Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Breach Rumors and Fun With Maps
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 tech near-catastrophe, data journalism, and breach rumors.
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.
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.
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.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Newsworthy FOIA Files and the Art and Science of Paywalling
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 FOIAing after those racist pet-eating claims, the art and science of paywalling, and gambling with journalism.
News
Residents File Class Action Lawsuit Against BioLab for Toxic Plume
This isn't even the first time an incident at the Conyers, Georgia BioLab plant has forced residents out of their homes.
News
Hurricane Helene Knocked One of the World’s Largest Climate Data Archives Offline
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which is headquartered in Asheville, has been down for days.
waymo
Men Harassed A Woman In A Driverless Waymo, Trapping Her In Traffic
Two men stood in front of the autonomous vehicle, operated by ride-hailing company Waymo, and literally tipped a fedora at her while she told them to move out of the way.
paypal
Paypal Opted You Into Sharing Data Without Your Knowledge
Here's how to opt out of sharing data for "Personalized shopping."
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Secretive Service and Being Taken Seriously
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 being taken seriously, the Secret Service being secretive, and doing business while doing journalism.
Deepfakes
Schools Are Failing to Protect Students From Non-Consensual Deepfakes, Report Shows
A survey of teachers, students and parents showed that schools are unprepared for non-consensual imagery, AI generated or otherwise, spreading throughout communities of young people.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Good Dogs and Joyous Games
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 good dogs, good games, getting documents and netsex.