Tech community benefits, blog questions, SpeedCurve conversions, and more

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New post: Leveraging tech communities for your career #

It all started with slightly salty post about the state of LinkedIn hustler culture as it pertains to web performance. The main point was that web performance isn't easy, but I also mentioned the community. At least one person thought it sounded like gate-keeping. That wasn't my intention. Another person asked for advice for getting into the community.

So, I figured I'd write up a post about how to leverage tech communities for your career. Tech communities give so much. It might feel like "work" to contribute to them, but you're also improving:

1. Your professional development
2. Increasing the size of your network
3. Increases the chances of you being offered jobs, speaking gigs, etc. without even starting a search

New post: Blogging questions #

What does blogging mean to you? How do you do it? This started as a chain-blog-post, and I usually abhor tagging people in chain letters and the like. But, I liked reading Melanie Richards' blogging questions and decided to accept her generalized tag and write my own.

New talk: Leveraging CrUX and HTTP Archive for Theme Vitals #

Okay, clearly I need to find a new favorite word to replace "leveraging". I realize that now...

I had a speaker drop out for PerformanceObserver, so I filled in with a talk about how I used the Chrome User Experience Report to create Theme Vitals, a website that reports real user performance split by Shopify theme. You can watch it here or read the companion blog post.

SpeedCurve Shopify App update #

I was excited when SpeedCurve reached out to add another feature to their Shopify app that I built. We just released a new version which now also tracks conversions alongside real user performance. It tracks add to cart, checkout started, and checkout completed. Here's more info about the app and instructions for installing it.

From other folks on the web #

A few things by other folks I enjoyed consuming since last time:

If you can’t cook everything you make in a microwave thats a skill issue. You need to learn now because when everything is cooked in a microwave you’ll be out of a job. When microwaves are everywhere you’ll be so far behind you’ll never learn how to use a microwave.
--Colin Cornaby

• In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen by Colin Cornaby was a delightful read.
• Blogging Questions by Melanie Richards
• A Friendly Introduction to SVG by Josh W. Comeau
• When do you have to repeat redundant sizes attributes within a <picture>? by Eric Portis
• The power of doing nothing (and why it helps your creative work) from Creative Boom

/Offline #

You might be wondering, "Sia, this is a lot of books. Do you just like everything you read?" I read a lot 😅. I've read 114 books so far this year (not counting DNF's), so these really were only a fraction of the total read since last time.

• Non-Fiction Books: I finished Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez and can confirm it was a 5-star read. She drops heavy hitters throughout all while maintaining your attention. It's hard to write an interesting non-fiction book that is also a compelling read. Required reading for not just managers but everyone.
• Art Books:
  • Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre had some excellent insights into composition, even outside of comic books and graphic novels. It covered some interesting concepts that most fine art composition books don't.
  • Nature Imprinted: A complete guide to lino printing, with 10 nature inspired designs by Jane Spink is so far my favorite intro to linocut. It has more detail than the books I found in the library while also giving more artistic advice on the art of lino whereas the other books I've seen so far are less creative. I'm excited to try out each of her projects using my own garden as inspiration
  • Painting by Design: Getting to the Essence of Good Picture-Making (Master Class) by Charles Reid. I've read a lot of books about composition, figure drawing, and watercolor. I'm hesitant to rate many at 5 stars but it was warranted in this case. Charles Reid presented several ideas and strategies I haven't come across in other art literature yet. It also made me feel more empowered as I prefer more loose, less meticulous work.
• Fiction Books: No more 5-star fiction reads since last time, but these were all 4 stars from me:
  • Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
  • Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
  • Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry
  • I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Comby Kimberly Lemming was a riot
  • The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
  • The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
• Gardening: The veggie garden did wonders this year, and I really love my new arch trellises made out of 16-foot cattle panels and t-posts.
• Art: I have two watercolor paintings in the WSNC Central Region Showcase. I've also added some more works to my art website.
• Art: I nerded out on paint color wheels in a post on my art site, Using color wheels for better mixing.

This newsletter is reader-supported. If you buy a book from one of the links above, I'll earn some coffee money. You don't pay a higher price, and Bookshop.org supports independent booksellers.