Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos
wordpress

Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg made another buyout offer this week, and threatened employees who speak to the press with termination.
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Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos
wordpress

Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg made another buyout offer this week, and threatened employees who speak to the press with termination.
Tinkerers Are Taking Old Redbox Kiosks Home and Reverse Engineering Them
Redbox

Tinkerers Are Taking Old Redbox Kiosks Home and Reverse Engineering Them

The Redbox operating system has been dumped, and people are repurposing the massive DVD kiosks they've saved from the scrap heap.
AI-Powered Social Media Manipulation App Promises to 'Shape Reality'
News

AI-Powered Social Media Manipulation App Promises to 'Shape Reality'

A prototype app called Impact describes “A Volunteer Fire Department For The Digital World,” which would summon real people to copy and paste AI-generated talking points on social media.
Podcast: Why the WordPress Chaos Matters
Podcast

Podcast: Why the WordPress Chaos Matters

How the WordPress chaos may impact the web; using AI to apply for jobs; and how the National Archives wants to push its employees to use Google's AI.
‘AI-Mazing Tech-Venture’: National Archives Pushes Google Gemini AI on Employees
AI

‘AI-Mazing Tech-Venture’: National Archives Pushes Google Gemini AI on Employees

The National Archives is launching a public-facing AI chatbot called "Archie." Employees have concerns.
Hackers Advertise Stolen Verizon Push-to-Talk ‘Call Logs’
News

Hackers Advertise Stolen Verizon Push-to-Talk ‘Call Logs’

The breach does not appear to impact the main consumer Verizon network, and instead involves the company’s push to talk (PTT) product, marketed to public sector agencies and enterprises.
The Future of Earth Hinges on Sea Snot
The Abstract

The Future of Earth Hinges on Sea Snot

Plus, time-traveling finches, a breakdancer booboo, man-eating lions, and comb jelly fusion.
Behind the Blog: Sensitive Sourcing and Job Application Hell
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Sensitive Sourcing and Job Application Hell

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss a sensitive data breach, the terrible process of sorting and sending job applications, and how Wikipedia is battling AI slop.
‘I Applied to 2,843 Roles’: The Rise of AI-Powered Job Application Bots
AI

‘I Applied to 2,843 Roles’: The Rise of AI-Powered Job Application Bots

Using AI Hawk's Auto Jobs Applier bot, I applied for 17 jobs in an hour on LinkedIn.
‘The Community Is In Chaos:’ WordPress.org Now Requires You Denounce Affiliation With WP Engine To Log In
wordpress

‘The Community Is In Chaos:’ WordPress.org Now Requires You Denounce Affiliation With WP Engine To Log In

WordPress.org users are forced to confirm they are not "affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise" before registering a new account or logging in.
Thousands of Internal AI Training Datasets, Tools Exposed to Anyone on the Internet
News

Thousands of Internal AI Training Datasets, Tools Exposed to Anyone on the Internet

“In addition to the ML models themselves, the exposed data can include training datasets, hyperparameters, and sometimes even raw data used to build models,” a security researcher said.
Podcast: The Smart Glasses That Dox Strangers
Podcast

Podcast: The Smart Glasses That Dox Strangers

Looking at someone and doxing them instantly; how a data archive was knocked offline during a recent hurricane; and a hack of an AI companion.