> Markdown version of [/magazine/695-dev-digest-207-spring-cleaning-ai-agent-manipulation-and-stopping-bad-bots](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/695-dev-digest-207-spring-cleaning-ai-agent-manipulation-and-stopping-bad-bots). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

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# Dev Digest 207: Spring Cleaning, AI Agent Manipulation and Stopping Bad Bots

**By:** [Daniel Cranney](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/@daniel-cranney)

**Published:** February 16, 2026

## Inside last week’s [Dev Digest 207](https://newsletter.wearedevelopers.com/207).

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DoP221BDAek

🤔 Nobody trusts AI but not many verify its outcomes  
🛑 How to stop bad bots  
🧪 A manipulation test page for AI agents  
💖 How a heart emoji slowed down a page 100x  
🎬 Embedding videos fast and without JavaScript  
🍃 Spring cleaning for Macs  
🗜️ Batch convert and compress images  
🪞 How does your ChatGPT see itself?

🗞️ Join over 200,000 developers already subscribed to the Dev Digest to get your weekly round-up of tech news, tips and tricks, jobs, events and more, delivered to your inbox. [Subscribe here](https://wearedevelopers.com/devdigest).



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