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General Musings with Kevin Powell: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Kevin Powell
I usually start my newsletter with pretty long general musings before sharing the content I've created in the previous week, as well as any interesting articles I've stumbled across. Not everyone likes reading or having more emails in their inbox, so this podcast is an audio version of my newsletters. They aren't tutorials or technical explorations like my regular videos, but instead tend to talk about a wide range of different topics, though they're generally at least somewhat related to front-end development in some way.
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- 1 weeks ago8 min
Where do we draw the line with AI-written content?
I shared an article on Bluesky, and someone flagged it as AI-written. Then the author explained how he actually wrote it, and another reader pushed back. Most of us use AI to help write code, so why does AI-assisted writing bother us, and where should the line be?🔗 Links✅ The Bluesky thread: https://bsky.app/profile/kevinpowell.co/post/3mzdujbd46c2e✉ Keep up to date with everything I'm up to https://www.kevinpowell.co/newsletter💬 Come hang out with other devs in my Discord Community https://discord.gg/nTYCvrKHelp support my channel👨🎓 Get a course: https://www.kevinpowell.co/courses👕 Buy a shirt: https://cottonbureau.com/people/kevin-powell💖 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kevinpowell or through YT memberships: https://youtube.com/@kevinpowell/joinI'm on some other places on the internet too!Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kevinpowell.coCodepen: https://codepen.io/kevinpowell/Github: https://github.com/kevin-powell#css
- 2 weeks ago16 min
The easy way to learn nothing
Corrections1:50 - I said students who use AI every day scored about 80 points lower. It’s about 40 points lower (38 and 42 in the source).5:47 - I said “almost 1,000 high schools in Turkey.” It should be almost 1,000 high school students.👉 CSS Demystified: https://cssdemystified.com👉 Newsletter: https://kevinpowell.co/newsletterCanadian teens who use AI for schoolwork every week are about two years behind the ones who never use it, yet other studies show students with an AI tutor learning twice as much. So which is it? I dig into the research on AI and learning, and why the struggle is the part you can't skip.✅ My video on the PHP vulnerability that I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBD1AgkM1VQ🎓 Research✅ PISA 2025 results (OECD): https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1.html✅ Canadian teens who use AI are two years behind (Adam Dubé, The Conversation): https://ca.news.yahoo.com/release-ai-chatbots-harmed-teens-151349745.html✅ Measuring actual learning versus feeling of learning (Deslauriers et al., PNAS 2019): https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1821936116✅ Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning (Bastani et al., PNAS 2025): https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/without-guardrails-generative-ai-can-harm-education/✅ How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills (Anthropic): https://www.anthropic.com/news/AI-assistance-coding-skills✅ AI tutoring outperforms in-class active learning (Kestin et al., Harvard): https://serl.fas.harvard.edu/publication/ai-tutoring-outperforms-class-active-learning-rct-introducing-novel-research-based✅ From chalkboards to chatbots (World Bank, Nigeria): https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/education/From-chalkboards-to-chatbots-Transforming-learning-in-Nigeria✅ The impact of generative AI on critical thinking (Microsoft Research + Carnegie Mellon): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/the-impact-of-generative-ai-on-critical-thinking-self-reported-reductions-in-cognitive-effort-and-confidence-effects-from-a-survey-of-knowledge-workers/⌚ Timestamps00:00 - Two years behind00:37 - The asterisk on the Canadian data01:06 - The "learn faster with AI" pitch01:26 - We learn through friction02:14 - Feeling like you've learned vs actually learning03:15 - What happens when students get ChatGPT04:25 - Anthropic's study on developers05:53 - Why it's so easy to fall into this07:54 - So why did some students learn twice as much?09:32 - "But AI writes the code anyway"11:34 - Trusting AI and critical thinking13:11 - How to learn with AI without skipping the learning14:09 - CSS Demystified
- 3 weeks ago13 min
Why I am still making CSS tutorials
Someone left a comment on one of my videos asking "Who still cares about all those little CSS details?" and it's not the first that asks that type of thing, so I felt like I should reply.✅ Newsletter: https://kevinpowell.co/newsletter✅ CSS animations to bring your site to life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSNiSdB8Ens✅ Recreating GTA6's awesome scroll effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi1MvM7whzg
- 3 weeks ago14 min
This PHP vulnerability is a big deal
Two bugs in PHP itself are being called "70% of the internet is affected", and the bug is serious, but the headline number is not. Here is what actually happened, where the 70% comes from, why so many sites are stuck without a fix, and what to do about it. PHP versions with the fix: 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35.🔗 Links✅ Wiz, "PHP2Shell": https://www.wiz.io/blog/php2shell-php-rce✅ PHP security advisory (21 October): https://www.php.net/archive/2026.php#2026-10-21-5✅ PHP supported versions: https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php✅ The Hacker News: https://thehackernews.com/2026/10/php-issues-emergency-patches-for-two.html✅ Huntress: https://www.huntress.com/blog/php2shell-leaked-critical-php-vulnerabilities✅ watchTowr: https://watchtowr.com/intelligence/php-remote-code-execution-php2shell/✅ Patchstack: https://patchstack.com/articles/php-major-vulnerability-alert-10-2026/✅ Cloudflare rules available to all customers (Help Net Security): https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/10/21/php2shell-php-vulnerabilities-patched-cve-2026-109618-cve-2026-109619/✅ W3Techs, PHP usage: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/pl-php✅ W3Techs, PHP 8 subversions: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/pl-php/8✅ W3Techs, WordPress share of all websites: https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management✅ Ubuntu security notice for PHP 8.1: https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8948-1⌚ Timestamps00:00 - Introduction1:05 - What actually happened: two bugs in PHP itself2:54 - Why it is such a big deal4:33 - How your server runs PHP 5:44 - So is 70% of the internet affected?6:56 - The real problem: old PHP with no fix8:58 - Most people don't control their own PHP version9:30 - Attacks, break-ins and who is going offline11:23 - What you should do
- 4 weeks ago18 min
I was getting on board with passkeys. Now this.
An article saying "Passkeys are a trap. Do not use them." hit the front page of Hacker News, and its worry is attestation: a passkey feature that could let sites decide what software you can log in with. I break down what attestation actually is, why non-attested passkeys are still secure, and why I'm not too worried about it, at least for now.✅ My newsletter: https://kevinpowell.co/newsletter✅ Passkeys are a trap. Do not use them. (The Hack, Non-Functional): https://nonfunctional.substack.com/p/passkeys-are-a-trap-do-not-use-them✅ FIDO Alliance members: https://fidoalliance.org/members✅ Beyond Tellerand: https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2027/tickets
- Oct 9, 202618 min
Why is AI motivating some devs and burning out others?
Most developers say they like the AI tools they're using, yet motivation is down and burnout is everywhere. This week I look at what the 2026 Stack Overflow and State of Devs surveys say, and what you've been telling me in the comments. Then I get to what the people who are happier with AI are doing differently, and what could actually fix this.Sources:Stack Overflow 2026 Developer Survey: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026State of Devs 2026: https://2026.stateofdevs.com/en-USMy primary YouTube channel where I teach frontend development, with a strong focus on CSS: https://youtube.com/@kevinpowell✉ The written version of my newsletter: https://www.kevinpowell.co/newsletter💬 Come hang out with other dev's in my Discord Community: https://discord.gg/nTYCvrKHelp support my channel👨🎓 Get a course: https://www.kevinpowell.co/courses👕 Buy a shirt: https://teespring.com/stores/making-the-internet-awesome💖 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kevinpowell0:00 Developers like AI, so why the burnout?0:15 The paradox in the Stack Overflow survey1:58 What you've been saying in the comments3:06 Reduced motivation is the top burnout symptom4:13 Poor management, the top workplace difficulty6:11 Some people are happier with AI8:21 The job isn't typing, it's shipping products9:33 Management needs a rethink11:42 Lessons from Photoshop14:45 What you can do15:41 What do you think?
- Oct 2, 202612 min
You can't escape CSS architecture
✅ Thoughtful Design Systems: https://thecascade.dev/courses/design-systems/✅ StyleX: https://stylexjs.com/✅ Jeremy Keith’s blog post: https://adactio.com/journal/857My primary YouTube channel where I teach frontend development, with a strong focus on CSS: https://youtube.com/@KevinPowell✉ The written version of my newsletter: https://www.kevinpowell.co/newsletter💬 Come hang out with other dev's in my Discord Community: https://discord.gg/nTYCvrKHelp support my channel👨🎓 Get a course: https://www.kevinpowell.co/courses👕 Buy a shirt: https://teespring.com/stores/making-the-internet-awesome💖 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kevinpowell
- Sep 25, 202612 min
We're all fed up
Beyond Tellerand: https://beyondtellerrand.com/Thoughtful Design Systems: https://thecascade.dev/courses/design-systems/The Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wm5c21/i_am_done_with_this_shit/My primary YouTube channel where I teach frontend development, with a strong focus on CSS: https://youtube.com/@kevinpowell✉ The written version of my newsletter: https://www.kevinpowell.co/newsletter💬 Come hang out with other dev's in my Discord Community: https://discord.gg/nTYCvrKHelp support my channel👨🎓 Get a course: https://www.kevinpowell.co/courses👕 Buy a shirt: https://teespring.com/stores/making-the-internet-awesome💖 Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kevinpowell
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About General Musings with Kevin Powell
I usually start my newsletter with pretty long general musings before sharing the content I've created in the previous week, as well as any interesting articles I've stumbled across. Not everyone likes reading or having more emails in their inbox, so this podcast is an audio version of my newsletters. They aren't tutorials or technical explorations like my regular videos, but instead tend to talk about a wide range of different topics, though they're generally at least somewhat related to front-end development in some way.
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