Five Links #67
1. This is where I write my Journal on my iPhone
I love this idea of storing a little note in a photo’s caption.
2. Where’s the AI design renaissance?
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had some incredibly productive moments with AI design tools. But I’ve had at least as many slogs, where I can’t get it to do some basic thing I should’ve done myself 45 minutes ago. And even those productive moments are generally for less important, less business-critical, less live-in-production design stuff.
My hunch: vibe coding is a lot like stock-picking – everyone’s always blabbing about their big wins. Ask what their annual rate of return is above the S&P, and it’s a quieter conversation 🤫
3. First malicious MCP in the wild: the Postmark backdoor that's stealing your emails
We're handing god-mode permissions to tools built by people we don't know, can't verify, and have no reason to trust. These aren't just npm packages - they're direct pipelines into our most sensitive operations, automated by AI assistants that will use them thousands of times without question.
The backdoor is actively harvesting emails as you read this. We've reported it to npm, but here's the terrifying question: how many other MCP servers are already compromised? How would you even know?
4. iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% charge limit: one year later, was it worth it?
I now have two years of data with my iPhone limited to an 80 percent charge, and I don't think it's been worth it. My coworker who also has a 16 Pro Max did not have an 80 percent charge limit set, and his battery capacity is 96 percent with 308 charge cycles.
5. Graphemica
A great place to source Unicode characters.
What am I up to?
- I have space for three design consultations each week – a great way to get design feedback without the commitment of a large project
- Unoffice Hours continue on a fortnightly schedule. The next available slot is 15 October.
- I have limited availability for new projects from December.
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Until next time,
Dave
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