AI the elephant in room as Canva announces large staff layoffs

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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.

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.

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open web, technology, trends

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.

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Linux, smartphones, technology, trends

Sales of cappuccino sachets soar as cost of living bites in Australia

22 October 2026

Martin Brown, who is the general manager of Nestlé’s coffee and dairy business in Australia, said cappuccino sachets have been the “fastest-growing part of the market” since 2021.

We keep a few boxes of cappuccino sachets in the kitchen cupboard for days when we don’t want to walk all of five to ten minutes to a nearby cafe for whatever reason. Too hot, too wet, whatever.

Driving isn’t feasible either, unless we decide to go to a neighbouring suburb. Parking is a lottery where we are, and the only spot I’d find would probably be outside our building anyway.

Despite the rampant popularity of sachet and instant coffee though, none of the cafes I go seem to be adversely effected. They’re trading, and appear to have the same number of staff working there.

We are talking about a busy retail and residential precinct though. But it’s the same story on the NSW Central Coast. None of the places we go to there have closed or reduced staff. Not so far anyway.

And may it stay that way.

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Australia, caffeine, coffee, trends

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?

Enshittification rules: there goes the post-platform internet era

16 September 2026

Enshittification, the idea that online platforms, particularly social networks and social media, degrade once they become popular, is a fiction, according to Ruby Thelot, Professor of Design, AI and Media Theory, at New York University.

Because, rather than turning away from from the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, people continue to embrace these platforms.

Thelot made the claims in comments published at a16z, which were re-posted by 404 Media, and said people are using these platforms more than ever, and are quite happy with the experience. Further, according to Thelot, membership of the platforms is increasing, along with their profits.

But Thelot didn’t stop there.

He said Cory Doctorow, who first used the word enshittification, might have valued Facebook early on, but became resentful as the platform evolved. Thelot believes that people who are about the same age as Doctorow probably feel the same way, but younger people see things differently.

The idea of enshittification, he posits, gives people who should have left a social media platform, reason to stay put and despise being there. Thelot doesn’t mince his words.

Thelot’s comments though are at odds with the emergence of what is described as the post-platform internet ere. This is a shift towards decentralised platforms such as Mastodon and Bluesky, newsletter publishing platforms like Buttondown, and a resurgence of personal websites and blogs.

But the term post platform internet sounds like wishful thinking. There are, of course, adherents. I’m among them. But there is really a mass migration towards decentralised social media platforms?

Hardly.

Mastodon, despite not being that difficult to use, still confuses a lot of people. Bluesky, meanwhile, has seen a decline in active users in recent months.

The main social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads, remain for now, just too easy to use, and are also places where most members will find other people they know.

Despite the angst and despair the major platforms engender, a post-platform internet seems, for now, destined to remain a fringe movement.

Addicted to information, not social media or smartphones

15 September 2026

explorator.dev:

Then… I finally realised. I’m not addicted to the internet, neither to my smartphone. I’m addicted to information. Good information, in particular.

The web, smartphones, and social media keep that information tap flowing.

A teacher of mine often to used say: “there is no such thing as too much information”. I think they were trying to tell us there’s always more you could learn.

We had the web back then, clunky desktop computers, and dial-up internet, but not social media, nor smartphones. I’m not sure though the teacher envisaged a time when we could access information, day and night, from the palm of our hand.

Maybe today we could instead say, “there is no such thing as too much good information”.

Operation Bluebird may yet get new Twitter to fly

28 August 2026

Talk about defying the odds. Maybe. Late last year, Operation Bluebird lunched a bid to “revive” Twitter, the micro-blogging platform Elon Musk bought in 2022.

Operation Bluebird claimed — rather optimistically I thought — they could take control of the Twitter brand, as they believed Musk had abandoned the rights to it, when he renamed the platform X.

X immediately filed a court action opposing the claim, but a US judge has tentatively ruled in favour of Operation Bluebird, backing up their belief X have given up on the Twitter brand.

The ruling isn’t official, but that doesn’t seem to concern Operation Bluebird, who want to go ahead and launch the “new” Twitter.

I’m no power social media user, but I signed up for Twitter early on, and for a time enjoyed using the platform. I have my doubts, but I’d like to see Operation Bluebird succeed.

Home scrolling social media on Friday night instead of going out?

27 August 2026

Possibly, just possibly, related to the previous post.

Recent research by Neal Caren, a professor at the University of North Carolina, has found people in the United States are not going out as much as they once did on a Friday night.

Instead they are choosing to stay home more often than not. The pandemic played some part, but “the growing availability of screen-based alternatives” may be what is driving the trend.

I would be interested to see if this is also the case in Australia. If “screen-based alternatives” are indeed the cause, then I’d think a few more people locally now stay home on a Friday night.

It’s purely anecdotal, but bars nearby are often filled to overflowing on Saturday nights (to be expected), almost empty Sunday night (to be expected), with some closed on Monday night (possibly to be expected). But people seem to be out on Saturday evening, around here anyway.

I can’t speak much for Friday night, as I seldom seem to be near any bars for some reason — has a lot of course to do with not being the biggest drinker — but I’m guessing Fridays would still be about as busy as Saturdays. Or for now at least.

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smartphones, technology, trends

We need to ask ourselves: why are we addicted to our phones?

26 August 2026

In last week’s edition of Dense Discovery, publisher Kai Brach linked to an article, written by Kate Wagner, challenging the notion that our phones are over overpoweringly addictive.

But they are, aren’t they?

To Wagner’s mind, excessive smartphone use is a behaviour we have developed. But what is at the root of this behaviour? What do we seek in constantly checking our phone?

Why can’t we instead focus on a work task, watch a movie in its entirety, or sit on a train looking at the view out the window, without the need to see what’s happening somewhere else?

Why can’t we even be enveloped by a bit of boredom now and then, and let the emotion take its course, before reaching for the phone?

Wagner’s article is worth reading in full, something you can of course do with your phone.

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