(This is a rant about LaTeX. If that makes you think of chafing rather than math equations, this post will be very confusing to you.)

LaTeX is bad at its job. We should fire it.

I mean, what even is its job?

Is is for writing documents?

Text-based formats with not as many bells and whistles, like plain text or Markdown, are way better for writing documents.

Is is for defining documents?

Declarative formats (for instance, those based on XML) are way better for defining documents.

One of my colleagues, who I'll call “Dave” in this post, was never the hallmark of good communication. Putting words in a certain order to convey some sort of meaning in the most effective manner just does not seem to interest them in the slightest.

Recently, however, they've taken to sending me messages like this:

Subject: Sincere Apologies for the Delay

Dear Thijs,

I hope this message finds you well.

I’m writing to sincerely apologise for not returning your lawnmower yet. It was very kind of you to lend it to me, and I truly regret not getting it back to you as promptly as I should have.

TL;DR:

.modal {
	position: fixed;
	outline: 100vmax solid rgba(20, 20, 20, 0.6);
}

If you find yourself in a situation where:

1. you want to have a modal dialog appear, or something a lot like it;
2. the <dialog> tag and its showModal() method, while very nice, are unavailable to you;
3. you'd rather not add a dedicated overlay element to grey out the rest of the page;

you might like this stupid CSS hack!

Specifically, I'm boycotting all products or services that are called “One.” I've actually been doing it for some time now.

The list of things I'm not getting includes but is not limited to:

• Apple One
• Google One
• Ubuntu One
• Android One
• KPN EEN
• T-mobile One
• Xbox One

Let's say, hypothetically, you're making some kind of browser-based map editor. The editor allows you to place items on the map (e.g. statues), at any position, facing any direction. You've implemented drag and drop functionality to help set the object's position, and would like to add some sort of rotation handle to help better visualize which direction the item is facing.

Given the object is located at position [X, Y], rotated α degrees. You want to place the rotation handle at distance r from the object's centre, aligned with the direction in which the object is facing. What are its coordinates?

The answer may frustrate you! (But probably not as much as it did me.)