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Issue 324: Three is the magic number

Three is the magic number, right? Well, we sure hope so because we’re giving you three magical stories from our blog this week. Tlon’s Galen Wolfe-Pauly joined the pod to talk decentralizing messaging apps and his takeaways from building network architecture that gives users actual control over their data. SmartBear’s Fitz Nowlan sat down with us to explore testing in a non-deterministic world and why data is becoming the new source of value in code. Speaking of non-determinism, we have a blog this week on the AI trust gap and what it means for purchasing enterprise SaaS products.

The magic isn’t just on our blog, by the way. We’ve got plenty of stories this week that’ll make you feel like saying Bibbity Boppity Boo. Feel like doing some time travel? You can go back to the gaming days of olde with the XBOX 360. Want to use a disappearing spell? We’ve got a story on hiding your email from spammers. Want to obtain an all-seeing eye? You should probably start by looking at your own AI-generated codebase, if the piece from one dev is to be believed.

And what’s more magical than a little knowledge? From our sites, we’re sharing our wisdom about zombies, CVs, Copilot, and being “elderly.” Elderly or not, that and so much more is ready for you down below. Just like magic!

From the blog

Seizing the means of messenger production

Ryan sits down with Galen Wolfe-Pauly, CEO of Tlon, to chat about calm computing and how humans can take back ownership of their data and digital world.

What the AI trust gap means for enterprise SaaS

Adoption and trust are moving in diametrically opposed directions, and that gap has real implications for organizations deciding how to spend money on software.

How can you test your code when you don’t know what’s in it?

Ryan hosts SmartBear’s VP of AI and Architecture Fitz Nowlan to explore how we’re moving away from old assumptions about software development, the challenges of testing MCP servers as LLM-driven agents introduce non-determinism that breaks tradition, and how data locality and data construction are becoming more valuable when source code is so easy to generate.

Interesting questions

Messed up my CV dates — how screwed am I?

Time is a construct, dude. Typos, however, are not.

Did the word “elderly” originally describe what we would now call a middle-aged person?

I prefer the elderly English synonyms: "chief, princely, excellent, authentic."

On zombies: What's it like to be nobody?

Zombies were the original people to brain rot.

mgt.clearMarks is not a function

These are not the functions you are looking for.

Links from around the web

A love letter to 'girl games'

Now that "girl games" are historically important, you can admit you played dress up Sims as a kid.

Comprehension debt: the hidden cost of AI generated code

There is no replacement for actually understanding your code.

Email address obfuscation: What works in 2026?

Spammers, try to find my email now!

How ReXGlue is bringing the Xbox 360 into the static recompilation era

Now you can play Halo 3 in all its original low-poly glory.

Looking for the tools, technologies, and skills your team needs to evolve in the AI era? Stack Overflow's Industry Guide to AI has your answers.