William O'Connell
@william-oconnell.bsky.social
Seems like I read this story every week. If tech companies can't fix their processes for this sort of thing regulators may eventually have to do it for them.
December 13, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Seems like I read this story every week. If tech companies can't fix their processes for this sort of thing regulators may eventually have to do it for them.
Reposted by William O'Connell
In case you need it: I made a calculator that tells you how long until the daylight increases again. Hang in there!
benholmen.com/sunlight
benholmen.com/sunlight
December 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
In case you need it: I made a calculator that tells you how long until the daylight increases again. Hang in there!
benholmen.com/sunlight
benholmen.com/sunlight
Reposted by William O'Connell
the fewer people are likely to get the joke, the more the people that do get it will love it
What's your number one personal game design principle? And even better - does it have a cool name?
October 22, 2025 at 2:51 AM
the fewer people are likely to get the joke, the more the people that do get it will love it
New blog post about document formats (exciting, I know):
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/re...
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/re...
September 24, 2025 at 4:17 PM
New blog post about document formats (exciting, I know):
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/re...
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/re...
Reposted by William O'Connell
*opens side of coat revealing an assortment of dubious looking unicode codepoints*
hey kid, wanna buy a non-breaking vertical space
hey kid, wanna buy a non-breaking vertical space
August 28, 2025 at 11:54 AM
*opens side of coat revealing an assortment of dubious looking unicode codepoints*
hey kid, wanna buy a non-breaking vertical space
hey kid, wanna buy a non-breaking vertical space
Google going the Apple route of requiring their blessing for every app you run. We should not accept this new vision of computing where computers only do the things a handful of tech companies permit them to. Your phone should be yours.
9to5google.com/2025/08/25/a...
9to5google.com/2025/08/25/a...
Google will require developer verification to install Android apps, including sideloading
Google has announced that only apps from developers that have undergone verification can be installed on certified Android devices in 2026...
9to5google.com
August 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Google going the Apple route of requiring their blessing for every app you run. We should not accept this new vision of computing where computers only do the things a handful of tech companies permit them to. Your phone should be yours.
9to5google.com/2025/08/25/a...
9to5google.com/2025/08/25/a...
Mastodon is a distributed system, which makes it annoying to use.
Bluesky is nicer to use, in part because it isn't meaningfully distributed (although the underlying tech would support that). My guess is that will never change, because distributed systems are annoying to use.
Bluesky is nicer to use, in part because it isn't meaningfully distributed (although the underlying tech would support that). My guess is that will never change, because distributed systems are annoying to use.
Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users.
While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.
August 24, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Mastodon is a distributed system, which makes it annoying to use.
Bluesky is nicer to use, in part because it isn't meaningfully distributed (although the underlying tech would support that). My guess is that will never change, because distributed systems are annoying to use.
Bluesky is nicer to use, in part because it isn't meaningfully distributed (although the underlying tech would support that). My guess is that will never change, because distributed systems are annoying to use.
Reposted by William O'Connell
Matter is a technology that doesn't get as much coverage at the moment, but I remain very excited about it. Previously every smart home hardware company had to be a cloud services company too (and many were bad at it). Now every lightbulb doesn't need it's own app.
www.theverge.com/matter/75717...
www.theverge.com/matter/75717...
Surprise Matter update focuses on reliability and stability
Does it Matter?
www.theverge.com
August 11, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Matter is a technology that doesn't get as much coverage at the moment, but I remain very excited about it. Previously every smart home hardware company had to be a cloud services company too (and many were bad at it). Now every lightbulb doesn't need it's own app.
www.theverge.com/matter/75717...
www.theverge.com/matter/75717...
Sigh... it's always Firebase.
July 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Sigh... it's always Firebase.
New blog post about making things spin on the web:
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/wh...
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/wh...
Spinning Wheels: Three Ways
williamoconnell.me
July 8, 2025 at 11:32 PM
New blog post about making things spin on the web:
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/wh...
williamoconnell.me/blog/post/wh...
If you publish a mobile app you'll get emails every month about some new app store policy or tax rule and about once a year you'll have to make some change to avoid being delisted.
If you publish a web app it'll probably work forever even if you never touch it again. So I recommend that one.
If you publish a web app it'll probably work forever even if you never touch it again. So I recommend that one.
June 14, 2025 at 11:07 PM
If you publish a mobile app you'll get emails every month about some new app store policy or tax rule and about once a year you'll have to make some change to avoid being delisted.
If you publish a web app it'll probably work forever even if you never touch it again. So I recommend that one.
If you publish a web app it'll probably work forever even if you never touch it again. So I recommend that one.
Reposted by William O'Connell
MinIO with the ole bait and switch.
www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted...
Removed their entire web UI from their docker images and now you have to pay *checks notes* $96,000/yr to get the functionality back...
www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted...
Removed their entire web UI from their docker images and now you have to pay *checks notes* $96,000/yr to get the functionality back...
May 26, 2025 at 9:34 AM
MinIO with the ole bait and switch.
www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted...
Removed their entire web UI from their docker images and now you have to pay *checks notes* $96,000/yr to get the functionality back...
www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted...
Removed their entire web UI from their docker images and now you have to pay *checks notes* $96,000/yr to get the functionality back...
Reposted by William O'Connell
Compression Dictionaries are my new favourite thing in #webperf!
Check out this new Case Study about how Google Search uses this new technology, which also explains exactly what this is and how it works using them as an example:
developer.chrome.com/blog/search-...
Check out this new Case Study about how Google Search uses this new technology, which also explains exactly what this is and how it works using them as an example:
developer.chrome.com/blog/search-...
Improving Google Search with Compression Dictionaries | Blog | Chrome for Developers
Learn about how Google Search used Compression Dictionary Transport to boost compression efficiency and improve performance.
developer.chrome.com
May 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Compression Dictionaries are my new favourite thing in #webperf!
Check out this new Case Study about how Google Search uses this new technology, which also explains exactly what this is and how it works using them as an example:
developer.chrome.com/blog/search-...
Check out this new Case Study about how Google Search uses this new technology, which also explains exactly what this is and how it works using them as an example:
developer.chrome.com/blog/search-...
Reposted by William O'Connell
Holy shit and also: I told you this was going to come down to buttons ans links www.theverge.com/news/659246/...
A judge just blew up Apple’s control of the App Store
The judge called Apple’s insubordination a “gross miscalculation.“
www.theverge.com
April 30, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Holy shit and also: I told you this was going to come down to buttons ans links www.theverge.com/news/659246/...