Blog

Is JavaScript taking over WordPress?

Is JavaScript taking over WordPress? – Nelio Software
Some data and statistics showing the increasing presence of JavaScript code in WordPress. See the evolution of Javascript in WordPress through time.
neliosoftware.com

Unless something totally crazy happens, WordPress is going to be written in PHP for the foreseeable future. However, the more that core turns into an API endpoint for all the JavaScript that’s being added to it, the less beholden the project has to be to PHP.

So maybe you should think about buying a JavaScript book or something.

Or don’t. It’s your fucking livelihood.

July 3, 2014
Hashcash

Hashcash.IO – Make Bots Work For You
web.archive.org

It’s nice that someone is working on an alternative to the Akismet anti-spam plugin monopoly.

With that being said, I saw a server load quadruple [from 4 to 16] in under 3 minutes after enabling the plugin on a friend’s site. It was right in the middle of being mercilessly hammered by spammers, but I don’t see how that should matter. Especially when their whole angle involves making a user’s browser solve a math problem.

Maybe they still have a little more work to do.

July 3, 2014
WordPress on nginx + HHVM with Heroku Buildpacks

WordPress on NGINX + HHVM with Heroku Buildpacks – xyu.io
www.xyu.io

This is tempting. Extremely tempting.

Perhaps I should dedicate some time to playing with this over the long holiday weekend.

July 2, 2014
PHPNG devs boasts major WordPress performance increases

php.internals: phpng: Refactored PHP Engine with Big Performance I mprovement
news.php.net

It’s nice to see that the PHP team isn’t taking HHVM lying down. We have to wait for PHP 5.7 to get PHPNG and it’s 20% performance increase though.

If you’re the type who runs his/her own server, there are test build instructions. So maybe you don’t have to wait. But I wouldn’t use this in production. Not yet, anyway.

May 5, 2014
Improving the URL bar

Improving the URL bar – JakeArchibald.com
jakearchibald.com

This idea is a pretty divisive issue in the web development and security communities, but I’m really into it.

If you’d like to try it out, load up a copy of Chrome Canary and visit chrome://flags/#origin-chip-in-omnibox.

May 5, 2014
443s & Heartbleed

We are building the most important technologies for the global economy on shockingly underfunded infrastructure. We are truly living through Code in the Age of Cholera.

Dan Kaminsky’s thoughts on Heartbleed — and the lessons we can learn from this whole crazy-ass scramble — are fantastic and worth your time. Especially if you give even half a shit about open source software & security.

April 10, 2014
March Badness

Despite not following NCAA basketball, I was lured into participating in a work bracket with the promise of prizes. So I did the lazy thing and took the President’s bracket and tweaked it with Nate Silver’s predictions.

At first, I my picks were on fire. I was tied for first with a coworker who I know spent way more time on his picks. I was all:

But then the Sweet Sixteen happened this weekend. Which knocked my winner (Arizona) out and only one of my picks advanced to the Final Four. Now I’m like:

It’s disappointing after getting off to such a strong start, but I actually understand why people get into it now. And, I’m actually looking forward to next year. So that’s something, right?

April 1, 2014
The qualities of a great WordPress contributor

The qualities of a great WordPress contributor – Nacin
nacin.com

Required reading from Nacin for any aspiring WordPress core contributor.

February 10, 2014
Debug Bar Slow Actions

Debug Bar Slow Actions – Konstantin Kovshenin
kovshenin.com

Debug Bar Slow Actions is an extension for the popular Debug Bar plugin. It adds a new panel with a list of the top 100 slowest actions (and filters) during the current page request.

Konstantin has done a great job with this. If you do any amount of site troubleshooting & optimizing, this is worth an install.

February 10, 2014
Writing Open Source Code (Or “Here Be Dragons”)

Writing Open Source Code (Or “Here Be Dragons”) | Tom McFarlin
One of the challenges in writing open source code is the criticism that can come that can infuse a level of self-doubt. But this should be ignored.
tommcfarlin.com

Great shit from Tom McFarlin that should be required reading for every new open source developer.

January 20, 2014