Blog
Jens Oliver Meiert on philosophy and web development (and arts and adventure and humanity). Beware of generalization and exaggeration.
New Book(let): The Little Book of Website Quality Control
The hallmark of a professional is not the pursuit of activity, but the expertly pursuit thereof. What’s worth doing is worth doing well; and what’s done well exemplifies quality. A professional website is no exception, and there are criteria and tools to help.
Highlights from Paine’s Common Sense
“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.”
Highlights from Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience
Launching a new series of highlights and factoids from public domain books, classic or not, that had piqued my interest, and perhaps excite yours. Here from American polymath Henry David Thoreau.
Accelerated Mobile Pages, a Critical View
Last year Google introduced AMP and the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project. Independent of suggesting tech paternalism when AMP gets treated preferably in search rankings, I’ve been concerned about what the AMP spec entails exactly.
10 Photos III
Establishing a three-, four-, or five-monthly series, here are ten more of my photographic favorites as of late. Of my own works, sure; if it was public what one liked on EyeEm I’d happily disclose which 4.200 photos…
Life’s Golden Rules
From all my cheeky laws and a number of absolutistic posts you already know I have a thing for dramaturgy. The same here.
The Bio Enhancement Paradox
Or, what if Donald Trump was Iron Man.
WordPress Themes and Web Development
Like everyone on this planet I work with WordPress. Just setting up a new project I ended up using and building on one of their default themes, Twenty Sixteen. Had I better not?
The Anatomy of a Coding Guideline
Coding guidelines produce consistency, help (code) usability, collaboration, and maintainability, and lead to quality. Now, what does a guideline consist of?
On Tailoring and Web Frameworks
After building early frameworks for GMX and Google I had rushed to squeeze my experience into a (literally) little book. In it there’s emphasis on a priority I’ve always deemed critical for us developers: the idea of tailoring…
A Note on meiert.com Feeds
There are a number of ways to follow what I write on this website, from a very low volume newsletter for German publications to an enriched account on Google+. The most reliable and focused option, however, is to subscribe to one of this site’s RSS feeds.
The Dilemma of the Kind Person
Imagine a fine human being who has a laudable goal. She wants to become a genuinely, cordially, most truly kind person. So she sets on to work on her objective…
On Rationality, and Love
Philosophy can be heart-breaking, or is it the other way around.
On Consciousness
Speaking of which.
New Book(let): How to Work on Oneself
Doubt led me to explore ways to grow, doubt now led me to ask my editor three times whether or not to publish under a pseudonym: I sketched, in what resembles a fluffy essay, how to learn, how to grow, or—“How to Work on Oneself.”
Problems, No Problems, Desires
In my own non-academic studies I’ve found common definitions of “problem” unsatisfying. So I’ve tried to redefine “problem” for something more flexible, and I believe there’s a redefinition that holds for common scenarios. Philosophize together with me.
The Two Legs of Personal Reality
On resting and moving, or accepting and learning.
“HTML 5,” “CSS 3,” and Expert Web Developers
These days, when we hear people speak of “HTML 5” and “CSS 3,” it’s useful to be skeptical. We’ve long decided for the living standard model, meaning we simply refer to HTML and CSS…
That’s in a Guideline
About two weeks ago I ended a little lottery to give away signed copies of my last book, “The Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines.” Here are feedback and winners.
What’s in a Guideline? Win a Copy of the Little Book of HTML/CSS Coding Guidelines!
I give away five signed copies, and to win one just comment or tweet (to @j9t), until April 30, why you deem coding guidelines important or what you find to be the most useful coding guideline.
Notification on updates: RSS feed.
Biography
Jens Oliver Meiert is a German philosopher and developer (Google, W3C, O’Reilly). He experiments with arts and adventure.
As a philosopher, Jens studies academically and non-academically; his research includes psychology, politics, and economics. He believes in self-help (How to Work on Oneself) and wonders naively about the respect of life and peace.
As a developer Jens is specialized in high quality code for complex international websites (Google), works on standards (W3C), and writes for technical publishers (O’Reilly: Webdesign mit CSS, The Little Book of HTML/CSS Frameworks, Coding Guidelines, and Website Quality Control; cf. On Web Development).
As an artist Jens plays with moving photography, performance art, charity, and sensationalism; as an adventurer Jens explores activities (100 Things I Learned as an Everyday Adventurer) and localities (Journey of J.).
