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Rare Google Docs bug πŸ“„, US Navy $100M checkbox πŸ’°, the SSO tax πŸ”“

TLDR Web Dev <dan@tldrnewsletter.com>

August 22, 11:08 am

TLDR WebDev
In 2021, users in the Pacific Time Zone reported seeing new comments and replies in Google Docs as being created "tomorrow" 

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 TLDR Web Dev 2024-08-22

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Articles & Tutorials

The 1 Hour per Year Bug (But Only in Pacific Time!) (5 minute read)

Google Docs encountered a peculiar bug in 2021. Users in the Pacific Time Zone reported seeing timestamps for new comments and replies in Docs that were displayed as being created "tomorrow", despite being created the previous day. The cause was traced to an error in the date formatting logic used by Google Docs, which incorrectly calculated the number of hours between the current time and a past time due to the change in time zone offset caused by daylight saving time. This bug only affected users in the Pacific Time Zone during the single hour when daylight saving time transitioned.
Next.js + Supabase app in production: what would I do differently (13 minute read)

This developer built a mid-sized Next.js application with Supabase and, as a result, he recommends using server components for data fetching, server actions for data mutations, and shared utility wrappers for authorization, validation, and authentication. In terms of database design, the developer emphasizes the importance of using surrogate keys, implementing row-level security (RLS) in a performant way, and utilizing server-side routing for mutations.
Everything about Google Translate crashing React (and other web apps) (21 minute read)

Google Translate can cause significant issues for modern web apps that rely on dynamic DOM manipulation, especially React applications. These issues stem from Google Translate's modification of the DOM. The responsibility lies with browser extension developers to minimize interference with web apps. A platform-level solution might be necessary in the future.
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Opinions & Advice

I've Built My First Successful Side Project, and I Hate It (22 minute read)

This developer built a successful side project that generated over $15,000 in revenue, but he quickly grew tired of the maintenance and customer support demands. While he initially enjoyed the entrepreneurial adventure, the constant stream of emails, disputes, and requests for features became overwhelming, especially after he stopped using the project himself. The developer ended up putting the project on autopilot by automating payment processing, trial access, and customer support.
The Dying Web (6 minute read)

The dominance of Chrome has created a browser monoculture, which has resulted in websites being optimized for Chrome. While convincing people to switch to other browsers is hard, it's important to try other browsers so that the web stays open and alive.
Being on The Semantic Web is easy, and, frankly, well worth the bother (7 minute read)

The Semantic Web refers to machine-readable websites. This technology is already widely adopted and utilizes JSON-LD (JSON for Linked Data) to embed metadata within web pages, providing information for bots and search engines to interpret content more effectively. Its use results in better website previews, richer search results, and increased discoverability for web content.
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Launches & Tools

QA Wolf is pioneering an AI-native approach to testing β€” and it's changing the way large dev teams scale QA (Sponsor)

With raving endorsements from companies like Drata, Salesloft, and Autotraderβ€”and a recent $36M Series Bβ€”QA Wolf is making a splash.

The company's AI-native approach, combined with human-verified bug reports, delivers 80% end-to-end test coverage for web and mobile apps in a matter of weeks, with unlimited parallel runs and a unique Zero Flake Guarantee.

See QA Wolf in action β†’

Permify (GitHub Repo)

Permify is an open-source authorization-as-a-service, inspired by Google Zanzibar, designed to build and manage fine-grained and scalable authorization systems for any application.
Zen Browser (Website)

Zen browser is an open-source, privacy-focused browser based on Firefox.
Legend Motion (GitHub Repo)

Legend Motion is a declarative animations library for React Native that makes it easy to transition between styles without needing to manage animations.
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Miscellaneous

The U.S. Navy's $100 Million Checkbox (27 minute read)

A poorly designed user interface contributed to the 2017 collision of the USS John S McCain. A confusing checkbox on a touchscreen caused the crew to lose control of the ship's propellers, leading to a collision with a tanker. Afterwards, the Navy reverted to physical controls.
An unpopular perspective on the SSO tax (13 minute read)

The so-called "SSO Tax" in SaaS pricing is not an unfair practice but rather a form of price discrimination that is both logical and beneficial for both vendors and customers. Price discrimination is inherent in any market, as buyers have different preferences and willingness to pay. Vendors need to segment their customers to maximize their revenue. For example, airlines have different pricing tiers that allow vendors to offer more affordable basic tiers while still catering to the needs of high-paying customers.
Artificial intelligence is losing hype (6 minute read)

AI enthusiasm is going down. Some argue this dip is merely a natural part of the "hype cycle," but others think that AI won't be able to provide the value that it was promised to provide.
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Quick Links

I'm Tired of Fixing Customers' AI-Generated Code (3 minute read)

This developer is frustrated because customers relying on AI-generated code are creating support requests that require him to fix basic programming errors, distracting him from building his own software.
Midjourney (Website)

The Midjourney web experience to generate AI images is now available to everyone.
Common misconceptions about how to optimize LCP (10 minute read)

While optimizing images is important for LCP, field data shows that improving the time to first byte (TTFB), reducing resource load delay, and minimizing render delay are larger factors in getting good LCP performance.
Synchronizing State In React (3 minute read)

This article looks at a common React bug caused by asynchronous state updates and provides solutions for synchronizing state between parent and child components.

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Thanks for reading,
Priyam Mohanty, Jenny Xu & Ceora Ford


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