Tidbits from Brian - Issue #19

Ditching the 13" form factor laptop forever. 💻

Apr 28, 2023

Since college, I’ve been using a 13” form factor for my laptop (both PC and Mac). I’ve always liked the portability, battery life, lower price, etc. At my workstation, I would connect my laptop to an external monitor and utilize two different screens. However, the older I get, the more I appreciate minimalism. And hassling with the cables is cumbersome when moving around.

This time, I decided to ditch the 13” form factor and go with the new 16” M2 MacBook Pro. After using it by itself at my desk for a couple of months, I can confidently say that I made the right decision and don’t miss my external monitor at all. It’s actually helped me focus a lot more. Also, the battery life on the new MacBooks is impressive, and it’s nice to have more unused space on my desk.

I’ll also wait longer before upgrading going forward, as it’s more powerful from the beginning. This will make up for the extra cost. Honestly, I probably should have gone with the bigger form factor sooner. If you’re debating whether or not to go with a 13” or 16” laptop, I highly recommend the latter.

It’s also nice to have the extra screen space when working outside. 🌇

Updates ✍️

We pushed out another update for our Novashare WordPress plugin this month. Here are some of the changes:

Added a new Pinterest option to Enable Image Attributes to allow for control throughout the plugin, even if image pins are not enabled. 📌
Deprecated Pinterest title/description fields as they've moved to Open Graph. Existing data is preserved (for now) and can be accessed using our new novashare_show_deprecated filter.
Added logic to print Pinterest image pin styles with main stylesheet when global styles are turned on.
Style adjustments made for admin notices and main containers.
Fixed an issue where image pins were not getting the correct src set with certain lazy loaders active.
Removed customer email row from the license tab.
Fixed a styling issue where link and button colors were getting applied outside of the main Novashare admin container.

What the smartest people do on the weekend is what everyone else will do during the week in ten years (source).

Interesting things 🔎

Misc.

Unfortunately, Elon Musk completely ruined how Twitter’s API works. Lost my Feedly integration, which sucks.
Is Substack Notes a Twitter clone? And how will they handle content moderation? Nilay Patel put Chris Best on the spot.
Love this thread about tech companies’ honest headlines. The WordPress one is great!
Some great growth and product-building advice from Joost de Valk, the founder of Yoast.
Google is shutting down Currents, their Google+ replacement. Their focus is now on Spaces.
A practical guide for why spatial audio music is great. I agree; once I started using it, I couldn’t go back.
Proton has launched Proton Pass beta, a new password manager with end-to-end encryption.
I still can't wrap my head around the insane progression of video game graphics just in my lifetime. I grew up playing SkiFree, The Oregon Trail, and even some Atari games. 😅 Check this out!
Google Authenticator finally adds account syncing for two-factor codes.

WordPress

iThemes is rebranding as SolidWP. Makes sense, as they aren’t really in the theme business anymore.
Moving the caption to the toolbar in WordPress 6.2 is really throwing me off due to muscle memory. 😅
With over 600,000+ active installs, the Kirki WordPress plugin is up for sale.
The notification system for WordPress needs a serious overhaul. And it appears this is happening. Check it out!
The Ollie block theme is now in public beta. I have to say; Mike McAlister has done an excellent job on this. I’m impressed.

Performance

A friendly reminder of recent PageSpeed Insight changes, TTI has been completely removed, and CLS weight went from 15% to 25%. ⬆️
WordPress 6.2 loads 14-18% faster for block themes and 2-5% faster for classic themes. Quite impressive!
Google drops mobile-friendly, page speed, secure sites, and page experience as retired ranking systems. In my opinion, this is good news. Focus less on scores and more on actual performance improvements and user experience.

Marketing

Heads up! 📣 On July 1, 2023, all Universal Analytics properties stop processing data. It's time to migrate to Google Analytics 4 or use another solution like Fathom.
Bluesky is a Twitter alternative with promising tech built on the decentralized AT protocol. If you’re on Bluesky, let’s connect.
Great news, Confluence has finally announced that dark mode is coming in Q3. Looking forward to this.
Need a quick way to change the case of text you’ve copied? Check out the handy Title Capitalize tool.

AI

GrammarlyGO is now available. Use AI to write better with a personalized voice.
Italy's ChatGPT ban attracts EU privacy regulators. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It’s like GDPR all over again, but now for AI. 🤦
Should you block ChatGPT from accessing your website? It’s a hot SEO debate right now.
Is artificial intelligence advancing too quickly? What AI leaders at Google say.
Want to use AI within the WordPress block editor? No problem. Check this out!
Dropbox is laying off 16% of its workforce to focus on its AI strategy. Expect a lot more of this to come.
No, ChatGPT doesn’t mean you don’t need to learn things. Love this article!
Google Bard now helps you code using AI.
Human Made is organizing the community’s first ever AI for WordPress online conference on May 25, 2023.

Bitcoin (not financial advice)

In a historic first, the right to mine bitcoin is now law in the state of Arkansas.
The US risks falling way behind when it comes to digital assets. But it’s not too late.
Speaking of falling behind, the EU just passed MiCA. While it’s not perfect, it’s a huge step ahead of where the US is at. Good job, EU!
Can bitcoin stop climate change? PoW, energy consumption, and carbon footprint.
Bitcoin mining pools will have less power with the Stratum v2 upgrade. This is very promising!
A 22-page in-depth report on how to position for the bitcoin boom. Amazing resource! I’ll be giving this to friends and family.
The WEF recognizing the value of bitcoin mining for reducing methane emissions is a huge step forward.
An incredible TED Talk on turning fireballs into bits and bitcoins. 🔥
Great interview with David Marcus on why bitcoin is still the future of payments.
Strike users can now send dollars direct to bank accounts in Guatemala received as quetzales. It’s powered by lightning, on top of bitcoin.
Power, trust, and ethics. A great discussion at Princeton University on bitcoin.
An in-depth look into the Block’s start-up ecosystem and how they are building around bitcoin’s long-term growth. You’ll probably be surprised.
The Bitcoin Policy Summit has to be some of the best presentations I’ve seen on bitcoin in a long time. A must-watch!
An insightful documentary where Peter travels to Texas and Oklahoma to learn about bitcoin mining and how it reflects core American ideals.

If you're ever in the Scottsdale, AZ area, hit me up, and we can grab lunch! 🥗👋

Tidbits from Brian