A quick note: I am moving to a new hosting partner. In case there are any dropouts, please stay tuned. We are working on it.

So far email accounts have been transferred, all .de domains are already on the new server and transfer for all international domains has been started, but still needs a while to be complete for whatever reason. The deployment chains have been edited and all websites are already deployed to the new server.

I hope that the rest won’t need too long to avoid downtimes, but in case you experience a few hickups, then you know why.

Big shoutout to Mittwald for their fantastic support and seamless tools which make the move as easy as possible. More about that at a later point.

I am with my current hosting partner since 1999 when they still had the name One-2-One. I usually was happy with them and they even sponsor two of my servers. One on which runs everything beyond tellerrand related and one where anything else, like this page, runs on.

Surely within 26 years there is the one or other thing that is not your most favourite decision, but in general I have been satisfied. Even in a way that in one year, when they started to sponsor the servers also, I agreed to be featured in a campaign with interviews and full page ads in magazines. Sadly a lot of the things I said back then are things I would not say anymore.

Obligatory Switch to Microsoft 365

During the years prices increased and decisions were made, I did not agree to 100%. 2016 they were acquired by GoDaddy and I was hoping that not too much would change. It did not so much for me, but beginning of this year Host Europe announced their switch to Microsoft 365. Obligatory. No other choice than to eat this or leave.

That is really sad. Not only because I do not want to use it, but I also would have to pay extra for any singe email account now. And that are quite some accounts.

The Sad Leave

I am now looking into other options for my domains, websites, and email. This is a painful decision as, like I said, I actually was satisfied, but also because it is an annoying act and work I do not need these days, to be honest.

I am not really angry about this, but really sad and disappointed that they don’t leave any other options and don’t seem to care about the customer. 26 years of loyalty (well, and my money) and they let you hang with “you can always quit, if you don’t want to use Microsoft 365”.

Sad and disappointing.

Another Smashing Conference in Freiburg in the books. This year we added workshop day before the main conference next to the one after the conference days.

I created these photos during our event.

When I mentioned, how my timeline looks on Facebook these days, when I visit it – which I rarely do really, Jeremy Keith gave me the tip to add “?sk=h_chr” to the URL, which removes all the crap like suggested posts, groups and so on and gives you a clean, chronological timeline.

Nice one and I thought I simply write it down for me and share it with you, if you didn’t know either.

So, instead of using https://www.facebook.com/ use https://www.facebook.com/?sk=h_chr.

Ouh … quick! Today is the last day to grab your SUPER EARLY BIRD ticket for State of the Browser 2026.

Nearly forgot to remind you – phew. An remember: get your tickets early ;)

👉 https://2026.stateofthebrowser.com

Of course many will ask why even have a website these days? Well, I've had my site for twenty five years and it contains the entire archive of my work in that time. Nobody can tell me what I can and can't put on there. Nobody can switch it off. The platform it's on – the web - is not going to disappear because it got acquired by a big company. It's mine and I'm free to do with it as I please. It's also really useful too. Many times I've looked up how to do something, or how to write a certain piece of code and I've found it on my blog, having written it up in case it comes in handy later.

What Brendan says!

Based on the feedback I received, many of you enjoyed the newsletter recommendations I shared last time and Eric and Dan even followed up and added their readings. So, I’m doing it again. This time with a few more of the reads that regularly land in my inbox, whether daily, weekly, or somewhere in between.

How to Survive the Internet

I first discovered Jamie Bartlett through his books, like “The Dark Net” and “The People Vs Tech”, as well as his podcast “The Missing Cryptoqueen”. A while ago, he launched a newsletter called “How to Survive the Internet” and it’s consistently a great read.

👉 Check “How to Survive the Internet”

Design Reviewed

Matt Lamont is a collector of graphic design artifacts, dedicated to preserving printed materials that both inspire and educate about the history of design. His newsletter “Design Reviewed” delivers curated pieces from his extensive archive straight to your inbox. Well, and I find it absolutely wonderful and inspiring.

👉 Check “Design Reviewed”

CSS Weekly

With over 600 editions, “CSS Weekly” is one of the newsletters that exists for a longer time already. Zoran Jambor does an excellent job curating news and useful resources for anyone interested in web development and especially CSS.

👉 Check “CSS Weekly”

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That is it for this one. But why don’t you do what Eric and Dan did and also share yours? Would be lovely to get a few more recommendations ;)

We spent some quality time in Portugal for the last two weeks and drove down via France and Spain and back up along the coast.

Even though a few bad news landed in my inbox during this trip, I am back recharged and ready to hit Berlin with beyond tellerrand.

Are you? ;)

Passing Namur on my way
to Portugal. Remembers me of Alexandre Plennevaux bringing students to beyond tellerrand in DUS for many years.

The things you subscribe to change over time. This time I simply wanted to list (and advertise) the newsletters that hit my inbox these days. Next to the podcasts I listen to or websites in my RSS reader, of course ;)

Especially in times, where social media is so fragmented, I love a good read, when I want it without the fear to missing out.

So here is, what hits my inbox at the moment …

The Index (English)

Twice a week I am looking forward to well-curated links in a short and digestible way. 5 links, that take not much of your time to read and see if there is something of your interest included. But, let me tell you: there always is at list one thing that catches my interest ;)

👉 Check “The Index”

sieben:30 (German)

Another easy to read newsletter. Easy to read as it only contains three notes about what happened in the social media world. This newsletter is a daily newsletter, but as it only comes with three news each day at 7:30 in the morning, it is a great read during your first coffee.

👉 Check sieben:30

Sidebar (English)

This one exists since 2012 already. Founded by Sacha Greif it now is curated by Fabricio Teixeira and each day a mix of design and tech links hit your inbox. No offence, when I say, that I have the feeling that Sacha caught more of the stuff that was my cup of tea, but I still like to scan this one every time it arrives.

👉 Check Sidebar

Creative Output (English)

I am a big fan of the work by Kevin Parry for a looooong time already. The newsletter he started in 2024 is not just about the magic he does in his videos, but also about the business side of things and social media and marketing. And with 3.7 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.4 million followers on TikTok and 1.8 million followers on Instagram it seems he might have some things to talk about. (hint: maybe you don’t want to miss out this year’s beyond tellerrand in Berlin in case this sounds interesting ;) )

👉 Check Creative Output

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That should be enough for this post. I’d rather post another one before overloading you with this one ;)

Enjoy reading!