Blog Posts

Front End Web Development, Music Production, Audio Engineering, and Podcasting

The views expressed on this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

A gloomy photo of a PlayStation 4 controller with strong shadows and subtle orange and green lighting

Randime: The Anime Randomizer

April 21, 2023

After Crunchyroll shut down its randomizer feature, how can The AniMonday Podcast continue watching random anime? Colin built his own anime randomizer to solve this simple problem.

A photo of a resume or CV on a table next to a laptop

Creating a Résumé Website and PDF Generator With Next.js

April 16, 2023

Professional front end developers can take their résumé to the next level with a Next.js site using Contentlayer and React Server Components.

A photo of highlighters, sticky notes, and a notepad on a desk

Markdown Syntax Highlighting with the Next.js App Router

April 14, 2023

Use React Server components and the Next.js App Router to ship beautiful syntax highlighted MDX without downloading any JavaScript to the client.

Colin Hemphill + the Bitly logo on an orange background with white text

An Announcement: My New Position at Bitly!

May 4, 2022

Colin has accepted a new position at Bitly as a Senior Front End Engineer! Thank you to The Zebra for all of the amazing experiences.

Four highlighter pens in various colors, and the pink highlighter has its cap removed

Fast Static Syntax Highlighting for Markdown in Next.js

January 4, 2022

Learn how to implement ultra-fast syntax highlighting for your Next.js application using MDX (Markdown) and Highlight.js or Prism!

A gloomy photo of a PlayStation 4 controller with strong shadows and subtle orange and green lighting

Colin’s Top 10 Video Games of 2021

August 31, 2021

Colin talks about 2021 in video games, and describes his top 10 from the year as well as honorable and dishonorable mentions.