Retro cameras, absurd games, a TV series, accessibility, magic, emotions, and, of course, a little self-reassurance that we need to keep building an internet where we feel at home. That’s what’s on the menu for this newsletter, which is back on Friday in case you feel like opening the email over the weekend.
🪑 Let's do stuff
Spencer Chang says in his article "The Internet Has No Benches" that “In the face of a hostile internet, abstinence has become the mainstream accepted response. We crave the spontaneity we know to be in the physical world. It’s true that we often feel the only solution to endless scrolling, hours wasted on AI-generated memes, hateful rhetoric, or unchecked data mining, is to throw our phones out the window and head for the countryside.
(…) Like cities that have prioritized cars over people, visiting the Internet now entails controlled apps and search engines, designed for extraction. There’s nowhere to rest because the benches are covered in spikes. All we can do is sink into the feed and run along the scrollbar until our eyes bleed.
But… is there another solution? Spencer talks about neighborhoods in the article. I won’t spoil the full text for you, but it’s very interesting and hopeful. That said, it’s not enough to just sit there and nod your head. If we want something, we all have to take action together. We’ll definitely come back to these ideas in future newsletters.
If, after reading this, you check out his personal website at https://spencer.place/, you’ll get a sense that the internet many of us long for is still out there—perhaps hidden, or perhaps just a click away—a link that no one had ever pointed out to us before.
🧐 Extra links, I'm rambling...
- Anime vs. Marvel/DC: Designing Digital Products With Emotion In Flow by Alan Cohen, about design decisions that go beyond colors and shapes. Tone, microinteractions, good examples… and terrible ones. Design isn’t only pixels and patterns. It’s pacing and feelings, too. Some products feel cinematic as they guide us through uncertainty, relief, confidence, and calm without yanking us around.
- "This is The GREATEST Card Magician of All Time! " by Chris Ramsay. A couple of weeks ago, Juan Tamariz, the great magician who introduced so many of us to the world of the impossible, passed away. In this video, they analyze some of his tricks—not the technical aspects, but the “magic” he created and the psychology he used to take everyone exactly where he wanted them to go. These are truly excellent tips to follow in all kinds of situations. Or, quite simply, to have a good time marveling at this man. 🎻🎻🎻
- The WP Accessibility Day 2026 program has been released and looks amazing. It’s a free online event on October 7. If you want (and you should) to learn how to create a fully accessible experience for your website, product, or project—one that leaves no one behind—you’re sure to learn a lot here.
🧙♂️ Published thanks to...
Weglot supports this newsletter because they speak our language—and many others.
Weglot is the solution that makes any website multilingual in minutes, without touching the code. With AI trained to maintain your brand voice in every language, managing your translations has never been easier. More than 111,000 companies worldwide already trust Weglot to grow internationally.
And in a few weeks, they'll have some news that you're sure to find interesting… stay tuned!
Some might say… but this guy only ever talks about websites, WordPress, and events… doesn’t he ever do anything else? Well, yes… here are a couple of recommendations: if you can, check out the series Silo on Apple TV, definitely do it. Season 3 just wrapped up, and it’s spectacular. If you like basketball and/or those quick manager-style games that are becoming more and more common “thanks” to AI, check out The Real MVP from Skyhook Magazine and play a few rounds to see how far you can go… Anyone up for NBA MVP?
And if you have an iPhone, I also recommend this app for “escaping the overwhelming millions of colors and megapixels of the modern era” and taking photos with a 1-bit camera.
If you have any similar recommendations, feel free to reply!
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