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January 8, 2026

Five Links #79

1. I work for an evil company, but outside work, I’m actually a really good person

Does the leadership at my company promote a xenophobic agenda and use the wealth I help them acquire to donate directly to bigoted causes and politicians I find despicable? Yeah, sure. Did I celebrate my last birthday at Drag Brunch? Also yes. I even tipped with five-dollar bills. I contain multitudes, and would appreciate it if you focused on the brunch one.

2. Cal Newport x Ed Zitron review 2025 from the perspective of AI

Five days into 2026, and we already have a contender for Crossover of the Year.

3. Debunking the AI food delivery hoax that fooled Reddit

A fascinating behind-the-scenes from Casey Newton – I suspect this is just the start of this type of AI-fueled skullduggery:

The post seemed to confirm our worst fears about the platforms we rely on: that they are rigged against us, ruthlessly exploitative, and always testing the boundary of what is considered legal. It also drew on a long and very real history of regulatory arbitrage and exploitation by delivery platforms, from DoorDash’s theft of driver tips to Uber’s secret system for evading law enforcement.

4. Navbar Gallery

I stumbled across this neat little design inspiration gallery earlier this week.

5. Are Apple Gift Cards safe to redeem?

The whole thing does make me nervous about redeeming, or giving, Apple gift cards. Scams in general seem to be getting more sophisticated. Buttfield-Addison says he bought the card directly from “a major brick-and-mortar retailer (Australians, think Woolworths scale; Americans, think Walmart scale)”.


What am I up to?

  • My 2025 year-in-review
  • My next available Unoffice Hour slot is 4 March
  • I have limited availability for new projects from February.

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Until next time,

Dave

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