The Desk — Edition 75

Welcome to the 75th issue of The Desk — my weekly roundup of newly published content, project updates, and recommendations. Whether you’re following along for tutorials, blog posts, GitHub projects, or curated reads, there’s something for everyone building or exploring in tech, content, and open-source spaces.

New Blog Posts

This week’s posts content focused on solo travelers and digital marketing:

A Simple, 3-Step Method to Enrich Your Travels

Discover a simple 3-step method to make every trip more meaningful. Learn how to prepare before you go, engage deeply at your destination, and continue learning after you return to turn every journey into a transformative travel experience.

Solo TravelerBrandon Himpfen

How to Craft Travel Blog Posts That Brands Love to Sponsor

Learn how to write sponsored travel blog posts that brands want to collaborate on. Align goals, add value, and measure success step-by-step.

Travel Bloggers NetworkBrandon Himpfen

YouTube Adds Separate Filters for Organic and Paid Metrics in Channel Analytics

YouTube now separates organic and paid metrics in Analytics, letting creators analyze unpaid and promoted content independently. The update clarifies that ads don’t affect organic reach and offers clearer insight into content and campaign performance.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Boosts Performance Max with Waze Ads Integration and Enhanced Channel Reporting

Google expanded Performance Max with Waze ad placements for U.S. store-goal campaigns and introduced enhanced channel performance reporting, giving advertisers greater transparency into where ads run and how each channel drives store visits and conversions.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Issues Advisory: Audit Tool Scores Are Not Definitive Indicators for Technical SEO

Google cautions against relying on SEO audit tool scores, urging site owners to prioritize context and expert analysis. Martin Splitt outlines a three-step framework focused on identifying real technical issues, understanding site context, and making impactful recommendations.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Perplexity and Snap Announce $400 Million Partnership to Integrate AI Search Into Snapchat

Perplexity AI partners with Snap in a $400 million deal to integrate its conversational answer engine into Snapchat, reaching 943 million users and signaling a new phase of AI search adoption through messaging platforms.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Deprecates Practice Problem Structured Data in Search

Google is removing support for practice problem structured data in January 2026 as part of efforts to simplify Search. The change affects Search Console reports, the Rich Results Test, and structured data documentation.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Chrome to Warn Users Before Loading HTTP Sites Starting Next Year

Google Chrome will enable “Always Use Secure Connections” by default in October 2026, warning users before loading non-HTTPS sites. The update aims to close remaining web security gaps as HTTPS adoption plateaus around 95–99%.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Highlights Role of Digital PR in AI-Driven Search Recommendations

Google Search VP Robby Stein explains how AI search evaluates businesses, noting that PR mentions can help AI systems discover brands. He emphasizes that helpful, authoritative content and multimodal awareness remain key to ranking in the AI era.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Q3 Earnings: AI Features Drive Search Growth and Record Revenue

Google’s Q3 2025 earnings highlight record revenue and rising search usage driven by AI Mode and AI Overviews. CEO Sundar Pichai says AI is expanding search engagement, not replacing it, as Alphabet invests heavily in Gemini and AI-powered search infrastructure.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Stay tuned as I continue publishing more posts each week across Bold Outlook, Solo Traveler and Travel Bloggers Network.

New Newsletter Issues

Published several new newsletter issues as part of This Week In:

Golang Weekly Issue 159

Welcome to the 159th issue of Golang Weekly, a weekly newsletter about the Go programming language.

Golang WeeklyThis Week In I/O

Python Weekly Issue 146

Welcome to the 146th issue of Python Weekly, a weekly newsletter about the Python programming language.

Python WeeklyThis Week In I/O

Node Weekly Issue 149

Node Weekly Issue 149th issue of Node Weekly, a free weekly e-mail round-up of Node.js news and articles.

Node WeeklyThis Week In I/O

JavaScript Weekly Issue 152

Welcome to the 152nd issue of JavaScript Weekly, a weekly newsletter of JavaScript articles, news and cool projects.

JS WeeklyThis Week In I/O

React Weekly Issue 151

Welcome to the 151st issue of React Weekly, weekly roundup of the latest React and React Native links and tutorials.

React WeeklyThis Week In I/O

Ruby Weekly Issue 154

Welcome to the 154th issue of Ruby Weekly, a free weekly e-mail round-up of Ruby news and articles.

Ruby WeeklyThis Week In I/O

New GitHub Orgs

I launched a new GitHub organization to focus on my research papers, books and other digital publications:

bhpub

bhpub has 3 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.

GitHub

I launched three new GitHub organizations focused on artificial intelligence (AI):

luminaresearch

GitHub is where luminaresearch builds software.

GitHub

packagedai

GitHub is where packagedai builds software.

GitHub

cpgintelligence

GitHub is where cpgintelligence builds software.

GitHub

These are all part of my broader GitHub ecosystem (e.g., BrandonTravel, Bold Outlook, AwesomeListsIO). Contributions welcome!

New GitHub Repos

Here are a collection of brand new GitHub repos:

GitHub - bhpub/book

Contribute to bhpub/book development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbhpub

GitHub - bhpub/research-paper

Contribute to bhpub/research-paper development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbhpub

I regularly publish new GitHub repos, so please ensure to follow my GitHub and or my GitHub orgs for the latest.

Updated GitHub Repos

Here are notable updates to existing GitHub repositories:

GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-ghost: A curated list of awesome resources, themes, plugins, and tools for the Ghost blogging platform.

A curated list of awesome resources, themes, plugins, and tools for the Ghost blogging platform. - awesomelistsio/awesome-ghost

GitHubawesomelistsio

GitHub - brandonhimpfen/brandonhimpfen

Contribute to brandonhimpfen/brandonhimpfen development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbrandonhimpfen

I’m constantly improving my GitHub repositories to make them more useful for both contributors and end users.

Recommended Reading

Here are a few standout articles and blog posts I recommend checking out this week:

Samsung Mobile Flaw Exploited as Zero-Day to Deploy LANDFALL Android Spyware

LANDFALL spyware exploited a Samsung Galaxy flaw (CVE-2025-21042) via WhatsApp images before April 2025 patch.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

OpenAI readies GPT-5.1 Thinking model ahead of Gemini 3 Pro

GPT-5.1 Thinking debuts on ChatGPT with refined multi-step reasoning and variant models amid competitive pressures before Gemini 3 Pro.

TestingCatalogAlexey Shabanov

Hyundai AutoEver America data breach exposes SSNs, drivers licenses

Hyundai AutoEver America is notifying individuals that hackers breached the company’s IT environment and gained access to personal information.

BleepingComputerBill Toulas

Malicious Android apps on Google Play downloaded 42 million times

Hundreds of malicious Android apps on Google Play were downloaded more than 40 million times between June 2024 and May 2025, notes a report from cloud security company Zscaler.

BleepingComputerBill Toulas

TPU v7, Google’s answer to Nvidia’s Blackwell is nearly here

: Chocolate Factory’s homegrown silicon boasts Blackwell-level perf at massive scale

The RegisterTobias Mann

Ripple Acquires Palisade to Bolster Crypto Custody Capabilities - Finovate

Crypto solutions provider for businesses, Ripple has announced its acquisition of digital asset wallet and custody company, Palisade.

FinovateDavid Penn

Google plans to release Gemini 3 Pro Preview in November

Gemini 3 Pro in VertexAI code signals a November reveal with a 1M token context window for diverse use cases.

TestingCatalogAlexey Shabanov

Google Gemini’s Deep Research can look into your emails, drive, and chats

More AI in more Google products.

The VergeElissa Welle

Critical React Native CLI Flaw Exposed Millions of Developers to Remote Attacks

A 9.8-severity flaw in React Native CLI let attackers run OS commands remotely before Meta’s patch.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

Google Uncovers PROMPTFLUX Malware That Uses Gemini AI to Rewrite Its Code Hourly

Google discovers PROMPTFLUX malware using Gemini AI to rewrite and hide its code for smarter evasion.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

U.S. Government Shutdown Stretches to Record 36 Days, Still Risks Derailing Crypto Bill

Market structure legislation could still see movement this year, but likely won’t become law before 2026.

CoinDeskNikhilesh De

Researchers warn of flaws that allow manipulation of Microsoft Teams messages

A report by Check Point shows hackers could forge identities and alter messages.

Cybersecurity DiveDavid Jones

Anthropic projects $70B in revenue by 2028: Report | TechCrunch

The Information reports that Anthropic expects to generate as much as $70 billion in revenue and $17 billion in cash flow in 2028. The growth projections are fueled by rapid adoption of Anthropic’s business products, a person with knowledge of the company’s financials said.

TechCrunchRebecca Bellan

OpenAI’s Sora Video Generator App Finally Available on Android

OpenAI has finally launched its viral Sora AI video generation app on Android, enabling hyperrealistic creations and remixes.

Android HeadlinesJean Leon

Google is preparing Nano Banana 2 for the upcoming release

Google prepares GEMPIX 2 from the Nano Banana lineup with Gemini UI announcement cards signalling a launch next week.

TestingCatalogAlexey Shabanov

Operation SkyCloak Deploys Tor-Enabled OpenSSH Backdoor Targeting Defense Sectors

Researchers reveal Operation SkyCloak, a Tor-powered OpenSSH backdoor targeting defense networks through phishing.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

Inside India’s voyeur web: 80 CCTV dashboards hacked across 20 states; hospitals, schools, homes streamed to porn channels; 50,000 clips sold | Rajkot News - The Times of India

A shocking cyber scandal has exposed widespread CCTV breaches across India, with hackers exploiting a default password, \“admin123,\” to access intimate

The Times Of IndiaTNN

CISA: High-severity Linux flaw now exploited by ransomware gangs

CISA confirmed on Thursday that a high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the Linux kernel is now being exploited in ransomware attacks.

BleepingComputerSergiu Gatlan

Android Apps misusing NFC and HCE to steal payment data on the rise

Zimperium zLabs found 760+ Android apps abusing NFC and HCE to steal payment data, showing a surge in NFC relay fraud since April 2024.

Security AffairsPierluigi Paganini

Affirm gets boost from New York Life with $750 million loan deal

Affirm has secured similar funding lines with Liberty Mutual Investments, PGIM, and Sixth Street Partners, a trend across the buy-now-pay-later sector.

CNBCMacKenzie Sigalos

Wealthsimple hits $10-billion valuation in new round backed by Dragoneer, GIC, CPP Investments

Toronto-based FinTech firm Wealthsimple has announced that it has signed an equity round of up to $750 million CAD at a post-money valuation of $10 billion.

BetaKitJosh Scott

EU mulls SEC-like oversight for stock, crypto exchanges to bolster startup landscape

The EU is considering transferring crypto and financial sector oversight to the ESMA, following the SEC’s model in the US, aiming to bolster capital markets for emerging startups.

CointelegraphZoltan Vardai

These are curated for developers, creators, travelers, and digital professionals — with an eye on quality and depth.

Thanks for reading The Desk — Edition 75! If you found something valuable, feel free to share it or subscribe to keep up with future updates.