The Desk — Edition 66
Welcome to the 65th issue of the Desk. The Desk is my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.
Welcome to the 65th issue of the Desk. The Desk is my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.
New Projects
I've launched a new project, Brandon's Curated Shortlist of Trips for Solo Travelers, where each first Monday of the month, I will bring you the best deals and experiences tailored for solo adventurers. And the best part, it's FREE!
Brandon’s Curated Shortlist of Trips for Solo Travelers - Issue 1
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
New Tutorials
Host Resources on Separate Hostnames to Optimize Crawl Budget: Insights from Google’s Crawling December
Learn how to optimize your website’s crawl budget with tips from Google’s “Crawling December” series. Discover why hosting resources on separate hostnames, reducing unnecessary assets, and managing caching efficiently can improve crawling, rendering, and indexing for better search performance.
Brandon Himpfen
Travel Solo for the First Time: Complete Guide for Newbies
Discover the ultimate guide to traveling solo for the first time! Learn how to plan your trip, stay safe, and enjoy the journey. Explore the best destinations, tips from seasoned travelers, and inspiring solo travel stories to make your adventure unforgettable. Start your solo travel journey today!
Brandon Himpfen
A Winter Road Trip Alone: Essential Tips for Survival and Enjoyment
Embark on a safe and enjoyable solo winter road trip with these essential tips! Learn how to prepare your car, plan your route, pack smart, and navigate icy roads. Stay informed with 22 winter driving tips and advice on what to do if stranded. Your ultimate winter road trip guide awaits!
Brandon Himpfen
How Page Performance Hurts UX & How You Can Fix It
Learn how poor page performance impacts user experience (UX) and discover actionable tips to boost speed, engagement, and SEO. From optimizing images to reducing HTTP requests and leveraging Core Web Vitals, this guide helps you create a faster, more user-friendly website that retains visitors.
Brandon Himpfen
How-to Turn Solo Travel into a Lifestyle
Learn how-to make solo travel a lifestyle with tips on remote work, budgeting, minimalism, and creating meaningful connections. Embrace freedom and explore the world on your own terms.
Brandon Himpfen
How-to Save Money for Travel: Smart Advice in Seven Steps
Learn how to save money for travel with these 7 practical steps. From setting goals and budgeting to cutting expenses and earning more, this guide will help you build your travel fund and turn your dream trips into reality. Start your journey toward unforgettable adventures today!
Brandon Himpfen
News Articles Published
Google Tests Simpler Hotel Search Experience in Three EU Countries
Google is testing a simplified hotel search in Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, replacing maps and listings with basic links to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. This temporary change aims to assess user behavior and traffic impacts, potentially shaping future search regulations worldwide.
Brandon Himpfen
YouTube Innovates Creator Tools: Enhanced Features & New Content Disclosure System
Discover YouTube’s latest updates: longer Shorts, AI tools like Transform and DreamScreen, image-enhanced Quiz posts, expanded Brand Connect, and content authenticity with C2PA labels. Explore new ways to create, engage, and monetize while ensuring transparency and quality.
Brandon Himpfen
WP Engine vs. Automattic: Judge Leans Toward Granting Injunction Despite Vagueness
Explore the legal battle between WP Engine and Automattic over trademark enforcement, fair use, and open-source governance. Judge Martínez-Olguín leans toward granting an injunction while urging clarity. Learn about the $32M demand, legal strategies, and implications for the WordPress community.
Brandon Himpfen
Optimizing Google’s Crawling: Why Hosting Resources Elsewhere Might Just Save You
Learn how to manage Google’s crawl budget effectively by optimizing resource hosting, reducing unnecessary overhead and ensuring your site.
Brandon Himpfen
Critical Vulnerability in WordPress Anti-Spam Plugin Exposes 200,000+ Websites to Attack
Discover the critical vulnerability in the CleanTalk Anti-Spam WordPress plugin, affecting 200k+ sites. Learn how attackers exploit reverse DNS spoofing for unauthorized access and how to secure your site with updates and proactive measures. Stay protected with these essential tips!
Brandon Himpfen
Google’s Bold Move to Clean Up Dating Ads: A Game-Changer for Online Safety?
Google has announced a significant update to its advertising policies, introducing a new “Dating and Companionship Ads” policy set to take…
Brandon HimpfenBehind the Scenes of Canonicalization: Google’s Complex Balancing Act
As a website owner or digital marketer, you may think of canonical URLs as just another technical SEO box to tick. However, there’s a…
Brandon HimpfenWeekly Newsletters
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This Week In I/O
JavaScript Weekly Issue 143
Welcome to the 143rd issue of JavaScript Weekly, a weekly newsletter of JavaScript articles, news and cool projects.
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Python Weekly Issue 139
Welcome to the 139th issue of Python Weekly, a weekly newsletter about the Python programming language.
This Week In I/O
Node Weekly Issue 142
Node Weekly Issue 142nd issue of Node Weekly, a free weekly e-mail round-up of Node.js news and articles.
This Week In I/O
Golang Weekly Issue 146
Welcome to the 146th issue of Golang Weekly, a weekly newsletter about the Go programming language.
This Week In I/O
React Weekly Issue 140
Welcome to the 140th issue of React Weekly, weekly roundup of the latest React and React Native links and tutorials.
This Week In I/O
Ruby Weekly Issue 141
Welcome to the 141st issue of Ruby Weekly, a free weekly e-mail round-up of Ruby news and articles.
This Week In I/O
New GitHub Repos
GitHub - travelbloggersnetwork/travelbloggersnetwork.net
Contribute to travelbloggersnetwork/travelbloggersnetwork.net development by creating an account on GitHub.
travelbloggersnetwork
GitHub - travelbloggersweekly/travelbloggersweekly.com
Contribute to travelbloggersweekly/travelbloggersweekly.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
travelbloggersweekly
GitHub - digitalnomadsweekly/digitalnomadsweekly.com
Contribute to digitalnomadsweekly/digitalnomadsweekly.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
digitalnomadsweekly
GitHub - digitalnomadsweekly/digitalnomadsweekly.com
Contribute to digitalnomadsweekly/digitalnomadsweekly.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
digitalnomadsweekly
GitHub - brandonddesign/css-gradients: A collection of CSS for visually appealing gradients.
A collection of CSS for visually appealing gradients. - brandonddesign/css-gradients
brandonddesign
GitHub - solotravelsociety/trips
Contribute to solotravelsociety/trips development by creating an account on GitHub.
solotravelsociety
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-ocaml: A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for the OCaml programming language.
A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for the OCaml programming language. - awesomelistsio/awesome-ocaml
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-mysql: A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for MySQL, a popular open-source relational database management system.
A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for MySQL, a popular open-source relational database management system. - awesomelistsio/awesome-mysql
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-perl: A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for the Perl programming language.
A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for the Perl programming language. - awesomelistsio/awesome-perl
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-r: A curated list of awesome R frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for data analysis, statistics, and visualization.
A curated list of awesome R frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for data analysis, statistics, and visualization. - awesomelistsio/awesome-r
awesomelistsio
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome-java: A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for Java programming.
A curated list of awesome frameworks, libraries, tools, and resources for Java programming. - awesomelistsio/awesome-java
awesomelistsio
Updated GitHub Repos
GitHub - solotravelsociety/solotravelsociety.com
Contribute to solotravelsociety/solotravelsociety.com development by creating an account on GitHub.
solotravelsociety
GitHub - awesomelistsio/awesome: A collection of awesome lists that are about a variety of different topics.
A collection of awesome lists that are about a variety of different topics. - awesomelistsio/awesome
awesomelistsio
GitHub - brandonhimpfen/html-template: A professional HTML template designed to help build fast, robust, and adaptable websites.
A professional HTML template designed to help build fast, robust, and adaptable websites. - brandonhimpfen/html-template
brandonhimpfen
GitHub - brandonddesign/brand-colors
Contribute to brandonddesign/brand-colors development by creating an account on GitHub.
brandonddesign
GitHub - brandonhimpfen/github-templates: GitHub specific templates that you may use as part of your repos or independently.
GitHub specific templates that you may use as part of your repos or independently. - brandonhimpfen/github-templates
brandonhimpfen
Recommended Reading
I would check out the following news articles and blog posts.
Thread by @RyanWatkins_ on Thread Reader App
@RyanWatkins_: $100K BTC is the ultimate marketing event for Bitcoin. Bitcoin will be front page on every financial news outlet in the world tomorrow, creating the biggest signal in years that it’s time to pay atten...…
Ryan Watkins
Apple Illegally Surveilled and Censored Workers, Employee Lawsuit Says
The lawsuit filed Monday by a current Apple employee comes after federal labor investigators accused the company of imposing illegal policies on its workforce.
Todd Feathers
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Dips as U.S. Government Moved Nearly $2B Silk Road Bitcoin
The BTC transfer could spark selling pressure in the market as it indicates that the U.S. government is preparing to sell or has already sold the assets.
Krisztian Sandor
Google’s DeepMind tackles weather forecasting, with great performance
Needs just eight minutes on one processor to do a single 15-day forecast.
John Timmer
Apple CEO Tim Cook Opens Up About AI Plans, Vision Pro Future, and More in New Interview
WIRED today shared in an in-depth interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking questions about AI, Vision Pro sales, pre-recorded keynotes, and more.…
Hartley Charlton
Amazon announces Nova, a new family of multimodal AI models | TechCrunch
At its re:Invent 2024 conference, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing division, announced a new family AI models called Nova.
Kyle Wiggers
Meta plans to build a $10B subsea cable spanning the world, sources say | TechCrunch
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is the second-biggest driver of internet usage globally. Its properties — and their billions of
Ingrid Lunden
Thank you and looking forward to bringing you next week's edition of the Desk, my weekly newsletter covering newly published content and project updates.
