Tidbits from Brian - Issue #37
Looking back at a decade of working remotely. 👨💻
As of this month, I’ve officially been working from home for a decade! It’s crazy how time flies. And while I wish some folks would stop idolizing remote work (it’s not for everyone), I can’t ever see myself returning to a physical office. I did the whole dress-up and cubicle thing; it wasn’t for me. As I’m writing this, I’m enjoying the sun setting outside on the patio. 🔅 I can’t think of a more relaxing or productive environment. No distractions, just me, my laptop, and my music.
Also, being a night owl, having the flexibility to wake up a little later and run errands during the middle of the day is something I don’t take for granted. I’m one of those people who tends to get a second wind right around 10 pm and dives back into another work session. However, I don’t recommend this if you like sleep. 🥱
If you're contemplating working remotely and your employer allows it, I strongly encourage at least trying it. It's one of those things I will always look back on and know that I made the right decision, both for my mental health and productivity. Also, being a strong introvert probably helped. 😅
Updates ✍️
We pushed out a big quality-of-life update for our Perfmatters WordPress plugin. We appreciate all those who provided feedback. 👏 Here are a few of the changes:
New filters: perfmatters_lazy_elements + perfmatters_is_woocommerce. 🔧
Added additional built-in stylesheet and selector exclusions for better compatibility with Elementor animations.
Added WP Rocket filter to disable lazy render when lazy elements feature is active to prevent conflicts.
Added additional parameter to excluded page builders array for tagDiv Composer.
Added built-in delay JS exclusion for lazy elements inline script.
Moved plugin settings logo SVG back to inline to prevent file_get_contents errors in certain environments. 🐛
Adjusted built-in CSS dynamic selector exclusions to fix some minor visual issues with a few page builders.
Fixed a JavaScript error that would sometimes show up in the console when using Delay JS with click delay enabled.
Fixed an issue where a used stylesheet path would still attempt to load even if no used styles had been picked up for the URL.
Fixed an issue where browser-specific stylesheets inside HTML comments were getting parsed by our used CSS library. 👨💻
Fixed a MU Mode issue where exceptions would not be applied correctly if a query string was present on the home URL if set to show the latest posts.
Fixed an issue where preloading a JS file by the handle was not loading the minified version when necessary.
We also pushed out an update for our Novashare WordPress plugin. Here are a few of the changes:
Added a new feature that lets you highlight text and easily share it to supported social networks. 🔥
Adjusted aria-label attributes to be more specific to element actions for accessibility.
Fixed an issue where the inline JavaScript wasn’t printing correctly if only the floating bar was being used.
Fixed the missing plugin UI color for the Hacker News network. 🖌️
Fixed an issue where Pinterest image buttons were displaying incorrectly if there was another pinit.js script loading.
Fixed an issue with the logo scaling in the plugin UI on smaller devices. 📐
Translation updates.
If our Perfmatters plugin has ever helped you, we would greatly appreciate a vote in the annual Monster's Award and The WP Awards. 🏆
Interesting things 🔎
Misc.
Please ban data caps, internet users tell FCC. I 100% agree that data caps are ridiculous in 2024.
Are .io domains going away? Some big changes are happening. However, we won’t know more until the treaty between the UK and Mauritius is drafted. Most likely, a deal will be struck.
The Internet Archive didn’t have a good month, from multiple DDoS attacks and a data breach revealing info for 31 million accounts.
OK, pairing the SpaceX Super Heavy catch with Interstellar music makes it even better. 😅🚀
If you’re into trading/investing, Robinhood is launching some cool stuff! Legend (dedicated desktop trading app on the web), Futures, and Index Options.
If you own the AirPods Pro 2, you can now take a five-minute hearing test right on your iPhone.
Speaking of Apple products, they just released a bunch of updated products this week. The Mac mini commercial is quite funny.
I always like trying new things. I’m giving the open-source Zen Browser a spin. Promising so far. Although it’s hard for me to adjust to sidebar tabs. Here’s an in-depth review.
WordPress
Latest WordPress drama? Sorry, not touching this topic with a ten-foot pole. 🤦 Elections + WordPress drama = me ignoring all social media.
If you're new to FSE, one of the design obstacles you may come across is the lack of responsive block settings. I thought this thread from Mike Oliver was insightful.
WPGraphQL to become a canonical plugin as Jason Bahl joins Automattic.
Webflow has acquired GSAP. I know a lot of WordPress folks utilize GSAP for animations. They said it will continue to be publicly available for everyone.
Ryan has launched InfluenceWP which is aimed at helping entities that influence the WordPress ecosystem.
Have you seen the new WooCommerce logo coming in 2025?
Performance
Pascal Birchler posted another update about client-side media processing in WordPress. Love seeing the progress being made.
New block type registration APIs help improve performance in WordPress 6.7. If you develop a WordPress block plugin, make sure to check it out.
Kinsta has released the blazing fast C3D machines in Mumbai and Las Vegas data centers. ⚡ Check out the speed differences of C3D, C2, and N2 machines.
Why does Lighthouse not include the INP metric? Great thread from Barry Pollard! I also covered a lot of this in my INP presentation with Kyle.
The Chrome team is ramping up its support of bfcache for Cache-Control: no-store pages. I’ll take free performance improvements any day!
Good write-up on long frames and INP: understanding post-load performance.
Excellent post from Felix Arntz for developers about autoloading WordPress options efficiently and responsibly.
Massive performance improvements arrived with Elementor 3.25. I’ve said publically in a few presentations lately that it’s awesome to see the focus on optimization their team has had over the past year.
Cookie banner slop has to stop. I couldn’t agree more! This has quickly become one of the worst offenders on sites I work on. 🐌
Analysis of the EPYC 145% performance gain in Cloudflare Gen 12 servers.
Google launched a new Core Web Vitals tool called CrUX Vis, which is pretty cool! DebugBear published a good overview of the tool.
Speaking of DebugBear, they also wrote up some helpful tips on how to improve your LCP render delay.
They’ve decluttered DevTools in Chrome 130 even more by moving hide-, block-, and third-party-related checkboxes under a drop-down list.
Marketing
Businesses must now have a matching Google Business Profile to run Local Service Ads with unverified or mismatched profiles leading to ad pauses.
Semrush has acquired Search Engine Land. Wondering if this will be another Backlinko situation.
If you’re a small business owner in the United States, just a friendly reminder to file your BOI report if you haven’t already. Fines start on January 1st, 2025.
As of November 21st, the sitelinks search box in Google Search results will be no more.
AI
ChatGPT introduced Canvas (early beta), a more in-depth collaboration tool for coding and writing.
Tesla Bot (Optimus) is getting smarter by the day. It’s crazy to think we might actually see robots in households doing chores in our lifetimes. 🤖
Apple internally believes that it’s at least two years behind in AI development. Honestly, this doesn’t surprise me. However, AI doesn’t motivate my Apple purchases whatsoever.
Anthropic has introduced the Claude 3.5 Sonnet model, which can now interact with computer interfaces by controlling mouse and keyboard actions.
Bitcoin (not financial advice)
BTCPay Server 2.0 is out, and it’s a massive update! The team is doing an amazing job.
Why MicroStrategy’s bitcoin funding is NOT a glitch. Definitely an interesting listen.
OCEAN dives into the origins of DATUM and why it’s important for decentralization.
Heard of Polymarket or Kalshi? Introducing the Bitcoin Prediction Market, where everything is done over lightning. 🤓
The Bitcoin Distillery wrote an in-depth rebuttal to the recent paper from the ECB, which presents a negative assessment of Bitcoin’s long-term viability.
Check out the newly unveiled statue of Satoshi Nakamoto in Lugano, Switzerland. Pretty cool!
Coinbase users can now send Bitcoin to Taproot addresses.
NYSE, Cboe win SEC approval for bitcoin ETF options.
Check out this short documentary about an English football team powered/backed by bitcoin trying to get to the Premier League. ⚽
UAE exempts crypto transactions from value-added tax, while Italy proposes raising the capital gains tax on bitcoin from 26% to 42%. 😮
If you're in the Scottsdale, AZ area, hit me up, and we can grab lunch! 🥗👋