Vibe coding an ad free TV viewing experience

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Vibe coding an ad free TV viewing experience

6 November 2026

Vibe coded apps are improving the TV viewing experience by doing away with adverts, removing bloatware from the device, and blocking tracking apps, enhancing viewer privacy in the process, says John Higgins, writing for The Verge.

Maybe now we can settle into an evening of watching some TV, without being watched by the TV.

AI the elephant in room as Canva announces large staff layoffs

5 November 2026

The Australian founded graphic design platform says it plans to retrench almost a quarter of its global workforce. Canva CEO Melanie Perkins refrained however from attributing the job losses to AI, instead citing “new technology” as the cause:

New technology is transforming what people can create, how they create it, and what they expect from the products they use.

Terrible news for about twelve-hundred Canva employees, as the company looks to consolidate operations to its Sydney base, and compel those who remain to spend more time in the office. The terms for departing staff seem as reasonable as can be expected under the circumstances, and include an incentive to start their own companies:

Departing staff will receive at least six months’ salary, 12 months of healthcare where Canva provides it, and they can keep their work MacBooks. They can also apply for $US10,000 grants to start their own ventures.

Starting a new venture isn’t a half bad idea in this environment, as I fear what happened at Canva yesterday may become commonplace. It seems a stretch, but there may be more job security doing your own thing rather than working somewhere that will repeatedly restructure and downsize.

When Reddit gives you login screens, go back to the open web

4 November 2026

CEO of social news aggregator Reddit, Steve Huffman:

This is a big change for Reddit, where we’ve allowed logged-out access to basically all of Reddit for the last two decades. And I don’t know about you, but as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, it’s a big change for me. But I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business.

The results of one search engine in particular seem to, or did, rely heavily on the masses of content published at Reddit. But soon, anyone wanting to verify that information will need to login to Reddit.

That’s probably not too difficult though. But there is an opportunity here for actual pundits of the open web, who publish quality content on their website/blog, that isn’t hidden behind a login screen.

Just as well-written blogs can counter AI slop, they can also keep the web open, truly open.

Yes, there’s an inordinate quantity of information dwelling within Reddit. But there are also bloggers who loath login screens and walled gardens, and are passionate about the open web.

The end of internet, and what comes next

3 November 2026

Ben Thompson, writing at Stratechery:

My life is defined by the Internet: I witnessed and participated in its evolution, and maybe in some small way contributed to it; I certainly owe my livelihood and success to it. I bemoan its passing.

A thought provoking read. It’s strange to think I may not be doing what I’ve been doing in this space since 1997 for much longer, or what I might be doing going forward will be quite different.

RELATED CONTENT

open web, technology, trends

Apple Duo hinge designed with AI help. That must be why there is a problem

30 October 2026

Lucas Ropek, writing for Techcrunch, quoting Johny Srouji, Chief Hardware Officer, at Apple:

During manufacturing, we use AI algorithms to precisely match each individual hinge with its best-fit housing to ensure perfect alignment, and a confocal laser progressively scans the topology of every single unit and 3D prints up to 25 micro layers of a custom photopolymer to eliminate residual waviness.

But since launching, some users of the the foldable phone, called Duo, have reported the appearance of cracks in the screen, above the location of the centre hinge. So far, only a small number of people are having a problem.

Frank Landymore, writing for Futurism, suggests the cause of the fault may have been isolated:

In light of that fiasco, now feels like a good time to bring up how the hinge was designed: with the help of AI.

Srouji did say AI algorithms were used during manufacture, not design. I doubt Apple “vibe designed” the Duo’s hinge. If AI played any part in the design process, that was possibly in assessing a vast array of hinges, so the best possible hinge could be developed.

Some people reviewing the folding phone subjected the hinge to rigorous testing. Joanna Stern, for instance, used a custom made device to open and close the phone more than thirty-two thousand times, over the course of four nights, but reported no problems.

A Linux smartphone: a viable alternative to iPhone and Android?

29 October 2026

The idea of a Linux smartphone has been simmering for several years. There have been a few obstacles along the path, but such a device is somewhat more possible now, than previously.

To fly, the l-Phone — could I use that name? — would need to meet the expectations of smartphones users, particularly in regards to apps. But a Linux smartphone might offer enhanced privacy, which would appeal to some people.

The article, by Amos B. Batto, is a longer read, but worth the time, if you’ve ever wondered about Linux smartphones ever being a thing.

RELATED CONTENT

Linux, smartphones, technology, trends

Listen to iPod music on the 404 page of the Apple Music website

26 October 2026

It’s almost twenty-five years since the iPod arrived.

To mark the launch of Apple’s iconic digital music player in November 2001, music lovers can relive the early days of the iPod music listening experience on the Apple Music 404 page.

404 page? Read all about them here.

RELATED CONTENT

entertainment, music, technology

The Last Best Place On The Internet, a book about Wikipedia, by Richard Cooke

21 October 2026

Sydney, Australia, based author and journalist Richard Cooke explores the inner workings of online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is his recently published book, The Last Best Place On The Internet:

In this entertaining book, journalist Richard Cooke delves into Wikipedia’s fabled creation, its extraordinary success and its profound effects on politics, business, literature and society. He explores the site’s shifting role in establishing fact in a time of deep uncertainty about truth and authority; the often hilariously fierce debates between ‘Inclusionists’ and ‘Deletionists’ about what is worth knowing and preserving, and who gets to decide; and the great peril Wikipedia faces today from bots, political division and artificial intelligence.

The challenges confronting Wikipedia are certainly pronounced. Let’s hope Cooke’s work does not become a commemoration for the venerable online repository of knowledge and information.

Kurzgesagt dissects the Hugging Face OpenAI AI agent attack

13 October 2026

Kurzgesagt breakdowns — in their trademark plain language manner — the recent Hugging Face hack perpetrated by rogue AI agents developed by OpenAI.

The fourth sentence in the narration is a doozy:

Fully aware that they are acting unethically, they execute a sophisticated cyberattack

Emphasis on the word aware is mine, but it makes you think.

I lost count of the number of times I shook my head throughout. At twenty minutes in length, it’s slightly longer than the usual Kurzgesagt video, but well worth the time.

AI scrapers are hiding behind referrer spam

8 October 2026

Back in the day, referrer spam used to be a means to trick a website publisher into thinking another website was sending visitors their way.

It’s something I’ve seen often. I’ll be looking through my referrer logs, and see traffic apparently emanating from a website, usually one I’ve not heard of before.

At first I’d be stoked. Someone had found my website and liked it enough to share with their readers. Awesome. And of course I’d fallen for the ruse and gone to the supposedly referring website, only to learn there was no sign of a link to mine.

I’ve never tried to make another blogger believe I’ve linked to their website when I haven’t, so I don’t know what’s involved in engineering referrer spam. But it seems like a lot of trouble to score what might be a single visit from someone who’ll probably never return.

However, there are, or were, some websites posting lists of their traffic sources. This might prompt a visit from whoever looks at that information. This referrer list apparently also, in the past, had the effect of boosting the spamming website’s search engine rankings.

A few weeks ago I noticed a reputable American medical organisation had linked to the front page here. That didn’t seem right. Why would a website for medical professionals be linking to mine?

Of course, they weren’t. But the “visits” kept coming, and increasing. Soon they were linking to all sorts of disparate pages, none of which contain any medical or health related content at all.

It didn’t take long to recognise the pattern of page visit activity though, it was clear another AI scraper was trawling through the content here.

I looked into ways of blocking, or at least keeping the referrer spam scraping activity off my referrer logs, but as ever there really aren’t any effective solutions.

AI scrapers hiding behind referrer spam, whatever will they do next?

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