Matt: Time Zones

If you like rabbit holes, a wonderful way to spend your Sunday is in the writing of Zach Holman, an early engineer at Github and Gitlab. All are good, but a particular favorite of mine is UTC is enough for everyone …right? You don’t need to code to appreciate that time is a construct, that … Read more

Akismet: Happy 20th Birthday Akismet

Akismet was launched 20 years ago today, when Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg announced it on his blog in a post describing what Akismet was and what it could become. The internet has changed a lot in the past 20 years! In 2005, the internet was primarily a desktop experience, dominated by dial‑up or early broadband … Read more

Gutenberg Times: Gutenberg Changelog #123 – WordPress 6.9 and Gutenberg 21.9

In this episode, Birgit Pauli-Haack and Isabel Brison dive into WordPress 6.9 and Gutenberg 21.9. They discuss major updates such as collaborative block-level comments (notes), expanded template management, the new command palette, and foundational block visibility features. New blocks like the accordion, math, and terms query block are highlighted, alongside enhancements in typography and time-to-read. … Read more

Matt: November Atlantic

The Atlantic November issue is lovely, focused on the American Revolution. I particularly enjoyed: The Myth of Mad King George, which gave a different more nuanced view of King George I didn’t have before or from the Hamilton musical. Why Did Benjamin Franklin’s Son Remain Loyal to the British? I was obsessed with with Ben … Read more

Gutenberg Times: WordPress 6.9 Beta, Gutenberg 21.9, Playground, and Fields API—Weekend Edition 346

Hi there, I am genuinely giddy about WordPress 6.9 and its delightful updates. Major kudos to all contributors, who push it over the first hurdle of this release cycle. The Beta 1 release happened earlier this week. The final release is scheduled for December 2nd, 2025. There are lots of different updates for the full … Read more

WordCamp Central: Bhopal Hosts WP Build Tour 2025: Empowering 1700+ Students Across Central India

WordPress Bhopal has been at the forefront when it comes to igniting young minds, empowering them with knowledge, generating new ways to achieve optimal and maximum value, and sparking a positive social impact— kind of feels like a motto. We love doing all of it! And as we proudly complete our 10th year of formation … Read more

Matt: Under the Weather

I don’t get sick very often, but when it catches up to me it hits like a freight train. Just trying to keep all the plates spinning while operating at 10% capacity, been sleeping a ton. Today was in some ways better, some ways worse than yesterday. I try to avoid hospitals and emergency care, … Read more

Matt: New Woo

WooCommerce 10.3 is out, just in time for Black Friday / Cyber Monday, with some nice improvements to the checkout experience, tracking cost of goods sold, and a new beta MCP server, “This new feature enables AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or any other MCP-compatible client to interact directly with WooCommerce stores through … Read more