The Desk — Edition 80
Welcome to the 80th issue of the Desk. The Desk is my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.
Welcome to the 80th 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.
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📝 New Blog Posts
This week’s posts content focused on travel intelligence and digital marketing:
Microsoft Outlines How Duplicate Content Impacts AI Search Visibility
Microsoft explains how duplicate and near-duplicate content affects AI-powered search visibility, including how LLMs select representative URLs, why duplication weakens signals, and how consolidation and IndexNow improve AI search outcomes.
Brandon Himpfen
Sam Altman Outlines OpenAI’s Long-Term Bet on Profitability
Sam Altman explains OpenAI’s long-term path to profitability, arguing that rising losses reflect aggressive investment in AI training and compute capacity as the company bets on sustained revenue growth from consumers and enterprises.
Brandon Himpfen
Brandon’s Curated Shortlist of Trips for Solo Travelers - Issue 9
Discover curated trips for solo travelers with Brandon’s Shortlist! Explore unique adventures, no/low single supplements, and destinations tailored for independent explorers. Your gateway to affordable, exciting solo travel experiences starts here.
Brandon Himpfen
“How much?!” Best Tips to Save Money at the Airport
Learn smart, practical ways to save money at the airport. From food and drinks to currency exchange, lounges, and transport, discover how to avoid overpriced traps and keep more cash for your actual trip.
Brandon Himpfen
Why Medical Language Matters for Solo Travelers (And Why We Built This)
Why medical language matters for solo travelers. Learn why we built Medical Travel Phrases to help travelers communicate symptoms, request care, and navigate medical situations abroad when language barriers and stress make communication difficult.
Brandon Himpfen
The Hidden Economics of Airfare: How Airlines Set Prices and What the Data Shows
Airfares change constantly, but the system behind them is highly structured. This data-driven guide explains how airlines set prices through demand forecasting, fare segmentation, capacity limits, and traveler behavior—and why flights cost what they do.
Brandon Himpfen
Travel Inflation Explained: Why Trips Cost More — and What the Data Shows
A data-driven explanation of why travel has become more expensive. Explore airfare trends, hotel pricing, demand shifts, labor dynamics, and global economic forces that are reshaping tourism costs and setting a new baseline for trip planning worldwide.
Brandon Himpfen
Stay tuned as I continue publishing more posts each week across Bold Outlook, Solo Traveler, Brandon Travel and Travel Bloggers Network.
📝 New Pages
The following is a list of new pages for my personal website and blog:
Open Source & Public Work
An overview of how and why I build open-source software, datasets, and public resources. Learn about my approach to open development, design principles, and long-term commitment to building practical, reusable projects.
Brandon Himpfen
Technology Stack
A technical overview of the languages, frameworks, tooling, and infrastructure used across my projects. Covers development stack choices, workflow principles, and a maintainability-first approach to open-source software and systems.
Brandon Himpfen
Updates
A running log of updates across open-source software, datasets, templates, and tools. Track new releases, major changes, and notable additions without digging through individual repositories.
Brandon Himpfen
My open source code page has been updated to focus on reusable web development libraries, templates, plugins and developer tooling, and have created a new page dedicated to my open source software projects:
Open Source Software
This page highlights my larger-scope software projects—including programming languages, developer platforms, command-line tools, and data-driven systems. These projects go beyond individual libraries and focus on solving broader technical or industry-level problems through open, extensible software. Featured Software Projects This section highlights larger-scope, open-source software projects that go beyond reusable
Brandon Himpfen
I have added two new work showcase pages:
Writing
Explore the full range of writing by Brandon Himpfen, including newsletters, articles, guides, essays, and open-source documentation. Discover work across travel, digital nomadism, blogging, SEO, AI, web development, and technology—all curated in one place.
Brandon Himpfen
Newsletters
Discover all newsletters by Brandon Himpfen, covering travel, digital nomadism, blogging, SEO, web development, and programming. Explore weekly and monthly publications across multiple platforms and subscribe to the topics that match your interests.
Brandon Himpfen
🏢 New GitHub Orgs
I launched one new GitHub organization to focus on crypto resources and analysis:
brandoncrypto
GitHub is where brandoncrypto 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 primarily apart of my Awesome Lists projects:
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-fintech: A curated list of platforms, APIs, tools, frameworks, standards, and learning resources for Financial Technology (FinTech).
A curated list of platforms, APIs, tools, frameworks, standards, and learning resources for Financial Technology (FinTech). - awesomelistsio/awesome-fintech
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-finance: A curated list of tools, platforms, datasets, libraries, research resources, and learning materials for finance.
A curated list of tools, platforms, datasets, libraries, research resources, and learning materials for finance. - awesomelistsio/awesome-finance
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-economics: A curated list of datasets, tools, models, institutions, and learning resources for economics.
A curated list of datasets, tools, models, institutions, and learning resources for economics. - awesomelistsio/awesome-economics
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-data-analytics: A curated list of tools, platforms, frameworks, and learning resources for data analytics.
A curated list of tools, platforms, frameworks, and learning resources for data analytics. - awesomelistsio/awesome-data-analytics
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-automl: A curated list of frameworks, platforms, tools, research, and learning resources for Automated Machine Learning (AutoML).
A curated list of frameworks, platforms, tools, research, and learning resources for Automated Machine Learning (AutoML). - awesomelistsio/awesome-automl
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-gitlab: A curated list of tools, features, integrations, workflows, and learning resources for GitLab.
A curated list of tools, features, integrations, workflows, and learning resources for GitLab. - awesomelistsio/awesome-gitlab
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-cicd: A curated list of tools, platforms, frameworks, practices, and learning resources for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD).
A curated list of tools, platforms, frameworks, practices, and learning resources for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CI/CD). - awesomelistsio/awesome-cicd
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-digitalocean: A curated list of tools, services, tutorials, integrations, and best practices for building, deploying, and scaling applications on DigitalOcean.
A curated list of tools, services, tutorials, integrations, and best practices for building, deploying, and scaling applications on DigitalOcean. - awesomelistsio/awesome-digitalocean
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-fortran: A curated list of compilers, libraries, tools, standards, numerical frameworks, and learning resources for Fortran.
A curated list of compilers, libraries, tools, standards, numerical frameworks, and learning resources for Fortran. - awesomelistsio/awesome-fortran
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-data-science: A curated list of tools, libraries, platforms, datasets, workflows, and learning resources for data science.
A curated list of tools, libraries, platforms, datasets, workflows, and learning resources for data science. - awesomelistsio/awesome-data-science
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-mathematics: A curated list of resources for mathematics, including theory, proofs, computational tools, datasets, open-source software, and learning materials.
A curated list of resources for mathematics, including theory, proofs, computational tools, datasets, open-source software, and learning materials. - awesomelistsio/awesome-mathematics
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-chemistry: A curated list of resources for chemistry, spanning theory, computation, laboratory tools, open datasets, cheminformatics, molecular modeling, and learning materials across organic, inorganic, physical, analytical, and materials chemistry.
A curated list of resources for chemistry, spanning theory, computation, laboratory tools, open datasets, cheminformatics, molecular modeling, and learning materials across organic, inorganic, phys…
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-physics: A curated list of resources for physics, including theory, simulation tools, computational frameworks, datasets, open-source software, and learning materials across classical, modern, and applied physics.
A curated list of resources for physics, including theory, simulation tools, computational frameworks, datasets, open-source software, and learning materials across classical, modern, and applied p…
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-audio-engineering: A curated list of tools, software, libraries, standards, hardware resources, workflows, and learning materials for audio engineering.
A curated list of tools, software, libraries, standards, hardware resources, workflows, and learning materials for audio engineering. - awesomelistsio/awesome-audio-engineering
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-flask: A curated list of extensions, tools, frameworks, boilerplates, and learning resources for building web applications and APIs with Flask.
A curated list of extensions, tools, frameworks, boilerplates, and learning resources for building web applications and APIs with Flask. - awesomelistsio/awesome-flask
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-zig: A curated list of tools, libraries, frameworks, compilers, build systems, learning resources, and real-world projects for Zig.
A curated list of tools, libraries, frameworks, compilers, build systems, learning resources, and real-world projects for Zig. - awesomelistsio/awesome-zig
awesomelistsio
I regularly publish new GitHub repos, so please ensure to follow my GitHub and or my GitHub orgs for the latest.
📚 Recommended Reading
Here are a few standout articles and blog posts I recommend checking out this week:
Disney signs deal with OpenAI to allow Sora to generate AI videos featuring its characters | TechCrunch
Disney says that alongside the agreement, it will “become a major customer of OpenAI,” as it will use its APIs to build new products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney+.
Aisha Malik
Instagram supercharges creation and feed control with new Edits app features and “Your Algorithm”
Instagram is doubling down on user empowerment with two major fronts: creator-centric upgrades to its Edits video app and a new “Your Algorithm” feature that lets users tune their Reels feed.
Shikhar Mehrotra
With iOS 26.2, Apple lets you roll back Liquid Glass again — this time on the Lock Screen | TechCrunch
Your iPhone clock doesn’t have to be so “glassy” anymore, thanks to a new Apple software update.
Sarah Perez
Data breach at credit check giant 700Credit affects at least 5.6 million | TechCrunch
700Credit, a company that runs credit checks and identity verification services for auto dealerships across the U.S., had a data breach that allowed a hacker to steal names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers.
Zack Whittaker
Exclusive: Home Depot exposed access to internal systems for a year, says researcher
A security researcher tried to alert Home Depot to the security lapse exposing its back-end GitHub source code repos and other internal cloud systems, but was ignored.
Zack Whittaker
Stripe digs deeper into crypto
The digital payments player bought a crypto-focused digital wallet, and its Privy unit has joined with Klarna to develop a crypto wallet.
Patrick Cooley
OpenAI are quietly adopting skills, now available in ChatGPT and Codex CLI
One of the things that most excited me about Anthropic’s new Skills mechanism back in October is how easy it looked for other platforms to implement. A skill is just …
Simon Willison
Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it’s obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more vague and harder to interpret.
Juli Clover
Barclays Sees ‘Down-Year’ for Crypto in 2026 Without Big Catalysts
Spot trading volumes are cooling, and investor enthusiasm is fading amid a lack of structural growth drivers, analysts wrote in a new report.
Helene Braun
Fake OSINT and GPT Utility GitHub Repos Spread PyStoreRAT Malware Payloads
PyStoreRAT spreads via fake GitHub tools using small Python or JavaScript loaders to fetch HTA files and install a modular RAT.
The Hacker News
Stablecoin uncertainty continues as South Korean regulator misses government deadline
Financial Services Commission was told to meet a December 10 deadline. Central bank wants a veto over issuance approvals, regulator says no. Row about whether big tech firms can issue stablecoins continues.
Tim Alper
Experts found an unsecured 16TB database containing 4.3B professional records
An open 16TB database exposed 4.3B professional records. It was unsecured and only closed after researchers alerted the owner.
Pierluigi Paganini
Featured Chrome Browser Extension Caught Intercepting Millions of Users’ AI Chats
Urban VPN extensions collect AI prompts, responses, and browsing data from millions through hidden code.
The Hacker News
Anthropic preparing new Agentic Tasks Mode for Claude
Anthropic testing Claude’s Agent mode with a new interface for tasks, to introduce new modes for research, analysis, writing, and building.
Alexey Shabanov
Disney’s OpenAI deal is exclusive for just one year -- then it’s open season | TechCrunch
After the one year is up, Disney is free to sign similar deals with other AI companies.
Aisha Malik
NVIDIA Debuts Nemotron 3 Family of Open Models
The Nemotron 3 family of open models — in Nano, Super and Ultra sizes — introduces the most efficient family of open models with leading accuracy for building agentic AI applications.
Prompt Injection Inside GitHub Actions: The New Frontier of Supply Chain Attacks
AI-driven GitHub Actions expose new prompt-injection supply chain vulnerabilities.
Rein Daelman
Google releases Gemini 3 Flash, promising improved intelligence and efficiency
Google’s Gemini 3 family is now complete with release of Gemini 3 Flash.
Ryan Whitwam
OpenAI opens ChatGPT to third-party apps via its Platform
OpenAI now lets developers submit third-party apps for listing in ChatGPT, opening a global path for tools to become usable directly inside ChatGPT.
Alexey Shabanov
OpenAI launches new GPT Image 1.5 model optimized for image editing - SiliconANGLE
OpenAI launches new GPT Image 1.5 model optimized for image editing - SiliconANGLE
Maria Deutscher
New BMW logo sparks debate as first IRL photos appear online
See the new vs old designs.
Georgia Coggan
Visa Launches USDC Settlement in the US - Finovate
Visa has launched USDC stablecoin settlement in the US, enabling issuers and acquirers to settle transactions in Circle’s dollar-denominated stablecoin using blockchain infrastructure.
Julie Muhn (julieschicktanz)
TikTok signs agreement to create new U.S. joint venture, memo says
TikTok’s U.S. operations will be housed in a new joint venture, according to a memo sent to employees by CEO Shou Zi Chew.
Jonathan Vanian,Julia Boorstin
These are curated for developers, creators, travelers, and digital professionals — with an eye on quality and depth.
Thanks for reading The Desk — Edition 80! If you found something valuable, feel free to share it or subscribe to keep up with future updates.
