Todd H. Gardner's Blog

Learn how I set up TrackJS for production JavaScript error monitoring on CertKit, configure ignore rules to filter out third-party noise, and create actionable error alerts that actually matter.

The simple rule everyone gets wrong: build what makes you unique, buy what makes you run. But whatever you do, make sure you understand it well enough to fix it when it breaks. Because it will break.

We were so preoccupied with whether we could, we didn’t stop to think if we should. Nowhere at Jurassic Park was this more true than how we developed software.

An honest look at using press releases for link building and SEO in 2025. Spoiler: save your money.

I was recently approved as an author for Hackernoon! I plan to write about cybersecurity and server certificates there. My first article was already published.

Todd shares the secret way to make websites faster: do fewer things. Fewer fonts, smaller images, less distance.

Why Real User Monitoring is more important for web performance than synthetic monitoring, and why it's so hard. Request Metrics tries to combine them both in a single platform.

Your app works everywhere except that one customer's corporate network. Here's how to build JavaScript apps that survive hostile networks, captive portals, and the special hell of hotel WiFi.

I was a guest on Henri Helvetica's SPDY Stream Podcast about web performance. We talked about industry challenges, real user monitoring, and synthetic testing.

GTMetrix was great when it was free, but paying for synthetic tests doesn’t make sense anymore. This post breaks down better alternatives that combine Synthetic Testing, Real User Monitoring (RUM), and Google’s CrUX data to give you a full picture of your website’s performance—so you can fix what actually matters.

Learn how to optimize website images for faster load times, better SEO, and improved Core Web Vitals. This guide covers choosing the right format, compression, lazy loading, responsive images, and caching strategies.

If you’ve noticed your website feeling sluggish or unresponsive—especially during animations—you might be running into Long Animation Frames (LoAFs). LoAFs happen when a browser takes longer than 50 milliseconds to render an animation frame, leading to a janky experience that can frustrate users.

Recorded live from Speyside Scotland, right after NDC London 2023 and PubConf. Thoughts on the conference, web application security, and then getting back to Request Metrics with more work on the Analytics side of the product.

The first of (hopefully) a new series of video updates about the web, observability, and my businesses. I had to shut down my Revue-based newsletter, which was honestly difficult to keep up with because writing is hard. Video is way more fun!

I wanted a device for working from the Pub. As a small-business owner, I'm always working: at home, at lunch, at happy-hour. I wanted a device more portable than my workhorse laptop so that I could effortlessly bring it with me, but more functional than my mobile phone.

I just purchased a new 2015 Macbook Pro, which is fantastic. The first brand of computer that I've ever purchased more than once. But they have a major flaw: the Power Adapter cords.

I've recently setup a Google Apps account for TrackJS. Right away I missed having all my email in one place--don't make me have two tabs open Google!

Software isn't done. It's never done, but it can be good enough. This blog is good enough, for now. Now I'm moving forward to shipping things that matter.