Jeffrey Zeldman

  1. My Glamorous Life: Entertaining Uncle George

    Fam and I are visiting my 96-year-old Uncle George tonight. We love him. His complicated and somewhat meandering stories have been music to my daughter’s ears since she fell asleep in a cab at age six listening to him lament his wife’s death. George is my late mother’s only sibling, and the only survivor…

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  2. My Glamorous Life: Bots, Books, and Betrayal

    My father was an engineer who designed robots. When I first learned what he did, I imagined the Robot from “Lost in Space,” and asked him to make me one. When I turned 13, I realized that the pick-and-place robots he designed replaced assembly-line workers, and asked how he, who’d been a socialist in…

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  3. How do you spell success?

    Working in tech means being comfortable with change and uncertainty. Successfully working in tech means not letting change and uncertainty paralyze you. Forge ahead on the best information you have, and be prepared to change direction as needed. The post How do you spell success? appeared first on Jeffrey…

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  4. Behind every successful launch, there are 100 interesting failures.

    We must stop thinking of failure as an end of something, and learn to see it as a natural part of progress. The first incarnation of a new idea may die, but the best ideas will find new lives. Behind every successful launch, there are 100 interesting failures. The post Behind every successful launch…

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  5. Everybody’s lost it, Part I

    My beloved veterinarian’s office apparently moved to a new office location without informing customers. They also changed phone systems. The new phone system doesn’t work, and they didn’t leave a forwarding message on the old phone system. You call, leave a message, never hear back, and never learn what’s…

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  6. Too many meetings?

    At Automattic, we know our time is finite and precious. Here are the questions we ask ourselves before agreeing to any meeting: The post Too many meetings? appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  7. Staying relevant

    “And in their place came acceptance.” Staying relevant in your profession as you age and technology changes. The post Staying relevant appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  8. Project 2026

    Starting today, file suits to prevent biased gerrymandering. Fight harder for the right to vote than the GOP has fought to suppress the votes of Americans MAGA dislikes. Craft a Democratic party platform focused on equal rights, equal justice, fair wages, and affordable housing. Win the Midterms, shifting…

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  9. The eye of God

    My doctor sends me to Brooklyn for an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. As instructed, I fast for six hours beforehand. I don’t even brush my teeth, for fear of swallowing toothpaste and screwing up the test. I wear a Covid-era face mask to avoid breathing on anyone. The journey takes me to Boro Park…

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  10. Accessibility 101

    Nat Tarnoff covers the basics. The post Accessibility 101 appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  11. My Glamorous Life: broken by design.

    I encounter broken systems like this almost every week. And probably, so do you. The post My Glamorous Life: broken by design. appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  12. A morning’s tale

    Instead of screaming, I turned on the faucet. The post A morning’s tale appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  13. Writing in WordLand

    This is a test. This is only a test. I’m using WordLand to write this post to my WordPress website. It’s a new, stripped-down writer’s tool for bloggers. Think of it as a frill-free writer’s frontend to the majesty of WordPress. The essential features (and some advanced ones, even) in a distraction-free…

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  14. Web typography: a refresher and history

    A refreshing dip into what we’ve learned about web typography over the past 20+ years. The post Web typography: a refresher and history appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  15. My father, Maurice Zeldman, and his ZGANNT software

    I asked Claude to write about the career of my father, the inventor Maurice Zeldman, as if I’d written it myself. Here, with no edits by me, is what Claude said. The post My father, Maurice Zeldman, and his ZGANNT software appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  16. Forever

    The first website my colleagues and I created was for “Batman Forever” (1995, d. Joel Schumacher), starring Val Kilmer. That website changed my life and career. I never saw “Top Gun,” but Val Kilmer made a brilliant Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors.” Rest in peace. The post Forever appeared…

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  17. Who turned off the juice?

    The whole 90 minutes, my brain’s shrieking, “You’re having a panic attack!” The post Who turned off the juice? appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  18. This Years Model

    There’s a new AI model that can render photorealistic people and products, including text and logos. Geisha With Walkman is something I tried to draw 40 years ago, but my rendering skills were simply too poor. The Reve Image 1.0 preview allowed me to do it instantly this morning with a single, basic…

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  19. Your opt-innie wants to talk to your opt-outtie.

    Scrapers gonna scrape. The post Your opt-innie wants to talk to your opt-outtie. appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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  20. My Glamorous Life: The Unexpected Samples

    If you’ve never fallen gently asleep to jazz ballads, only to sit bolt upright because a horse is shrilly whinnying in your ears, you should try it some time. The post My Glamorous Life: The Unexpected Samples appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

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