Delve into an unconventional Mac setup as you take on my point-of-view and learn to use a Mac using only a mouse.

Let’s be sad together for a moment, and then get back to our regularly-scheduled programming.

Take that Big Tech! I’m taking back my internet one small-web app at a time. This time I talk chat.

Looking over 2023. I shattered some goals and failed miserably on others. Here’s to a happy 2024!

If you enjoyed the old web of the 90s and 00s; if you love tinkering with your personal website; or if you just like quirky, fun things on the internet, you will love this.

I list out the various default apps I use for different domains of life and technology.

Written version of my talk for MagnoliaJS 2023. I deep-dive into the world of home-cooked software and discuss the benefits of making things for yourself.

Functional programming! Higher order functions! Let’s learn some JavaScript together.

I discovered a brainstorming list I made in 2019. It’s many, mostly terrible, ways to generate a story idea. But hopefully one appeals to you.

I use different browsers for different things and Choosy makes that easy.

A fix for when you don’t want AirPods to take over as your active microphone on macOS.

A tale of how SMA continually makes typing harder, and how I have adapted to keep up.

During a four-day power outage I was confronted with how meaningless my work and hobbies are if there is no electricity to support them.

In which I am enamored by a variant of solitaire and recreate it in canvas with PixiJS.

My brother and I made our own web app for recruiting caregivers and processing applications.

I love these tiny CSS frameworks for quickly building out side projects.

In which I extol the benefits of this humble UI control and lament its slow demise.

I took a look back at 2022 and, to my surprise, I got more accomplished than I thought I did.

Home-cooked apps are the kind you make for yourself that solve your own problems. Building and using them is a rewarding experience.

My thoughts on the YA rom-com, The First Thing About You, that features a main character with SMA.

The unedited, writerly feel of monospaced fonts meets the readability and legibility of proportional ones.

I recently started using a what-you-see-is-what-you-get app for notetaking after using plain text for over a decade. I’m pleasantly surprised by how much more effective my notes have become.

Browser extensions are extremely helpful for accessibility as they allow for user customization of websites and web apps that’s usually not possible in native apps.

Over a year after its creation, I introduce my synthwave music mix website, discuss its features, and offer some developer commentary.

Learn about coding by voice in this written version of my MagnoliaJS 2021 talk.

A behind-the-scenes look at the third version of d20, my beloved passion project.

Side projects are one of the most fun things about web development. Here I discuss various tips and tricks for getting side projects over the finish line.

I love NearlyFreeSpeech.NET because they’re not like any other web host out there. They march to the beat of their own drum and I love them.

New job, new experiences, and new stuff made. These were the highlights of my year.

Watch me work my way through a paralyzing crisis whilst I nerd out over the nuances of note-taking apps.

Make dealing with arrays cleaner, more concise, and more fun by using the all-powerful reducer.

After a years long stint as a static site, blakewatson.com returns to being a WordPress site. While I still like static sites, I have a renewed appreciation of WordPress (and a renewed design for this site).

How I play Minecraft using a mouse and one mouse button along with the hands-free, programmable input system, Talon.

Talon is a programmable voice recognition system that helps me code by voice—something that isn’t feasible with macOS’ built-in dictation.

macOS’ Accessibility Keyboard is a highly customizable on-screen keyboard for people who aren’t physically able to type.

I created a small web service and Chrome extension that replaces your web browser’s new tab page.

After being an early adopter of Facebook and using it for over a decade, I decided to delete my account. Here’s why.

I reminisce about a time when I created websites without all the complexities of modern frameworks, libraries, and tooling.

I take a look back at the work I’ve done in 2016, from Mad Genius work to my first app on the Mac App Store.

Anime gives you structured and granular control of your animations. Here’s an example using my logo.

I’ve been using a Mac since 2006. Now I’m taking a look back at what I love about the Mac, then and now.

I’ll occasionally mention in passing the various alternatives to Google that I use for web browsing, search, and email, but I haven’t talked about it in much detail.

How to make a reactive UI component, such as a filterable list, using the JavaScript library, KnockoutJS.

Permit me to offer some counterarguments to common gripes people have about Monopoly.

An illustrated comic

Sublime Text is very extensible. But out of the box, it doesn’t match up against Coda’s main selling point: it’s super amazing sidebar that consist of a full-featured file-browser, FTP client, and snippet manager.

My personal mark improved as I became a better designer and turned my energy toward freelancing. Still, it never felt completely right.

Smart quotes (i.e., “curly quotes”) are a must-have for me. Here’s how to use the Typogrify package to get them automatically in wok, the static-site generator.

There’s nothing new under the sun.

Pivoting my site from a freelancer’s pitch to a developer’s journal, I really wanted to get back to basics.

I still have most of the source code for every design iteration of this site from its beginnings in 2005 to the 2013 design, which stayed in place through the summer of 2015. I managed to put together a graphic that shows the homepage of each iteration.