iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Conference Appearances this Fall A surprisingly busy fall of workshops, talks, conferences, and volunteering from New York to Toronto. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2026-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Opening Dialogs with the Invoker API Replacing some custom JavaScript with the Invoker API. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2026-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Books I read in 2025 My 2025 wrap up post on books I read in the past year. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2026-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

That’s a really tough question. You did such a great job with all the characters but you added so much depth to Bane that I’d have to go with him.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

NYC I will be in you for a two day @sanity.io conference. Join us on Monday September 29th for a hands on workshop. Then on Tuesday September 30th we'll have sessions on code, culture and community. RSVP at: everything.sanity.io

everything.sanity.io

Everything NYC 2025 – Sanity

Everything *[NYC] is where developers and creative thinkers come together to explore what it means to build digital experiences that move people, and the world forward. From content operations to cult...

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Amazing editing by Evelina Wahlström our Technical Product Marketing Manager @sanity.io for turning my ramblings about the Functions product I work on into something coherent. www.youtube.com/shorts/HQ2tK...

youtube.com

"I never make mistakes writing code..."

YouTube video by Sanity

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Reposted by Simon MacDonald

Sanity @sanity.io · 29/08/2025

Auto-fix your blog's annoying problems with event-driven logic. Change a slug → create a redirect Add a code snippet → format it Modify the body → generate a changelog with AI Build it with Sanity Functions. youtu.be/W8f6jFLcCng

youtu.be

Auto-fix your blog's annoying problems

YouTube video by Sanity

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Book Review - Web Accessibility Cookbook I learned something new in every chapter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2025-…

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Reposted by Simon MacDonald

Dan Denney @dandenney.com · 29/07/2025

"Dan Webb wrote about how he and his team migrated their site from Next.js to Eleventy and improved performance by 24%. But who knows, maybe he’s just deep in Big Static’s pocket" - Bytes etch.co/blog/we-migr...

etch.co

We migrated our site to Eleventy and increased performance by 24% | Etch Software Studio

How choosing the right tool for the job led to faster load times and fewer dependencies.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

HTML day, Ottawa edition 🍁 August 2, 2025 12pm-5pm Brown's Inlet Park Come hang out and write some HTML!!! More info ➡️ html-day-ottawa.vercel.app Not in Ottawa? Other locations + online event here: html.energy/html-day/202...

html-day-ottawa.vercel.app

HTML Day 2025: Ottawa

Saturday, August 03, 2025, 12pm-5pm, Ottawa

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Awesome to see Function Recipes from our DevRel team. Spoiler, functions has been what I've been up to since last Fall.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Yeah, it was a fun web component to write.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Newsletters that regularly hit my inbox these days Newsletters that I make a point of reading every week. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2025-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Pretty excited that all the work we've been doing at Sanity.io is finally public. It's been a wild ride since us Begin’ners joined last September. www.sanity.io/docs/compute...

sanity.io

The Content Operating System | Sanity

A fully customizable all-code backend for content-driven websites and apps—their builders and creators.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Woof, I really dropped the ball on this one but today 4/24 is JS Naked Day. We celebrate today because HTTP error code 424 is “Failed Dependency”. I'm going to spend the rest of the day surfing with JS turned off and do a better job of promoting next year. js-naked-day.org

js-naked-day.org

JS Naked Day

JS Naked Day: The web should work without JavaScript

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is an extra in the WALL-E dvd. Thanks for looking though.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

WALL·E Released: 2008-06-22 This is my favourite PIxar film of all time. 5 out of 5 stars!!

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Yes, I played it for the whole team at check-in about 2 hours ago. It was appreciated by @brianleroux.bsky.social et al.

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Reposted by Simon MacDonald

tbeseda @tbeseda.com · 09/11/2024

Dang, this is really nice. dandavison.github.io/delta/introd... > brew install git-delta edit ~/.gitconfig: ``` [core] pager = delta [interactive] diffFilter = delta --color-only [delta] navigate = true ``` try it in a repo w changes: > git diff

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Usually our JS meetups are on Thursdays so that’d work for a weekend trip. This month we are just doing a social at the bar.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Hahah, lemme know the next time you are doing a road trip near Ottawa. Maybe line it up with a Forward JS event. We may be down your way this summer to visit the in-laws.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Probably but his next book is set in Europe.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Interestingly enough those two accounts seemed to have disappeared.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Nope, no problem with bots over here.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

I had the hardcover sitting there for so long. Finally the guys at work convinced me I had to give in. You scared me there for a moment. Joe Abercrombie is still alive so there are more books coming.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Heh, I’m not sure how varied my reading actually is but I’m doing my best to read more non-fiction books.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Books I read in 2024 My 2024 wrap up post on books I read in the past year. simonmacdonald.com/blog/posts/2025-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

We did isomorphic rendering with enhance.dev but sticking to the light DOM.

enhance.dev

Enhance

The HTML first full stack web framework

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

30L travel and outdoor sling for me. The Everyday bag is great for photographers with its modular system to divide the internal storage components. I don’t have one myself instead I have a Timbuk2 and a Boundary backpack for daily usage depending on the situation.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Oh DSD, I thought it was a new spec. I have issues with that spec and was hoping for an update that I may have missed.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Yeah, I’m still in goodreads. The inertia is strong but I’ve been meaning to check out alternatives.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Yes, I read way too much. Always happy to provide recs or reviews. This year I’ve read 157 books but my “to read” stack is always hovering around “210”. Damn authors keep creating new books.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Oh we are back on this bullshit again.

A picture of a residential neighbourhood with a light dusting of snow.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I don’t think we ever published that lit SSR example. I think @kristoferjoseph.bsky.social has it.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

At Sanity we are looking to hire a senior backend software engineer to work on our Content Lake team. You wouldn't be working on the same team as me but would be working with some truly great people. Complex, scalable, distributed backend systems and a bit of Golang! www.sanity.io/careers/seni...

sanity.io

Senior Software Engineer (Backend) - Content Lake DX

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to build Sanity’s Internet-scale content storage and distribution platform at the heart of our Content Operating System.

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

Big news. We are absolutely stoked to be joining Sanity. I chart my career using the guiding principle of “solve interesting problems with cool people”. At Sanity we'll be able to keep working on challenging problems with a much larger team. begin.com/blog/posts/2... www.sanity.io/blog/welcomi...

begin.com

With Gratitude We Say Goodbye: Sunsetting Begin — Begin Blog

Begin joins Sanity

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 13/09/2024

Forward JS Ottawa A Forward JS Ottawa meetup you say?

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 04/09/2024

'Queen of Shadows' by Sarah J. Maas I'm surprised I continued with this series, as I found the earlier books were okay but not great. I only kept reading due to the encouragement of a friend. I'm glad I did continue, as book 4 of Sara J. Ma… bookrecs.org//posts/2023-04-27-quee…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 04/09/2024

'Red Team Blues' by Cory Doctorow I've been a fan of Cory Doctorow for a long time, so Kickstarting Red Team Blues was an easy decision. I don't even think I looked at the description. That's why I was surprised that the novel's protagonist i… bookrecs.org//posts/2023-05-03-red-…

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Simon MacDonald @macdonst.bsky.social · 04/09/2024

'Babel: An Arcane History' by R. F. Kuang This is an impressive book, 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. One would think a book about academics at Oxford wouldn't be so gripping, but the author R.F. Kuang paints an incredible picture. The b… bookrecs.org//posts/2023-05-14-babe…

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