Jon Portella's Blog

Why I love RSS

December 11, 2025 • 2 min read

Email was the problem

Cursor loves your attention

November 14, 2025 • 2 min read

(Plays agent finished sound)

Team onsites are fun

November 14, 2025 • 2 min read

Generally on favour of them

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RSS is the correct choice, btw.

A human wrote this

November 14, 2025 • 1 min read

And it shows

How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer: A One-Minute Guide

July 20, 2023 • 4 min read

Landing a job as a software engineer requires more than just technical skills. In this one-minute tutorial, I’ll outline the key steps to…

Using SVGs on the Web — A Deep Dive

April 28, 2021 • 14 min read

There isn’t one best way to implement SVGs on our websites, since each method has its pros and cons. Let’s learn their differences.

CDNs — A Deep Dive

April 21, 2021 • 7 min read

You’ve used them before but you’re not completely sure what they are, here are some answers.

How To Call a Function When a User Stops Typing

April 21, 2021 • 2 min read

We’ll learn how to implement a browser auto-saving draft system in JavaScript

Trying To Write Every Day? Here’s How To Stick to It

April 21, 2021 • 3 min read

Many people struggle to build a writing habit. I did too, but I solved it with this simple mantra

Time-Traveling in Git? Meet Git Reflog

April 6, 2021 • 4 min read

Let’s learn to use the power of this advanced tool for Git disaster‑saving

Building a carousel with Swiper

April 6, 2021 • 4 min read

Let’s build a touch-triggered image slider with lazy loading, navigation, and pagination, in one minute.

A Snazzy Trick: How To Style Your console.log() Messages

March 25, 2021 • 2 min read

A quick guide (with examples) on applying CSS to log messages in the browser’s console

The One Thing You Need to Know To Avoid CSS Overflow

March 25, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to prevent CSS overflow with variable-length text using a simple wrapper component that keeps text on one line.

Master Git Diff With These Not-So-Known Commands

March 24, 2021 • 3 min read

Save time while reviewing your own pull requests

Lazy Load Images with LazySizes

March 23, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to lazy load images, in one minute.

Use RegEx Lazy Quantifier to Match Alt Tags

March 19, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to use RegEx Lazy Quantifier, in one minute.

Prevent Hyphen Line-Breaks with Non-Breaking Hyphen

March 18, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to avoid hyphen line-breaks, in one minute.

Forward Proxy vs. Reverse Proxy

March 17, 2021 • 3 min read

Understand the difference between forward proxies and reverse proxies, and when to use each one.

Avoid Headaches with Static Code Analysis Tools

March 16, 2021 • 3 min read

Learn to avoid headaches with Static Code Analysis Tools, in one minute.

Remove All node_modules Directories at Once

March 15, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to remove all your node_modules directories, in one minute.

Build a 3D Bank Card with Vanilla-tilt.js

March 12, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to build a 3D bank card, in one minute.

Count Total Lines in a Git Repository

March 11, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to count the total number of lines in a Git repository, in one minute.

Track User Scroll with IntersectionObserver

March 10, 2021 • 2 min read

Learn how to leverage window.IntersectionObserver to find out how many visitors see your content, in one minute.

Using Regex Negative Lookahead to Replace HTTP with HTTPS

March 9, 2021 • 3 min read

Learn how to use Regex’s Negative Lookahead, in one minute.

How To Use a VPN to Change Your Public IP Address From the Command Line

March 8, 2021 • 3 min read

A tutorial on setting a VPN and using it from the CLI to hide our IP and location

Autosave Your Shell Config in a GitHub Gist

March 5, 2021 • 3 min read

Don’t lose your aliases again when switching computers!

Find Out Our Public IP Address and Country From the Command Line

March 4, 2021 • 2 min read

A quick explanation and a couple of handy one-liners

Use gist-paste to Save Text Files as GitHub Gists From the Command Line

March 3, 2021 • 3 min read

A quick tip to save time on saving and sharing documents

Running Code Snippets on Chrome’s Console

March 2, 2021 • 3 min read

A quick guide for web developers on this great time-saver when executing JavaScript on the go.

The Right Way To Log Objects in Node.js

March 1, 2021 • 2 min read

And a few other methods that you can also use, but beware of the caveats!

Quick Async One-Liners With Async Immediately Invoked Function Expressions

February 26, 2021 • 2 min read

A neat trick for a job interview or to save time on quick scripts

Quick Refactor: Keep Casing in VSCode Search + Replace

February 25, 2021 • 2 min read

A simple Visual Studio Code trick to save precious time while refactoring

Persist CSS Changes Done in Chrome’s Dev-Tools

February 24, 2021 • 4 min read

Avoid losing all those changes on the elements tab if you accidentally reload your browser

Using JavaScript To Test Browser Support for a CSS Pseudo-Class

February 23, 2021 • 3 min read

An obscure (but effective) way to do CSS feature detection with JavaScript. In the example, we test for a feature that only Microsoft browsers have.

The Ugliest 6 Reasons To Not Enrol In A Coding Bootcamp.

October 2, 2020 • 5 min read

There are some ugly parts that people don’t talk about. Before deciding to enrol, mind all the possible outcomes.

How I Doubled My Income in 3 Months

September 30, 2020 • 8 min read

The story of my career change, and how first choices aren’t usually the best for your future

5 Remarkable Git Commands That Will Boost Your Coding Productivity

September 29, 2020 • 5 min read

These are custom made, they don’t appear in the Git docs! Saved me countless headaches in the last two years…

5 cool JS tricks to impress your teammates

September 25, 2020 • 7 min read

Some web-dev wisdom, not just limited to JS!

Creating a Blackjack game

February 11, 2020 • 1 min read

A memento of my first ever JavaScript project circa February 2018.

Displaying data with variable length

January 15, 2020 • 2 min read

Never trust the design.

6 Things I Learned in May 2019

May 30, 2019 • 5 min read

Some cool React.js libraries, PropTypes, node_modules updates and an Easter Egg.

You are using browser events wrong

May 15, 2019 • 4 min read

Stop listening.

9 Things I Learned in April 2019

April 30, 2019 • 8 min read

This time tips and tricks on CSS Modules, a lot of BASH and GIT stuff, macOS apps, using searchable components and fighting Chrome's autocomplete styling.

12 Things I Learned in March 2019

March 31, 2019 • 6 min read

Tips and tricks including but not limited to Pandas, JavaScript sliders and swipers, a flights API, BASH automations and some other nifty ideas.

Downloading Reddit Images in Bulk

January 29, 2019 • 2 min read

Get all the neat desktop goodness from /r/wallpapers with this command line utility built in Node.js

Picking Random Comments On Instagram

January 15, 2019 • 2 min read

A web app to make Instagram contests suck less.

Hello World

December 31, 2018 • 1 min read

Mandatory