Automattic says it will reduce its contribution to the WordPress core project to match WP Engine
It's a new year, but the drama in the WordPress community continues. Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com, said it will reduce its contributions to WordPress core, the open source project that underpins most of Automattic's products and ensures the longevity of WordPress as a technology and community. Automattic CEO and WordPress co-creator Matt Mullenweg has been in a...
Beams secures $9M Series A to digitize UK home renovation market
Home renovation projects can be unpredictable for customers and builders alike. Meanwhile, small contractors hardly ever use modern software and home renovation giants, like IKEA, tend to use old software. UK startup Beams thinks it can solve this conundrum and has now raised a $9 million Series A funding round to solve the problem. That brings the total to...
School Shootings Are Fake. Terror Is Real
Then, between Christmas Eve and New Year, came a new flood of swattings. They attacked almost a hundred politicians and law enforcement officials in a reckless and coordinated campaign: the secretary of US Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly, the Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and the Republican...
Los Angeles Fire in Pictures
On the morning of January 7, the first wildfire in Los Angeles broke out in a wooded area near Topanga State Park in the northwest corner of the city. Conditions allowed the fire to spread very quickly: 100 mph winds, extreme humidity, and a landscape that could burn after months without rain combined to send the fire ripping through...
Elon Musk’s Quest for Domination Has Gone Global
Most recently, Musk spread conspiracy theories about Muslim "grooming gangs" in Britain, and called for Tommy Robinson, a right-wing activist, to be released from prison. Musk's support for Robinson, who has a history of posting racist and Islamophobic content, initially saw British Reform leader Nigel Farage back down against the owner of X. But in a TV show hosted...
How the US TikTok Ban Really Works
The law says it will be "illegal" for an entity to "distribute, maintain or update" the application including its source code, or by "providing a service" that allows it to run as it is. This distribution, maintenance, or update may be, by law, through a mobile application store accessible in the US or by "providing internet hosting services." app...
‘All Hands on Deck’: How Mandatory Watch Continues With California Wildfires
Like, download Watch Duty and get results there. If not, have at it, man. Have it on the internet and hope it makes you better. I feel bad for him, honestly, you know? I have experienced this before. But the way I want to do it is to build Watch Duty, not by shouting it into the ether. We...
Rumblings among 15 Targets of Texas Attorney General’s Child Privacy Investigation
A privacy expert who spoke to WIRED described Rumble, Quora, and WeChat as unusual suspects but declined to speculate on the reasons for being included in the investigation. Josh Golin, executive director of the non-profit Fairplay, which advocates for digital safety for children, said concerns are not always clear-cut. Some advocacy groups are concerned about Pinterest, for example, until...
Meta Secretly Trained AI on Notorious Hacking Database, Unexpected Court Documents
"Meta has treated the so-called 'public availability' of shadow datasets as a get-out-of-jail-free card, even though internal Meta records show every relevant decision-maker at Meta, up to and including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, knows LibGen is the 'dataset we know. will be hijacked,'" the plaintiffs said in the motion. (Originally filed at the end of 2024, the motion is a...
The Waves Can Finally Fight the LA Fire
"With the wind being very calm this morning, I believe we can make some progress, turn the corner, and start building some fire on this fire," Brent Pascua, Cal Fire battalion chief, told The Today Show on Friday. Until now, disaster response has been marred by disinformation and controversy. After several fire hydrants ran dry, president-elect Donald Trump baselessly...
