The Desk — Edition 77

Welcome to the 77th 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 travel and digital marketing:

Prepare Your Home for Vacation: Ultimate Checklist for Solo Travelers

Prepare your home for vacation with this ultimate checklist for solo travelers. Learn essential safety steps, money-saving tips, and smart ways to set up your home for a smooth, stress-free return.

Solo TravelerBrandon Himpfen

YouTube Remains the Most Widely Used Social Platform as Usage Patterns Shift Across the U.S.

New Pew data shows YouTube and Facebook remain the most widely used social platforms in the U.S., while TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Reddit continue steady growth. Daily usage and demographic trends highlight shifting social media behaviors.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Adobe Announces $1.9 Billion Agreement to Acquire Semrush

Adobe will acquire Semrush in a $1.9B all-cash deal, expanding its Experience Cloud with leading SEO and AI-driven visibility tools. The acquisition brings Semrush’s search, GEO, and competitive intelligence capabilities into Adobe’s marketing stack.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Expands AI Travel Planning and Booking Features in Search

Google is expanding AI-powered travel tools in Search with Canvas itinerary planning, global Flight Deals, and broader agentic booking. The updates deepen Google’s move toward end-to-end trip planning and reservations inside AI Mode.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Announces Major Improvements to Ads Account Suspension Accuracy and Appeal Speed

Google has introduced major improvements to its Ads enforcement system, reducing incorrect suspensions by over 80% and speeding up appeal reviews. Advertisers can now expect faster resolutions, clearer guidance, and greater stability across campaigns.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Google Clarifies Review Snippet Guidance: Use a Single Review Target

Google updated its review snippet documentation to clarify that each review or rating must link to one clear target. The change highlights common schema errors that create ambiguous relationships and offers guidance for improving structured data accuracy.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Meta Projects ~$16 B in Revenue from Scam and Illicit Ads, Internal Documents Show

Internal Meta documents reviewed by Reuters reveal up to 10% of Meta’s 2024 ad revenue — about $16 billion — may come from scam and banned-goods ads. The report raises questions about Meta’s enforcement limits, advertiser risk, and regulatory scrutiny.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

Robots.txt Deep Dive: Advanced Configurations for Complex Websites

Gain full control of your site’s crawl behavior with this in-depth technical guide to advanced robots.txt configurations. Learn how to optimize crawl budgets, manage complex architectures, and orchestrate search and AI crawler access at scale.

Bold OutlookBrandon Himpfen

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

New GitHub Orgs

I launched three new GitHub organization to focus on This Week In newsletters:

rubyweekly

GitHub is where rubyweekly builds software.

GitHub

golangweekly

GitHub is where golangweekly builds software.

GitHub

javascriptweekly

GitHub is where javascriptweekly 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 - travelbloggersnetwork/static

Contribute to travelbloggersnetwork/static development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubtravelbloggersnetwork

GitHub - boldoutlook/static

Contribute to boldoutlook/static development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldoutlook

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 - boldblogging/.github

Contribute to boldblogging/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldblogging

GitHub - bolddrones/.github

Contribute to bolddrones/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbolddrones

GitHub - boldgrowth/.github

Contribute to boldgrowth/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldgrowth

GitHub - brandonthemes/.github

Contribute to brandonthemes/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbrandonthemes

GitHub - brandondatasets/.github

Contribute to brandondatasets/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbrandondatasets

GitHub - awesomelistsio/.github

Contribute to awesomelistsio/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubawesomelistsio

GitHub - brandonhimpfenmedia/.github

Contribute to brandonhimpfenmedia/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubbrandonhimpfenmedia

GitHub - boldoutlook/.github: GitHub repo defaults.

GitHub repo defaults. Contribute to boldoutlook/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldoutlook

GitHub - brandonhimpfen/.github: GitHub repo defaults.

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

GitHubbrandonhimpfen

GitHub - boldnomads/.github

Contribute to boldnomads/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldnomads

GitHub - boldsearch/.github

Contribute to boldsearch/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldsearch

GitHub - boldmktg/.github

Contribute to boldmktg/.github development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubboldmktg

GitHub - bhpub/.github

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

GitHubbhpub

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:

Source: Kalshi’s valuation jumps to $11B after raising massive $1B round | TechCrunch

The quickly growing prediction betting market raised fresh capital from Sequoia and CapitalG, according to someone familiar with the deal.

TechCrunchMarina Temkin

Iberia discloses customer data leak after vendor security breach

Spanish flag carrier Iberia has begun notifying customers of a data security incident stemming from a compromise at one of its suppliers. The disclosure comes days after a threat actor claimed on hacker forums to have access to 77 GB of data allegedly stolen from the airline.

BleepingComputerAx Sharma

Grafana Patches CVSS 10.0 SCIM Flaw Enabling Impersonation and Privilege Escalation

Grafana fixes CVSS 10.0 SCIM flaw that enabled user impersonation and privilege escalation in versions 12.x.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

Google Starts to Bridge OpenAI’s Product Moat

Gemini’s “Dynamic View” is a terrible name for a profound product…

SpyglassM.G. Siegler

Google DeepMind Hires Former CTO of Boston Dynamics as the Company Pushes Deeper Into Robotics

DeepMind’s chief says he envisions Gemini as an operating system for physical robots. The company has hired Aaron Saunders to help make that a reality.

WIREDWill Knight

Capital One joins FedNow

The bank signed up for the Federal Reserve’s real-time payments system this week, leaving just two of the eight largest U.S. retail banks that have not.

Banking DiveLynne Marek

TamperedChef Malware Spreads via Fake Software Installers in Ongoing Global Campaign

TamperedChef spreads through fake installers and SEO abuse, delivering a persistent JavaScript backdoor across multiple sectors.

The Hacker NewsThe Hacker News

WhatsApp Security Flaw Exposes 3.5 Billion Users’ Data From ‘Basic Publicly Available Information’

A major WhatsApp vulnerability let researchers access 3.5 billion phone numbers, profile photos, and texts, alarming users about their privacy.

Tech TimesJose Enrico

W3 Total Cache WordPress plugin vulnerable to PHP command injection

A critical flaw in the W3 Total Cache (W3TC) WordPress plugin can be exploited to run PHP commands on the server by posting a comment that contains a malicious payload.

BleepingComputerBill Toulas

RondoDox botnet malware now hacks servers using XWiki flaw

The RondoDox botnet malware is now exploiting a critical remote code execution (RCE) flaw in XWiki Platform tracked as CVE-2025-24893.

BleepingComputerBill Toulas

Android Quick Share now works with AirDrop on iPhone, starting on Pixel 10

Google announced today that Android’s Quick Share now works with Apple’s AirDrop system on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac to…

9to5GoogleAbner Li

Salesforce flags another third-party security incident

: They keep coming back for more

The RegisterJessica Lyons

Eurofiber admits crooks swiped data from French unit

: Regulator reports suggest telco was extorted, but company remains coy as to whether it paid

The RegisterConnor Jones

El Salvador’s latest $100M Bitcoin haul rekindles questions around IMF program

El Salvador’s acquisition of 1,090 BTC underscores the clash between its stated Bitcoin strategy and its pledge to the IMF to halt additions to its holdings.

CointelegraphAdrian Zmudzinski

White House weighs IRS bid to tax foreign crypto accounts via CARF

The White House is reviewing a proposal from the IRS requesting that the US join CARF, an international crypto tax reporting system established to combat tax evasion.

CointelegraphBrayden Lindrea

EchoGram Flaw Bypasses Guardrails in Major LLMs

Follow us on Bluesky, Twitter (X), Mastodon and Facebook at @Hackread

Hackread - Cybersecurity News, Data Breaches, Tech, AI, Crypto and MoreDeeba Ahmed

Testing shows Apple N1 Wi-Fi chip improves on older Broadcom chips in every way

Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi chip doesn’t set records, but it’s a reliable performer.

Ars TechnicaAndrew Cunningham

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

Thanks for reading The Desk — Edition 77! If you found something valuable, feel free to share it or subscribe to keep up with future updates.