LLMs and performative productivity
It's worth asking whether LLMs are actually making us more productive at all—and if so, what we might be sacrificing in return.
Josh Collinsworth
Josh Collinsworth's blog
Latest posts
Man Cereal
Yesterday, even though my son is barely seven years old, toxic masculinity permeated his life and, perhaps permanently and irreparably, stole a small piece of his joy.
My review of the Nüborn Baby at 3 months
My Nüborn Baby arrived in October, and now that I've had a few months to get used to it, I thought I'd write up a review, in case you were thinking of getting one for yourself.
2025 Year in Review
A look back on 2025, and all the weird, wonderful things that happened in my year.
AI optimism is a class privilege
I think I have an idea why we're so extremely divided on AI: it's because we have an intuitive sense of who it stands to benefit, and who stands to pay the costs. I think whether you see reason for optimism has a lot to do with which group you see yourself in.
Alchemy
Some thoughts on attempts to create gold out of nothing, and how generative AI, in many ways, mirrors that doomed pursuit
Titles matter
Is a person who prompts an LLM to generate a website a web developer? And if not, what is the difference, and why does that matter so much?
The blissful zen of a good side project
One of life's greatest simple pleasures is creating something just for yourself.
Goodbye, Griff. You were a good boy.
A tribute to the member of our family we lost this weekend.
Rare words in common phrases, and how to avoid getting them wrong
A running list of uncommon, strange, and/or archaic words embedded in common idioms, to help you type them correctly next time you use them.
Things I enjoyed in 2024
Things I watched, read, played, got into, enjoyed, or did and would do again, in 2024.
The childlike and the childish
Life in America has long felt like a game played between adults and children; a game where one side knows the rules and is dedicated to keeping them, and the other is merely making up ad-hoc rules from moment to moment, for no reason but to help them win.
A response to "Defending Open Source: Protecting the Future of WordPress"
I feel it's important to issue a critical reading of Automattic's post, as it doesn't seem to offer much of a serious or objective examination of the issues at hand. Rather, the post unfortunately reads as something more akin to a puff piece, or corporate propaganda.
If WordPress is to survive, Matt Mullenweg must be removed
I believe Matt Mullenweg's abuses of his unilateral, unchecked powers prove that it is in the best interest of the entire WordPress community that he be removed from power immediately.
For whatever it's worth: my advice on job hunting in tech
A collection of things I've learned over my decade in the industry, on how and where to look for jobs, applying, interviewing, talking about yourself and your work, and all those other fun things. For whatever it's worth.
A decade of code
A personal (read: meandering) post inspired by the realization that I first began to learn HTML and CSS exactly ten years ago, reflecting on the lucky turning points that brought me to where I am today.
Follow-up: the Glove80 after six months
An update on my previous first impressions post, covering how it's been using the MoErgo Glove80 every day for the past six months, how it's affected my RSI, and whether I'd recommend it (short answer: yes).
The quiet, pervasive devaluation of frontend
I keep noticing those of us in the frontend field being treated much the same as nurses, paralegals, and executive assistants. Our work is seen as important, certainly, but just not the same as, or as important as, the “real” work.
I worry our Copilot is leaving some passengers behind
Why I worry about the effect GitHub Copilot is having and will continue to have on the accessibility of the web at scale.
Things I enjoyed in 2023
Things I watched, read, played, got into, enjoyed, or did and would do again, in 2023.
First impressions of the MoErgo Glove80 ergonomic keyboard
How does the Glove80 stack up against similar keyboards like the Moonlander and Ergodox? I share my impressions after the first few weeks of use.
A message from the Captain of the S.S. Layoff
Indeed, there's plenty to go around, thanks largely to all of you. But the fastest way to make the numbers better is to stop feeding and sheltering people and their families. Nothing personal.
Classic rock, Mario Kart, and why we can't agree on Tailwind
It's popular to say we can’t agree on Tailwind, but I posit we actually already do. I think what we actually disagree on isn’t the details of this (or any) specific software; it's in what we value, and how we each define assets and liabilities.
Things you forgot (or never knew) because of React
If you don't often look beyond established comfortable defaults, you might be surprised to learn just how far the world of frontend has moved away from React, and how big that gap continues to grow.
Alfred vs. Raycast: my constant debate
After a year or so of using Raycast, I'm switching back to Alfred. This is what prompted me to make that decision, and why I may or may not stick with it.
Adding page transitions in SvelteKit
Transitions, easing, and routing are all baked into SvelteKit. This makes utilizing page transition effects in SvelteKit sites and apps as easy as adding just a few lines of code.
Ten tips for better CSS transitions and animations
Creating high-quality, polished web animations is both a science and an art. This post covers the best things I've learned over the last decade of crafting web UIs.
Understanding easing and cubic-bezier curves in CSS
The easing curve can make or break any animation on the web. Let's look at the science of CSS cubic-bezier curves, and the art of using them to make the best web animations possible.
Impressions of the ZSA Moonlander at one month
My thoughts, experience, and advice after using the Moonlander as my main keyboard for both personal and work projects for a full month
Why you should never use px to set font-size in CSS
Many developers seem to believe there's no difference between px and other CSS units. Let's dispel that myth, for the sake of better accessibility.
Forty-two
I'm 42 years old today. This is a personal post about where I am now, what's going on in my head, and 42 things I've learned (or at least, think I've learned).
Breaking changes in SvelteKit, August 2022
SvelteKit introduced breaking changes to its routing and data loading in August 2022. Learn how to convert from the old way of doing things to the new.
The self-fulfilling prophecy of React
The only thing React is better at than other front-end frameworks is being popular. So how long will that self-perpetuating cycle continue?
Announcing Hondo
Updating Quina to version 2.0 filled my head with new ideas that I just couldn't walk away from. Eventually, those ideas took the shape of a whole new word game, named Hondo.
Building accessible toggle buttons (with examples for Svelte, Vue, and React)
Toggle buttons might be the biggest missing native HTML element. This post will help you code them right, for all users, in any (or no) framework.
Debugging iOS Safari (when all you have is a Mac)
Debugging iOS Safari is a challenge (and possibly expensive) when you don't have access to an iPhone. Here are a few options to get around that problem.
Creating dynamic bar charts with CSS grid
How to use CSS grid to make a responsive, adaptable bar chart with no math or external library required!
Let's learn SvelteKit by building a static Markdown blog from scratch
Learn the fundamentals of SvelteKit by building a statically generated blog from scratch, with Markdown support, Sass, an API, and an RSS feed.
Adding blog comments to your static site with utterances
The web world is full of tradeoffs. Going from a CMS to a static site keeps things simple—but that simplicity comes with costs. Luckily, giving up comments on your blog doesn't have to be one of them.
Converting from Gridsome to SvelteKit
I've been a fan of Svelte for years, but never had the opportunity to use it on a serious project before. So when I found myself looking for a new platform for this site as SvelteKit entered open beta, it seemed like perfect timing.
Introducing Svelte, and Comparing Svelte with React and Vue
Svelte is a new style of framework for building sites and apps. Let's dive into what makes it different, why it's so enjoyable, and how it's able to ship such tiny, fast apps.
Goodbye, WordPress
WordPress was potentially the most impactful and empowering technology I've yet encountered. It transformed my career path and enabled me to do anything I wanted at every point in my journey. So why leave it now?
Announcing Quina (My First App)!
The story of building Quina, a word game Progressive Web App built with Nuxt, and launched on the Google Play Store.
How to Create Custom Editor Blocks with Block Lab
Block Lab is a WordPress plugin that simplifies the process of creating custom blocks to use in the block editor, AKA Gutenberg, the new content editor in WordPress 5.0. This post explains how to use it, even if you only know basic HTML.
A New Headless Site with Gridsome
A lengthy write-up diving into what headless means, its advantages and disadvantages, some of the techniques and gotchas involved, and, finally, the new design of this site specifically.
This isn't the Time, But it's the Perfect Time; Goodbye, Instagram
…Lately, I’ve been wondering whether I can actually continue supporting Instagram and the company behind it, however passively or at whatever seemingly insignificant scale. And while I was zeroing in on this answer anyway, the events of the last couple of weeks have clearly cemented in my mind that the answer—for me, at least—is an unequivocal “no.”
How to Connect Local with CodeKit
Enjoy all the convenience of easy local WordPress development with Local, plus build tools with CodeKit, without any of the tricky command line setup.
How to Check Uniqueness in an Array of Objects in JavaScript
Working with arrays of objects in JavaScript can be difficult. This post covers how to ensure all object keys (IDs) are unique, and how to find non-unique values.
Adding Gutenberg Full- and Wide-Width Image Support to Your WordPress Theme
Gutenberg brings with it the ability to set image blocks as full-width or wide-width. This article talks about how to enable support for that feature in your theme, and one way to write the CSS that makes it work.
Let's Learn CSS Variables!
CSS variables (otherwise known as CSS custom properties) give previously impossible superpowers to CSS developers. This post covers what they are, how they work, and a couple of nifty ways you can implement them on your own website.