Speaker Introduction – Niels Leenheer
Let me start by saying, that there are people who use the web and people who build for the web. Well, and then there is Niels Leenheer, who points the web at a flamethrower and asks what happens next.
Niels has been a beyond tellerrand attendee for more than ten years. We have crossed paths at many events over the years and I always enjoy seeing him. So when I announced him as a speaker, I was genuinely moved by what he wrote about it
beyond tellerrand is my favorite conference and I’ve been an attendee for more than 10 years. This year is the 15th edition and I am so honoured to be on the stage that inspired me so much all of these years.
That means a lot. It really does.
This is the 15th edition of beyond tellerrand, and having someone like Niels, someone who has been part of this community from early on, step up onto that stage feels like exactly the kind of moment worth celebrating.
A Browser Geek from the Start
Niels is based in Groningen, the Netherlands and a self-professed browser geek. That obsession started the moment someone showed him the original Nexus browser on a NeXT Cube, back when the internet was still very much finding its feet.
He is the creator of HTML5test.com, which became a go-to resource for understanding what browsers could actually do and he built WhichBrowser, a widely used browser detection library. He ran one of the largest Open Device Labs in the world, is a Google Developer Expert, and is an active member of the Fronteers Conference committee.
For his day job he is CTO of Salonhub, where he builds web applications for hair salons. It is, by some margin, the most sensible thing on his CV. ;)
Where the Web Gets Weird
What really sets Niels apart in my opinion is what he gets up to outside of “work”. He is currently deep in an obsession with connecting the web to physical devices and that has led to some wonderfully unhinged results.
He has used the Web Audio API to draw SVG images on a vintage 1980s oscilloscope. He blew up that same oscilloscope during one experiment. He built a CSS-controlled flamethrower. He ported the offline Chrome dinosaur game to a laser projector. None of these were accidents. All of them were pretty much on purpose.
What is remarkable is that none of this requires exotic tools or obscure hacks. It is all modern web standards, pushed into places they were probably never intended to go.
He says, he has been working on this talk for at least a year. He promises chaotic energy and lots of weird and wonderful web experiments. I believe him entirely. 😁
His talk: The Web Beyond the Edges of the Browser Window
Join Niels on a journey to the weird and wonderful fringes of the web. Way beyond anything that fits inside a browser window. From using audio to draw SVG images on 1980s oscilloscopes to a CSS-controlled flamethrower (well maybe not on stage this time …): this is a tour of the web like you have never seen it before. Ever seen a JavaScript clock that stubbornly refuses to tell the right time for example? Chrome's offline dinosaur game, beamed onto a laser projector. What does all this have in common? They are all gloriously out there, they all run on modern web standards, and Niels had an an absolute blast building them.
I cannot wait to finally see Niels on the beyond tellerrand stage. We should probably check the fire extinguishers beforehand.