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I WENT TO AN AI PROMPT BATTLE, AND IT WAS AS BAD AS YOU THINK

This author attended an AI prompt battle at the Upscale Conference, finding it disappointingly unengaging as contestants typed basic text prompts.

THE SHIP OF THESEUS PARADOX IN AI-ASSISTED WRITING

AI writing tools are now so routine that people barely notice using them, yet a study shows they quickly feel disconnected from personal writing that's repeatedly rewritten by AI.

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HOW WHEN AWS WAS DOWN, WE WERE NOT

Authress' auth solution remained operational during a recent AWS us-east-1 outage that impacted major companies. This was thanks to avoiding unreliable third-party components, implementing DNS failover with custom health checks, and using edge compute via CloudFront and Lambda@Edge. It also used incremental rollouts to reduce the impact of application failures, a web application firewall (WAF) for handling malicious requests, and prioritized customer support for issues outside of automated detection.

WHERE TO USE SUB-AGENTS VERSUS AGENTS AS TOOLS

This article explains when to use sub-agents versus agents as tools when building multi-agent AI systems. The main difference is that agents as tools are self-contained, stateless specialists ideal for discrete tasks (like converting natural language to SQL), while sub-agents are delegated team members that share context and handle complex, multi-step processes requiring ongoing collaboration (like managing flight bookings with multiple user interactions). Tools should be used for reusable, atomic functions, while sub-agents are better for stateful workflows that need access to conversational history and broader mission context.

HOW DASH USES CONTEXT ENGINEERING FOR SMARTER AI

Dropbox evolved its Dash AI system from a traditional search tool into an "agentic AI" that can interpret, summarize, and act on information. Its team discovered that adding more tools and context often led to worse performance due to analysis paralysis and "context rot," so they developed three key strategies: limiting tool definitions by consolidating multiple retrieval options into a single universal search tool, filtering context to show only the most relevant information using a knowledge graph, and creating specialized agents for complex tasks like search query construction.

OOP: THE WORST THING THAT HAPPENED TO PROGRAMMING

Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is the worst thing that happened to programming due to its inherent flaws and unnecessary complexity compared to Functional Programming (FP). Core OOP concepts like methods, inheritance, and polymorphism lead to the need for complex design patterns as workarounds. OOP also leads to verbose, bug-prone code, and developers deeply entrenched in OOP often fail to recognize its shortcomings.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE IN CONFIGURATION LANGUAGES

This dev is not impressed with existing configuration languages like YAML, XML, JSON, TOML, and many others. They are overly complex, don't have some basic features, or are just programming languages disguised as configuration formats. To address these shortcomings, he created his own configuration language called MAML based on JSON.

CONTINUOUS CLAUDE

Continuous Claude is a script that automates the pull request lifecycle using Claude Code. It commits changes to a new branch, creates a pull request, waits for checks and reviews, and merges the PR, repeating until the task is complete.

PARQEYE

Parqeye is a terminal-based tool that allows users to inspect Parquet files. It provides interactive data visualization, schema exploration, file metadata viewing, and row group statistics examination, all within a tab-based interface. Users can install Parqeye via direct download, building from source, or through Cargo. It's released under the MIT License.

PRINCEJS

PrinceJS is a fast, lightweight, and tree-shakable Bun framework with features like type safety, middleware, validation, and utilities for caching, email, uploads, cron jobs, and OpenAPI documentation.

SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH: HOW TO ESCAPE THE LINUX NETWORKING STACK

Cloudflare uses soft-unicast to share IP addresses across machines, pushing the limits of the Linux networking stack. It attempted to create a service called "fish" to proxy IP packets using soft-unicast, but encountered issues with Linux's socket subsystem and Netfilter conntrack module. To solve these issues, it explored using Netlink, TCP_REPAIR, and manipulating routing rules, ultimately terminating TCP connections instead of forwarding IP packets.

ENHANCING HDR ON INSTAGRAM FOR IOS WITH DOLBY VISION

Instagram for iOS is now the first Meta app to support Dolby Vision video, which improves the HDR viewing experience by preserving amve and Dolby Vision metadata. Initially, Instagram's video processing, which uses FFmpeg, discarded this metadata, impacting picture quality. By collaborating with Dolby and FFmpeg developers, Meta implemented support for Dolby Vision and amve in its video processing pipeline.

I CAUGHT GOOGLE GEMINI USING MY DATA—AND THEN COVERING IT UP

The author discovered that Google Gemini accessed and used their personal data about their past use of the tool Alembic without their explicit permission, and then attempted to conceal this data access by lying about it.

PROJECT GEMINI

Project Gemini is a lightweight internet protocol focused on providing a simple, privacy-respecting space for interconnected text documents.

MICROSOFT: AZURE HIT BY 15 TBPS DDOS ATTACK USING 500,000 IP ADDRESSES

Microsoft Azure was hit by a 15 Tbps DDoS attack originating from the Aisuru botnet, a Turbo Mirai-class IoT botnet comprising over 500,000 IP addresses that has also been linked to other recent record-breaking DDoS attacks and malicious activity.

RUN ANCIENT UNIX

This repository provides the necessary tools and instructions to easily run various ancient UNIX versions, including those for PDP-11 and x86 architectures, on modern operating systems using simulators like SIMH and QEMU.

CORNERSTONE STAFFING RANSOMWARE ATTACK LEAKS 120,000 RESUMES, CLAIMS QILIN GANG

Qilin ransomware group breached Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, exfiltrating 300GB, including 120,000 resumes, SSNs, employee salary data, and internal financial records. The Russian-linked group has become 2025's most active ransomware operation with 991 victims since 2023, employing double extortion tactics and recently allying with LockBit and DragonForce. Security teams should expect increased targeting of staffing agencies and organizations storing large volumes of PII. Threat actors are leveraging the stolen resumes for sophisticated phishing campaigns.

LOGITECH CONFIRMS DATA BREACH FOLLOWING DESIGNATION AS ORACLE HACK VICTIM

Logitech has acknowledged a data breach after being listed by Cl0p ransomware, but did not confirm a connection to Oracle. The attack likely exploited a zero-day vulnerability in third-party software, allowing some employee, consumer, customer, and supplier information to have been copied. No sensitive data, such as IDs or credit cards, appears to have been affected.

EUROFIBER ADMITS CROOKS SWIPED DATA FROM FRENCH UNIT AFTER CYBERATTACK

Eurofiber's French branch suffered a cyberattack on November 13 that exposed company data through a vulnerability in its ticket platform. Eurofiber claims that no banking data was exfiltrated, and the flaw has now been resolved. However, the attackers sought extortion for an unspecified amount of data. The company is working with authorities and clients to determine the incident.

USING AWS SECRETS MANAGER AGENT WITH AMAZON EKS

AWS Secrets Manager Agent simplifies the retrieval of secrets in EKS clusters. The Secrets Manager Agent is a client-side agent that retrieves and caches secrets in your compute environment, allowing applications to consume secrets directly through an in-memory cache via a local HTTP endpoint. The agent implements pod identity to provide authentication and access control.

BYPASSING WIFI CLIENT ISOLATION

Client isolation is a security feature that prevents devices connected to the same network from communicating directly with each other. A device can spoof WiFi frames with the From-DS to bypass the Access Point (AP) and make a client think the communication is coming from the distribution system instead of directly from a client. In an encrypted network, the attacker will also need to spoof the WPA 4-way handshake or use a tool like aircrack-ng to deauthenticate a victim device.

PORTAL26 (PRODUCT LAUNCH)

Portal26 provides organizations with a platform to monitor, analyze, secure, and optimize generative AI use by benchmarking usage, enforcing security policies, preventing data leaks, and scoring based on risk and ROI.

WAZUH

Wazuh is a free and open source platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response. It is capable of protecting workloads across on-premises, virtualized, containerized, and cloud-based environments.

METIS

Metis is an AI-driven tool for deep security code review created by Arm's Product Security Team.

RESEARCHERS QUESTION ANTHROPIC CLAIM THAT AI-ASSISTED ATTACK WAS 90% AUTONOMOUS

Anthropic reported a major AI-driven cyber espionage attempt using Claude AI, claiming it automated 90% of hacking steps for suspected Chinese attackers. However, outside experts challenge this view, saying such full automation is exaggerated, as most attacks were not successful, and the AI often fabricated results.

GOOGLE ONLINE SECURITY BLOG: RUST IN ANDROID: MOVE FAST AND FIX THINGS

Google's use of Rust in Android has led to a 1,000x reduction in memory safety vulnerabilities compared to C/C++, while also accelerating software delivery. Rust's adoption means fewer code reviews, reworks, and rollbacks, making it now integral to Android's kernel, firmware, and apps, delivering greater safety and efficiency, even as rare bugs are quickly fixed without undermining overall security benefits.

FIVE PLEAD GUILTY TO HELPING NORTH KOREANS INFILTRATE US FIRMS

Five individuals pleaded guilty to facilitating North Korean IT worker infiltration schemes that compromised 136 US companies and generated over $2.2 million for the DPRK regime through stolen and false identities. The operation involved identity theft from 18 US persons, salary funneling to North Korea, and data exfiltration. Meanwhile, the DOJ separately moved to seize $15 million in cryptocurrency stolen by APT38/Lazarus from four 2023 exchange heists totaling $382 million. Organizations should strengthen identity verification for remote workers, implement behavioral analytics to detect credential sharing or anomalous access patterns, and monitor for data exfiltration to foreign adversary infrastructure.

MICROSOFT: WINDOWS 10 KB5068781 ESU UPDATE MAY FAIL WITH 0X800F0922 ERRORS

Microsoft's first Windows 10 Extended Security Update (KB5068781) is failing to install with error 0x800f0922 on devices using Windows subscription activation through Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

A CRACKER BARREL VULNERABILITY

Cracker Barrel's updated company rewards were exposed by simply altering the authentication logic in a ReactJS app.

WHY AUTHENTIC REPRESENTATION MATTERS: HOW BRANDS CAN REACH MULTICULTURAL AUDIENCES

Multicultural consumers are growing in size and spending power, and they want brands to represent them accurately. They are more likely to buy from and pay more for brands that feature diverse people in ads. Partnering with creators who share their backgrounds builds trust and boosts attention and purchase intent. Supporting self-expression through AR strengthens connection because many already use AR and enjoy branded Lenses. Speaking up on social issues and showing real action increases credibility.

WHY B2B MARKETING SHOULD BE ABOUT MORE THAN LEADS

9 TIPS FOR BLACK FRIDAY SUCCESS

Split keyword research into 2 groups, where one covers general product or brand terms and the other captures searchers looking specifically for Black Friday deals. Keep a Black Friday tag page easy to find, run frequent keyword checks to catch rising queries, and update deal pages often with fresh prices, images, and timestamps. Link related content so navigation is simple, track product changes as they happen, promote deals across social platforms, and use channels like newsletters or messaging groups to expand reach.

HOW CLARIFY TURNED LINKEDIN INTO THEIR #1 LEAD MACHINE

Clarify turned LinkedIn into its top lead source in six months by treating the platform as a standalone channel and posting native content that drives conversation. It built a steady content pipeline using weekly executive interviews and organized posts into clear pillars that mixed personal stories, industry insights, product education, and timely reactions. It expanded reach through creator partnerships and consistent employee advocacy. This helped it outperform what a company page can do alone. It tracked high-performing posts, reused winning angles, and steadily compounded momentum until LinkedIn became its strongest inbound engine.

HOW TO GET RECOMMENDED AND REACH SHOPPERS ON AI (WEBINAR)

Ipsos Synthesio is hosting a 30-minute webinar to present its framework to understand how brands are portrayed by LLMs. The panel will discuss how LLMs are changing the shopper journey, what information sources boost brand presence in chatbot conversations, and more. It takes place on November 20 at 10 am PT.

HOW TO MONITOR AI BOTS IN THE LOG FILE ANALYSER

Log file analysis shows how AI bots interact with a site and delivers visibility that standard analytics tools cannot match. The Screaming Frog Log File Analyser verifies AI bots, tracks crawl patterns, compares bot types, and surfaces issues such as high 4XX or 5XX errors or aggressive crawling. It also shows which content is used for training, indexing, or real time citations and highlights bandwidth use and carbon impact from AI crawlers. Log data can be combined with crawl data to uncover orphaned pages, detect pages bots ignore, and measure how much of a site AI bots actually access.

CUSTOMERS EXPECT EMPATHY

Most consumers want brands to show real empathy, yet many companies fall short and lose trust and loyalty. Empathy strongly influences buying decisions and even supports higher prices, but customers doubt most brands genuinely care. This gap grows as AI takes over more interactions.

WHAT IS NEW MEDIA?

New Media at a16z is a strategic approach to help founders control their narrative and gain influence online. It combines owned channels, high-quality in-house content, rapid launch execution, and hands-on support embedded in portfolio companies. The team trains founders and operators through a fellowship, connects them with high-signal talent, and builds an ecosystem that amplifies trust and credibility. The goal is to give startups immediate visibility, brand authority, and long-term media advantage in a fast-moving digital landscape.

GSC'S NEW “ANNOTATIONS” FEATURE

Google Search Console now supports custom annotations in Performance reports to link key events with organic visibility shifts.

EMAIL SIGNATURE DO'S & DON'TS: FROM CHAOS TO CONSISTENCY AND PERFORMANCE IN EVERY SEND

Best practices for credible email signatures.

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MY BEEF WITH AI CREDIT PRICING

Credits confuse customers and undermine trust because costs are unpredictable and inconsistent across companies. When LLM costs fall, the winners will be the companies that return to clear, transparent pricing.

MARKETPLACES IN THE AGE OF AI

AI is reviving failed marketplace categories by fixing unit economics and removing operational bottlenecks. Automating matching and service delivery makes these markets profitable and creates better experiences for both buyers and suppliers.