I'm a full-stack developer from The Netherlands and founder of Emozio, LabNet, and others. I am passionate about designing and building human-friendly web applications. Check out my work, read my articles, or just follow me around.
For years, web developers have been trained to build webpages using the most specific and semantic markup, hoping it would make their websites more accessible and, well, crawlable by search engines. Developers added ‘alt’ attributes to images, intended both as a fallback when images couldn’t load and as an accessibility feature.
The open-source movement has taken an intriguing turn in recent years. Beyond the concerns about open-source software being consumed for AI training, there seems to be mounting pressure on these projects from third parties seeking to profit from the work of others.
Simulation theory has been a popular topic for debate, yet I’ve always perceived the reasoning behind it as too clean, even mythical. It suggests that some "overlord" species—whether human or otherwise or from another dimension—has created us within a computer program, leaving us to live out our existence in a simulation.
Apple has long been celebrated for its commitment to visual design, but this focus sometimes comes at the cost of user experience. The Magic Mouse is a clear example: while its sleek appearance aligns with Apple’s aesthetic values, its ergonomic flaws highlight a design that prioritizes form over function.
I've followed Apple's practices for many years, and time and again, I reach the same conclusion: web apps have the potential to simplify many aspects of our digital lives. This made me wonder: why should we need to install anything at all when the same interface could be accessed through a browser?
When purchasing a physical product, we often rely on specific features as an assurance of its value over time. Additionally, whether it's a washing machine, hair dryer, or coffee machine, these products come with warranties that promise quality, durability and consistent performance
Google has long been the dominant force on the web, providing access to the world’s information by crawling the web, one page at a time. Apart from minor tweaks, Google hadn't significantly changed Search until its recent major event focused on AI, where it introduced AI Overviews.
Last week, Japan announced it would officially stop using the floppy disk. This got me thinking; I vividly remember using this piece of technology back in high school. It served many purposes, but mostly it was for carrying documents from one computer to another.
Push notifications have become a defining feature of our digital lives. Small pop-ups, often disguised as helpful reminders or enticing updates, have embedded themselves into our daily routines, contributing to a growing epidemic of phone addiction and digital distraction.
The emergence of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT has undoubtedly revolutionized our world, impacting many jobs and tasks. As a web developer and writer, I cannot overstate how much these tools have allowed me to expand beyond my skill set and learn a lot in the process.
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The collection and use of personal data has been a topic of growing concern in recent years. From the ubiquitous cookie popups to more comprehensive laws designed to protect user privacy, it has become clear that individuals are increasingly valuing their personal information.
The "fillable" property on your Eloquent models might just be a sensible place to put your validation logic. After all, given how this list is practically part of validation, it would be a waste not to use that same structure for defining the rules respectively.
Offline November is a campaign that I created to encourage people to power down their smartphones for an entire month in favor of promoting healthy smartphone usage.
