I sit in my chair, hands on keyboard, expected by my own mind to write. I can feel the breath of an editor down my neck, though he isn’t in the room, and I’m just trying to place my gaze anywhere other than that rotten blinking cursor in front of me.

I scrunch up my face and tears well in my eyes before I open them and return them to the page. I blink for a moment before allowing my eyes to grow out of focus, where I look through my screen into my own reflection looking back at me with an expression of weary sickness. My head is splitting down the middle, or perhaps it is from the side.

There is this radiating throb regardless, and I don’t think the sounds of destruction emanating up the stairwell are helping. There is a man doing repair work on the bathroom. Or at least I hope there is. I didn’t see him come in, and I haven’t heard any words from him, but I can hear the vicious smashing of tiles and dull thuds of something hitting something. Perhaps a burglar. I can’t be bothered to check.

‘Oh woe, be ye’, I think, turning my attention back to the infernal blinking caret. It feels as if the air around me is molasses. I’ve got no trouble breathing, but movements are as if through a thick horrible.

They’re smashing about the hammer again, my page is near blank, and my eyelids have taken on the same heavy weight of my pouting lips. Another hour spent. Nothing done.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) uses binary (base-2), meaning steps of 1,024 ($2^{10}$) – KiB, MiB, GiB, etc. Meanwhile, the International System of Units (SI) uses decimal (base-10), meaning steps of 1,000 ($10^3$) – KB, MB, GB, etc.

The Road Traffic Code 2000 outlines rules and regulations for road users in Western Australia. This is an abridged compilation of the parts most relevant for unicyclists and does not constitute legal advice. Sourced from the version as at 14 May 2026.

Notably, a unicycle is considered a ‘wheeled recreational device’, not a bicycle. This means that bicycle-specific restrictions are irrelevant. ‘Bicyclists must dismount’ signs and similar don’t apply, nor are helmets required. Drug restrictions do not apply either. Per the legislation:

wheeled recreational device means a wheeled device, built to transport a person, propelled only by human power, gravity, or both, and ordinarily used for recreation or play —
[…]
(iii) a unicycle,

pedestrian means any person on foot or in a perambulator, or a physically disabled person in an unmotorised wheelchair or in a motorised wheelchair, and includes —
[…]
(c) a person in or on a wheeled recreational device or a motorised scooter; and

Regulation 206:

(1) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy —
(a) on a carriageway with a dividing line or median strip; or
(b) on a one‑way carriageway with more than one marked lane; or
(c) on a carriageway with a speed limit exceeding 50 km/h.
[…]
(3) A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy on a road must not travel past a “no wheeled devices” sign.
(4) Subregulation (1) does not apply to a person who is crossing a carriageway in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy, if the person —
(a) crosses the carriageway by the shortest safe route; and
(b) does not stay on the carriageway longer than necessary to cross the carriageway safely.
(5) Subregulation (1) does not apply to a person who is travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy on a carriageway if —
(a) it is necessary to travel on the carriageway to avoid an obstruction; and
(b) the person does not travel on the carriageway for longer than necessary to avoid the obstruction.

Regulation 207:

A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy on a carriageway —
(a) must keep as far to the left side of the carriageway as is practicable; and
(b) must not travel alongside more than one other pedestrian or vehicle travelling on the carriageway in the same direction as the person, unless the person is overtaking other pedestrians.

Regulation 208:

A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy on a footpath or shared path must —
(a) keep to the left of the footpath or shared path unless it is impracticable to do so; and
(b) give way to any pedestrian (except a person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy) who is on the footpath or shared path.

Regulation 209:

(1) A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device or motorised scooter must not be on a part of a separated footpath designated for the use of pedestrians unless the person —
(a) is crossing the separated footpath by the shortest safe route; and
(b) does not stay on the separated footpath for longer than necessary to cross the separated footpath safely.
(2) A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device or motorised scooter on a bicycle path, or a part of a separated footpath designated for the use of bicycles, must keep out of the path of any rider of a bicycle, EPT or electric rideable device.

Regulation 209B:

(1) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy on a road during the hours of darkness or in hazardous weather conditions causing reduced visibility.

Regulation 210:

(1) A person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy must not attach himself or herself to, or permit himself or herself to be drawn by, any other vehicle.
(2) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy within 2 m of the rear of a motor vehicle, over a distance of more than 200 m.
(3) The driver of a vehicle must not permit a person travelling in or on a wheeled recreational device, motorised scooter or wheeled toy to attach himself or herself to, or be drawn by, the vehicle.

With passion, and with anger, and with pain, and with grief, and with sadness: fuck motor neurone diseases.

This is, genuinely, one of the funniest memes I have ever come across. I wish to make an attempt at explaining why.

Firstly, this is a picture from an out of character interview with Freddie Prinze Jr, and yet he refers to Shaggy – not Matthew Lillard, who is the actor who played Shaggy. This implies, on some level, that Shaggy isn’t being played by an actor, or that Matthew Lillard himself is Shaggy.

Secondly, Fred is, to an extent, the straight man in Scooby Doo. For him to be recounting this event implies it actually happened.

Thirdly, ‘killed god’? Shaggy, the scaredy stoner who is first to run away from whatever foes the gang face, killed god? Then, he walked onto set to announce it? ‘Announced’ implies there was some gravitas to his proclamation that god is dead by his hands, but announcing it walking onto set implies that killing god was done casually.

What was his motive for killing God? Also, how did he kill god? These questions aren’t answered or addressed at all by the meme. Freddie Prinze Jr is also mentioning this as a casual aside during an interview?

Combine the sheer absurdity with the fact that I have seen the live action Scooby Doo films an unhealthy number of times as a child, and it all comes together to be extremely humorous to me.

Do you hear that? That’s the simultaneous exasperated sighs of thousands of users.

Saturday night activities.

Shout out to the guy who lives near me and leaves his bong on a small niche outside his bedroom window where he thinks nobody can see it.

When I go around dropping tabs from different dealers to compare, people say I’ve got a problem, but browsers used to go around doing so-called ‘Acid Tests’ with impunity. Times have changed, I suppose. Either that or double standards.

Am I correct in my understanding that it still used in Opera Mini for extreme data saving mode? It seems it is. Is it updated at all for use in such cases?

Here is my site rendered with extreme data saving mode in the latest version of Opera Mini. I’m pretty sure this is Presto in 2026, which feels an odd thing to say.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but users will not hurt me. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but users will not hurt me. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but users will not hurt me. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but users will not hurt me. Sticks and stones may break my bo…

We were somewhere around line 23,494 on the edge of the framework when the caffeine began to take hold. I remember saying something like ‘I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should code…’ And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the screen was full of compilation errors.

Happy AusAlert test warning to all who celebrate.

Even though I knew it was a test during the alert that ran today, I wasn’t checking the time, and it did genuinely surprise me. The alert sound sounds severe, and the follow-up narration of the warning, even as it said it was a warning, felt dire.

Hopefully there will be minimal reason to use it.

When I was new to VR and still getting my ‘VR legs’, I just full sent it into a port of Quake. Let me tell you, running, gunning, and jumping about with reckless abandon in virtual reality Quake makes your body adapt real quick.

Fashion peaked with Haysi Fantayzee in the early ’80s and has been going downhill since.

I’m afraid that one day someone will discover I don’t actually know how to write HTML or CSS and that I’ve been using Microsoft FrontPage 97 this whole time.

There is a common idea that our devices are using their microphones to spy upon us. I’m certain that some devices do, but most don’t.

Under wiretapping and recording consent laws in many jurisdictions, such listening is forbidden. Many platforms, devices, and operating systems also indicate to the user when the camera or microphone is in use. Instead of listening in via a microphone, tracking is handled by more subtle means.

Thinking about travelling to France? While on your phone, you might stop for a moment longer on adverts or posts about travel or about French cuisine. You might linger on a post by a French speaker. Perhaps you research travel plans online on a site that has a partnership with an advertising network or which has social widgets tied to social media. Eventually, you’ll see more and more posts about France and travelling there.

Every little interaction you have across the web – no matter how seemingly inconsequential – can be collated to build a profile on you and target content towards you. It is the entire strategy and purpose of many billion-dollar companies.

Take the story of retailer Target identifying a teen girl as pregnant before even her father knew. There was no recording there; it was careful identification of patterns of behaviour.

There is some great discussion on the topic of devices tracking without listening from Simon Willison in his post, I still don’t think companies serve you ads based on spying through your microphone, and from Jonathan Zeller in McSweeney’s with Calm Down—Your Phone Isn’t Listening to Your Conversations. It’s Just Tracking Everything You Type, Every App You Use, Every Website You Visit, and Everywhere You Go in the Physical World.

Whenever people attempt to test microphone listening, they often end up scrolling around trying to find the thing they were testing for anyway, thus tailoring what they’re served and playing into confirmation bias.

Thinking a microphone is listening to what you say is simple and easy to comprehend. The idea that everything you do is being tracked and analysed by systems so complex you can barely conceptualise them is much more abstract.

I personally find this sort of ever-present and inescapable tracking much more insidious than any microphone listening in.

Personally extremely disappointed to see Mozilla proudly and cheerfully announcing that Firefox is active again on X (formerly Twitter).

https://xcancel.com/firefox/status/2079317211152564724

Always confused by people/organisations who measure productivity or effort with Git commits.

There are so many different approaches to committing that it seems a completely meaningless metric. Certainly nothing to brag about.

Those tormented screams? Believe it or not, from the damned.

I’ve been asked what framework I used to make the dashboard for my Stoat bot AutoMod so fast and snappy.

It is genuinely just slick HTML/CSS/JS that communicates with an API layer I developed. The dashboard itself doesn’t depend on even a single external library.

The framework-addled mind simply can’t comprehend not reaching for a bloated framework and a handful of libraries for everything.

Squeezing code and prose out of myself like a toothpaste tube on its last legs.

Can’t wait to see AI-driven dementia become a big thing with people offloading all their thinking and their brains thusly deteriorating.

A confession: sometimes I’m too lazy to type </div> so I just copy the closing tag from elsewhere.

One day Google will release the one hundred and eighty second version of Blink, and I’ll be ready with the jokes.

~15 months away if my maths are correct and I’ve got the releases cadences correct. Around October 2027.