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WordPress.org’s latest move involves taking control of a WP Engine plugin
WordPress.org has taken over a popular WP Engine plugin in order “to remove commercial upsells and fix a security problem,” WordPress cofounder and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced today.
Wow that must be pretty serious huh?
It’s not clear what security problem Mullenweg is referring to in the post.
Oh 🤨
Rumors on X Are Becoming the Right’s New Reality
A curious set of claims has recently emerged from…X: FEMA is systematically abandoning Trump-supporting Hurricane Helene victims; Democrats (and perhaps Jewish people) are manipulating the weather; Haitian immigrants are eating pet cats in Springfield, Ohio.
I remember when conspiracy theories used to be shit like subterranean lizard people and hollow moon theory. No one took it this seriously and it definitely wasn’t part of anyone’s political campaign. I think RFK’s brain worms must be contagious 🤪
SSRI Withdrawal, Brain Zaps [psychiatrist.com]
In SSRI Withdrawal, Brain Zaps Go from Overlooked Symptom to Center Stage
A sensation unofficially known as “brain zaps” has caused concern in patients stepping off of their SSRIs. Until recently, physicians have widely been unaware or dismissive of the symptom.
“There was an emphasis both within the [psychiatric] profession and pharmacological companies to make these medications sound not addictive,” [Alexander Papp] told Psychiatrist.com. Therefore, when SSRIs first became popular, very few systematic studies were conducted on antidepressant discontinuation effects.
I went through opiate addiction when I was in my 20s and that was nothing compared to how… off I felt when my doctor pulled me off of Cymbalta cold turkey a few years ago. She switched me to a completely different class of antidepressant and said I shouldn’t have any noticeable side effects or withdrawals.
I felt fucking insane after about two days. I was getting brain zaps every time I’d look in a different direction and I literally did not know who I was at times. I spent most of a week in bed and quit my job. The absolute worst thing I’ve ever been through. Needless to say I found a new doctor.
They really do downplay all of the negative side effects and withdrawal symptoms of antidepressants. Glad to see people are starting to take this stuff seriously. Finally.
Due to…everything going on right now with WordPress, I thought I’d put together a list of alternative CMSs that better fit the criteria someone might have for their website … The criteria for this list are “Can it be downloaded, dropped onto a server, and you’ll have a website?”
Great post on WP alternatives! I’ve never liked it for a personal blog, it just feels too commercial for me. But I know it’s something a ton of people use. Like most bloggers and commercial websites. Worth checking out if you use WP and don’t like the direction it’s headed these days.
A deposit of marine fossils found under San Pedro High School - Los Angeles Times
Researchers uncovered two distinct sites on campus where new buildings were under construction: a bone bed dating back 8.7 million years in the Miocene era and a shell bed about 120,000 years old from the Pleistocene era.
It’s crazy that at any given place in the world you could be standing on top of millions of years of undiscovered history and not even know it.
Internet Archive hacked, data breach impacts 31 million users
“Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!,” reads a JavaScript alert shown on the compromised archive.org site.
Earlier today, the Internet Archive suffered a DDoS attack, which has now been claimed by the BlackMeta hacktivist group, who says they will be conducting additional attacks.
What a bunch of losers. It’s like throwing a molotov cocktail through a library’s window.
Elon Musk’s ‘Free’ Starlink for Hurricane Helene Victims Will Cost at Least $400
Musk made headlines with a promise that SpaceX Starlink would be free for 30 days to help in places where fiber and cellular infrastructure might have been knocked offline.
…anyone interested in taking up the offer still has to pay approximately $400 for the dish itself (including shipping and tax) and they’re getting automatically rolled into a $120 per-month contract when the free month ends.
Literal supervillain.
CTV industry’s unprecedented “surveillance” - Ars Technica
Not only does CTV operate in ways that are unfair to consumers, it is also putting them and their families at risk as it gathers and uses sensitive data about health, children, race, and political interests
…buying a smart TV set in today’s connected television marketplace is akin to bringing a digital Trojan Horse into one’s home
Not surprising honestly. Everyone’s a Neilson family now eh?
Kyle Rittenhouse Metal Fest Booking Causes Bands to Drop Out
Shell Shock founder and CEO, Tyler Hoover:
The lynch mob here to take down Shell Shock will not win. It doesn’t matter, because guess what? You can’t kill spirit. You can’t kill punk. And you can’t fucking kill Shell Shock.
I’m sorry but a pseudo celebrity who literally got away with murder at a protest against police brutality is NOT fucking punk in any way shape or form. I think this guy is confused… his kind of people are literally the lynch mob.
159 employees are leaving Automattic as CEO’s fight with WP Engine escalates | TechCrunch
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said on Thursday that 159 employees (roughly 8.4% of staff) accepted a severance package that the company had offered to those who disagreed with his direction of WordPress and his handling of the tussle with web hosting provider WP Engine.
Whoa that’s more than I realized. Good for them
Mark Zuckerberg’s rebrand is a master class in distraction
Zuckerberg has started working out, changed his hairstyle, and is wearing gold chains, but most importantly, he’s given up on trying to seriously respond to his critics.
Ever since the Trump presidency people like Musk and Zuck have turned into literal supervillains. Previously closeted conservatives who throw on a 2002 JCPenny fit and think they’re these hip uber influencers but really they’re just antisocial little boys who literally want to control the world at all costs.
Nintendo Targets YouTube Accounts Showing Emulated Games
Recent laws in Japan have criminalized console and game modding, as well as save file editing.
YouTubers such as PointCrow have reported takedowns of their videos featuring modded gameplay.
Content creators are now more hesitant to produce videos involving Nintendo games, fearing potential legal repercussions or channel strikes.
Does Microsoft or Sony push back this hard against mods and emulators? Like not even the emulators themselves, but videos of games played on them? Seems harsh 🤨
Gun-toting Nazis tried to ruin a Pride festival. They failed miserably.
The organizers of a Pride festival in Grove City, Ohio refused to let hate win when a group of gun-toting Neo-Nazis attempted to ruin the day.
This is near where I live. They were there for like 20 minutes looking like a bunch of fucking idiots and everyone just kind of ignored them. People put up umbrellas to block them out lol
Sending Children Through the US Postal Service in the 1910s
The children had to meet specific criteria: they had to weigh less than 50 pounds, which was roughly the weight limit for postal packages at the time. Their parents or guardians would affix postage stamps to their clothing as a form of payment for their delivery.
This odd chapter in postal history is a reminder of how societal norms and regulations evolve over time, and it remains a curious anecdote from the early 20th century.
Well that’s enough US history for me today.
Jeremy Clarkson Says All Modern Cars ‘Are Sh*t’
Jeremy Clarkson has been known for his often controversial takes on cars. Well, he’s got another one: modern cars are “all shit now.” Clarkson said this during a watch party for the final episode of “The Grand Tour”
Clarkson isn’t alone in this opinion. A quick look at the Jalopnik comments section will make you think everyone hates modern cars because they’re too big, have too much technology and are too heavy.
I’m perfectly happy with my tiny 2013 Honda Fit 💁
OpenAI might raise the price of ChatGPT to $44 by 2029
OpenAI could face a blowback if it increases prices too quickly. While ChatGPT has roughly 10 million paying users today, surveys suggest that many believe the current $20-per-month price is too high.
Personally I think $20 is already too high for ChatGPT. I pay $20 a month for Perplexity and I get Claude (with the ability to search the web), ChatGPT and Perplexity’s own chat bots. AI is a handy tool to have but not for $44 a month. Not everyone has that Sam Altman money.
Enter your birth date and place to discover what the weather was like when you were born!
This is neat. It was rainy with a high of 85.8°F when I was born
U.S. Court Orders LibGen to Pay $30m to Publishers
…LibGen is one of the longest-running shadow libraries online.
In recent years, rightsholders have made several attempts to shut the site down. Court orders have led to LibGen being blocked in several countries, but completely eliminating the threat has been extremely difficult. This is partly because the identities of those running it remains unknown.
While this is a win on paper, it’s unlikely that the publishers will get paid by the LibGen operators, who remain anonymous.
The check is in the mail, I’m sure
Google’s AI Mushrooms Could Have ‘Devastating Consequences’
Google is serving AI-generated images of mushrooms when users search for some species, a risky and potentially fatal error for foragers who are trying to figure out what mushrooms are safe to eat.
I would trust a dusty old field guide from the 1800s before I trusted Google for foraging tips