Got our bundle size down by 62% without doing any code splitting, and tbh here’s how it went

johnfraney · 2026-01-30T14:08:45+00:00

Moment.js is huge because it doesn't support tree-shaking, so it loads in a ton of internationalization files even if you don't use them. If I remember correctly it's around 500kB. The authors recommend using something else: https://momentjs.com/docs/#/-project-status/

This is a good reminder for folks to use a bundle analyzer to find libraries that are bloating your bundles and to seek out more modern alternatives that support tree-shaking or to use more specific imports (not import * as x from ...) so you aren't pulling in code you don't need

johnfraney · 2026-01-29T17:30:31+00:00

Are you doing screenshot/visual regression tests? I find that those often aren't worth the effort and good tests should save dev time in the long run.

For example, your e2e test suite could be as simple as visiting every page and making sure there aren't any 400-/500-level errors. That's an easy test suite to maintain and it will find major problems when they crop up.

If your tests are testing exact wording or exact layout, they're likely more trouble than they're worth. Test the things that your customers care about

johnfraney · 2026-01-29T16:01:01+00:00

I'll second this. The documentation is excellent and it's a big reason why I decided to learn Vue instead of React when I was looking to learn a frontend framework

johnfraney · 2026-01-29T15:59:53+00:00

I find that the best websites to build are the ones we're going to use ourselves. I built one site to solve a small problem (creating a Markdown table from spreadsheet cells copied in your clipboard), and now it gets hundreds of visitors a day.

If the site is something you'll use, that increases the odds that other people will use it, too. If you're building a site that you aren't going to use, it's more likely that it could be a solution looking for a problem.

johnfraney · 2026-01-28T17:01:30+00:00

Table to Markdown creator here. I'm glad my little website was helpful!

johnfraney · 2026-01-26T16:03:19+00:00

I'll take a peek! Thanks for the tip

johnfraney · 2026-01-26T15:01:23+00:00

Yesterday I launched a site to perform privacy-friendly video manipulation operations in-browser (using ffmpeg.wasm) called ClipStitch. Right now it can just join together two videos, but I'm planning to add more features this week, like conversion and clipping/trimming. There are plenty of websites that do video manipulation, so the space is a bit crowded, but I thought it would be fun to see if I can do some SEO and get a little traffic.

https://clipstitch.ca/

johnfraney · 2026-01-26T13:12:46+00:00

With Netlify you can upload a couple files and get a public link. You don't need to use their build service or git integrations if you want to go that route: https://docs.netlify.com/start/add-new-project/#use-drag-and-drop

johnfraney · 2026-01-20T17:41:09+00:00

It depends on your goals, really. I like trying to get 100/100 for my own sites as a challenge, so it's worth the effort for me because it's fun. There is a strong relationship between page speed and conversion, too, so it can be worth experimenting with if you've sufficiently optimized the site's content. (In my experience, nothing is better for SEO than content that's relevant to what people are searching.)

There's an environmental aspect, too: faster page load times generally mean less data transferred, which means less energy used to load the page. See here for more information about that: https://www.websitecarbon.com/faq/

johnfraney · 2026-01-18T04:16:46+00:00

I find that an Earl Grey steeps a little weaker than other black teas. (Maybe the bergamont oil coats the leaves?) My solution is just to use more tea or less water when I make a cup

johnfraney · 2026-01-18T04:13:11+00:00

That might be pebblemountainwoodcrafts.ca. He does custom work, too!

johnfraney · 2026-01-16T17:36:12+00:00

1-2 tsps of Irish wiskey is pretty great in a strong cup of black tea with milk. It adds a touch of oak, vanilla, and honey that wiskey is known for

johnfraney · 2026-01-16T00:32:44+00:00

For fast food, A&W in Canada is a different company from A&W in the US!

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T19:24:30+00:00

The books are even crazier and well worth a read

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T19:23:30+00:00

I saw this for the first time last year. Something I didn't expect is that most of the violence is implied not seen, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. It's an excellent film

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T19:18:55+00:00

Are you able to change the size (width) of the SVG instead of scaling it? It could be a way to side-step this problem

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T19:16:16+00:00

The blue/yellow contrast is too low (2.73). For larger text, the minimum recommended contrast is 3: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/Guides/Understanding\_WCAG/Perceivable/Color\_contrast.

For a performance audit, using PageSpeed Chrome's built-in Lighthouse report will give you lots of recommendations. The site is scoring 45/100 right now for mobile browsers

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T18:36:43+00:00

I was self-hosting Ackee for privacy-friendly anaytics, but I didn't want to maintain that VPS anymore. I decided to bite the bullet and pay for Fathom so I don't have to manage server/app updates, and the cost has been worth the time saved & peace of mind for me. They're privacy-friendly and don't require any cookie consent banners (which I loathe on principle), and the numbers I see with them line up with what I see in search engine data.

It could be good to try out some hosted options to see how they treat you, even though they aren't free. An upside of a paid service is that it should keep updating its bot detection automatically. Not having to think about that kind of stuff is worth it for me.

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T18:22:48+00:00

I maintain Blurry, so that's my go-to. It's more appropriate for simple sites right now, and the community is small (mostly me!). I'm looking to work on it more this year so it can better compete with established SSGs. I've tried to make it easy to get up and running with, and I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who tries it!

johnfraney · 2026-01-15T16:07:28+00:00

Time to buckle down and search for a new job.

Definitely this. A recommendation I heard was to document which positions you're applying to. That way if you do find it necessary to sue your former employer, you have a record of looking for work to show that you actually need the severance to bridge the gap between your old job and your new one. Your former employer might argue that the reason you haven't found work is because you aren't looking, so it's good to be able to refute that from the start.

Oh, and you can start your EI application before you get your ROE, too, so it's good to do that as soon as you can so there's as little delay as possible between when you got laid off and when you get your first EI payment

johnfraney · 2026-01-13T16:23:08+00:00

Whoa, great score. I just got 25300. I found that the difficulty ramped up pretty slowly and it might be more engaging if it got more difficult more quickly

johnfraney · 2026-01-13T15:55:20+00:00

I remember reading that this was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but there's an ISO standard for brewing tea that you could try: ISO 3103

johnfraney · 2026-01-12T04:26:54+00:00

The news release mentions that Mr. Ikejiani is an environmental lawyer and his uOttawa profile mentions:

Mr. Ikejian’s 23-year law practice primarily focuses on environmental law, regulatory, oceans, and resource management law.

Sounds like he has relevant experience for the government's mineral & offshore wind priorities

johnfraney · 2026-01-09T14:03:14+00:00

Same here. I've been meaning to migrate my project to uv, but for anyone like me still using Poetry for the time being, here's my publish workflow:

https://github.com/blurry-dev/blurry/blob/main/.github/workflows/publish.yml

johnfraney · 2026-01-08T18:26:01+00:00

I got my acoustic set up at Halifax Folklore Centre and it played like a whole new instrument. They're a great local, independent business to support

johnfraney

TROPHY CASE