Tidbits from Brian - Issue #15
Hello 2023, please be kind... 😅
Wow, what a year! 🥂
As I’m sure most of you would agree, 2022 has been another crazy year. At some point, we have to get used to the fact that not everything is probably going back to the way it used to be. Or rather, we are living in a new “normal.” However, that doesn’t mean we can’t be optimistic about the future. I still think we’re living in some of the most exciting times when it comes to technology, entrepreneurship, and investing opportunities.
I recently got an email from Revue (my newsletter software) about them shutting down their service. This meant I had to find a new home. So I’ve officially migrated everything to Substack, it was incredibly easy, and I will be using this platform going forward.
To round out the year, my brother (business partner) just brought home a new baby, so things have been hectic! He was literally working on client tickets from the hospital. Talk about dedication. That can be one of the drawbacks of running a small business; you don’t always get long vacations. But we’re excited to have another member of the Jackson family as we enter 2023.
Updates ✍️
Through the Black Friday madness overflow, new baby on board, and the holidays, we still managed to push out two exciting updates for Perfmatters and Novashare in the month of December. It wasn’t easy, but we are committed to maintaining a regular development schedule regardless of the situation. Here are a few of the main changes:
Perfmatters
Added new advanced options to make working with complex setups easier. 🔧
Added new local redirect option when changing wp-admin URL.
Integrated lazyload functions into main output buffer to allow interaction with other features. ⚡
Added two additional filters for buffer/unused CSS.
Added additional built-in exclusions for Remove Unused CSS for better compatibility with Elementor, Divi, Slider Revolution, OptimizePress, and WordPress core.
Moved lazyload functions to a new class structure. 🚀
Added additional logic in MU Mode to more reliably retrieve the ID.
Modified regex for lazy loading inline bg images to support more formats.
Fixed some issues with dynamic preloads, MU mode paths, and preload critical images function.
Novashare
Added new post meta option to add Pinterest Hidden Images. 📌
Added notice for compatible SEO plugins.
Added support for Grow Social attachment meta and Pinterest hidden images to the Novashare Migrator.
Updated deprecated Yoast filter.
Fixed style and block editor issues.
Interesting things 🔎
Misc.
As the year ends/renewals come up, check out a few apps I changed.
Elon Musk hires prolific hacker George Hotz to fix Twitter search. I would love to see any improvements here. It’s never been that good.
Instafest is a fun little way to generate a festival lineup from your top artists on Spotify, Apple Music, or Last.fm. Here’s mine. 🎹
Apple launches new Apple ID, iMessage, and iCloud security protections. Glad to see them finally caving on this.
Let’s Encrypt issues 3 billion HTTPS certificates! Wow, what an accomplishment for a more secure web.
Sign in with Google, Apple, and other providers... and save it in 1Password. I’ve personally found this new feature incredibly helpful.
Tim cook confirms Apple will buy TSMC chips manufactured in Arizona. Happy to see Apple investing in my home state.
AI seems to be taking over. One way I stay sane is by muting ChatGPT keyword in Feedly. 😅
Google Chrome is adding Memory and Energy Saver modes on Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks. Definitely needed.
National Ignition Facility achieves fusion ignition. Wow! We live in exciting times.
WordPress
Gutenberg 14.6 adds a list view for editing the navigation block and introduces a new automatic color palette generator.
WordPress versions 3.7-4.0 no longer get security updates. I still see clients running old versions, even though we don’t support them in our plugins.
Will we soon see Block Editor support in WordPress forums? I like this idea.
The future of WordPress development? Build plugins in your browser and see the results live. Very interesting. 👀
In case you missed it, State of the Word 2022.
Performance
Friendly reminder that PHP 7 (all versions) is no longer officially supported. It’s time to update to PHP 8.0 or higher. You’ll get a free performance boost too!
Great post on leveraging theme.json and per-block styles for more performant WordPress themes. Want to see more content like this.
I’ve been waiting for this; Kinsta has officially rolled out Edge Cache! In my testing, 90.91% decrease in TTFB, 61.91% decrease in LCP, and 61.82% decrease in load time. If you aren’t utilizing Edge Cache yet, you should be. ⚡
Speaking of Kinsta, they also launched free image optimization. It happens on the CDN on the fly, with no extra disk space or traffic.
WordPress plugins that rewrite their code to use vanilla JS and drop jQuery dependency always get my first recommendations when clients ask for alternatives. 👍
Marketing
Very interesting read on doorway pages when it comes to SEO.
Google has stated that support for HTTP/3 is likely a long way off when it comes to crawling.
Google’s desktop search results are now continuously scrollable. This is a pretty big change! It shouldn’t impact SEO, but definitely different workflow when browsing.
Kinsta has a job opening for an "Editorial Team Lead." Looks like a great gig! Fully remote. ⛰️🏖️
Google has rolled out the “Helpful Content” update in SERPs.
Long-form content works, period. Check out some of the data points when comparing short-form and long-form content.
Ryan Robinson launched a new AI-powered keyword research tool. It’s free! Make sure to check it out.
Bitcoin (not financial advice)
Fidelity has started opening bitcoin trading accounts for everyone. This will be good for adoption and safer for newcomers. However, they need to add a withdrawal option.
Data shows that bitcoin’s lightning network has solved the scalability problem.
Speaking of lightning, how do miners get paid if everyone ends up using it? Some great answers in this Reddit thread.
Pass your bitcoin to the next generation with the Unchained Inheritance Protocol.
The Brazilian President has signed a bill regulating the use of bitcoin as payment.
ERCOTs new study shows that bitcoin miners are providing a benefit to the Texas grid.
In-depth post on how the IMF and World Bank repress poor countries and funnel their resources to rich ones.
An important caveat and thoughts on the future of fiat money and payments networks.
Check out the 10 biggest developments in bitcoin in 2022.
Japan’s largest power company, TEPCO, to mine bitcoin with excess energy.
Great documentary from Peter McCormack on inflation and why it’s a hidden tax.
Strike just launched in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. 🇳🇬🇰🇪🇬🇭 U.S. users can send USD back to family members instantly and pretty much feeless. It's converted back to their local currency. Powered by lightning rails! CoinCorner is following suit.
An insightful Twitter thread on why Drew has never been more bullish on bitcoin than he is right now. Lots of data.
12 schools built with bitcoin. This is what really matters.
Check this out. Powering a rural Kenya village and securing the bitcoin network with excess hydropower, all while lowering rates to 2000 people (500 families, ~$10/month to $4). Amazing!
My new year's resolution is to try and conquer every day with as much enthusiasm as “FluteGuy.” Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2023.
If you're ever in the Scottsdale, AZ area, hit me up, and we can grab a coffee! ☕️👋