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Web and tools · Free articles

Off the Syllabus

The things college doesn't teach you but the job uses every day. Free, stand-alone, and every claim links to its source.

Topics
  • Core Web Vitals
  • LCP
  • CLS
  • INP
  • PageSpeed Insights
  • Lighthouse
  • Field data
  • Lab data
  • JSON-LD
  • Structured data
  • schema.org
  • API clients
  • Postman
  • Bruno
  • Insomnia
  • Hoppscotch
  • curl
  • Typing a URL
  • DNS and TLS
  • How a browser loads a page
  • svh and dvh
  • CSS viewport units
  • Mobile browsers
Series 1 of 5

Fast pages

The numbers Google watches, and how to read them.

  1. 01LCP, CLS and INP in plain wordsWhat each Core Web Vital measures, and why it matters11 min read
  2. 02Reading a PageSpeed Insights report without panickingField data, lab data, and which numbers to trust10 min read
  3. 03Images done rightAVIF, WebP, sizes, and lazy loadingComing next
  4. 04Fonts without the flashWhy text jumps when a page loads, and how to stop itComing next
Series 2 of 5

Being found

How search engines and AI tools learn what your page is.

  1. 05JSON-LD: the hidden data that describes your pageOrigan's own site as the worked example10 min read
  2. 06Sitemaps, robots.txt and IndexNowTelling search engines what is newComing next
  3. 07Share cardsWhy some links get a nice preview on WhatsApp and LinkedInComing next
Series 3 of 5

Tools worth knowing

Compared fairly, with a plain "use this when" for each.

  1. 08API clients comparedPostman, Bruno, Insomnia, Hoppscotch and curl, with a fair "use this when"11 min read
  2. 09Tauri vs ElectronDesktop apps from web skills, and what each costsComing next
  3. 10Git's rescue kitreflog, bisect and stashComing next
Series 4 of 5

How things actually work

What the browser and the network do while you wait.

  1. 11What happens when you type a URLFrom DNS to the first painted pixel10 min read
  2. 12CORS, finally explainedWhy your fetch gets blocked, and what the error saysComing next
  3. 13Browser engines and JavaScript enginesWebKit, Blink and Gecko; V8, JavaScriptCore and SpiderMonkeyComing next
Series 5 of 5

Found while building this site

Short, honest notes from real problems on Origan.

  1. 14Why 100vh breaks on phones, and the svh fixA real fix from this site8 min read
  2. 15"Permission denied" in CIFile permissions that came from WindowsComing next

Each article says when its facts were last checked, and links the official page behind every claim. Where a tool changes often, such as a pricing page, check the date before you trust it. Every code sample is a real file that is checked before the page is built.

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