Newsletter #42: Shopify news, phishing, and French music

Hi there,

I hope you're feeling good.

Great news: we just passed 700 subscribers! I’m so happy to be in your inbox every Thursday morning. In this world where everything goes so fast, I’m very grateful for the time you dedicate to reading my stories. Thank you so much.

This week was a fun one: I worked from a few different places in London. I discovered the WeWork in Victoria, which is super cool. And I went to Shoreditch for two days to meet with two colleagues for the first time, how exciting!

In today’s edition, we’re discussing Shopify news, phishing, and French music.

Let's dive in.

Work

Cool things happened this week in the Shopify ecosystem!

• Dawn version 14.0.0 is out

It comes with 3 main new features:

• Bulk quick add on the product grid and featured collection sections

• "Sign in with Shop" on the login page

• Customers who “Sign in with Shop” will now see the avatar associated with their Shop account in the header in place of the generic customer account icon

Discover Dawn version 14.0.0 on the Shopify Theme Store.

• Shopify released "Trade", a free theme specifically designed for B2B merchants

It was announced at Shopify Winter Editions and is now out in the wild.

Code wise, "Trade" is a preset of "Dawn", just like "Taste" and "Craft".

But the major difference is that "Trade" comes with B2B-specific features, such as volume pricing (currently in early access), bulk add to cart, and a nice "Become a wholesale partner" page.

Discover “Trade” on the Shopify Theme Store.

• Shopify Winter Editions website won 2 Webby awards

In edition 30, I wrote about Shopify Winter Editions: all the new features that were announced, but also how the Winter Editions website itself was built.

I had the privilege to discuss the genesis of Editions with Arnaud Tanielian, Engineering Manager at Shopify. He kindly shared amazing insights with me. I was truly impressed at this beautiful website, and you probably were too.

Well, it seems like we were not the only ones loving it… Shopify Winter Editions website just won 2 Webby awards!

The Webby awards are the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

Established in 1996, they are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), a 3,000+ member judging body.

The Webby awards celebrate excellence in 9 major media types: Websites and Mobile Sites, Video, Advertising, Media & PR, Apps & Software, Social, Podcasts, Games, and AI, Metaverse & Virtual.

In every category, they present two awards: the Webby Award and the Webby People’s Voice Award (awarded by the voting public).

In the Websites and Mobile Sites category, Shopify Winter Editions website won both awards! Huge win!

Inspire

I often read about new techniques that scammers use to steal money from people, whether it’s online or offline.

I remember being in law school and learning about these famous cases that required the laws to change, to take them into account and actually condemn these new types of behaviors.

Among online scams, phishing is a well-known one. It’s a type of cybercrime where scammers impersonate legitimate websites or email addresses to trick people into providing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details.

Sometimes, YouTubers try to investigate a bit further into these scams and see how they can fight them back.

I recently stumbled upon a great video on that topic. It’s not a new one, it was actually released a few years ago, but I had missed it.

In this 7-min video, a Python developer shows a scam which promises that you can win a free PlayStation. For that, you’re redirected to a fake Amazon website, where you’re asked to enter your credit card details to pay a $1 delivery fee. You guessed it: if you do so, you’ll never see that PlayStation, and your credit card details will be used by the scammers to buy all kinds of stuff (ironically, probably a PlayStation).

As I said, the YouTuber making this video is a Python developer.

He decides to exploit an interesting fact to “punish” the scammer: entering false credit card information causes the card to be declined, and the scammer to be charged a small fee by the payment processing company.

So, in only a few minutes, he develops a Python script to send hundreds of requests with invalid credit card details, causing the scammer’s processing fees to go through the roof.

This video was definitely an amusing and interesting way to learn about Python development!

Explore

I’d like to end this edition with a song I’ll probably never get tired of: “J’sais pas” by Johan Papaconstantino.

Johan Papaconstantino is a French singer-songwriter with Greek origins.

His style is truly unique. It’s a mix of pop, folk, and electronic music, with melodies that can stay in your head for days.

Enjoy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie