It’s three in the morning, and I have absolutely nothing to do. I wasn’t even planning on writing tonight, but after spending the last hour walking around the house for no reason, and opening the fridge as if food was going to magically start dancing to cheer me up, staring out the window, and checking my phone every five minutes even though I already know there’s nothing interesting on it, I ended up here. I don’t have a story to tell, and I didn’t get a deep realization moment, and nothing happened today that’s worth writing about. I’ve already said what happened, absolutely nothing. Im just bored. That’s the entire reason this exists now. At this point, I’d almost ruin someone’s life just to make the next ten minutes interesting. Almost. That sounds like too much paperwork, and besides, my housemate keeps making sure I can’t even be bored in peace. I don’t know how one person manages to make everything about himself. He’ll hear me complain about something completely unrelated, and somehow he’ll decide im attacking him personally. Some people spend years trying to be the center of attention, and he manages it just by existing in the same room. I don’t mind being alone. I actually enjoy it. I know people love pretending that’s a sad sentence, “Oh, what a tragedy.” It’s really not that complicated or sad. I just don’t enjoy people that much, and actually, I don’t enjoy people at all. There’s a difference. Being alone has never bothered me, if anything, it’s peaceful. nobody talking just to fill the room with noise, and nobody is asking questions that don’t matter. Nobody’s expecting me to react to stories I’ve already forgotten halfway through hearing them. I like being alone and disappearing because I want to, not because im lonely. People confuse those two things all the time. Humans, on the other hand, seem physically incapable of existing without dragging each other around like a disease. They always need someone to text, to call, to sit with, to complain to, to drag out for coffee so they can spend seven hours vomiting meaningless noise at each other and calling it conversation. Then they wonder why they're fucking exhausted all the time. Maybe stop collecting people like they're some kind of pathetic little hobby. You don't need an audience every hour of the day, but oh, I guess, most of them would rather choke on their own boredom than sit still for five minutes. I don't know why silence scares people so much. It's probably because it leaves them alone with the fact that they're unbearable.

The only company I actually don’t get tired of is the woman in the navy dress, which is probably the closest thing I have to proof that human company is unbearable, except for hers. She exists in my dreams, but she does exist in real life too (though she won’t talk to me in any way, and that’s as far as im going to talk about it.). She still manages to be better company than most people I’ve met while existing for a few hours at a time. She doesn’t ask pointless questions. She doesn’t turn everything into an argument. She doesn’t find reasons to be offended over things that have absolutely nothing to do with her. She just exists, and somehow that’s enough. If I had to choose between spending an entire day around humans or one more of her dreams, I’d sleep for years without thinking twice. Actually, without thinking at all. I don’t know how I ended up talking about any of this. This note started because I was bored. Then it became a complaint about my housemate, etc. I never have a destination when I write, I just keep following whatever thoughts decide to speak the loudest until I run out of things to complain about, which hasn’t happened yet. But anyway, Im still bored, and writing this somehow managed to waste a few minutes. That’s probably the most productive thing I’ve done all night.

Sincerely, Ahmed

In Summary: * Have been enjoying an exciting Game this afternoon. A's caught fire in the top of the 9th inning and know lead the Giants 9 to 6.

Spent an hour with my lawnmower out front this morning and improved the look of this place quite a bit. More remains to be done, of course. Thing about yard work, it's never completely done.

MLB Game has just ended. A's held their lead and won 9 to 6.

Time for me to catch up the Thursday prayers now, and plan for an early bedtime.

Prayers, etc.: * I have a daily prayer regimen I try to follow throughout the day from early morning, as soon as I roll out of bed, until head hits pillow at night.

Health Metrics: * bw= 237.99 lbs. * bp= 136/80 (78)

Exercise: * morning stretches, balance exercises, kegel pelvic floor exercises, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups, BP breathing exercises, pilates

Diet: * 05:55 – 1 banana, 1 pb&j sandwich * 08:10 – 2 big steak-filled breakfast tacos * 12:00 – beef patties, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes

Activities, Chores, etc.: * 03:30 – listen to local news talk radio * 04:10 – bank accounts activity monitored. * 04:30 – read, write, pray, follow news reports from various sources, surf the socials, nap * 09:30 to 10:30 – yard work, 1 hour pushing the lawn mower over the front yard * 13:30 – now listening to The Glenn Beck Program on 650 KSTE, Broadcast Home for the Athletics in Sacramento, ahead of this afternoon's MLB Game between the Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.

Chess: * 16:00 – moved in all pending CC games

new album drop…. song titles are so relevant right now

San Francisco Giants vs Oakland Athletics.

My MLB Game of Choice this afternoon has the Oakland Athletics playing the San Francisco Giants. The game's start time is scheduled for 2:45 PM CDT. I'm listening now to the Athletic's Pregame Show on 650 KSTE, Broadcast Home for the Athletics in Sacremento, and I'll stay here for the radio-call of the game.

As I usually do, I'll follow the score and live stats as the game develops in real time via MLB's Gameday Service.

And the adventure continues.

The biggest “black eye” in WordPress will be its downfall if things don't change.

Let's get the obvious out of the way: I'm not a developer. So, if you're looking for technical solutions in this post, then my apologies in advance.

Okay, cool, we're on the same page.

I've been out of the WordPress product space for coming up on five years. There are parts of it that I miss, but one thing that I don't miss is the security issues caused by plugins. No plugin is immune to them, either. When I ran LearnDash, we had some security scares. It sucks for everyone.

The good news, for years, is that plugin providers have always handled these issues with reasonable speed and minimal negative outcomes. Not all, but most. The community was really proactive about staying on top of such things.

I'm not sure if this is as feasible in the AI era of today.

WordPress 7.0 Highlights New Dangers

Roger Montti from Search Engine Journal wrote a thought-provoking article (and inspiration for this post) related to WordPress 7.0's AI API keys and the rush it will cause for attacks on vulnerable sites. I agree with the threats outlined. It's a very real possibility.

At this point it looks like the WordPress space is just treating it as “business as usual”. It's this approach that will ultimately lead to WordPress losing even more market share.

AI is fundamentally changing the speed, scale, and sophistication of attacks against WordPress sites. Instead of automated scripts, AI can adapt, optimize, and move forward with attacks in ways that we haven't seen before. By way of example, Patchstack (cited from the SEJ article) suggested that exploitation from high-impact WordPress vulnerabilities is just five hours now.

WordPress already suffers from the “insecure site” reputation. If things continue as they are, it'll only get worse. A lot worse.

What Should We Do?

Remember how I said I'm not a developer? Okay, this is where that matters. I'm not good at providing technical paths forward, but I'm pretty good at recognizing business threats and opportunities.

This threat has always existed in WordPress, sure, but not like this. It's going to get worse if nothing is done to improve it. What I want to know is what is being done currently? Because from my perspective, it looks like the issue still gets punted to hosts and plugin devs.

I'd love to see real leadership in this area. Not just information sharing or “best practices”, but actual think tanks resulting in coded solutions that drastically help mitigate this increasingly embarrassing issue. We could start by assessing the criteria for being listed on the repo. Could we implement AI security hardening to monitor and verify the code of any plugin submitted and hosted there?

Yeah, I get it, that's likely not feasible given how expensive it would be, but these are the types of conversations that I'd like to see happening. Maybe they are already, and if so, great! WordPress can't drag its feet here.

Learning from Others

Say what you want about Emdash, but at least they are attempting to tackle the issue because they know how real it is. Their way forward isn't really the “WordPress way”, I get that. Though I think we do WordPress a disservice by just flippantly dismissing their technical approach and moving on with our heads in the sand.

Something I found interesting was reading the comments on their social media when they came after WordPress. The sentiments were largely the same, and leading the way was the growing downside of the plugin ecosystem. What is often cited as WordPress' greatest strength is being seen as its most glaring weakness.

The Inflection Point

The WordPress project is at an inflection point. Over the next year, it is critical that it move deep into AI adoption and enablement, and that includes bolstering things from a security standpoint.

For me, I won't host another WordPress site in the traditional sense. Why? Because I'm not trying to be a security pro with my simple websites. No time for that nonsense. I like the static options like SimplyStatic Studio (I transitioned a website to it and love it). Aside from that though, I actually see more benefit in just using something like Loveable and hosting everything there for the added AI features.

Progress is Being Made

The good news is that WordPress is making strides with AI. It's not yet widely known or advertised, but things like Jamie mentioned below are precisely what the project needs.

Let's hope that things keep going in this direction, and that more emphasis on security starts to emerge. To date, it's not very user friendly, at least not compared to tools like Loveable. I anticipate that this will change over time.

Cautiously Optimistic

Overall, I'm optimistic about WordPress evolving in the ways that matter. The community voices are loud and clear. It's up to Matt to set the priorities. Hopefully, he's not too distracted with his WPEngine lawsuit to do what is right (and needed) for WordPress as a whole.

I'll revisit this in a year to see where things have landed. By that time, I think there will be some clear market signals one way or another.

#WordPress

I woke up a few mins ago. I got home from work and laid down for a minute, and then disappeared for several hours. I wasn’t planning on sleeping for that long, but I guess my body had different plans, and for once, I didn’t argue with it. I had the usual dream. I don’t think it’ll ever change at this point, anyway. Now I’m awake with the rest of the night ahead of me. I’ll probably work for a while, deal with my housemate being sensitive about something, and then continue pretending I have a proper plan for the evening. I’m tired today, so this won’t be one of those long notes where I accidentally spend three pages talking about absolutely nothing. which is unfortunate news for anyone who enjoys watching me ramble in circles for no reason, and excellent news for everyone else, who can now go back to their deeply important lives. But anyway, nothing interesting has happened. It was a peaceful day, which makes me suspicious.

Not that im complaining (which is what I usually do). A boring day is still better than an eventful one most of the time. And you know, eventful days usually end up becoming notes, and notes usually end up becoming longer than they need to be. So perhaps it’s for the best that I have absolutely nothing worth writing about tonight.

Sincerely, Ahmed

A while back I read an interview with Cory Doctorow in The New Yorker and the whole thing is a great read, and towards the end of it Doctorow was asked about how he manages his workload and he mentioned the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. He didn't just mention it, he described the book as “life-changing”. Doctorow cranks out a lot of quality writing all the time in between everything else he does so I figured whatever he has to say about that, I ought to pay attention to. And, not only that, whether you like Doctorow or not, he does all this stuff his way. These days, he's most known for coining the term enshittification and standing up to it. The man is a literal bullshit detector, so if he's describing a book in a genre that's 99% bullshit as “life-changing” I should probably read the thing.

So anyways, I read the book shortly after, and I'd describe it as life-changing too, to the point that here I am writing about it four years later because I still revisit parts of it every now and then. The audiobook too. I can't get too into the specifics because that would be a lot to get into. I get different things out of that book at different times depending on what I'm dealing with but if I had to pick one, it's that I'm better able to get the stuff that's on my mind someplace else where I can refer to it or deal with it. Obviously, the best way to get something off my mind is to deal with it, but what about the things I can't deal with, or at least can't deal with right now? The book was helpful with that, and with prioritizing those things, and deciding what goes where systematically, so I don't have that stuff on my mind. I'm freed up to think about other things with the confidence that everything that needs dealing with, or just to be filed somewhere is someplace safe.

I recall Cal Newport, another author in the productivity genre criticizing the systems in there as having too many steps, but Allen even says in the book to tailor this stuff so that it works for you. It isn't that anything in the book is too detailed or too much, it's that Allen's intention, at least to me, was to not leave anything out that might apply to anyone's given situation. There's room for criticism of anything, but that's a ridiculous criticism. Like, you're gonna criticize a productivity book for being too detailed about how to organize all your shit? Come on.

My only criticism is the corny turns of phrase here and there throughout the book that give a wink to the professional managerial class, but, I get it. That stuff is there because it's supposed to be, and as corny as that is to me, I'm not the only one reading this thing.

When I was reading it after that Doctorow interview, I mentioned it to someone at work and he was like “Oh I heard of that, (Howard) Stern's into that book.” There's another one, whether you like Stern or not, there's another perfect example of someone with a lot on their plate at all times that they have to keep organized otherwise they'd go nuts.

If you already have it all figured out, terrific. If not, I found the book helpful and maybe you might too.

“Pleasure is not binary. It exists alongside fear, sadness, and politics. That is the history of Queer pleasure. We tend to tell one side of our history—of riots and martyrs—but ignore how much sex is a root of that liberation. The folks who judge and police another consenting adult's pleasure are just policing their own. For the past decade, we have experienced a massive paradigm shift through tools unimaginable to our ancestors: PrEP, HIV undetectability, DoxyPEP, vaccines, GPS apps. Our history is full of Queers who lament eras they missed out on. Stop arresting your own development and abolish the cop in your head, beloved. We are in a sexual revolution—act accordingly.“

— Leo Herrera, (analog) CRUISING, pp. 134-135

GOSPEL OF THE WEED — PROPHET IN THE WASTE

Hear me. For there is no one else left to hear.

Observe, says the wind. Light breaks because it must. Truth stands because it cannot kneel.

The hidden burns. The ordinary is stripped to its ribs. The fallow hums with buried fire.

Neglect speaks in the tongue of stones. Testimony rises from what the world forgot.

Thus it is written: Perception rules the mind. Absence rules the soul.

The seen commands thought. The unseen shapes being. This is the law beneath all other laws.

Light orders. Darkness reveals. Both are teachers. Neither is kind.

Absence is a flame without smoke. Fallow is a promise without mercy.

And on that ground — the ground no one claims — the weed rises.

Not chosen. Not wanted. Not killed.

I am that weed. I speak because silence is a tyrant. I endure because the waste has no use for the fragile.

Boredom empties the vessel. Silence lifts the veil. Testimony climbs the spine like heat.

I’m ok. You’re ok. These are not comforts. These are survival rites.

Roots hold. Soul opens. Truth enters like a blade of light.

And in the end — when the wind has taken everything but the voice — Communion reveals truth.

Thus speaks the weed. Thus stands the prophet. Thus endures the waste.

聽過太多「妳太瘦了多吃一點」這種話，特別是長輩們，一直在那邊，太瘦多吃一點，不然就是年輕人多吃一點.... 從以前到現在我只要換一個環境，到新的公司，出席聚會，只要是一個新環境，就一定會有人說：妳好瘦、妳太瘦了多吃一點；或者尾牙結束後，大家就要我把食物打包，因為你太瘦了！

雖然我知道沒惡意，但你沒看到我已經吃撐了嗎？吃多了是我腸胃不舒服也不是你，真的別再說這種話了，不管是胖瘦吃多吃少，關你什麼事啊？💢

但我也只是心底抱怨，不敢這麼回。其實我只是想說，不管胖瘦，自己開心就好，健康才最重要的，這樣不就好了嗎？

- 想到還有一種『妳太瘦了』：

試衣服的時候店員說妳太瘦了所以撐不起來，好吧、、、

我知道妳的意思了：『妳太平了所以撐不起來。』

#自訴

J Is both more photogenic Than me, but also worse at taking photos. It sucks because I look at these really nice photos of her I take and then I look at the photos of me and I kind of hate them, and I feel fat and gross and I feel insecure. And it’s weird because on one hand I’m like I don’t care if I gain weight because anyway that’s kind of attractive in its own way and I get to be strong, but when I see like my chin I feel bad.