🎵 A mosquito Our reginos Yeah!

Sorry, no leaflets today because of the reginos.

Thoughts on 'informal blogging' by doing an audio note in the Day One app. Also: why I've put my 'formal blog' Cybercultural on pause.

Cool slice of blogging history, great to see Leaflet mentioned as part of this new open social ecosystem echoing some of the blogosphere's early days (indeed the atmosphere's still early too!) thanks @ricmac.org I also like this idea for a sidebar / *leafroll* :)

There's a lot in Leaflet that reminds me of Radio Userland in 2003. Including that its informal blogging format (or "EZ blogging" as @pfrazee.com calls it) encourages a different kind of open social participation. Remember when we used to think through topics by blogging them? #BringBackBlogging

I started a @semble.so, which is "a social knowledge network for research built on the AT Protocol." My first collection is about Internet History, and I've made it open so anyone can add to it: semble.so/profile/ricm...

“The open web […] didn't win because the tools were better. It won because a critical mass of people decided that the alternative, a handful of AOL-style walled gardens choosing what everyone saw, was not the future they wanted. Then they built their way out of it.” timtrautmann.com/blog/the-ner...

That annoying question that endures…

Hey I’m back blogging again! And it’s because I’m a shit microblogger. But also because I am looking for that 2003 RWW feeling again. Can I keep this going? I don’t want to pressure myself, but then blogging in 2003 was an informal, experimental thing. That’s what I would like to do with Leaflet.

I’ve been exploring how AI systems are starting to act as an interface to the web. To help organizations navigate this shift, I’ve developed an Agentic Web Audit — a hands-on, non-automated assessment of how AI systems access, understand, and interact with your site. ricmac.org/agentic-web-...

I've updated my handle to @ricmac.org, since my personal website has become the center of my online existence again. Previously I had a handle connected to my internet history website, Cybercultural — but that's currently on pause while I focus all my energies on earning an income post-TNS.

Checking out the ATmosphereConf 2026 highlights. Wow there are a lot of videos! I'm especially curious to watch ones about "atmospheric websites" and blogging on AT Protocol. Didn't immediately see any videos about @standard.site, etc — anyone have pointers? www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBYN...

Most people think AI will reduce the importance of websites. I think the opposite is happening — but in a very different way. Here's how I'm looking at the emerging Agentic Web, including its opportunities for web publishers and developers...and the very real threats, too. ricmac.org/2026/04/07/t...

It’s 20 years since Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet. That same day, 21 March 2006, I posted “microcontent design” on ReadWriteWeb. This was the feeds world web geeks like me wanted to become a reality: web standards-based feeds, using RSS/Atom, microformats, etc. web.archive.org/web/20060508...

New from my Web AI Lab: I’ve built an “article assistant” for my site that runs using local AI in the browser (via Chrome + Gemini Nano) when available — and falls back to a cloud model when it isn’t. I think local AI has huge implications for the #OpenWeb. ricmac.org/2026/03/19/a... #WebAI

What is this stage of perimenopause where old songs bounce off me, but seeing a 21-year-old website can make me weep for a better time…?

I experimented with WebMCP on my personal website, exposing two tools an AI assistant can call directly from the browser: searching an article and subscribing to my newsletter. It’s a small prototype, but it hints at how websites are fast becoming AI-interactive surfaces. ricmac.org/2026/03/11/w...

tenth-muse.com in 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20060703210129if_/http://tenth-muse.com

As part of my Web AI explorations, I built an AI chatbot for my personal website called Ask Ricmac. Under the hood, it runs on a Cloudflare Workers backend that uses Vectorize, D1 and Workers AI. During development, I also used the WordPress MCP Adapter and Claude Desktop. ricmac.org/2026/03/06/b...

♛ 1995: From Batman Forever’s cinematic design to HTML tables. History lesson and appreciation by @ricmac.cybercultural.com. cybercultural.com/p/1995-web-d... #WebDesign #WebDesignHistory #DesignHistory #WarnerBros #cinema #movies #films #marketing #promotions

In the latest post in my web design history series, I look at Batman Forever, an influential 1995 website by @zeldman.bsky.social and friends. Also, later in the year HTML tables arrive, along with early visual design tools FrontPage & PageMill. cybercultural.com/p/1995-web-d... #WebDesignHistory

Yowzers.

While I figure out what’s next in my career, I resolved to dive into a technology stack I’ve been deeply interested in for a while: Web AI. Only this time not just writing about these technologies, but building apps with them too. ricmac.org/2026/02/26/w... #WebAI

Personal update: after nearly 6 years at The New Stack, my role has come to an end as part of a broader round of redundancies. I’m now exploring ideas at the intersection of AI and web systems, particularly how AI is reshaping the architecture and future of the open web. I welcome conversations.

Although the Web is technically limited in 1994, it is a fast-growing network and so curation quickly becomes a design problem. Enter Glenn Davis and his website, Cool Site of the Day. cybercultural.com/p/1994-cool-... #WebDesignHistory

The Internet Underground Music Archive (IUMA) website in 1994, showing what was possible using colorful graphics and minimal HTML. Read more about 1994 web design: https://cybercultural.com/p/1994-web-design/

This whole series is unendingly delightful. Especially if the 90s is the internet you remember most fondly.

In the latest post in my history of web design, we enter 1994 — when the Web shifts into a publishing medium. As site authors seek control over formatting and design, the WWW-Talk mailing list hosts an early debate over style and presentation. cybercultural.com/p/1994-web-d... #WebDesign

Suggested update for 2026: Big Tech, Still Addicting Kids tobaccofreekids.org in 2000 https://web.archive.org/web/20000618170315if_/http://tobaccofreekids.org:80/?

Le WebLouvre, a 1994 virtual art gallery (via https://www.ford-mason.co.uk/resources/stw/node52.html)

This is the first web design of Global Network Navigator, O'Reilly's 1993 "online magazine". It was designed by Jennifer Niederst Robbins, arguably the world's first web designer: https://cybercultural.com/p/1993-global-network-navigator/

For @drupalassociation.bsky.social's 25th anniversary, I spoke with founder Dries Buytaert. His advice for building a long-term open source community: “Don’t expect overnight success. I think anything successful in life usually takes 10 years.” thenewstack.io/drupal-turns... #OpenSource

Continuing Cybercultural's history of web design, we're still in 1993 but now we come to perhaps the world's first web designer: Jennifer Niederst Robbins. She designed O'Reilly's Global Network Navigator (GNN). cybercultural.com/p/1993-globa... cc @jenville.bsky.social @rachelandrew.bsky.social

The news of Cloudflare acquiring the company behind Astro is just the latest in a string of similar frontend framework deals. Some of these arrangements go well, some...not so much (RIP Gatsby). thenewstack.io/why-platform...

🧵 Your micro-memoir doesn't need to be about life-changing moments. It can be deeply nerdy about whatever you actually care about. Here's what a tech history newsletter taught me about documenting the small, obsessive details that only you would think to preserve:

The first 1993 post is now on Cybercultural and it tells the story of how the MTV website was born. Unfortunately screenshots are rare for any 1993 website, but this image from April 1994 gives you an idea of what it looked like. https://cybercultural.com/p/1993-mtv-internet/

In 1993, web design didn't really exist — you couldn't even change the background color of your web page from grey. But Mosaic launched the first era of visual web design and soon after an MTV VJ (@curry.com) improbably created one of the first commercial websites. cybercultural.com/p/1993-mtv-i...

Had a day off today and went to Hay-on-Wye (the UK’s book town) with my daughter. I managed to find a 2006 web design book, packed with screenshots. Anyone else a fan of the “Web Design Index by Content” books? #WebDesignHistory

Everyone here loves a CSS-in-JS system, right? I took a look at Meta's StyleX & how it compares to the more commonly used Tailwind. While "just use CSS dammit" is the normal response to such tools, StyleX has a very specific (& rare) use case: highly scaled apps. thenewstack.io/stylex-vs-ta... #CSS

Oh my goodness! Look at that, 20 years. One of my favourite designs, gosh

big q for Leaflet + standard.site: how can we rethink 'subscribing' for the social web? different from subbing via RSS feed or email newsletter! & this succeeds to the extent it's a great social experience, where ppl can interact w/ an ecosystem of many readers & writers, w/ lots of entry points…

A history of web design, from the grey web pages of 1993 to the colorful, mobile-centric web designs of 2012. A celebration of the peak years of personal websites and blogs. By Richard MacManus. cybercultural.com/p/history-of...

Today I'm launching season 5 of Cybercultural: the history of web design from 1993 till 2012. It will be a celebration of the peak years of personal websites and blogs! I invite you to subscribe now for weekly updates via email or RSS. cybercultural.com/p/history-of... #WebDesignHistory

One of my current areas of interest is Web AI, where apps use AI models on-device via the browser. But this is also possible using native mobile apps, as a UK company called DataSapien is doing with its new SDK. I spoke to its founder and CEO StJohn “Singe” Deakins. thenewstack.io/datasapiens-...

Group weblogs...you don't see too many of them these days. Who has time, I guess, with all those social media accounts to update. radiofreeblogistan.com in 2004 https://web.archive.org/web/20040830025833if_/http://www.radiofreeblogistan.com:80

Open question: how do tech folks keep track of interesting events and conferences you might want to attend. Back in Web 2.0, Upcoming was great for this. I know @andybaio resurrected it several years ago, but not sure if it’s currently maintained (it seems to only have a Twitter login option […]

To commemorate the 79th anniversary of David Bowie's birth & nearly the 10th anniversary of his passing, I've written a mini-history of Bowie's website from 2004 to 2016 — including why he shunned social media ("Dropped my cell phone down below"). cybercultural.com/p/bowienet-2... #BowieForever 👨‍🎤

DavidBowie.com on January 8, 2016. RIP #bowieforever (click here for a mini-history of Bowie's website from 2004-2016: https://cybercultural.com/p/bowienet-2004-2016/)

To commemorate the 79th anniversary of David Bowie's birth & nearly the 10th anniversary of his passing, I've written a mini-history of Bowie's website from 2004 to 2016 — including why he shunned social media ("Dropped my cell phone down below"). cybercultural.com/p/bowienet-2... #BowieForever 👨‍🎤