🌎️ 200+ projects to build

Hey everybody,

This week, I’m sharing a range of tools and stories, from real-world backend projects to boost your dev skills, blogging tips for developers from Robin Moffatt, and a simple, no-login checklist tool. Plus, catch up on OpenAI’s new AI hardware plans and Python’s rise over JavaScript on GitHub.

Quick Links

🔨 Build Real-World Backend Projects
If you're tired of endless frontend projects and want to dive into backend development, this site is a goldmine. It offers 200+ advanced backend projects complete with feature requirements, user stories, and real-world use cases to help you break out of tutorial hell.

✏️ Blog Writing for Developers
A lot of us in tech, myself included, keep our own blogs. I recently came across a post by Robin Moffatt, where he dives into why he blogs and shares solid tips on how developers can create impactful blogs of their own. It's a helpful guide for anyone looking to write and share their journey in tech.

💼 Getting hired is hard
Searching for job openings. Sending endless applications into the online void and getting absolutely nowhere. Express Employment Professionals makes getting hired easy. Express is locally owned and operated, connected to dozens of companies in your area, with tons of available jobs. And at Express there are no fees for job seekers. [sponsored]

✅ Free, no-login checklist
Here's a straightforward, no-fuss tool: a free online checklist that requires no login and skips any AI features. Just a simple, accessible way to keep track of tasks directly on the web.

🧠 OpenAI to make own AI hardware in 2026
OpenAI is teaming up with Broadcom to create custom silicon optimized for handling massive AI workloads, sources tell Reuters. They've also locked in manufacturing capacity with TSMC, the world's top chipmaker. OpenAI’s team now includes 20 experts, including engineers who worked on Google’s Tensor AI processors, signaling a serious push toward in-house AI hardware.

🐍 Python overtakes Javascript
GitHub's October update revealed a big milestone: Python has now surpassed JavaScript as the platform's most popular language, with Jupyter Notebooks also on the rise. This is due to a growing focus on data science and machine learning. Additionally, interest in AI agents and lightweight models is increasing, as the industry shifts toward more efficient, versatile AI applications.

SearchGPT

OpenAI recently launched ChatGPT Search, a new feature allowing ChatGPT to search the web more effectively, delivering fast, relevant answers with links to quality sources.

This tool combines the conversational ease of ChatGPT with access to current information—like sports scores, news, and stock quotes—that typically requires a search engine.

ChatGPT can choose to search based on the query or users can activate it manually. For anyone tired of endless searches and digging through links, this promises an easier path to reliable information, with ChatGPT able to provide answers in a more natural, context-aware way. But how does it hold up?

According to Lance Ulanoff at TechRadar, ChatGPT Search feels like "early Google before it started monetizing." He calls it a refreshing, ad-free experience that’s more focused than modern search engines bogged down by monetization and product integration.

Meanwhile, Maxwell Zeff at TechCrunch says ChatGPT search is "impressive" but still impractical as a primary search engine, especially for the quick queries people often throw at Google. While promising, it’s clear ChatGPT Search has room to grow before fully rivaling Google’s vast knowledge base.

More Reading

• Interview gone wrong (Ashu1461)

• Please just stop saying "just" (Scott Ringwelski)

• Security flaws found in all Nvidia GeForce GPUs (PCworld)

Until next week,

Travis.