The Desk — Edition 79
Welcome to the 79th issue of the Desk. The Desk is my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.
Welcome to the 79th 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.
SPONSOR
Introducing Takeoff by IXL
The breakthrough core curriculum intentionally designed for differentiation.
Takeoff is the first and only core program that makes it possible to continuously provide differentiated learning.
📝 New Blog Posts
This week’s posts content focused on travel intelligence and digital marketing:
Google Pilots Social Channel Insights in Search Console
Google is testing a new Search Console feature that shows how social media profiles perform in Google Search, offering unified metrics for reach, queries, and content trends across web and social channels.
Brandon Himpfen
Google Disputes Report Claiming Ads Are Coming to Gemini in 2026
Google is disputing a report claiming ads will appear in the Gemini AI chatbot in 2026, stating there are no current plans to monetize the app. The company continues to test ad placements in other AI-powered search experiences.
Brandon Himpfen
Google Begins Rollout of December 2025 Core Search Update
Google has begun rolling out its December 2025 core search update, the third of the year. The update affects rankings globally and may take up to three weeks to complete, following earlier core updates in March and June.
Brandon Himpfen
The Geography of Flight: Why Some Routes Exist — and Others Never Will
A data-driven look at the geography of flight, exploring how aircraft range, great-circle routes, airspace rights, airline strategy, and global geography determine why certain flight paths exist and why others remain impossible. Updated with the latest aviation insights.
Brandon Himpfen
How Digital Nomad Visas Are Changing Global Mobility: A Data-Centric Overview
A data-driven analysis of how digital nomad visas are reshaping global mobility. Explore growth trends, income thresholds, regional patterns, aviation effects, and demographic shifts behind one of the fastest-expanding long-stay travel categories in the world.
Brandon Himpfen
Travel Journaling Tips: Old School and New Apps
Travel journaling brings your adventures to life. Explore the benefits of old school notebooks and modern journaling apps, plus tips for writing meaningful entries that capture every moment of your journey.
Brandon Himpfen
Stay tuned as I continue publishing more posts each week across Bold Outlook, Solo Traveler, Brandon Travel and Travel Bloggers Network.
🏢 New GitHub Orgs
I launched four new GitHub organization to focus on This Week In newsletters:
typescriptweekly
GitHub is where typescriptweekly builds software.
morningstack
morningstack has one repository available. Follow their code on GitHub.
uxcopyweekly
uxcopyweekly has one repository available. Follow their code on GitHub.
phpweekly
GitHub is where phpweekly builds software.
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 - brandontravel/awesome-list: Template to create your own awesome travel list.
Template to create your own awesome travel list. Contribute to brandontravel/awesome-list development by creating an account on GitHub.
brandontravel
GitHub - boldoutlook/boldoutlook.xyz
Contribute to boldoutlook/boldoutlook.xyz development by creating an account on GitHub.
boldoutlook
GitHub - brandonhimpfen/himpfen.xyz
Contribute to brandonhimpfen/himpfen.xyz development by creating an account on GitHub.
brandonhimpfen
This Week In, a collection of weekly technology and digital-related newsletters, now has a new website. More existing announcements regarding This Week In coming at the end of this month!
GitHub - thisweekinio/thisweekin.io
Contribute to thisweekinio/thisweekin.io development by creating an account on GitHub.
thisweekinio
I will be launching a new product that will provide travel bloggers with their own page - think of a mix between about.me and linktree:
GitHub - travelbloggersnetwork/travelbloggers.xyz
Contribute to travelbloggersnetwork/travelbloggers.xyz development by creating an account on GitHub.
travelbloggersnetwork
Awesome Lists has several new lists - my goal is to reach 250 by the end of 2025:
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-lua: A curated list of Lua libraries, frameworks, tools, game engines, runtimes, and learning resources.
A curated list of Lua libraries, frameworks, tools, game engines, runtimes, and learning resources. - awesomelistsio/awesome-lua
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-matlab: A curated list of MATLAB tools, toolboxes, libraries, open-source alternatives, learning material, and ecosystem resources.
A curated list of MATLAB tools, toolboxes, libraries, open-source alternatives, learning material, and ecosystem resources. - awesomelistsio/awesome-matlab
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-c: A curated list of C libraries, frameworks, compilers, tooling, utilities, learning resources, and ecosystem components.
A curated list of C libraries, frameworks, compilers, tooling, utilities, learning resources, and ecosystem components. - awesomelistsio/awesome-c
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-php: A curated list of PHP frameworks, libraries, tools, CMS platforms, best practices, and learning resources.
A curated list of PHP frameworks, libraries, tools, CMS platforms, best practices, and learning resources. - awesomelistsio/awesome-php
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-laravel: A curated list of Laravel packages, tools, resources, tutorials, boilerplates, and ecosystem components.
A curated list of Laravel packages, tools, resources, tutorials, boilerplates, and ecosystem components. - awesomelistsio/awesome-laravel
awesomelistsio
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: A collection of awesome lists that are about a variety of different topics.
A collection of awesome lists that are about a variety of different topics. - awesomelistsio/awesome
awesomelistsio
Awesome Travel (previously Awesome Lists for Travelers) has been updated to include the travel category from the Awesome Lists project:
GitHub - brandontravel/awesome: A collection of awesome travel-related lists.
A collection of awesome travel-related lists. Contribute to brandontravel/awesome development by creating an account on GitHub.
brandontravel
GitHub - brandontravel/awesome.brandontravel.com
Contribute to brandontravel/awesome.brandontravel.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
brandontravel
GitHub - brandontravel/awesome-list-country: A curated list of resources, guides, tools, and communities for [describe your target audience, e.g. solo travelers / digital nomads / budget travelers] in [Region or Country].
A curated list of resources, guides, tools, and communities for [describe your target audience, e.g. solo travelers / digital nomads / budget travelers] in [Region or Country]. - brandontravel/awes…
brandontravel
I'm happy to announce the version 2.0 of HTML Template has been released!
GitHub - brandonhimpfen/html-template: A professional HTML template designed to help build fast, robust, and adaptable websites.
A professional HTML template designed to help build fast, robust, and adaptable websites. - brandonhimpfen/html-template
brandonhimpfen
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:
Introducing AWS Lambda Managed Instances: Serverless simplicity with EC2 flexibility | Amazon Web Services
Run Lambda functions on EC2 compute while maintaining serverless simplicity—enabling access to specialized hardware and cost optimizations through EC2 pricing models, with AWS handling all infrastructure management.
Pantone crowns ‘Cloud Dancer’ as its Colour of the Year 2026, inviting creatives to breathe again
As the world gets louder, Pantone has turned down the volume. Its choice of hue for the next 12 months is a gentle white that encourages reflection, balance and the space to imagine again. Pantone…
Katy Cowan
Popular AI Generator Exposed Over One Million Images Including DeepFakes and Nudify Face Swaps
Jeremiah Fowler is an experienced cybersecurity researcher, journalist, and privacy advocate. With over a decade in the field, he has uncovered and responsibly reported some of the largest data breaches and has helped protect the personal data of millions of individuals, companies, and governmental organizations worldwide. His commitment to privacy, transparency, and data protection are reflected in his reporting and offering real world examples of why data privacy is important and how companies and individuals can be aware of potential risks.
Jeremiah Fowler
Petco confirms security lapse exposed customers’ personal data | TechCrunch
The pet company has published almost no details about what happened, who was affected, and what personal data was exposed.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
YouTube star MrBeast is moving into financial services
MrBeast’s company confirmed it’s looking to launch a financial services platform, confirming earlier reporting by Business Insider.
Lucia Moses
Meta acquires AI device startup Limitless | TechCrunch
Limitless said it shares Meta’s vision of bringing personal superintelligence to everyone.
Sarah Perez
Exclusive: Google set to launch Gemini Nano Banana 2 Flash
Google is preparing to launch Nano Banana 2 Flash within Gemini, offering similar performance to the Pro model at lower costs for broader accessibility.
MarsEverythingTech
Google to launch first of its AI glasses in 2026
That includes the first of Google’s AI glasses in partnership with Warby Parker.
Jaures Yip
The new CNBC logo is the most controversial rebrand since Cracker Barrel
The reactions are scathing.
Joe Foley
Facebook’s redesign is making it more like Instagram
Meta wants to help users “cut through the clutter.”
Jay Peters
Over 70 Domains Used in Months-Long Phishing Spree Against US Universities
Follow us on Bluesky, Twitter (X), Mastodon and Facebook at @Hackread
Deeba Ahmed
iPhone 18 leak says Face ID moving under-display next year - 9to5Mac
A new leak on Weibo corroborates what we’ve heard before: under-display Face ID is planned for the iPhone 18 line.
Ryan Christoffel
Instagram Is Generating Inaccurate SEO Bait for Your Posts
Instagram is generating headlines for Instagram posts that appear on Google Search results. Users say they are misrepresenting them.
Emanuel Maiberg
OpenAI testing new Image-2 models on LM Arena
OpenAI is set to debut new image generation models, Image-2 and Image-2-mini, promising higher detail and colour accuracy for ChatGPT and creative tools.
Alexey Shabanov
Google Photos launches new video editing tools | TechCrunch
Google Photos’ new update helps make editing video reels in the app quicker, such as new templates that already add music and text to clips.
Lauren Forristal
Instagram’s design tweak opens a massive can of worms
People are mad about a much bigger problem.
Georgia Coggan
Shopify merchants can now sell products through AI chatbots | BetaKit
The update was announced in the winter Shopify Editions newsletter alongside more than 150 other product updates.
Alex Riehl
OpenAI releases GPT-5.2 after “code red” Google threat alert
Company claims new AI model tops Gemini and matches humans on 70% of work tasks.
Benj Edwards
These are curated for developers, creators, travelers, and digital professionals — with an eye on quality and depth.
Thanks for reading The Desk — Edition 79! If you found something valuable, feel free to share it or subscribe to keep up with future updates.
