2026-03-21T19:06:27Z https://yabu.me alexwlchan https://yabu.me/npub12zlkultmepfzh04qpzaht5spcsryduzzpa22vgezv9glcwdj63ssfc4rkn https://cdn.masto.host/socialalexwlchannet/accounts/avatars/110/955/685/404/188/301/original/7b82e4e15a04b5f4.jpeg https://cdn.masto.host/socialalexwlchannet/accounts/avatars/110/955/685/404/188/301/original/7b82e4e15a04b5f4.jpeg https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsywnnlerzvyqf2zeg5s2zcmldzntlw70u2fn70zthzzralzmu0s4gzypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xznumrtp In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsd6f8vej7j92vrh64dezsgj4k4u8pwlq2kryqtsms5wf5nl4a2v3cx9wtv2'>nevent1q…wtv2</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>What I learnt about making websites by reading two thousand web pages: <a href="https://alexwlchan.net/2025/learning-how-to-make-websites/?ref=mastodon">https://alexwlchan.net/2025/learning-how-to-make-websites/?ref=mastodon</a><br/><br/>When I built my web archive by hand, I saw how other people make websites. I wrote about what I learnt – writing thoughtful HTML, new-to-me features of CSS, and some quirks and relics of the web. 🔖 2025-05-26T10:05:37Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqswepsrt7kyn0rs9s0mc7ath68hgfft2lwe672tzm3syhhqqh49vpszypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xznhjwhe In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsy6zz3k8vj8fx95qsuafvq2afe5ztenphdhrvkmhy8kz5eqvyre2qlxvk9l'>nevent1q…vk9l</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>oh this has given me a depressing thought<br/><br/>All the big models have eaten my sire and know who I am, but they misgender me<br/><br/>And every time one of my blog posts goes somewhat viral, it’s hastily rewritten and linked from a bunch of content farm sites, who usually misgender me in this process<br/><br/>I’ve been assuming it was carelessness on the author’s part, and the genAI models have been learning from all those posts<br/><br/>But it’s probably genAI writing those content farm posts, isn’t it?<br/><br/>😐😐😐 2025-05-19T10:20:36Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsd6f8vej7j92vrh64dezsgj4k4u8pwlq2kryqtsms5wf5nl4a2v3czypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzr59kwe In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsyl27f0vgehnuyv7hxk05ttev2zeaxx4td5cfl4zkjvm8vrh94f0su4jf4d'>nevent1q…jf4d</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Building a personal archive of the web, the slow way: <a href="https://alexwlchan.net/2025/personal-archive-of-the-web/?ref=mastodon">https://alexwlchan.net/2025/personal-archive-of-the-web/?ref=mastodon</a><br/><br/>I wrote about how I created a personal web archive of all my bookmarks, the tradeoff between manual and automated archiving, and what I learnt about preserving the web. 🔖 2025-05-19T07:08:55Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsyl27f0vgehnuyv7hxk05ttev2zeaxx4td5cfl4zkjvm8vrh94f0szypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzn6p5pe In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgw7mmnha3lx35ffw7pnl2wn3zk9tdca8ztxjsn53wzhygvx4a2usytdw0z'>nevent1q…dw0z</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>This is the first of a four-part series about my bookmarking – over the next three weeks, I’ll post about creating a local archive of each web page, what I learnt about building websites by reading 2000+ web pages, and some of my favourite sites. Stay tuned! 😊 2025-05-12T07:13:08Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsgw7mmnha3lx35ffw7pnl2wn3zk9tdca8ztxjsn53wzhygvx4a2uszypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzf944f6 Creating a static website for all my bookmarks: <a href="https://alexwlchan.net/2025/bookmarks-static-site/?utm_source=mastodon">https://alexwlchan.net/2025/bookmarks-static-site/?utm_source=mastodon</a><br/><br/>I’ve been tidying up my bookmarks, and I’ve moved them out of Pinboard into a static website on my local computer. I’ve written about why I still care about bookmarking in 2025, and how this new site works. 🔖 2025-05-12T07:13:05Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsfyk9gl4xxjjl2g4w55k7xedy7j99yq6607xm8cn64rdt3ac5vc9qzypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzwrfakl Software developers: I can’t tell you how long this feature will take me, estimates are Impossible and Unreasonable and an Injustice To The Craft<br/><br/>Also software developers: I can predict the capabilities of as-yet undeveloped AI applications, years in advance, with complete confidence 2025-03-01T08:23:46Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsya8mmpd57hxsjftltlputgns62ljsc8p7aed09fertagdg70vgggzypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzsuullx In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqszg6vxy7xmfsq6m7g3jdnf779x7avxfddte6n9rjtkefltrr43djgnuqqc0'>nevent1q…qqc0</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Yes, once.<br/><br/>It was in a library that wrapped a third-party API. There was a dict that mapped API error codes to named exceptions, but if the code was unrecognised I didn’t want to show the user the KeyError.<br/><br/>exceptions = {<br/> 1: ForbiddenException(),<br/> 2: InvalidException(),<br/> …<br/>}<br/><br/>try:<br/> raise exceptions[api_response.error_code]<br/>except KeyError:<br/> raise UnrecognisedErrorCode(api_response.error_code) from None 2024-12-10T07:29:54Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsxpamepl3mmmrvlyfynmkpghew040pdyvzrcc45wxg74znrf0sheszypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzaf9zdv In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsv38kw4fkazvq5jj7lk62wg5n2l2e2vlac4pp2qtggvm32q9nyqvst89gnf'>nevent1q…9gnf</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Given you’ve been writing about Google’s declining search quality, you may (not) enjoy this article I wrote earlier in the year: <a href="https://alexwlchan.net/2024/googles-general-election-gaffe/">https://alexwlchan.net/2024/googles-general-election-gaffe/</a><br/><br/>After the UK elections, Google was returning misleading results for days, so I did several hours of unpaid data entry to get things fixed 🫠 2024-11-07T16:56:00Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsxz4sqgrnk4rduemtxfwcvgxtv82nys7g74ymewesr8utdnn6xgjczypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xz4t6nhv Using static websites for tiny archives: <a href="https://alexwlchan.net/2024/static-websites/?utm_source=mastodon">https://alexwlchan.net/2024/static-websites/?utm_source=mastodon</a><br/><br/>I wrote about how making small, hand-written HTML pages has taken over as the way I organise my local files. I get more metadata and filtering options than I do with the Finder, and the ongoing maintenance cost is essentially zero.<br/><br/>I’m using it for personal stuff, but this feels like a powerful tool for digital preservation more broadly.<br/><br/>HTML FTW 💪 2024-10-16T18:46:39Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsdephc3zznmptkcxlpn0cwtxlgtkgfdv65w5pnzdnpxyhxkpsa0sgzypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xzcv3myz In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgvfd7p0cjtgxvnpz6m9jtk7q4lwvt8x5082lpe9z2uak5nghe6qgk6umx0'>nevent1q…umx0</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>In the cliffhanger of season 1, we’ll discover there was a mole working at WordPress headquarters all along! They work for a competitor called SquareSplice, and they were trying to tank WordPress.<br/><br/>In season 2 the web of intrigue will extend further, as we discover that SquareSplice is just a front for another shady organisation!<br/><br/>Because the real villains behind it all are BundlerKist, a company who sells website builders and popcorn machines. 2024-10-13T07:26:26Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs952dc9qw0d2x3agkxt9u8g0lae45jzwnmyam9v5392kexsz6z0wqzypgt7mna00y9y2a75qytkawjq8zqv3hsgg84ff3ryfs4rlpekt2xz0tus28 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsda9ze30t8shn3lsz9df7c77aysnpkcdh2u6w05nsfzn2sfp57srskwzxlg'>nevent1q…zxlg</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>If you have files which have been rejected because they contain viruses or incorrect metadata, that’s known as a *suspect information package*, or SIP.<br/><br/>If you have files which cannot be produced for a client to access, those must go in a *secured information package*, or SIP.<br/><br/>If you produce files for an ongoing law enforcement case, those become a *seized information package*, or SIP. 2024-08-26T16:27:23Z