On the fiftieth anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death

Grave with flowers growing and placed on it with some other items. Inscription reads, below a simple cross, crux quadrata: “Edith Mary Tolkien Luthien 1889 - 1971 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Beren 1892 - 1973”

On my last visit to Oxford, England, in March of last year, I finally took the long walk out Banbury Road to Wolvercote Cemetery to see the final resting place of J.R.R. Tolkien, who died at age 81 on September 2, 1973, fifty years ago today. To mark the occasion I’ve been looking through some … Read more

Publish an ads.txt file with a placeholder line rather than leaving the file empty

Today I learned that web publishers not authorizing any advertising systems on their sites should publish ads.txt files that include a one-line placeholder record rather than leaving the file empty. The IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) ads.txt Specification, currently the final ads.txt Specification Version 1.1 (August 2022) specifies on page 8 (PDF): 3.2.1 Files without … Read more

Copywriting and web design inspirations

ABC Copywriting’s site, abccopywriting.com, really illustrates what differentiates “copywriting” from “writing” with examples, among them: Writing Multi-site networking and collaboration solution Copywriting Work together. Even when you’re apart. Galleries of web design inspiration The Landbook site (also styled “Land-book”), land-book.com, has seemingly endless galleries of web site (page) design inspiration and web component design inspiration. … Read more

Our yard featured in Chicago Tribune article about monarch butterflies and Field Museum research

Our garden is featured in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune—both online and in print: On a suburban street with smooth lawns and trimmed bushes, Martha Chiplis’ yard stands out. It’s not just the wildflowers: purple wild petunia, golden lanceleaf coreopsis, hot-pink Bush’s poppy mallow. It’s the lemon-yellow goldfinches that snack on the seeds, the fluffy bees that … Read more