Hi, and welcome back. They say the January feels like the longest month of them all. It might be because of the gloomy weather or the fact that people are done with winter and expecting the warmth of spring. There's even an illustration by Steinberg (that I can't seem to find right now) that evokes just that. Anyhow, here's this month issue.
There's a mix of themes and discussions this time. We'll start with some (more) web security concerns and an intuitive explanation of HTTPS and then move onto AI data processing. Then, making layouts better with CSS Grid and Flexbox and, finally, thinking about your company as a product and trying to build a compelling narative around it.
- Part 2: How to stop me harvesting credit card numbers and passwords from your site Article
What would an issue be without David Gilbertson? Well, I don't know. Here we got the second part of the previously acclaimed article on the risks that come along with third-party code. Problem is that most packages you install contain a gazillion of dependencies. Then how are you supposed to handle sensitive information if it really needs to lie on your website (and not some safe third-party service)?
- HTTPS explained with carrier pigeons Article
Darius recommends this short and intuitive article on pigeons and safe web communication. It proves again that a good analogy always works.
- Why AI Is Both Exciting and Scary to Me as a Marketer Article
A system is said to be intelligent if it can be proven that it posseses inference abilities. While AI is still not there, Silvia's recommendation shows ways in which processing large amounts of user data can help predict and gain insights regarding future decisions and behaviours. As if it isn't obvious, a large part of the interweb just fights to keep your attention on a desired path.
- 11 things I learned reading the flexbox spec Article
Most of the times, reading the specs is not a pleasant experience. That's it. They're often written in a not-so-friendly voice, if not a totally dull one, but they are and will always be the absolute source of truth. Articles that float the web might cover parts of the subject, that's true, but they might not be the parts you're looking for and more often that not all of them seem to explore the same things.
- Why CSS Grid is better than Bootstrap for creating layouts Article
CSS Grid allows you to make HTML into what is was supposed to be. Markup of content. Not visuals, which belong in the CSS.
Still on the layout discussion, this is an article from Alex. It doesn't argue that Bootstrap is bad, but rather that CSS Grid could be a cleaner way of setting up layouts.
- How to Think of Your Company’s Narrative as a Product Article
Successful companies can paint a vision around their more nuts-and-bolts offerings: they sell the transactional and the transformative.
A recommendation from Adrian.
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