Notices by Eric A. Meyer (meyerweb@mastodon.social)

It turns out I was mistaken, and only one of the two buildings burned. Is still burning, in fact; fire crews are still on the scene and roads are still blocked, almost 12 hours after first responding. We counted at least six fire cranes, some still spraying. Thankfully, surrounding homes and businesses were protected.

@evan We’re not close enough to be personally at risk. A lot of people who live in the adjacent apartments are in real danger. I hope the fire crews (and there are many, from many surrounding suburbs) can keep them safe.

A bit down the road from us, there was a not-quite-a-park empty lot in the middle of a small commercial district that quietly sat there for years.

Couple of years back, it and a nearby parking lot were sold to a developer to tear up and build a pair of upscale mixed-use apartment buildings that were set to open soon.

Those buildings are both burning to the ground as I type this.

I really hope they don’t take the adjacent arthouse cinema, brewpub, and older apartment buildings with them.

⌨️ I blogged about what I’d like to see come to #CSS in 2025. Some of my wishes are repeats from past years, but it was nice to see how many past wishes have (or are about to) come true! https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2025/01/08/css-wish-list-2025/

“Ultimately, even as HTML has become the province of professionals, it cannot be gatekept. This is what makes so many programmers so anxious about the web, and sometimes pathetically desperate to maintain the all-too-real walls they’ve erected between software engineers and web developers. But people who write HTML know that hierarchies were made to be blown up. All it takes is a tag that doesn’t close where you’d expect it to.”

–@tim, in https://www.wired.com/story/html-is-actually-a-programming-language-fight-me/

Addendum: I do not wish for flying cars. I’ve seen how people pilot non-flying cars.

Every year since about 2007 has felt like a it’s year from out of the future, but somehow “2025” feels way more future-y than the others. It’s an affront that the actual reality of 2025 is so retrograde.

As much as I sneer at the way trailers have pre-trailer trailers now, I’m dreading the day someone decides to give the pre-trailer trailer its own trailer and thereby accelerate our descent into unhinged insanity.

Reality is being written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

(Hat tip: @cstross)

Reality continues to be written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

Reality continues to be written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

@cstross Reality continues to be written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

Reality continues to be written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator. (hat tip: @estelle)

Reality continues to be written by a malfunctioning Markov chain generator.

@nina_kali_nina Fear not, @zachleat is here to help! https://www.zachleat.com/web/snow-fall/

’Tis once again the season to hold this timeless holiday message close to our hearts.

If you’re writing #SVG and want to put a stroke or halo around your text that doesn’t overwrite the letters:

`svg text {paint-order: stroke fill;}`

You’re welcome. #CSS

This afternoon, while hanging out with my ~14 month old granddaughter, I figured out how to play “Baby Shark” on her toy xylophone. So I went with it, because it’s one of her favorite songs.

On the third or fourth repeat, she turned to me, gave me just the kindest smile, and took the mallet away from me.

Remember: if you see somebody shoot a health insurance CEO, no you didn’t.

In every relationship there is one person who loads the grocery belt like a Scandinavian architect, and one who loads it like a racoon on crystal meth.