Infrequently Noted
Alex Russell
My blog discusses browsers, web standards, web performance, and how they relate to the competition between the web and native app ecosystems.
July 2026
August 2026
Top Words
- performance
- apple
- reckoning
- inequality
- store
- antitrust
- standards
- safari
- management
All posts (36)
Other posts in the series: Reckoning: Part 1 — The Landscape Reckoning: Part 2 — Object Lesson Reckoning: Part 3 — Caprock Frontend took ill with a bad case of JavaScript fever at the worst possible moment. The predictable consequence is a web that feels terrible most of the time, resulting in low and falling use of...
Other posts in the series: Reckoning: Part 1 — The Landscape Reckoning: Part 2 — Object Lesson Reckoning: Part 4 — The Way Out ContentsComplexity PerplexityCarrying CapacityShould This Be An SPA?The PitsAftermath Last time, we looked at how JavaScript-based web development compounded serving errors on US public...
Other posts in the series: Reckoning: Part 1 — The Landscape Reckoning: Part 3 — Caprock Reckoning: Part 4 — The Way Out ContentsThe Golden WaitThe Truth Is In The TraceZip ItNear PeersBlimeyJavaScript MasshatteryMaryland Enters The ChatChattanooga Chug ChugSNAP? In Jersey? FuhgeddabouditHoosier HospitalityDeep...
Instead of an omnibus mega-post, this investigation into JavaScript-first frontend culture and how it broke US public services has been released in four parts. Other posts in the series: Reckoning: Part 2 — Object Lesson Reckoning: Part 3 — Caprock Reckoning: Part 4 — The Way Out When you live in the shadow of a...
The W3C Technical Architecture Group1 is out with a blog post and an updated Finding regarding Google's recent announcement that it will not be imminently removing third-party cookies. The current TAG members are competent technologists who have a long history of nuanced advice that looks past the shouting to get at...
There are only two-and-a-half reasons to build a browser, and they couldn't be more different in intent and outcome, even when they look superficially similar. Learning to tell the difference is helpful for browser project managers and engineers, but also working web developers who struggle to develop theories of...
Update: OWA is out with an open letter appealing to Apple to do better. If you care about the future of the web, I encourage you to sign it, particularly if you live in the EU or build products for the common market. After weeks of confusion and chaos, Apple's plan to kneecap the web has crept into view, menacing a...
The global device and network situation continues to evolve, and this series is an effort to provide an an up-to-date understanding for working web developers. So what's changed since last year? And how much HTML, CSS, and (particularly) JavaScript can a new project afford? ContentsThe Budget,...
The tech news is chockablock1 with antitrust rumblings and slow-motion happenings. Eagle-eyed press coverage, regulatory reports, and legal discovery have comprehensively documented the shady dealings of Apple and Google's app stores. Pressure for change has built to an unsustainable level. Something's gotta give....
If you're a web developer not living under a rock, you probably saw last week's big Safari 16.4 reveal. There's much to cheer, but we need to talk about why this mega-release is happening now, and what it means for the future. ContentsWebKit's Roaring TwentiesGood Things Come In SixesWhat Changed?Headcount Is...
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