013 - A Launch, A Hack and GPT-3?
A Launch
I'm really excited to share that I launched HypeDocs.co last week! If you've been following my content for a while, you'll know I'm a big fan of Hype Docs in general. If you haven't heard of a Hype Doc before, here's a post describing what they are. Essentially they're a living list of your achievements, and are a great way to combat Imposter Syndrome, while building a more positive outlook on yourself. Please let me know if you sign up - I'd be happy to apply a 20% discount to your account.
A Hack
If you followed the news about the recent Twitter Hack. A quick overview is that hackers used social engineering to get access to high profile twitter accounts, then tweet on behalf of those accounts to scam followers into sending them money. The troubling thing about this is that the hackers were able to access login credentials from existing employees, and use those credentials to access the Twitter admin dashboard and make these changes.
This won't be a one-off problem, and will likely happen again in the future. As established companies as well as startups continue building their products, it begs the question: how much data does a company really need to store about their users, and how is this data being safe guarded. Storing it in a database isn't enough anymore, especially if it takes one rogue employee, or a savvy hacker, to gain access to that databases. This is definitely a problem I've been thinking a lot about recently and would love to know your thoughts.
GPT-3
No, this isn't C-3PO's long lost cousin, however it could be in the future. GPT-3 is a new API system released by OpenAI. The simplest way to describe it is that it's an input/output system to convert requests like draw a red ball with white text that says 'Press me' and create exactly what was requested. There have been some powerful applicative uses of GPT-3 already, such as a Figma plugin to help the design process, or to create a React ready code base.
GPT-3 is really exciting! There have been some really creative applications of it already, and it shows the endless possibilities for the future. I can already see this integrating really well with no code solutions like Bubble.io to help people build and launch their MVP's. But it also has it's limitations, and being aware and mindful of that is also really important.
New Blog Posts
Automated Birthday Emails - Here's a quick guide on how to automate sending birthday emails to your friends or employees using Google Sheets and Google App Scripts.
Little Plugs
I like the idea of plugging interesting projects that I see around the internet.
Shipping a SaaS Minimum Viable Product - a really good guide on how to think about and ship your MVP
Backyard Movie Nights in Toronto - a really cool concept from a truly awesome human called Izzy
Efe Designs - truly talented designer who's offering to make a few screens for free
Question For You
Would you be interested in a free hour long session on how to launch your own website? I'll be following along with a lot of the content that I have in this post. I'm aiming to host it for folks that are new to tech or haven't dont a lot of web development before. Reply to this email if you'd be interested and I'll set something up.