Does technical debt matter in 2026? Some think that because AI has taken over much of the coding that we do, that having a codebase that is largely unmaintainable by humans doesn't matter. Personally, I think this is rubbish and equate it to having a messy workshop. In your workshop, if you leave a rake lying on the floor - then you know what to avoid... but it still poses a danger. If a stranger were to walk into your workshop without warning then they'd likely step on that rake. Okay so we'll just tell the AI that there's a rake there and it'll avoid it every time... right? Maybe, but what about when you're 100 prompts in and it starts to lose context? Once that context is lost, there's still a major risk of it stepping on the rake - so why leave the hazard there to begin with? In fact, why not tell the AI to pick up the rake and put it away so we have a clean workshop ready to continue working in? Personally, I think having a maintainable codebase that fights against technical debt is still the way to work in 2026.

For ChatGPT I'm finding that GPT-6 set to Medium is the best result to value ratio. I'm on the Plus plan. With Astra I starting hitting my limits when set to High (not really surprising) but it scared me back to GPT-5.6 initially. Lately, on Chat heavy days I've been rocking GPT-6 set to Medium and have been very happy with the results and speed I'm getting. In terms of agents though, I've only tested Codex a little bit so I'm not sure how it will affect my limits. But the results from my agents have also been great at this level.

I've been enjoying ChatGPT and Codex. But one major sticking point is the switching between modes: Chat, Work, and Codex. This has got to be fleshed out more. I'm able to get the same work done in all three modes often times. Sometimes there's tasks that clearly lean one way or the other... but in general I think this UX needs to be improved.

We value handmade furniture. Would anyone value "hand-coded" apps?

Is software dead? I think the whole "software is dead" movement is nonsense. Can AI generate you some software? Yes. But we've had site builders, templates, and other DIY tooling to let business owners make their own websites for years. And guess what? There are still web development agencies servicing hundreds or thousands of clients. People want stuff made for them when their time is better spent working on something else. The general public isn't going to want to update their app when an OS update breaks it. They're not going to want to install security patches and other fixes. Is software dead? No.

I'm digging this new Activity feature on @descript The old chevron with collapsible menu left a lot to be desired.

Definitely not a fan of the Microsoft 365 changes, lost terabytes of storage capacity Surprised they'd just take away OneDrive storage away that I've had for years...

Just recorded an absolute monster of an episode with @htmleverything tackling low-hanging SEO fruit Feel like I've been talking for 10 hours straight 😂 Lots of facts and helpful tidbits to share!

Small business websites are still important in 2026.

Small business websites need time to flourish. A common trend I see among small business owners is that they don't dedicate any time to their website, and still expect it to rank on Google. If you have all your pages filled with barely any information - you're simply not going to outdo your competitors on the SERP. You don't need to have an amazing blog, but you do need to put some time into keyword research and decent content surrounding that research - if you want to bubble up to the top spots on Google.

If you run a small business in 2026, you still need a website. Some companies make it work using only social media and a Google My Business presence - but you're relying on other platforms for all your leads If your social account got suspended for a week, are all your leads gone? Having a website, even just a landing page to start, gives you a place where customers can always find you.

Cool and crucial feature With the new Xbox being a PC, all this back compat work will help pave the way for Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series games to run on Windows

Kimi K3 Brings Frontier AI Into the Open Kimi K3 is a massive new open AI model with 2.8 trillion parameters, native vision and a one-million-token context window. Its creator claims it can compete near the frontier of coding, reasoning and knowledge work - but its potential goes far beyond benchmark scores. In this Web News, Matt and Mike discuss what happens when companies can operate powerful AI without depending entirely on OpenAI, Anthropic or another hosted provider. Could open models lower costs and unlock better AI products, or will their customizable guardrails create new safety and regulatory concerns? Discussion on Kimi K3 with @htmleverything 👇

You're using too much JavaScript! In its most vanilla form, JavaScript makes the frontend interactive... but over the years its capabilities have been massively expanded. JavaScript has been typed by TypeScript, works on the backend via nodejs, and has been adapted by the community to work in niche situations like Discord bot creation. Because of this, it's easy to reach for JavaScript whenever our website needs something - but other parts of the web platform are powerful in their own right. Capable browser APIs and the ever expanding capabilities of CSS have taken over much of what used to happen exclusively in JavaScript. In this episode of the podcast, @htmleverything and discussed some modern browser features that every developer should know! Check it out 👇

Are you making an app, web app, or website? Then you've likely been told to make an MVP to get started, but what about an MLP? In order to attract and retain users your app needs to be something that users love to use. Let's chat about it 👇

Do you know what an MVP is? An MVP is a Minimum Viable Product, its the thing that most techies, entrepreneurs, and developers will tell you to create if you're looking to make a new digital product. The concept can be applied to websites, web apps, mobile apps, and more - it's designed to take your ideas and turn them into products in a controlled way. During the design & concept phase, it's easy to list out all the features you want your app to have. But in reality, most of those features are add-ons attaching themselves to the base idea. For example, if you want to make a golf app - the most basic idea of that app might be keeping score while you're out on the course. That's your MVP, your app simply allows you to keep your golf scores stored inside it. By doing this you're foregoing common other features that golf apps have such as GPS range finding and handicap calculations. By keeping your MVP simple, you've quickly shipped your app with a clear vision. But... do you think that anyone is going to fall in love with your simple scorecard app? Chances are, they won't. For most ideas, the MVP is a great starting point, but isn't enough to attract and retain users over the long term. This is where the MLP (Minimum Loveable Product) comes in. It's sort of like the "next level" in your app development where you decide what's the absolute minimum amount of features this app needs in order for users to start falling in love with it. The MLP helps guide your roadmap and mitigates feature stuffing - allowing you to once again release an update (or updates) quickly and with a clear vision. Making digital products is difficult and if you're passionate about your idea, it can get even harder because you'll want to add every feature you think of. By following the MVP then MLP strategy you'll have a strong base that you can then grow from.

You've heard of remote work & working from home... but what about async work? Async work or "Asynchronous Work" is a modern workflow that allows work to be done whenever is appropriate for the worker. It directly challenges the traditional 9-5 office culture, by allowing team members to finish their work at any time of day. While synchronous parts of the job still exist: 💠Meetings 💠Collaboration on select tasks Asynchronous teams enjoy: ✅Freedom of schedule (golf all day, work all night) ✅Timezone freedom (hire team members from across the globe) ✅Communications that don't need to be immediately answered (answer during your work time) This idea may seem utopian, but many teams have implemented it successfully - a task that is not always easy. @htmleverything and I discussed how teams can find success with async work through proper communications, flexible schedules, and trust.

Fully embracing my 30s the only way I know how

I'm surprised that making discs available or not is Sony's call and not the game developers'