Customizing my Xteink firmware and wallpaper
I got the Xteink X4 device, and it's really fun to hack around with!
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Cassidy Williams
Latest entries from Cassidy Williams.
Whitespace in Astro 7.0
The way whitespace is rendered is different in the latest version of Astro, and here's how you can fix it.
An animated radial gradient mask over text in CSS
Here's a technical walkthrough of how I made a fun little demo to mask some text in a clever way with CSS.
On the edge of burnout
I almost burnt out recently, but I made it through!
KeyCon 2026 recap
I spoke at KeyCon, a mechanical keyboard convention!
Microsoft Build 2026 recap
I spoke (a lot) at Microsoft Build in San Francisco!
A simple clustering algorithm for lists
I nerd-sniped myself deeply when sorting baby toys and came up with a fun pattern for doing so!
La Pedra Go Club in Barcelona
I visited a decades-old Go club in Barcelona!
Shipping todometer, version 3!
I updated my app todometer after several years of it lying dormant, and it's better than ever!
Codemotion Madrid 2026 recap
I spoke at Codemotion Madrid and had a blast!
Connecting the Logitech MX Creative Console to Elgato Lights
I used the GitHub Copilot CLI to generate some scripts for me to control Elgato Lights with the Logitech MX Creative Console!
Deep Dish Swift 2026 recap
I spoke at Deep Dish Swift in Chicago!
Speaking at TechCamp Korea 2026
I spoke in Seoul, South Korea to an incredibly bright group of participants!
My rainbow sweater
My sweater is weird but it is special and important to me.
I got yet another digital typewriter: The BYOK
I love my single-purpose devices, and I got another one for distraction-free writing called the BYOK!
A history of styling choices leading to native CSS
How I switched from Less to Sass to CSS Modules to PostCSS nested and nesting to finally, at last, using pure CSS.
Notes for my future self on how to set up a camera for streaming
I had to set up my Sony a6400 fresh, and here's all the settings I used!
Making art with CSS gradients and corner-shape and skew, oh my
I combined some fun CSS techniques to make a little diving board drawing!
How passkeys work
If you're not sure about the ins and outs of passkeys, here's a little primer.
I am making videos again!
Catch me on YouTube and Twitch, y'all.
Improving my newsletter's open rate the hard(er) way
Turns out just asking for help gets you help? Who knew? Here's how I increased my newsletter open rate.
Making interesting borders with CSS corner-shape
You can make cool beveled, rounded, notched, scooped, and elliptical borders with the new CSS corner-shape property!
Remaking the Linux "touch" command in PowerShell
Context switching between terminals can be a mental lift, and this function to add touch to PowerShell has helped me a bunch!
A fun trick for getting discovered by LLMs and AI tools
After learning that people were finding my content via LLMs, I tried using said LLMs to make them find me even more often!
Code Wave Build Log
I made a game called Code Wave for the GitHub Game Off 2025, here's how I did it!
Appreciating Mary Cassatt now that I am a mom
I've always loved Cassatt's art, but it hits differently now that I have kids of my own.
Do not give up your brain
It's tempting to just let tools think for you, but you still need to be able to think for yourself and stay sharp.
A career chat with students in the age of AI
I spoke with students at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College about tech careers, AI, and networking.
Toodles, 2025
2025 is over! Let's recap.
Wrapping up Blogvent 2025
Don't be sad that Blogvent is over, be happy that Blogvent happened. Here's all the posts I wrote in December 2025!
Making the "End of Year Developer" nature documentary
The creation of an unflinching look at the survival period of "working" during the holidays.
CSS for markdown blockquote attribution
When you generate an HTML blockquote from markdown, your resulting HTML needs some styling love.
I like when apps are "finished"
Sometimes the software we see out there doesn't need to be further updated. Sometimes it's just good enough!
I have become more of a writing utensil snob
I really like nice pencils and pens and it's not a problem, I am totally in control? But I probably have too many now.
Configure your repositories with .github
The .github folder (and .github repository) is special for customizing your projects to your liking. Here's what you can do!
My inbox is so full
My chores and tasks are piling up... and so are my emails.
Things I would study more if I had time
There's so much I want to learn and so little time in the day!
Coming up with blog topics
Here's a few questions I ask myself before I start blogging.
Influencing without authority
You can be a leader without a fancy title... and hopefully that gets you the fancy title eventually!
Trying out Ente for media backup
I'm backing up my photos and videos with Ente now, and it's pretty good.
Vibe coding is boring
Vibe coding gets the job done, but there's no thrill in the build.
Podcasts I'm listening to in 2025
I don't listen to many podcasts, but the ones I do are pretty solid!
The Abilene Paradox
What happens when you compromise too much?
Food I recommend in Chicago in 2025
If you wanna eat more than a hot dog and deep dish pizza when you visit Chicago, I got you!
Pausing a CSS animation with getAnimations()
When your CSS animations need a break, you can work with the output of the getAnimations() method!
Sewing an e-reader case
I made a simple case for an e-reader as my first sewing project in a long time!
The ABCD framework for feedback
This is a short and sweet way to get feedback on your work in a specific, helpful way!
Lasagna and a root beer float
What is the food and drink that represents you?
Goodbye to an 11-year-old Issue
An old feature request on a repo has me in my feelings!
The what, how, and why of CSS clamp()
The CSS clamp() function is a clean way to make your apps and sites responsive. Here's how!
Fix your upgrades and migrations with Codemods
Codemods, or code modification tools, are automated scripts to help transform code to match newer, updated systems. They're handy!
Change commit timestamps in Git
Sometimes you might need to change when a commit happened. Here's how!
Automatically mark pull requests and issues as stale with GitHub Actions
Sometimes things get old and unmaintained. Don't we all? But we can fix that in your projects!
A pretty good email scam
How I helped family recover from a clever email scam that hid behind sneaky account settings
How reducers work
I did a livestream about how reducers work, and now, I give it to you.
Non-determinism and ownership
Humans and LLMs are both non-deterministic, probabilistic entities when it comes to work... but humans actually are held accountable for mistakes.
A poem delivered by my 2.5 year old that encapsulates parenthood
My 2.5 year old Nadia told me some lovely sentiments as we walked today.
I am back at work and it feels weird!
My maternity leave is over, I'm back at GitHub, and I'm ready to go. Kinda.
A moose playing Go in a park while drinking boba
I like to test AI image and video generation tools with this prompt. It's very effective.
Using Notebook Navigator and Cupertino in Obsidian
My latest iteration in how I take notes on mobile is using the Notebook Navigator plugin and the Cupertino theme in Obsidian!
2000 Poops
I used the app Poop Map for over 5 years, for the memes. A tale of perseverence and triumph.
Questions to ask when you think you need to finish something
When a pursuit becomes a drag, here's some questions to help you figure out why, and what to do about it.
Playing with Fliiip Book
I made a fun little gif with this handy animation tool!
I made a tree visualizer
Not like a nature tree, but the data structure tree, I made one of those things.
This is probably the most I will ever pretend
Anything can be anything! Until the next game starts, of course.
Ductts Build Log
I built Ductts, an app for tracking how often you cry. Here's how!
Making a customizable wooden phone for my toddler
I designed and laser cut a screen-swappable wooden phone for my baby to play with!
Making a faded text effect in (mostly) CSS
Here's how to make a per-letter fade and blur effect on any HTML element's text with just one CSS class and a bit of JavaScript.
That Windy City Keeb Meet 2025 recap
I spoke at Chicago's biggest mechanical keyboard meetup!
Have GitHub Copilot see your diff (and other cool tricks)
Using tools like #changes (and others) can make your Copilot workflows much easier.
Using personal instructions in GitHub Copilot Chat
You can make your GitHub Copilot Chat responses match your preferences with custom personal instructions. Here's how!
Tools using tools
Developer experience is changing, because humans aren't the only ones doing development work anymore.
I (don't?) want to say yes to everything
Saying yes to ideas and requests is fun, but isn't always strategic.
Generating open graph images in Astro
I built my own solution for social sharing images for my blog, and you can too!
Making Puppeteer work at build time on Netlify
Sometimes Puppeteer fails during Netlify builds or in serverless functions, but there's a couple options to fix it!
Building for a physical scavenger hunt with Astro, Tally, and Netlify
I built a website for Alinea's 20th anniversary, and it was a cool learning experience!
Baby sayings
Kids do really say the darndest things.
PocketCal Build Log
I made a date-sharing app called PocketCal. Here's how I did it!
What does it mean to flatten an array?
What is flattening an array, and why would you do it? I'll tell ya!
Styling the icon for HTML date and time types
If you want a custom-styled icon for HTML date/time types, there's some options for you.
My second c-section experience
I had a c-section recently and delivered my second baby! It was a lot.
End of an era with Stack Overflow
I'm no longer writing the Stack Overflow newsletter or on the podcast, but it was fun while it lasted!
Keybindings I use in VS Code
I've been asked a few times about the keybindings I use in Visual Studio Code. Here's a list!
Make your images in markdown on GitHub adjust for Dark Mode and Light Mode
When you want your images to look good in Markdown on GitHub, you might have to adjust for the UI around them.
Things I learned while upgrading my iPad
I traded in my iPad for a new one, and wanted to share all that I wish I knew!
I don't know what MCP is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask
It feels like everyone is talking about how the Model Context Protocol is a big deal... but why?
Geek mama... saying no... part 2
I really cannot "do it all" right now, but I can do some. A bit.
Create an HTML dialog when you click an image
Sometimes you just want an image to be more in your face, you know?
I am going to have a second baby and my brain is spinning
How do people do this everyday?
We should have more friction in our lives
Our world of instant gratification and convenience has made us impatient and... kinda lazy.
Think less, ship more
I do too much thinking about what I want to make, and not enough actually making the thing.
Debugging my Micro Journal
It's amazing how reading the docs is actually effective. Who knew?
Convert a video from dark mode to light mode with FFmpeg!
Here's a CLI command for helping you convert a screen recording in VS Code from dark mode to light mode!
Re-ordering Git commits
When your Git commits are not in the right order, never fear, rebase is here!
A couple CSS tricks for HTML Dialog elements
You can use CSS to add some simple functionality to HTML elements!
Making my startup come back to life
I hacked together tools to make my app live once again!
How to use GitHub Copilot Edits
You can edit files directly, make new ones, and mooore with Copilot!
Adios, 2024
2024 is over, let's recap.
The beautiful sentence that is the web
A metaphor for the building blocks of web development.
Wrapping up Blogvent 2024
Don't be sad that Blogvent is over, be happy that Blogvent happened. Here's all the posts I wrote this month!