Explainer ·
The Snapshot Waiting Behind the Back Button
Two things used to guarantee the back button reloads a page from scratch. Chrome rewired one in 2025 and is deleting the other in 2026, mid-rollout right now.
How the web actually works underneath the page
Most explanations of the web stop at the surface. These are notes on the layer below: how a page is assembled and delivered, what it can observe about you while it does, and where the cost is hidden.
Latest articles
Explainer ·
The Header That Carries Your Dark Mode
Your light or dark mode setting can leave the machine as an HTTP request header. The same channel carries your motion and contrast preferences too.
Explainer ·
What Replaced the User-Agent String
The User-Agent string was trimmed to leak less. The detail it carried did not disappear - it moved to a channel the server switches on, and one engine answers.
Explainer ·
The Request That Describes Your Device
Before your JavaScript runs, the browser can already have told the server how much RAM your device has and how fast your connection is, rounded off on purpose.
Explainer ·
The Page You Never Opened Has Already Loaded
Two hundred milliseconds of hover can be enough for the destination to load in full, run all of its JavaScript, and count you as a visitor.