Cool Link: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

Pretty cool study about how our brains work in finding optimal routes and how surprisingly good we are at it, even when compared to computers. Lots of visual and interactive demos inside!

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About Cool Links

Cool links are a collection of interesting things I find around the web. They can range from fun dumb websites to deep thought-provoking essays, or more commonly something in between. The feed here updates frequently, and I compile everything into a blog post on the last day of each month.

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Matt posted a Quick Review

The Invite

2026, Olivia Wilde

Reviewed on Sep 07, 2026

Didn't like it

Decent

I like it

Loved it!

This movie is such a fun time! It’s like a train-wreck that you can’t look away from. My wife and I laughed out loudly so many times, and there’s a lot to dig into if you peek at the details.

Movie

Matt posted 4 Photos

Consonno Ghost Town

Taken on 2026-09-06

Consonno was a Lombard village for over a thousand years until, in the 1960s, a wealthy businessman bought the land, bulldozed villagers’ homes (some still occupied), and began building the “Las Vegas of Lombardy” — leveling the natural landscape for better mountain views.

The resort never took off, and construction stalled. The environmental damage caught up with it: landslides in the 1970s cut off access, closing the resort for good. It briefly became a home for the elderly before being abandoned entirely.

Matt published a Blog Post

TIL:

A screenshot of the MDN intro paragraph about the HTML form attribute

TIL: Form controls can be outside their parent form

4 min read

Possible knowledge gap on my part, but cool nonetheless: the form attribute allows your form controls to live anywhere.

Front-End

Read

Matt posted 3 Photos

Sacra di San Michele

Taken on 2026-08-23

This incredible religious complex dedicated to St. Michael began being built in the 10th century and sits on top of a mountain overlooking the valleys near the city of Turin, in northern Italy.

I was unable to capture the views of it from further below, but it’s even more majestic.

Matt shared a Cool Link

This was posted during the World Cup while more people were paying attention to football and the VAR, but it’s just as valid today. Just as AI provides an obvious benefit at first glance, its deeper effects can be seen as a net negative.

The VAR hasn’t eliminated or reduced biases or corruption in football. It merely made them more hidden and institutionalized.

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Matt posted a Quick Review

How I Met Your Mother

2005–2014, Carter Bays, Craig Thomas

Reviewed on Aug 29, 2026

Didn't like it

Decent

I like it

Loved it!

This is my third time watching this, and it has become a comfort series for my wife and I. Its highs are really great and its lows are fine. I think it’s the sitcom that best portrays the process of growing old and how relationships morph as time passes.

Its finale will forever live in infamy but I always thought it made perfect sense, though it does have awful pacing.

TV Show

Matt posted a Quick Review

Clair Obscur - Expedition 33

2025, Sandfall Interactive

Reviewed on Aug 28, 2026

Didn't like it

Decent

I like it

Loved it!

I am in absolute awe of this game. It is a complete work of art. I was amazed by its visuals, enthralled by its combat, tearful at its story and ultimately in love with its soundtrack.

It’s a story about grief, and it will make you experience that. It’s also going to be one of the most beautiful experiences you’ll ever have.

For those who come after.

Game

Matt shared a Cool Link

If you’ve ever struggled on how to organize components in your project, then this is well worth the read. This article goes into the Atomic Design principles (+ some extensions of it) and explains all the rules that will make finding your way around a codebase much easier.

It’s been 5 years since I was introduced to this way of building websites (Jeff is my coworker!) and it’s a fantastic way of doing it, especially when you hop around different projects all the time. I use it both at work and on personal projects like this website.

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Matt shared a Cool Link

As a non-designer that sometimes designs stuff, this is fantastic! A compilation of easy to understand rules you can follow in web design without having to worry too much about context.

Some of them I had already learned elsewhere, but it’s nice to have them all laid out together like this.

Open

Matt shared a Cool Link

This project aims to make it easy for CSS to have access to things only JS could have previously, all through CSS variables. This makes it way easier for CSS to still be responsible for the presentation layer, without having to add animations, transitions and status information through JS.

I gotta point out that the performance on that site specifically is pretty horrid. It’s probably better used sparingly, but I get why the demo site would use it everywhere 😅

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Matt shared a Cool Link

Nice, cozy video reflecting on how we are often a distant audience of other people’s lives instead of living our own. It’s definitely that damn phone.

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Matt posted a Quick Review

Brave New World

2000, Iron Maiden

Reviewed on Aug 17, 2026

Didn't like it

Decent

I like it

Loved it!

One of my favorite albums ever. Not only it is very good, it also holds a special place in my heart due to it being the most recent album when I discovered Iron Maiden, and my brother and I used to watch the Rock in Rio concert from this album’s tour every. single. day. It’s special to the band too, as a perfect comeback album after the rough 90s they had. It’s what made they become the best band in the world… for a second time.

Album

Cool Link: Why some people mow a lawn better than others

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