Tidbits from Brian (Happy 2022) - Issue #3
Hope everyone is having a good holiday season! 🎄🥂
It might be December, but it’s a nice 72 degrees outside in Arizona. So I’m taking advantage of it.
I’m sure most of you would agree, 2021 has been a whirlwind of a year. But it’s important to remember not to take what we have for granted. I love this LinkedIn post on keeping everything in perspective.
I’m confident that 2022 is going to be a little more normal, or at least I hope. 😅 Regardless, there is a lot of exciting stuff going on, from WordPress to crypto.
Fresh content ✍️
Over the last decade, I've thought a lot about what makes me happy. Ironically, I discovered a lot of it has to do with my mental and physical health. I wrote up some of my thoughts.
I'm constantly testing and trying new Mac apps to improve my workflow. I've done a complete update for 2022 of all my favorite Mac apps that I use. I guarantee you'll find something you can use!
I know many of you are optimizing WordPress sites. I wrote up a quick doc on fixing the "Serve static assets with an efficient cache policy" warning from PageSpeed Insights. Feel free to bookmark it if needed.
Interesting things 🔎
Updates
Snagit 2022 is out, and it's great! I use this to take all the screenshots you see on the woorkup blog, our plugin docs, etc.
PHP 8.1 is now available at Kinsta. Sources are reporting a 5-8% performance increase. However, I would hold off until WordPress 5.9 in January to use it in production.
Perfmatters now has a preload critical images feature, exclude leading images from lazy loading, and fade-in. See changelog.
Grammarly finally launched native Apple Silicon support. And they did it at the OS level, which means I can now use Grammarly inside Ulysses! Awesome.
Our Novashare plugin got a new share button which we are very excited about. Many of you have asked for this. See changelog.
Marketing
After 25 years, Alexa (the SEO tool) will finally be retired. Some good memories.
Twitter acquires Quill to make DMs suck less. I'm looking forward to Twitter improvements!
Google is rolling out new Top stories design on desktop.
WordPress
In case you missed it, State of the Word 2021 is up and streaming online. WordPress now powers 43% of the web! I'm excited about its future.
WordPress is getting a language switcher on the login page. This will be really nice for those working with clients around the globe.
Crypto (not financial advice)
RadioShack is getting into the DeFi space. Ya, I couldn't believe it either. However, not impressed with who's running it. It's the YouTube Lambo guy. 🤦
Fidelity is launching a Spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada. The United States falls behind.
Credit Unions are seeking regulator approval to hold crypto assets. They want to beat the banks to the punch.
Want a stress-free way to start DCA'ing into Bitcoin? I've been using the BlockFi credit card for six months now and earning Bitcoin back on all my day-to-day purchases. It's awesome.
Always do what you are afraid to do. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have a great new year! And remember to take some time to recharge as we go into 2022.
Until next time.