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NIPPON STEEL SUBSIDIARY BLAMES DATA BREACH ON ZERO-DAY ATTACK

Nippon Steel Solutions, a Japanese IT company, experienced a data breach resulting from hackers exploiting a zero-day vulnerability.

WELCOME TO THE BRAND NEWSLETTER ERA

Brands are using Substack to create newsletters focused on personal stories, advice, and behind-the-scenes content that readers seek. The Head of Lifestyle at Substack advises against treating newsletters like traditional email marketing. Brands should share authentic, first-person stories led by founders or trusted writers. Substack followers are often “superfans” who deeply engage and spread the word. For brands, the goal should be community-building, not sales. Lean into niche content and create a space for slower, more meaningful engagement.

PODCASTING IS MONETISING WITHOUT YOU

Podcast ad spending is rising fast, but Spotify is moving away from ads. Its Partner Program pays creators directly through subscriptions and platform revenue. Over 70% of shows have joined, with listening hours up 25%. Some creators now earn far more than on YouTube. Networks are losing out, as Spotify blocks ads for Premium users. Podcasts are also shifting into video, live shows, and influencer content. Spotify's aim is not to win podcasting, but to rebuild it on its own terms.

LOW-TRAFFIC, HIGH-VALUE: A CRO CASE STUDY ON MILLBANK FX

Millbank FX, a low-traffic but high-value foreign exchange provider, used in-depth user research and A/B usability testing to redesign its website for better engagement. Initial testing showed users struggled to understand its services, missed key content like the homepage video, and found the site less informative than competitors. The team rewrote content to address user pain points, boosted credibility with testimonials and trust signals, clarified CTAs, and restructured the page to guide users through a persuasive flow. After launching the new pages, the company saw a 100% increase in leads, stronger lead quality, more organic traffic, and confirmed improvements in usability testing.

HOW TO CREATE AND PROMOTE A LEAD MAGNET

Keep the lead magnet short, solve a specific problem, and make it easy to use in under 10 minutes. Avoid long ebooks and focus on quick wins. Promote it by adding the link to your bio, messaging new followers, and using clear CTAs. Ask people to comment for access, then direct them to a landing page to collect emails before delivering the lead magnet.

YOUTUBE LETS CHANNELS SHARE MORE PERFORMANCE DATA WITH BRANDS, UPDATES AUTHENTIC CONTENT DETECTION

YouTube is allowing creators in its partner program to share aggregated audience and performance data with brands to increase monetization opportunities. The data includes views, likes, comments, subscriber counts, demographics, and shopping tag performance. YouTube is also enhancing its content enforcement by improving the detection of mass-produced and AI-generated videos. Additional updates include loyalty badges for up to ten years, a new filter to flag shopping tag violations, and a pull-to-refresh feature for Channel pages.

INSTAGRAM TO LET GOOGLE AND BING INDEX PUBLIC POSTS FROM PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTS

Starting today, Instagram will let Google and Bing index public posts, reels, and videos from professional accounts. This applies only to public accounts run by users over 18, and older content before 2020 is excluded. Users can opt out through privacy settings or by switching to a personal or private account. This update could help creators and businesses gain more visibility outside Instagram, as their posts may now appear in Google search results.

BRANDS ARE EMBRACING FANTASY: THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND ESCAPIST MARKETING

Brands are using escapist marketing to create emotionally immersive experiences that offer relief from stress and digital fatigue, especially through fantasy and storytelling. Gen Z favors brands that provide emotional connection and creativity, and the most admired brands in Canada are seen as adventurous, honest, and imaginative. Fantastical campaigns like Coca-Cola's “Real Magic” and Apple's “Mother Nature” use surreal visuals to deepen engagement and build brand loyalty. However, consumers may lose trust if these campaigns lack authenticity or try to cover unethical practices, making transparency essential for long-term success.

ARE AI OVERVIEWS WORTH PURSUING?

Google's AI Overviews have caused a drop in click-through rates, with one study showing desktop CTR dropped by up to two-thirds when AIOs appear. These features most often show up on informational queries and reduce organic traffic even when a site is cited in the AI response. Marketers should analyze whether their keywords and content are being impacted and adjust their strategies accordingly. For traffic and conversion goals, it is better to target lower-funnel keywords with commercial or transactional intent. If brand awareness is the goal, use tactics like clear answers, authoritative content, and embedded media.

CLEANING GENERATES A SURPRISING AMOUNT OF ENGAGEMENT ONLINE

Unilever's Dirt Is Good promotes the benefits of getting dirty, challenging traditional cleanliness messaging. The brand practices “storyliving” instead of just storytelling, with its team fully believing in and living the story of the brand. It uses local insights, finding sweat is the most common stain, followed by period and food stains, with many unaware of how to remove them. The “Every Stain Should Be Part of The Game” campaign found that 68% of UK and 90% of Saudi women don't know how to treat period stains. Dirt Is Good also embraces influencer marketing, using “cleanfluencers” on TikTok to boost engagement.

TIME100 CREATORS 2025

A list of this year's most influential digital voices categorized by Titans, Leaders, Phenoms, and Catalysts.

COACH'S “WHAT FITS INSIDE” FEATURE ON WEBSITE

This feature shows how simple, useful online tools keep shoppers coming back.

RUNNING A MILLION-BOARD CHESS MMO IN A SINGLE PROCESS

One Million Chessboards is a chess MMO with a 1,000x1,000 grid of chessboards where 150,000 players made over 15 million moves in 10 days, with pieces able to move between boards in real-time without turns. The entire game runs in a single Go process that handles millions of queries by using efficient data structures (dense arrays), protobuf serialization, and smart client-server communication that sends snapshots and move batches based on player position to minimize bandwidth.

JAVASCRIPT STRING SLICE() CONSIDERED HARMFUL

A bug was discovered in Attio's CSV importer when using JavaScript's `slice()` method to truncate strings. It was causing gRPC errors when it split Unicode characters (like flag emojis) in the middle of their UTF-16 code units, resulting in invalid data being sent to their database. The issue occurs because `slice()` operates on code units rather than complete Unicode code points, so truncating "🇬🇧" could result in incomplete character data like "🇬\uD83C".

BUILDING A LIGHTWEIGHT REACTIVE STATE MANAGER WITH JAVASCRIPT PROXIES

You can build a lightweight reactive state management system using JavaScript Proxies, which automatically trigger UI updates whenever state changes without requiring external libraries. This article goes through a practical example of a media submission form where a Proxy intercepts property assignments (like `mediaStateProxy.video = "url"`) and automatically runs multiple UI update functions, removing the need to manually call update functions throughout the codebase.

BALANCING AI DEPENDENCE: ENHANCING OR ERODING DEVELOPER SKILLS?

While AI coding assistants boost developer productivity by automating tasks, studies show that reliance on them can negatively impact critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Devs may experience skill atrophy as they depend on AI for explanations and solutions, leading to a decline in debugging and documentation comprehension.

CTOS REVEAL HOW AI CHANGED SOFTWARE DEVELOPER HIRING IN 2025

AI has changed software development, creating a need for developers who are especially good at critical thinking and problem-solving rather than just churning out code. CTOs are prioritizing skills like system design, business context understanding, and the ability to debug AI-generated code, which often looks perfect but contains subtle flaws.

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WEBMCP

WebMCP brings the Model Context Protocol to web browsers, letting AI assistants interact directly with web apps. It removes the need for API key management and OAuth flows by embedding MCP servers within web pages, using existing browser authentication and security. This allows AI agents to access structured data through standardized JSON-RPC interfaces and orchestrate workflows across multiple sites.

INTRODUCING SKIA GRAPHITE: CHROME'S RASTERIZATION BACKEND FOR THE FUTURE

Chrome has launched Skia Graphite, a new rasterization backend for rendering graphics, specifically on Apple Silicon Macs. Graphite was created to address performance limitations of the older Ganesh backend and take advantage of modern graphics APIs like Metal, Vulkan, and D3D12.

JANK PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE

Jank is a general-purpose programming language and Clojure dialect that combines the interactive development experience of Clojure with native compilation and minimal runtime overhead, using C++ and LLVM. It allows devs to iterate rapidly in a REPL, integrate with native C++ code, and compile to efficient machine code.

PHRASE ORIGIN: WHY DO WE "CALL" FUNCTIONS?

The programming term "call" in relation to functions has its origins in library science. "Calling" a function initially referred to "calling for" a subroutine from a library, similar to requesting a book from a closed-stack library. This concept was present in early computer programming contexts. Fortran II (1958) then popularized the term "CALL" for transferring control to a subroutine.

THE EVOLUTION OF CACHING LIBRARIES IN GO

On-heap caches store data in the heap memory managed by Go's garbage collector. Go caching libraries have progressed from early mutex-protected maps to advanced libraries like Ristretto (2019), which became dominant but had issues with breaking changes and suboptimal performance on certain workloads. Theine was released in 2023 and implemented more efficient algorithms from Java's Caffeine library, including adaptive W-TinyLFU for better hit rates.

TREE BORROWS

Tree Borrows is a refined alternative to Stacked Borrows that relaxes restrictions on unsafe Rust code while maintaining memory safety and enabling more compiler optimizations by organizing borrows in a tree-like structure, leading to fewer rejected test cases and new optimization opportunities.

JSONREPAIR

jsonrepair repairs invalid JSON documents by addressing common errors like missing quotes, commas, and incorrect syntax.

CACHING

A detailed overview of the fundamental principles and various applications of caching in computer systems, from CPU caches to CDNs, covering concepts like temporal and spatial locality, replacement policies, and the role of caching in databases like Postgres and MySQL.

AM I ONLINE?

You can reliably check for internet connectivity by making a quick HTTP request to a publicly available endpoint like Google's `http://google.com/generate_204`, which returns a 204 No Content status.

Protect your app today with AuthKit and WorkOS Radar.

SAMSUNG'S EVENT SPOILED BY MASSIVE LAST-MINUTE LEAK

A reliable leaker has shared a whole bunch of marketing materials for Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event (which kicks off today at 10 AM ET) containing details and images of the company's upcoming devices. The Z Fold 7 will measure 4.2 millimeters when unfolded and the Z Flip 7 will measure 6.5 millimeters when unfolded. None of the marketing materials highlight an S Pen on the Z Fold 7, suggesting that the device may not support an S Pen at all. The leaked material also contains images and specs for new Galaxy Watches, which have upgraded storage, displays, and batteries.

META INVESTS $3.5 BILLION IN WORLD'S LARGEST EYE-WEAR MAKER IN AI GLASSES PUSH

Meta has bought a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica. It acquired just under 3% of the Ray-Ban maker, a stake worth around $3.5 billion at the current market price. Meta is considering further investment that could build the stake to around 5% over time, though those plans could still change. The deal provides EssilorLuxottica with a deeper presence in the tech world.

CHINA JUMPS AHEAD IN THE RACE TO ACHIEVE A NEW KIND OF REUSE IN SPACE

China likely completed the first high-altitude attempt at orbital refueling sometime last week. Two of its satellites appeared to dock together in geosynchronous orbit, coming together and then becoming indistinguishable as a single object. Besides refueling satellites in space, the technology could also be used to approach, capture, and disable other satellites. The US Space Force plans to perform the first refueling of a US military asset in orbit as soon as next year.

CRISPR BREAKTHROUGH ALLOWS SCIENTISTS TO EDIT MULTIPLE GENES SIMULTANEOUSLY

Scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a new CRISPR method that can modify dozens of genes simultaneously. It can be used to systematically modify entire gene networks in a single step. The technique uses the lesser-known Cas12a enzyme, which is slightly more precise in its ability to identify targeted genes and can handle shorter RNA molecules compared to the traditional Cas9 enzyme. It enables scientists to explore broad genetic interactions.

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INTRODUCING OPENCLI

The OpenCLI specification defines a standard, platform and language-agnostic interface to command-line applications that allows both humans and computers to understand how a tool should be invoked without access to source code or documentation. With the growing interest in MCP (Model Context Protocol) and command-line automation, there's a huge potential in standardizing how command-line applications are described. The specification is still a draft and incomplete. It is maintained under the Specter.Console GitHub organization.

GEMINI NANO IN CHROME 137: NOTES FOR AI ENGINEERS

Gemini Nano is starting to be shipped unflagged in Chrome and will likely be shipped fully unflagged by the end of the year. There are a few APIs available for commonly used patterns, but the main one engineers will be interested in is the Prompt API, which is the most flexible and open-ended one. This article goes through how to set up and use Gemini Nano. It covers the basic important things and pitfalls to be aware of when using the API.

TECH PHILOSOPHY AND AI OPPORTUNITY

While AI is hailed as the route to abundance, the most important financial outcomes have been about scarcity. One of these scarce resources is AI talent. As the work needed to be done is the same across the various companies bidding for talent, it makes sense that the team that the best researchers play for is the team that pays the most. The teams that are destined to lose are the ones who can't or won't offer enough money or mission.

CTOS REVEAL HOW AI CHANGED SOFTWARE DEVELOPER HIRING IN 2025

While AI evangelists promise the technology will make everyone become a '10x developer', the reality is that companies are drowning in AI-generated code that looks perfect but breaks in production. The most valuable developers aren't the ones churning out AI code, but the ones who can think their way out of the problems AI creates. Engineering leaders want developers who can look at AI-generated code and figure out what's wrong with it instead of just accepting whatever the AI produces. AI was supposed to make coding easier, but it's actually making the thinking parts of development more valuable than ever.

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APPLE SAYS COO JEFF WILLIAMS WILL RETIRE FROM COMPANY LATER THIS YEAR

Sabih Khan, Apple's senior vice president of operations, will be taking over the COO role as part of along-planned succession.

HOW I BUILD SOFTWARE QUICKLY

Know how good your code needs to be for the task at hand, start with a rough draft/spike, try to soften requirements if you can, don't get distracted, make small changes, and practice specific skills.

THE FIRST VERSION OF COINBASE LAUNCHED WITH JUST A HOT WALLET

Coinbase's v2 key storage system, which has served the company well for years, was coded by two people in about eight weeks.

SVGS THAT FEEL LIKE GIFS

Animations are built into the SVG spec.

CLOUDFLARE: WE WILL GET GOOGLE TO PROVIDE A WAY TO BLOCK AI OVERVIEWS

There currently isn't a clean way to block content from being used in Google's AI Overviews or AI Mode while being fully safe with ranking in the main Google search results.

WAYMO BEGINS OFFERING TEEN ACCOUNTS, STARTING IN METRO PHOENIX

Waymo's new teen accounts will let teenagers from 14 to 17 hail robotaxis and ride alone.