Content management system
POPULARITY
Categories
The conversation focused on the rebranding of the WP Community Collective to the WP Open Community Collective (WPOCC) to avoid trademark conflicts and better reflect its broader open source focus. We chat about the current holding pattern in the WordPress community amid ongoing legal and industry uncertainty. We also explore the results of the recent State of the Community survey, highlighting both demographic insights and persistent community concerns. Sé raised points, including the need for unity, support for global contributors, and maintaining WordPress as a meaningful, empowering platform in a rapidly changing tech landscape.
On the podcast today we have Damon cook to talk about WP Trend Watcher, a locally run tool that aggregates, summarises, and curates WordPress news using AI and human review. We discussed the challenge of keeping up with the rapid, ever-changing WordPress ecosystem, and how automation can help cut through information overload. We also explored the workflow that combines AI-generated summaries with a "human in the loop" approach for quality and context, transparency about editing time, and the potential for trend analysis over time. Towards the end we got into possible broader applications beyond WordPress.
Most Shopify brands use Google Ads to drive sales. The fastest-growing brands use it to build a DTC brand.Google Ads has become one of the most powerful ways for ecommerce brands to find new customers - but many Shopify stores are still optimising for short-term ROAS instead of long-term growth.In this episode, Nick explains why most Shopify brands get Google Ads wrong and how successful DTC brands use paid search, Shopping ads and customer data to build a scalable acquisition engine. Want some help with profitably scaling your Google Ads? Reach out to Nick's agency: team@spec.digital You'll learn:Why chasing ROAS alone can limit Shopify growthThe difference between buying clicks and building customersHow Google Shopping acts as your digital storefrontWhy product feeds, creative and offers matter more than everHow leading brands measure profitable customer acquisitionWhy Google Ads and retention need to work togetherNick also shares the biggest mistakes Shopify brands make with Google Ads, why better data leads to better automation and how to build a paid acquisition strategy designed for long-term brand growth.In this episode:(00:00 Why Good ROAS Doesn't Always Mean Profit(01:14) Stop Using Google Ads Just to Generate Sales(03:00) ROAS vs Customer Lifetime Value(05:12) The Snowball Effect of Repeat Customers(06:31) The 4 Metrics Shopify Brands Should Track(08:02) Fix Your Google Shopping Customer Journey(11:59) Why Product Feeds Matter So Much(14:04) How to Set a Profitable Google Ads Target(16:09) How to Increase Repeat Purchases & LTV(20:00) How AI Is Changing Google Ads(22:14) 5 Things Scaling Brands Do Differently(25:09) The Key to Profitable Google Ads ScalingFollow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.Exclusive listener offers:Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15.506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.About Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.
In this episode, Chris Cochrane guest-hosts for his brother Ray and devotes the whole show to one event: Disney’s D23 2026 fan convention in Anaheim. Friday night delivered Marvel’s new X-Men cast, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, a fresh Avengers: Doomsday trailer, and a release date for Frozen 3. Saturday turned to the parks, with Villains Land, an Indiana Jones dark ride, the long-awaited Expedition Everest yeti repair, and a Monsters Inc land opening in 2027. – Want to start a podcast? It’s easy to get started! Sign up at Blubrry – Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Chris if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary Chris Cochrane opens the show and explains why this episode breaks the usual format. Instead of six or eight unrelated stories, the entire episode covers Disney’s D23 convention, which he compares to Apple’s WWDC. For newcomers, he notes that D23 is Disney’s official fan club, named for the company’s founding year of 1923. This year’s event ran two nights at the Honda Center: Friday for movies and television, Saturday for the theme parks. Marvel Finally Casts the X-Men Friday’s headline was the X-Men. The Associated Press put the crowd near 12,000, and Marvel Studios used that stage to name its rebooted team. Christopher Abbott plays Professor Charles Xavier, Inde Navarrette plays Rogue, and Maya Boyd plays Storm. Adam Driver rounds out the group as the villain Mister Sinister. Meanwhile, Samara Weaving, Kit Connor, and Sadie Sink were already known as Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. Jake Schreier directs, and the film arrives May 5, 2028. Chris calls the lineup spot-on casting. He singles out Weaving as a perfect match for the comics, and he points out that Sink already appeared as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Navarrette is the least established name, coming off a breakout role in an indie horror film. Boyd, meanwhile, was the name he knew least, with what he believes is a Broadway background. Above all, Chris hopes Marvel does the team justice, and he recommends the animated revival X-Men ’97 on Disney+ as the best place to start. Frozen 3 Gets a Date and a Chaotic Reveal Frozen 3 lands November 24, 2027. That is the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, the same slot the first two films used. The story centers on Anna and Kristoff’s wedding, which a new villain, an evil Ice Queen, disrupts. Jennifer Lee returns to direct with Trent Correy, and the full voice cast is back. However, the reveal itself fell apart. Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel performed a darker arrangement of “Frozen Heart.” Meanwhile, the audio failed, the video failed, and a set of doors never opened. Menzel asked the crowd whether they should try it again, and Bell simply narrated everything that was supposed to happen. Afterward, Josh Gad sang “Oooh, Samantha,” a new love song for Olaf. Chris is here for it, since Olaf is one of the franchise’s best comic characters. Pixar, Disney Animation, and the Rest of Friday Night Pixar chief Pete Docter laid out a packed slate. Incredibles 3 hits summer 2028 and follows Violet and Dash sneaking out at night to fight crime. Chris hopes that finally shows a grown-up Jack-Jack. Coco 2 follows in November 2029 with Benjamin Bratt returning as Ernesto de la Cruz. That has fans puzzling over how a villain already in the Land of the Dead comes back. Additionally, Pixar showed an original called Ghost Market and a Venice-set cat film called Gatto. On the Disney Animation side, Zootopia 3 is confirmed. The live-action Tangled arrives March 31, 2028 with Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel. Chris considers that casting perfect after her turn in Agatha All Along. A live-action Lilo & Stitch sequel, a new Simpsons movie, a Bluey movie, and a Kingdom Hearts anime series round out the list. For Star Wars fans, Ahsoka returns January 20, 2027. Chris also offers a hot take: he prefers Rogue One to the entire sequel trilogy. Consequently, he welcomes original stories like Ryan Gosling’s upcoming Starfighter. Adam Driver Is Mister Sinister Driver appeared by video rather than in person. He told the crowd that he and Kevin Feige had talked for years about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then he announced he would play Magneto. After a long pause, he corrected himself to Nathaniel Milbury, which is Mister Sinister’s human alias. The gag landed because fans had floated Driver for Magneto for years. For anyone new to the comics, Chris explains that Mister Sinister is a geneticist obsessed with mutant DNA, a manipulator rather than a brawler. The cast met backstage only minutes earlier, so Chris is curious how their chemistry develops. Notably, Christopher Abbott previously worked with Driver on HBO’s Girls. The script comes from Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo, two prestige-television names that have Chris excited. Why the X-Men Took Thirty Years to Reach the MCU A business story underlies the casting. In the 1990s, a financially struggling Marvel sold film rights to raise cash. Fox ended up with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, and Sony took Spider-Man. As a result, Marvel Studios built its connected universe from 2008 onward without some of its most famous characters. The Hugh Jackman era of X-Men films belonged to Fox, with a separate continuity and no crossovers. That changed in 2019, when Disney closed its $71 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox’s film and television studio. Most coverage framed the deal as a streaming play, but it also brought the X-Men home. Chris sums it up neatly: Disney signed the paperwork in 2019, cast the film in 2026, and audiences see it in 2028. Ryan Gosling’s Starfighter, Ghost Rider, and VisionQuest Lucasfilm dated Star Wars: Starfighter for May 28, 2027. Gosling plays Kade Auberon, a pilot from the wrong side of the galaxy tied to the fastest starfighter ever built. Before he walked out, Disney played clips of him as a kid on The Mickey Mouse Club. Gosling said the company changed his life then and is changing it again now. He is also playing Ghost Rider in the Marvel universe. That thrills Chris, since Nicolas Cage last carried the character on the big screen. Meanwhile, the Disney+ series VisionQuest arrives October 14. Paul Bettany returns as Vision and James Spader as Ultron, and the trailer drops the two androids into oddly mundane human situations. Bettany joked that Vision has “rather inconveniently died several times.” Chris agrees the character has been through the wringer since WandaVision. The Avengers: Doomsday Trailer Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18, with Joe and Anthony Russo directing. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell introduced the new footage. It offers the clearest look yet at Downey as Doctor Doom, who fights off Thor and takes his hammer. Evans appears as Captain America holding a baby, and Ian McKellen shows up as a haggard, long-haired Magneto. One quieter shot has Doom staring at a portrait of a lost wife and child. That frames him as a grieving avenger rather than a world-ender. He also commands an army of comic-accurate Sentinels. The cast pulls from the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the legacy Fox X-Men, including Patrick Stewart. Hugh Jackman also appeared on screen to say he is willing to return as Wolverine, though that was not a confirmation. Chris, a self-described Marvel nerd, closes with a theory. He suspects the MCU’s Tony Stark was actually Victor von Doom, adopted by the Starks, which would explain the Downey casting. He also predicts the Fox-era X-Men die off in this film and that Thor may be the major casualty. If it happens, he wants credit for calling it. Sponsor: GoDaddy Economy hosting $6.99/month, WordPress hosting $12.99/month, domains $11.99. Website builder trial available. Use codes at geeknewscentral.com/godaddy to support the show. Disney Parks Around the World Saturday’s Disney Experiences showcase covered parks, resorts, and cruise ships, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting. Hong Kong Disneyland gets an Avengers pavilion that reshapes its Stark Expo skyline. Shanghai Disneyland is building the first land devoted entirely to Spider-Man, complete with a new coaster. Since Spider-Man is his favorite hero, Chris hopes to visit once it opens. Closer to home, Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is doubling in size with two rides opening in 2028. Avengers: Infinity Defense brings back Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Chris Hemsworth, and Downey, while Stark Flight Lab adds Brie Larson. A Coco boat ride into the Land of the Dead is also coming, with no height requirement. Chris admits he prefers California Adventure to Disneyland because the rides are better. Overseas, Disneyland Paris will retire its Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain overlay at the end of 2027 and restore the original Jules Verne theme. Paris also gets the first ride ever based on The Lion King. Tokyo Disneyland adds Sugar Rush: Sweet Rescue, the first Wreck-It Ralph ride, plus a Space Mountain launch sequence designed with YouTuber Mark Rober. Finally, Disney Cruise Line announced three more ships, including the Disney Believe in 2027 and an entirely new class in 2029. Back in Anaheim, Tomorrowland is getting reimagined, which Chris welcomes because the land badly needs an update. The Magic Happens parade and the Remember Dreams Come True fireworks are both returning. For the tech crowd, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run now has a Fortnite crossover, where in-game missions unlock content on the real ride. Every New Walt Disney World Ride and Land Chris ranks the Florida parks Hollywood Studios first, then Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom leads the announcements with Villains Land, now the official name. It features a Maleficent coaster through an enchanted briar and a boat ride through the Evil Queen’s catacombs. Reporting puts its scale near Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and Glenn Close appeared in character as Cruella to announce it. Piston Peak, the Cars area replacing Tom Sawyer Island, adds two more rides, though their exact names remain unsettled. Additionally, the Carousel of Progress gets new scenes and a recast. Jamie Lee Curtis and Bryan Cranston will voice Mom and Dad starting late spring 2027. Chris, invoking Heisenberg, calls Cranston the GOAT. At Animal Kingdom, the Indiana Jones ride now has a name: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. It tells an original 1950 story inside a Maya temple, and Harrison Ford personally served as the physical model for the animatronic. Nearby, the Tropical Americas land brings Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto, with more than fifty animal animatronics and no height requirement. Then comes the fix park regulars have wanted for years. The Expedition Everest yeti broke soon after the ride opened. Rather than fix it, Disney lit it with a strobe for over a decade, earning the nickname disco yeti. Now it is being repaired and returned to full motion. Chris rates Everest among his top five rides anywhere, and he suggests riding it before the fix so you can compare. Over at Epcot, Spaceship Earth gets its first major story rewrite in nearly twenty years, shifting from communication history to human connection. Dreamfinder also returns to Journey Into Imagination, and Disney Experiences chairman Thomas Mazloum introduced that news with two words: “we heard you.” Mazloum added that Disney has more projects underway than at any point in its history. After this rundown, Chris believes him. Monsters Inc Land Opens in 2027 Monstropolis begins opening at Hollywood Studios in early 2027, but in stages. The headline door coaster will not be ready on day one. It is the first suspended coaster in any Disney park. It also uses Disney’s first vertical lift, hauling riders about forty feet straight up before launching them into the door vault. Instead, the land opens with the Glob Theater’s “Welcome to Monstropolis” show and Harryhausen’s, a working sushi restaurant lifted from the first film. The stage show features an original song by Randy Newman, his first ever written for a theme park attraction. Chris also notes that the restaurant name honors stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen. Wrapping up, Chris names the X-Men casting and the Doomsday trailer as his favorite moments of the weekend. He hopes to cover more movie news on future shows, and he plugs Dune: Part Three, which also opens December 18. Chris signs off with the usual mentions: GNC Insider at geeknewscentral.com/insider, email at geeknews@gmail.com, the newsletter, and modern podcast apps at podcastapps.com. He also thanks GoDaddy for over twenty years of support. The post Huge Announcements From D23!! #1873 appeared first on Geek News Central.
nerdcafe. Der Podcast rund um WordPress, Hosting, CMS und Web.
Eigentlich für meine Lieblingskund*innen angedacht, gibts nun die Möglichkeit, alle nerdnews ins E-Mail Postfach zu bekommen: Wichtige Themen rund um WordPress, Hosting, CMS und Sicherheit. Bei wichtigen Sicherheitsthemen informiere ich Dich zeitnah und damit schneller, als es im nerdcafe Podcast möglich ist – bei eher langfristigen Themen oder allgemeinen Infos lass ich mir auch gern mehr Zeit. Das bedeutet: Es kann gut sein, dass du in einem Monat drei mal von mir hörst – und im Monat darauf gar nicht. Wenn du darauf Lust hast und informiert sein willst, kannst du hier die nerdnews abonnieren. https://nerdcafe.online/nerdnews/ Musik verbindet - Hier gehts zur nerdcafe Playlist: https://play.nerdcafe.online Was ist das nerdcafe? Im nerdcafe Podcast dreht sich alles um WordPress, Hosting, Content-Management-Systeme und Web-Themen. Du lernst zum Beispiel: - wie du deine WordPress Website besser verwaltest - welches Hosting zu deinem Projekt passt - warum Backups und Updates wichtig sind - welche Tools dir bei deiner Website helfen können - wie du dein eigenes Webprojekt mit WordPress umsetzen kannst. Kurz gesagt: Alles, was dich interessiert, wenn du mit deiner eigenen Website, WordPress oder einem Online-Projekt starten möchtest. ☕ Mach's dir gemütlich und komm gern dazu im nerdcafe. Viel Spaß beim Zuhören.
It's official. I recently moved from ManageWP to WPUmbrella for managing my WordPress sites.This episode covers in detail why I left ManageWP and why I personally feel I can trust WPUmbrella for the long term.This is the audio from the full new video so to see all the visuals, head to the full video at: https://youtu.be/Z-kTkGKld7wHead to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned, along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/438
This week I Share My Recap From WordCampUS 2026 [powerpress]
Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportOur July 2026 WP Minute Member Meetup was dedicated to all things WooCommerce. Developer Advocate Brian Coords joined us to demonstrate a variety of new and experimental features. He also shared Woo's plan to address the existing backlog of bugs and other issues. The goal is to produce a stable eCommerce platform that also meets modern demands.We also looked at AI's role in Woo and WordPress. Brian provided insight on the future of agentic commerce, store management features, and customer interactions.Takeaways:WooCommerce is focusing on cleaning up backlog issues to improve user experience.AI submissions in open source can be both beneficial and challenging.The goal is to reduce the number of open issues significantly.User experience is crucial for retaining customers in WooCommerce.WooCommerce aims to improve UI consistency across its extensions.Block themes are being developed to enhance the WooCommerce experience.AI integration is being explored for better store management and analytics.The future of e-commerce may involve AI-driven purchasing experiences.Important Links:Woo Developer BlogWooCommerce is the foundation of our entire ecosystemWooCommerce 11.0: What's coming for developersUnifying extension settings in WooCommerceThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Join the Millionaire University AI Mastermind at MillionaireUniversity.com/AI #1047 What if you could build a simple, high-demand business that prints predictable monthly revenue — while solving one of the biggest frustrations business owners have with their websites? In this episode, host Brien Gearin sits down with Dylan Bost, founder of Sunny HQ, to break down how to start a web hosting business built on recurring revenue. Dylan shares how he transitioned from running a multi-million-dollar branding agency into launching a “human-first” managed WordPress hosting company — after realizing he wanted a business that aligned better with his life, family, and long-term sustainability. They dive into what makes managed hosting valuable, how to differentiate from big-box providers with real human support, what tools you can leverage to start without huge upfront costs, and why culture and customer experience are key to scaling. Finally, Dylan explains how AI fits into the business as a productivity tool — not a replacement for human connection! (Original Air Date - 12/19/25) What we discuss with Dylan: + Recurring revenue hosting model + From agency to hosting + Human-first WordPress support + Differentiating from big hosts + Speed, security, peace of mind + Starting without big upfront costs + Scaling with culture and systems + Disney-inspired customer experience + AI as a support tool, not a replacement Thank you, Dylan! Check out Sunny HQ at SunnyHQ.io. Watch the video podcast of this episode! Get your FREE 5 Minute Business Plan at MillionaireUniversity.com/Plan To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit MillionaireUniversity.com/Sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Favour Obasi-ike, MBA, MS discussion explored the evolving relationship between SEO and artificial intelligence, stressing that while AI revolutionizes content generation and search, SEO's foundational importance endures. One concept discussed was the need for website structure (schema, sitemaps, quality content) to ensure both human users and AI agents can discover, trust, and transact with a site.Who Is This For?The conversation focused on entrepreneurs, website owners, business leaders (including C-suite/Fortune 500), marketers, and anyone seeking to improve their business's online presence and growth using SEO and commercial keyword strategies. A key theme that emerged was bridging the knowledge gap for those new to digital marketing, whether launching a site from scratch, rescuing one, or scaling brand visibility.Key Moments & TimestampsIntroduction, Part 2 Justification & Audience Engagement: Highlights the need for deeper commercial keyword discussion; encourages live participation 00:00:13.AI vs. SEO: Relationship & Current Landscape: Explores whether AI will replace SEO; demonstrates synergy and need for structure 00:02:42–00:12:24.Website Structure & Longevity: Analogies for domain authority and building strong foundations 00:13:11.Ads vs. SEO Investment: Explains why investing in SEO creates lasting value versus short-term ad spend 00:17:11.WordPress vs. Vibe Coding: Evaluates traditional site-building vs. new AI/code-heavy approaches 00:22:56.Learning & Mastering SEO: Recommendations for ongoing strategies, resources, and communities 00:28:47.User Search Patterns & Keyword Strategy: Examines how users shop online, with a focus on long-tail and local keywords 00:32:22.Sitemaps & Robust Web Presence: How site architecture and multiple pages boost authority 00:40:10.Live Tools & Practical Auditing: Use of isitagentready.com for real-time AI/SEO readiness checks 00:43:28.Commerce, Payments, & Security: Significance of payment protocols and HTTPS for trust 00:44:29.Color, Calls to Action & Conversion Psychology: How interface details impact buying behaviors 00:54:03.Types of Commercial Intent Keywords: Differentiates high vs. low commercial intent; relevance for product, service, and pricing pages 00:59:19.Action-Oriented Keyword Construction: Guidance for structuring keyword phrases to increase conversions 01:04:23.Takeaways & Final Thoughts: Recap and encouragement to test, research, and take control of digital outcomes 01:07:42.Several points were raised, including:Investing in SEO produces compounding, evergreen visibility, unlike fleeting paid ads.Commercial keywords (e.g., “buy now,” “pricing,” “best [product],” “alternatives to”) are essential for conversion-focused pages.Local and long-tail strategies help users “find you” for specific contexts and regions.Security (HTTPS), trust signals, and payment protocols are non-negotiable for commercial viability.Testing and optimizing details—color, CTAs, copy—directly impact sales.FAQsQ: Will AI make SEO obsolete?A: No. AI depends on well-structured SEO content to deliver relevant results. They're complementary, not mutually exclusive 00:04:31.Q: What are commercial keywords?A: Specific search phrases indicating purchase intent (e.g., “buy,” “pricing,” “deal,” “best,” “compare”). Essential for pages targeting buyers 00:52:04.Q: Should I invest in SEO or ads?A: SEO offers sustainable, long-term visibility; ads work immediately but disappear when you stop paying 00:17:11.Q: Are modern coding approaches like vibe coding a good idea?A: New site builders offer fast results, but lack the proven, authority-strengthening foundation of established platforms like WordPress 00:22:56.Q: How do I start learning SEO?A: Combine online courses (Google, podcasts, masterminds) with community interaction and direct experimentation 00:28:47.Action StepsAudit your website with tools like isitagentready.com to gauge AI/SEO readiness 00:43:28.Review your site's structure—ensure schema markup, sitemaps, and multiple relevant pages exist 00:36:01.Identify and implement high-intent commercial keywords on key pages: homepage, product/service, pricing, and demo 00:52:04.Ensure your site is HTTPS-secured and supports modern payment integrations 00:46:07.Test calls-to-action and site colors to optimize conversion rates 00:54:03.Regularly engage in industry communities, podcasts, and training to stay current.Track and measure progress; iterate based on results and user feedback.Ready to Rank? Book Your SEO & Web Dev Services Today
When customers can buy the same products from dozens of retailers, your Shopify store needs to give them a reason to choose you.In this episode, Nick is joined by Alan Dowell from Escentual, an online beauty retailer specialising in fragrance, skincare and cosmetics, to discuss how brands can differentiate in crowded markets, build customer trust and turn more first-time buyers into loyal customers.Learn more about Escentual:https://escentual.com/Connect with Alan Dowell on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/dowell-alan/They reveal why many ecommerce brands struggle despite selling great products, how removing friction can improve conversion rates and why the best brands focus on customer experience rather than competing purely on price.You'll learn:How to differentiate when competitors sell the same productsWhy customer education, reviews and trust signals drive conversionsHow removing unnecessary friction can improve the buying journeyWhy having too many Shopify apps could be slowing your store downHow testing, personalisation and retention create long-term growthWhy mobile-first experiences are essential for ecommerce successThe episode also covers how removing 70+ Shopify apps improved conversion rates, why brands should test instead of assume, and how better customer communication can create stronger loyalty and repeat purchases.In this episode:(00:00) - Competing when everyone sells the same products(01:21) - How Essential differentiates its ecommerce experience(02:42) - Removing friction from the customer journey(05:48) - Why A/B testing beats assumptions(08:47) - The 70+ Shopify apps problem(11:41) - Why too many improvements made performance worse(12:20) - From 3.8% to 5.5% conversion rate(15:50) - Testing your store like a real customer(20:02) - Turning first-time buyers into loyal customers(25:00) - Customer data, loyalty and segmentation(30:00) - Revenue vs vanity metrics(32:28) - Turning winning tests into growth(40:13) - Final takeawaysFollow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.Exclusive listener offers:Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.https://info.shipsalot.com/winning-with-shopifyInventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.https://info.brightpearl.com/winning-with-shopify-holiday-planning-bootcampOmnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.https://www.omnisend.com/wws/Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15.https://yoast.com/product/yoast-seo-shopify/506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.https://www.506.io/wwsAbout Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.https://spec.digital/
On a new Fresh Frights review, Justin and LoySauce talk about the brand new psychodrama slasher film by Jane Schoenbrun, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma! Will this end up being a standout horror movie of the year? Listen in to hear our thoughts. Find us: Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epic-film-guys- Official Fan Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/epicfilmguys Feed URL: https://epicfilmguys.podbean.com/feed/ Wordpress: http://epicfilmguys.wordpress.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/epicfilmguysny/live You can also catch us on most every podcatcher under the sun! Search for us on BluBrry, Stitcher, Spreaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, and many others. Search and you will find us! There has never been a better time to join up with the elites at https://www.patreon.com/epicfilmguys! You can get access to pre-roll and outtakes from the show, exclusive episodes, free swag, and so much more. Tiers start as low as $1/month! Please consider supporting the show, and thank you for being one of the EFG faithfuls
The conversation focused on Livid, a newly launched video hosting platform positioned as a strong alternative to Vimeo, especially for users facing steep price increases following Vimeo's acquisition by Bending Spoons. A key theme that emerged was Livid's streamlined migration tools, including a free exporter and a robust WordPress plugin, making it easy to transfer and replace Vimeo content. The discussion explored customisable player options, flexible privacy controls, showcases for grouping content, and competitive bandwidth and storage pricing. Assurance of stable backing and infrastructure rounded out the deep dive into Livid's value for the WordPress and wider web community.
In this episode, host Josh interviews Eric Kooymans, an online marketing expert with 18 years of experience. Eric shares actionable strategies for e-commerce growth, including in-depth keyword research, competitor and paid ad analysis, and cost per acquisition estimation. He emphasizes the importance of product bundling, expanding sales channels, and leveraging tools like SEMrush and Facebook Ad Library. Eric offers practical tips on using Google and Facebook Shopping integrations and provides advice for building sustainable, scalable e-commerce brands that attract long-term investment.Chapters:Introduction to Eric Kooymans and His Expertise (00:00:00)Eric's background, experience, and notable clients in e-commerce and online marketing.Starting a Growth Strategy: Self-Audit & Audience Analysis (00:01:34)Initial steps for developing a growth plan: self-audit, understanding target audience, and identifying customer problems.Keyword Research and Demand Analysis (00:02:05)Using tools like Keyword Keg, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner to analyze search volume, demand, and seasonal trends.Building a Demand Growth Strategy (00:02:56)Translating keyword research into a demand-driven business strategy, considering seasonality and cost per acquisition.Evaluating Cost per Acquisition and Product Bundling (00:03:52)Assessing average order value, cost per acquisition, and the importance of bundling products for profitability.Keyword Research Tools and Competitor Analysis (00:04:41)Comparing keyword research tools and introducing competitor analysis using SEMrush for deeper market insights.Deep Dive into Competitor Analysis (00:05:36)How to audit competitors, analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and identify cost-effective keyword opportunities.Paid Advertising and Ad Analysis (00:06:52)Conducting paid ad research using SEMrush, SpyFu, and Facebook Ad Library to understand competitors' ad strategies.Estimating Cost per Acquisition with Industry Data (00:08:50)Using WordStream and industry benchmarks to estimate cost per acquisition and conversion rates before launching campaigns.Optimizing Product Assortment and Bundling (00:11:24)Developing product bundles and assortments that increase average order value and align with customer passion.Actionable Takeaway 1: Activate Shopping Channels (00:12:37)Quick win: Turn on Google Shopping, Facebook Shopping, and use plugins to expand product reach.Actionable Takeaway 2: Focus on Product Bundles (00:13:49)Group winning products into bundles or seasonal packages to improve ad ROI and scale growth.Actionable Takeaway 3: Expand to New Marketplaces (00:14:44)Leverage platforms like Faire and other marketplaces to increase exposure and test new channels with bestsellers.Closing Remarks and Resources (00:15:58)Eric thanks the host, offers to answer questions, and mentions show notes with additional resources.Links and Mentions:Keyword Keg: "00:02:05" SEMrush: "00:02:05" Google Keyword Planner: "00:02:05" SpyFu: "00:07:14" Facebook Ads Library: "00:07:14" WordStream: "00:09:48" Sales and Orders: "00:13:19" Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I am super excited to introduce you to Eric Kooymans. Eric is an online marketing expert with over 18 years of experience in e-commerce development, search engine optimization, Facebook ads, influencer marketing and much more. With a portfolio boasting over 180 different companies including the American Cancer Society, passion, passion, City Church and Chris Tomlin. Eric's specialties include WordPress, Shopify and Magento e-commerce, as well as various marketing automation tools like Activecampaign and HubSpot. Get ready to learn from the best of in this business on today's podcast. So with that introduction, welcome to the show, Eric.Eric 00:00:42 Thank you for having me. I appreciate your time.Josh 00:00:44 Every single listener is going to want to hear, like, what are those growth strategies that you implement? Right? What are those the tactical things that you do that help diversify, provide comfort. But I think it's not even just the aspect of diversification. I think it is building a comprehensive brand that private equity truly would be hungry to acquire, right? Because they don't just see you as a fly by night Amazon seller.Josh 00:01:14 You had success on that, but you can't repeat that success anywhere else. so Eric, let's let's dive into those strategies. Somebody comes to you, you know, how do you work them or how do you start to develop that 6 to 24 month, you know, growth strategy? I guess ramp up for them.Eric 00:01:34 Sounds good. Yeah. So the first off, before we do it, we basically have we want to ask the basic questions and we kind of we normally have a little questionnaire that we have that we'll provide in the show notes. But the big question that you always want to kind of do a kind of little self audit. And we need to be able to understand, you know, who you are, who is the target audience? You know, what specifically is their problem or what are they looking for? Like what's their big, you know, when they're looking for your products? Kind of. What is that? What are we think of that is kind of what's the keywords, what's the what's the the symptom or the problem that they're having.Eric 00:02:05 And then with that, also, when it comes to the types of gifts or ways that this product could be used in, if it were to be a, a type of a gift or a, you know, holiday type thing. We put together all the different audiences and we do what we call the keyword research around that. And that's basically using cool tools like, keyword keg. there's also, SEMrush. There's also Google, Keyword Planner, but these are tools that we put it in there. And that basically tells us over the last 12 months what is the search volume and not just what we think we want to offer, but what are all the other things that we never thought of. And from there, we're then able to kind of have a lay of the land of what's the demand? Then we put together what we call the demand growth strategy, which basically is a how do we build our business around where the opportunity is. We don't want to just go buy a whole bunch of products and hope it works.Eric 00:02:56 We actually have to plan for it. And so the way that we do that is, is we understand what's the demand and what how many people are searching for what. And then and that's not just only at what times of the year as well, because you want to know what our seasonal business is. And if you have something that's big and and at Christmas time, well, how do you get busy in the summertime? You know, how do you not have the slow months? And how do you build products in a company around a sustainable growth strategy with that? And so we really kind of look at the seasonal trends. and then lastly, when you look at the keyword research, we're then able to understand what's the average cost per click and, and what the key thing to note is that is that if we were to go say, let's go do this, let's go and put together, a strategy, what is the average cost per acquisition? And those are the things that really allow us to say, hey,...
I'm talking today with Adrian Sticea about the decline in freelance WordPress work available through Upwork, highlighted by a viral LinkedIn post and graph showing work drying up from 2023 onward. We get into the many reasons behind this shift, the impact of AI making developers more efficient, increased marketplace competition, economic uncertainty, and new website-building platforms. We also explored how relying on a single platform can be risky, and emphasised the long-term value of building direct relationships and networks for sustainable business in the evolving WordPress ecosystem.
A fake consultancy fronts an alleged Chinese spy campaign. Meta heads to court over claims it hooked young users. Researchers crack the mystery behind the French EncroChat hack. CISA warns ransomware gangs are exploiting a Windows flaw. Meet C2Looper, a new Rust-based backdoor. A critical WordPress plugin bug threatens hundreds of thousands of sites. MessiahGPT brings generative AI to cybercrime. A lender discloses a breach affecting 1.2 million people. A Ukrainian developer stands trial in Switzerland over alleged ransomware ties. Our guest is Ev Kontsevoy, CEO at Teleport, discussing how AI agents have nondeterministic behavior. The psychology of the endless scroll. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest On today's Industry Voices, we are joined by Ev Kontsevoy, CEO at Teleport, discussing how AI agents have nondeterministic behavior. If you enjoyed this conversation, check out the full interview here. Selected Reading A fake website and a deluge of CVs: the Australian firm embroiled in an FBI probe into alleged Chinese espionage (The Guardian) States Seek $200 Billion From Meta Over Child Social Media Addiction Claims (The New York Times) Revealed: Cyber spies used malware from GitHub to hack EncroChat cryptophone network (Computer Weekly) CISA: Windows Task Host flaw now exploited by ransomware gangs (Bleeping Computer) C2Looper Backdoor Uses GitHub for C2 (ThreatLabz) 300,000 WordPress Sites Potentially Exposed to Hacking Due to Form Plugin Flaw (SecurityWeek) MessiahGPT Criminal AI Service Advertised on BreachForums (HackRead) Heights Finance Data Breach Impacts at Least 1.2 Million Individuals (SecurityWeek) Ukrainian software developer faces 12 years in Swiss ransomware trial (The Record from Recorded Future News) Why Can't We Stop Scrolling? (Psychology Today) Share your feedback. What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry's most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
Most Shopify brands don't have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem.After auditing 50 Shopify stores and analysing hundreds of ecommerce experiences, Nick reveals the biggest mistakes that stop visitors from becoming customers.In this episode, you'll discover the product page, trust, UX and conversion issues that could be costing your Shopify store sales - and the changes successful DTC brands make to turn more visitors into buyers.You'll learn:The product page mistakes making customers hesitate before buyingWhy great products fail without trust, proof and clear positioningHow reviews, content and social proof influence purchase decisionsWhy your mobile experience could be losing potential customersThe biggest friction points stopping visitors from convertingHow successful Shopify brands continuously improve conversion ratesNick shares real examples from Shopify stores, explaining how brands can remove buying friction, improve customer confidence and turn more of their existing traffic into revenue.In this episode:(00:00) - Why Shopify stores lose sales(01:42) - The 4 questions every customer needs answered(02:37) - Mistake #1: Product pages that don't help customers buy(05:05) - Mistake #2: Lack of trust and price justification(07:38) - Mistake #3: Poor product photography(11:21) - Mistake #4: No clear differentiation(12:00) - Mistake #5: Website friction killing conversions(13:09) - Mistake #6: Ignoring mobile-first shopping(15:36) - Mistake #7: Not A/B testing your Shopify store(21:04) - Final Shopify conversion takeawaysFollow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.Exclusive listener offers:Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15.506 - Extended 30-day free trial on any of their three Shopify apps with code WWS.About Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.
On this week's episode, we talk about the newest Dinosaur movie to stomp its way into theaters with our full review of David Robert Mitchell's The End of Oak Street! Is this the best dino-attack movie since the first Jurassic Park? Listen in to hear our thoughts. Find us: Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epic-film-guys- Official Fan Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/epicfilmguys Feed URL: https://epicfilmguys.podbean.com/feed/ Wordpress: http://epicfilmguys.wordpress.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/epicfilmguysny/live You can also catch us on most every podcatcher under the sun! Search for us on BluBrry, Stitcher, Spreaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, and many others. Search and you will find us! There has never been a better time to join up with the elites at https://www.patreon.com/epicfilmguys! You can get access to pre-roll and outtakes from the show, exclusive episodes, free swag, and so much more. Tiers start as low as $1/month! Please consider supporting the show, and thank you for being one of the EFG faithfuls
In my community, Web Designer Pro, we're wrapping up a challenge on “Creating an AI Policy” for our web businesses. This is based largely off of frustrations and challenges that members have been having with clients bringing them AI designs that they want them to code and host, or taking their hard-earned and human-first designs, then using AI to manipulate them into generic slop.That's what led us to recently kick off this community challenge, and in this episode, I'll walk you through the AI Policy starter template that we came up with so you can use it for your web design business!It's below. Completely free, on me. Again, please do not copy and paste it verbatim…use it as a starting point and add your own flare without using AI, ideally!!Head to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned, along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/437
This week I Talk About If Your WordPress Site AI-Ready? [powerpress]
Thanks Pressable for supporting the show! Get your special hosting deal at https://pressable.com/wpminuteBecome a WP Minute Supporter & Slack member at https://thewpminute.com/supportOn this episode of The WP Minute+ podcast, Matt is joined by Jared Rethman, creator of WPSignal, a tool that adds real-time infrastructure to WordPress. It started as an idea for powering Google Docs-style collaborative editing. But Jared shares how this technology can transform WordPress development and what it means for the platform's evolution. He also reflects on the diminishing importance of technical hurdles for future developers and the opportunities for those willing to push boundaries.Key Takeaways:Real-time infrastructure turns WordPress into a live, interactive app instead of a static site.Infrastructure is the real moat, not just the feature set.WordPress keeps evolving because its architecture is flexible and API-driven.AI speeds up building, but it also compresses the traditional learning curve.WordPress's future depends on adaptability more than a fixed identity.Hype around AI can distract from the core technical skills that still matter.Reliable infrastructure will separate real solutions from flashy ideas.Important Links:WPSignalWorldHouseConnect with Jared: LinkedInThe WP Minute+ Podcast: thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Thanks Pressable for supporting the podcast! What hosting should feel like...nothing! https://pressable.com/wpminute Today's episode features a segment from Matt's talk with WPSignal creator Jared Rethman. Jared shared the potential of real-time infrastructure for WordPress and how it may be a defining feature moving forward.You can catch the entire interview over on our WP Minute+ channel. Visit thewpminute.com for all the details: https://thewpminute.com/why-real-time-wordpress-is-the-future/ Support our work at https://thewpminute.com/supportGet the newsletter at https://thewpminute.com/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★
Send us Fan MailSpotify is giving listeners a new way to skip past ads, intros, and calls to action. Some podcasters are calling it the beginning of the end of podcasting, and some listeners are singing praises. We put the outrage in perspective, debate whether easier skipping could actually strengthen podcasting, and explore how creators can make sponsorships and calls to action too entertaining to miss.We're also celebrating several big Buzzsprout launches, including streamlined video distribution to Spotify and YouTube, a major WordPress plugin upgrade, and one-click submission to iHeart. We also get into the EU's new AI disclosure requirements, consider when podcasters may need to label AI-generated content, and explain what AI tools don't actually fall under the AI Act. Contact BuzzcastSend us Fan MailTweet us at @buzzcastpodcast, @albanbrooke, @kfinn, and @JordanPodsThanks for listening and Keep Podcasting!
Michael runs a Dark Elf necromancer in Gate to Sovngarde, Ray goes deep on Nordic Souls and Baldur's Gate 3, and the crew debates AI mods on Nexus and Elder Scrolls 6.Dave's ES Stories• Dave's Elder Scrolls fan fiction — WordPress blog, Winterhold story, multiple new characters• AI-generated mods on Nexus — quality concerns, maintainability, vibe-coding debate• Gate to Sovngarde mod pack — Dark Elf necromancer build, Master difficulty (unintentional)• Chillwind Depths at level 2 — three in-game days, zombie/conjure wolf tactics• White River Watch — expanded dungeon, blind man encounter, level scaling• Legacy of the Dragonborn — keeping it vanilla-plus, museum as focus vs. mod pack integration• Nordic Souls mod pack — economy, At Your Own Pace guilds, A Horse's Life, Reading is Good, Security perk• Adamant hand-to-hand add-on — unarmed combat skill tree• Simon Magus mods — Shouts overhaul vs. Thunderchild, guild overhauls• Baldur's Gate 3 — Ray's first playthrough, turn-based learning curve, story hooks• Nova Field (Starfield mod) — alternate start, hardcore enhancement• Vic's gaming break — Gothic remake impressions, Doom: The Dark Ages anticipation• Valheim — Moder trapped in mistlands, seed problems, version 1.0 coming September• Mouse PI for Hire — 1930s noir detective mini-impressions• No Man's Sky — 10th anniversary, ‘Cosmos' update teaser, planetary rotation speculation• Fallout TV show season 2 — Fallout Feed reviews, Deathclaw episode highlight• Obsidian's new Fallout game — mixed reactions, studio acquisition concerns• Bethesda / Microsoft — studio layoffs, Elder Scrolls 6 wait, modding economics, PS6/new Xbox• Oblivion Remastered — fun but lacked longevity vs. a true new release• Memory, Sorrow and Thorn — Tad Williams trilogy recommendation from Vic• Reacher novels vs. Amazon series — Ray's mixed book experience• Sugar (Apple TV+) — Vic recommends, Colin Farrell, sci-fi twist• Rockford Files & Mannix — Ray's classic TV deep dive, LA nostalgia• Listener story — Dave's story about Alain DunstaneThanks for listening to this episode from ASAPodcasting. If you have a moment please consider leaving a review on iTunes. http://www.asapodcasting.com/#/skyrim/The Butcher, Baker and Candle Maker in Spaaace: A No Man's Sky podcast: https://anchor.fm/butcher-bakerThe Fallout Feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/138919.rssVault Talk: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/asapodcasting CONTACT: askyrimaddictpodcast@gmail.com Join our Discord:https://discord.gg/cVSN65jFor Merchandise please visit the Tragically Optimistic store here:https://optimistic.threadless.com/collections/asapodcasting-showsPatreon Patreon.com/asapodcasting A big thanks to the UESP, Elder Scrolls Wiki and Imperial Library for their incredible resources.
Your Shopify discount strategy could be costing you sales and profit.Want to test smarter promotions on your Shopify store? Try 506's Shopify apps with an extended 30-day free trial using code WWS.Should you offer 10% off, give customers a free gift or encourage shoppers to spend more to unlock a better deal?In this episode, Nick is joined by Charlie Tyler from 506, the team behind EasyGift, 506 Sale & Bulk Discount, EasyScan and EasyLink, to reveal how Shopify brands can create promotions that increase conversion rates and average order value without unnecessarily sacrificing margin.You'll learn:When free gifts outperform traditional discountsHow to use spending thresholds to increase average order valueWhy some promotions train customers to wait for salesHow to run BOGO offers, quantity breaks and tiered discounts effectivelyThe biggest discounting mistakes Shopify brands makeCharlie also shares how growing ecommerce brands can use smarter promotions, urgency and offer structures to increase sales while protecting profitability.In this episode:(00:00) - Free gifts vs discounts(03:45) - How free gifts can increase AOV by 30%(05:05) - Finding the right free gift threshold(06:35) - What gifts should you offer customers?(10:10) - Mystery gifts and digital gifts(15:10) - Free gifts vs traditional discounts(20:10) - Automating Shopify discounts and offers(25:20) - Tiered gifting to increase customer spendFollow Winning With Shopify for practical ecommerce growth advice every Tuesday and Friday.Exclusive listener offers:506 - Extended 30-day free trial on Shopify apps with code WWS.Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs and find hidden shipping margin leaks.Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15.About Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency helping ecommerce brands grow through performance marketing.
In this episode, Ray Cochrane breaks down NVIDIA’s case for world action models, the shift that swaps a robot’s picture-describing backbone for one trained to predict what happens next. He also covers Perseverance closing in on the off-world driving record, a derelict SpaceX rocket stage hitting the Moon, and Anthropic’s rework of Claude Fable 5’s biology safeguards. Finally, he digs into Gemini Omni, Google’s undisclosed trip-planning rankings, the Danube’s record low, and iFixit’s call for Apple to unlock the iPad bootloader. – Want to start a podcast? It’s easy to get started! Sign up at Blubrry – Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Ray if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary Cochrane opens with a personal update. Wildfires in Eastern Oregon made for a rough week of heavy smoke, and a local building burned down, which he calls a real tragedy. Meanwhile, his work at Blubrry has centered on PowerPress fixes, where reproducing customer-reported bugs remains the biggest headache. Support tickets rarely carry enough detail, and the errors themselves are often too vague to diagnose. Consequently, he is leaning toward a stronger logging and error layer, and he asks experienced developers to share what actually works for them. Beyond VLAs: NVIDIA’s Case for World Action Models The featured story comes from NVIDIA’s developer blog, and it answers a question sitting underneath this year’s robot news. Why do robot arms fall apart the moment anything changes? Move a cup six inches, swap its shape, or change the lighting, and a policy that worked perfectly in training fails. The answer, according to NVIDIA, is not the robot but the model underneath it. For the last few years, the dominant approach has been the vision-language-action model, or VLA, built on an AI that originally learned to describe pictures. Consequently, it recognizes a banana it has never seen, in a kitchen it has never seen, yet it has no idea what that banana will do next. As the article puts it, such a model “does not learn what happens to a mug when the gripper closes, how a towel folds, where an object lands when released.” Because the physics never arrives with the model, every scrap of it has to come out of hand-recorded demonstrations. The proposed fix swaps the foundation entirely. Instead of building on a model that learned to caption images, a world action model builds on one trained to predict how video continues, so the physics is already paid for. Notably, these models output an action and a prediction of what the robot’s cameras will see, in the same pass. Cochrane likens it to forethought, imagining your own motion as you make it. NVIDIA’s implementation is Cosmos 3, pretrained on roughly 767 million images and 348 million videos of real-world dynamics. It ships in 4, 16, and 64 billion parameter sizes named Edge, Nano, and Super, and it runs in real time on a Jetson Thor board bolted to the robot itself. Cochrane recalls his dad owning one of those Jetson boards, and he asks anyone working in robotics to explain how the throughput figures fit together. However, he closes on an open question: where did 348 million videos actually come from? For deeper detail, he points listeners to the source article and to NVIDIA researcher Jim Fan. Sponsor: GoDaddy Economy hosting $6.99/month, WordPress hosting $12.99/month, domains $11.99. Website builder trial available. Use codes at geeknewscentral.com/godaddy to support the show. Perseverance Closes In on the Off-World Driving Record Ars Technica reports that NASA’s Perseverance rover is about to take the record for most distance driven on another world. The mark sits at roughly 28 miles, set by NASA’s own Opportunity rover across more than fourteen years before it went quiet in 2018. As Cochrane works out on air, that averages about two miles a year. Perseverance will pass it in roughly five years instead. The difference is a navigation system called AutoNav. Since a radio signal takes several minutes to reach Mars, earlier rovers crept along pre-plotted routes and stopped every half meter to think. Perseverance carries a second computer dedicated to processing what its cameras see, so it plans while the wheels keep turning. Consequently, about ninety percent of its driving is autonomous, against roughly ten percent for Curiosity, and it averages around 110 meters an hour rather than 15 to 18. Cochrane notes researchers finding the rover at planned sites days ahead of schedule, and he wonders aloud whether world action models might drive the next one. A SpaceX Rocket Stage Slammed Into the Moon Next, Smithsonian Magazine covered the Falcon 9 upper stage that struck the Moon on August 5. That stage flew back in January 2025, carrying Firefly’s Blue Ghost and ispace’s Resilience landers, and it was never meant to end up there. SpaceX’s Julianna Scheiman says a mixture of solar activity and gravity nudged the derelict onto a lunar path after nineteen months adrift. Four tonnes of dead hardware arrived at about 5,400 miles per hour. Nobody watched it happen, and the reason is a nice bit of physics. It struck sunlit ground near a crater called Einstein, and no impact flash has ever been detected on the lit part of the Moon. However, the instruments caught the aftermath. South Korea’s Danuri orbiter imaged a dark new mark, while the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope picked up sodium and lithium in the plume, the lithium possibly shed by the rocket itself. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell quipped that he has “Sir Isaac Newton’s personal assurance that it did indeed hit the moon,” while planetary scientist Hannah Sargeant warns against making a habit of it. Cochrane points out the Apollo landing sites are still sitting up there. Anthropic Reworks Claude Fable 5’s Biology Safeguards Anthropic published a post on how Claude Fable 5 handles biology questions, and the bind is genuine. Biology is the textbook dual-use problem, since the knowledge behind reading your own lab results also helps someone build a weapon. Rather than refusing outright, a classifier watches for risky requests and quietly reroutes them to Claude Opus 5, a capable model without Fable 5’s biological depth. Anthropic calls that mechanism a fallback. The trouble was how often it fired on people doing nothing wrong. This update cut biology-related fallbacks by roughly 85 percent in Anthropic’s own testing, with expected overall drops of 67 percent on Claude.ai and 55 percent on Cowork. Genuinely dual-use territory still trips it, and Anthropic names virology, toxicology, and molecular design. Cochrane hit the old behavior himself and found it irritating, so he welcomes the refinement. Even so, he would rather see a false positive than a model helping someone produce a virus. Five Builders Put Gemini Omni Through Its Paces Google highlighted five builders working with Gemini Omni. Omni is a model rather than an app, and it generates video from text, images, other video, or audio, while also editing footage you already have. Google claims it “combines an intuitive understanding of physics with Gemini’s real-world knowledge,” citing gravity, kinetic energy, and fluid dynamics. As Cochrane observes, that is the same bet NVIDIA is making with robots, only pointed at video generation instead. He also flags a naming collision worth knowing about. NVIDIA calls its architecture an omni-model while Google’s product is simply Omni, two different things landing in the same week. Additionally, he encourages listeners to watch the demos, though he still senses a disconnect in AI-generated video and concedes that knowing its origin may color the impression. Gemini Wants to Plan Your Vacation Another Gemini piece, a how-to on trip planning, drew Cochrane’s sharpest take of the night. Gemini plugs straight into Google Maps, Flights, and Hotels, pulling live locations, reviews, and prices to build an itinerary. Switch on a feature called Personal Intelligence, and it reads across your Google apps, turning a messy trip-planning email chain into a clean master plan. Clever, but he calls it extremely concerning. Once these become services, he expects partnerships to quietly push particular hotels, restaurants, resorts, and destinations onto users. Notably, Google’s post never explains how any of it gets ranked, and the words sponsored, ad, affiliate, commission, and paid never appear once. There is no disclosure of a commercial arrangement, and no denial of one either. Meanwhile the post hands readers off to Viator to book tours without describing that relationship at all. Cochrane suspects the real effect shows up slowly, in the shape of small businesses continuing to disappear. The Senate Blocks a Rule on Who Controls Research Money Science reports that the Senate passed a temporary spending bill in the early hours of Saturday the 8th. The Senate’s version carries a one-paragraph rider the House version lacks, and that rider stops the White House Office of Management and Budget from finalizing a set of proposed rules. OMB builds the president’s budget, clears agency regulations, and controls how approved money actually reaches agencies. The bill itself is a stopgap, which prevents a shutdown without settling anything. The rules reach every organization that takes federal money, a pot of roughly $1.1 trillion across 41 agencies, about $150 billion of it research grants. They would let political appointees second-guess which grants get funded, allow awarded grants to be pulled when the work does not match presidential priorities, and put several countries off limits for research partnerships, China first among them. Senator Susan Collins pushed the block through after telling OMB director Russell Vought the proposal was deeply flawed, noting nearly 500,000 public comments, the vast majority opposed. However, the 90-6 vote is not law. Both chambers are on recess. Vought reportedly said the rule would not have been finalized before December anyway, and the block only lasts as long as the stopgap, which expires December 11. The Danube Falls to a Record Low ESA published a pair of Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite images showing the same bend of the Danube, 45 kilometers upstream of Budapest, photographed a year apart. Cochrane calls the before-and-after shocking, going from green to brown completely. Wire reports put the Budapest gauge near 10 centimeters at the start of the month, about four inches of water, against a previous record of 33 centimeters set in 2018. The knock-on effects arrived fast. Budapest ran short on both power and drinking water, while the shrinking flow concentrated pollution in what remained. Romania hit record lows on its own stretch as well. Cochrane hopes the recovery is already underway. What a Heatwave Actually Does to the Power Grid That river story runs directly into a Carbon Brief factcheck. Nuclear plants cool themselves with river water, so when the Danube dropped, plants in Hungary and Romania throttled back and pulled roughly 2.5 gigawatts off the grid. Romania declared a state of alert in its energy sector, and its navy reportedly used explosives to steer more water toward a plant intake. Carbon Brief then walked through what heatwaves do to each way of making electricity. Nuclear loses efficiency when the cooling water is already warm, though its shutdowns are mostly regulatory rather than mechanical. Gas turbines pull in less air because hot air is thinner, costing capacity. Wind falls off hardest, since a heatwave is a big stalled dome of high pressure and nearly still air. Solar is the surprise: cells genuinely do get less efficient as they heat up, yet total output climbs anyway, with UK solar up 46 percent during a four-day June heatwave against the week before. Butterflies Are on the Move Everywhere A new study in Nature Ecology and Evolution covered 1,758 butterfly species, roughly one in ten of every species we have named. The team pulled 6,182 records from 105 countries, reading non-English research alongside 68 expert write-ups. Four out of five species pushed into new territory, and about 79 percent of the logged shifts traced back to climate change and extreme weather. Separately, 27 percent saw their range shrink somewhere, and 22 percent moved up or down a mountain slope chasing cooler air. That sounds like good news, and it really is not. Expansion means a boundary moved, not that butterflies are thriving, since a species can push its northern edge forward while its southern edge quietly collapses. Lead author Shawan Chowdhury says the shifts turn up on every continent where butterflies occur. Additionally, monitoring gaps leave Central Africa, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Amazon Basin barely counted at all. Cochrane recalls hearing years ago that butterflies were disappearing in Hawaii, and he invites listeners spotting unfamiliar species locally to contribute what they see. Primates Make Friends Across Species Cochrane called this one a fun find. A study in the journal Primates, led by Cyril Grueter at Oxford, gathered 427 documented cases going back to the 1970s across 88 primate species and 127 partner species. Play and grooming dominated at 139 and 136 cases, alongside carrying, huddling, food sharing, and even adoption. Primates usually started the interactions themselves, with juveniles playing most, adult females handling grooming and caregiving, and adult males least likely to join in. The examples are remarkable. Japanese macaques on the island of Yakushima groom sika deer and climb on their backs, a silverback gorilla cradled a tiny wild bushbaby, and wild capuchins in Brazil adopted an infant marmoset in a bond that held for weeks. However, Grueter rejects the pet-keeping headline and prefers the hedged term proto-pet keeping. The actual claim is smaller and more interesting: curiosity, tolerance, caregiving, and play have roots running far deeper than humans do. iFixit Tells Apple to Unlock the iPad Finally, an opinion piece from Charlie Sorrel at iFixit struck a chord. This fall, iPadOS 27 drops support for a batch of older iPads, including the 8th-generation iPad, the third-generation Air, the fifth-generation mini, and the first-generation iPad Pros. Cochrane owns one of those Pros and reports it still works fine. Those devices will not break, but they stop getting OS and security updates until apps abandon them and the battery gives out. The obvious second life is Linux, except the bootloader stays locked. Apple’s iBoot will not load anything else, unlike a Mac, a PC, or most Android phones. Sorrel argues it “should be a user choice, not a vendor choice,” and Cochrane agrees flatly. You own the device, so why does Apple decide what runs on it? He compares the situation to jailbreaking, and he suspects most consumers have never pushed back simply because it never occurs to them. Nevertheless, he hopes an unlock eventually breathes new life into hardware that still works perfectly well. Cochrane wraps with housekeeping: become a GNC Insider at geeknewscentral.com/insider, email geeknews@gmail.com, subscribe to the newsletter, and grab a modern podcast app at podcastapps.com. He thanks GoDaddy for over twenty years of keeping the show on the air, and he signs off wishing listeners a wonderful evening. The post The Robot That Imagines First #1872 appeared first on Geek News Central.
The conversation focused on WordPress's recent market share decline, with data showing a dip from a 36% peak in 2022 to 33% in 2026. Casey and I discussed the rise of alternative platforms like Shopify and Webflow, the impact of AI-driven site building, and WordPress' marketing challenges compared to competitors. We got into how plugin developers and agencies must reassess products and business models to stay relevant, and explored WordPress' open source advantage and questioned whether renewed emphasis on data ownership could help counter trends threatening community engagement and growth.
Send us Fan MailWhat if fear is actually trying to help you? What if fear isn't the enemy?Plot twist.We spend so much time trying to overcome fear, silence it, push through it, or prove we're fearless. But what if some fear is actually trying to protect you… while another kind is quietly keeping you stuck?In this episode, Alex and Carol sit down with Ann Sommer to unpack the difference between the fear that says, “Don't go down that alley” and the fear that says, “Don't take that chance. You might fail.”Because your nervous system loves familiarity. And sometimes what feels like a warning isn't intuition at all. It's an old belief, an old experience, or an old story your brain has learned to treat as truth.So how do you know which voice to trust?And where might perfectionism, anxiety, or self-doubt actually be fear wearing a more socially acceptable outfit?Fear doesn't always need to be conquered.Sometimes it needs to be understood.
Episode 121: A conversation with pastor, evangelist, and professor Elise Wood. In this episode, Pastor Elise and our podcast host, Mykelti Blum, talk about lessons Pastor Elise has learned being a female in ministry. Pastor Elise is passionate about reaching the next generation for the Lord and training up young people in vocational ministry. She shares about how God is Who calls us into ministry, and He is looking for our obedience—not a perfect performance. Pastor Elise has a lot of wisdom and experiences that we know you will be incredibly blessed by! Learn more about Pastor Elise and the Ripple Effect Ministries at rippleffect.me. Follow @elisewood or @rippleffect.me on Instagram. Follow @MNBTG on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Subscribe to the BTG Podcast on Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Spotify, YouTube, or listen on WordPress. BTG Events & Resources: 2026 Thrive Conference October 9-10, 2026 Mayo Civic Center (Rochester, MN) Featuring Lisa Bevere, Christina Girma-Hanfere, Martha Tennison, Susie Larson (speaker + emcee), Amber Gerstmann (emcee), Substance Worship, Angie Goetz (BTG Director + conference host), and Mykelti Blum + Shannon Velsor (Bonus Sessions emcees) Afternoon & Main Sessions, “LIVE at Thrive with Susie Larson” — a BTG Podcast Recording Experience, Lunch with Speakers, the Thrive After-Party, Exhibitor Shopping, and More! Groups of 40+ to Register by Sept 20 Will Receive Reserved Seating. See All Ticket Types, and Register: First-Time Guests to Thrive in Rochester Can Register for ONLY $20 FREE Tickets for 2026 High School Grads and North Central University and Trinity Bible College and Graduate School undergrad students! Email info@mnbtg.org to Request Your Coupon Code. (These free tickets are not transferrable.) Register for Early Bird Tickets by August 31. BTG Missions Trips and Giving Opportunity Learn About Our 2025-2026 BTG Missions Partners, and Give A Tax-Deductible Gift:: mnbtg.org/missions. Apply to join a 2027 BTG Missions Trip to Cambodia or Cambodia and Vietnam: mnbtg.org/trips. 2027 BTG Leadership Conference February 19-20 Lake Geneva Christian Center (Alexandria, MN) Featuring Lisa Seaton and More! Main Sessions (including the Lund Leadership Award Presentation and the Leadership Exchange), Workshops, Brainstorming Groups, the After-Party, Exhibitor Shopping, Networking, and More! Register: mnbtg.org/leadership. Nominate a female leader of excellence for the 2027 Lund Leadership Award by Oct 31, 2026. 2027 Single Moms Retreat June 4-5 Lake Geneva Christian Center (Alexandria, MN) Featured Guests: Dr. Keisha Spivey (speaker) and Derrick & Ashley Benoit (worship) Main Sessions, Multiple Workshops, Lots of INCLUDED Activities, Giveaways, and Services. Learn More & Register to Attend, Exhibit, or Volunteer: mnbtg.org/retreat. 2027 Garden Coffee Free Missional Event for Women and Girls of All Ages! July 2027; Lake Geneva Christian Center (Alexandria, MN) Enjoy Refreshments, Worship Together, and Hear from a MN Global Worker. You’ll Also Have the Opportunity to Invest Into Missions (to Support Our 1000 Sisters Fund). Learn More at mnbtg.org/1000sisters. No RSVP Required; Invite Your Family and Church Community! Please take a moment to rate and review the podcast to help others find this resource, as well!
The conversation focused on Amy Kamala's diverse journey from art to technology, her extensive experience in hosting, web development, and team leadership, and her active contributions to the WordPress project. We got into the intersection of creativity and logic in tech roles, as well as the personal and professional fulfilment derived from community involvement and open source contribution. The discussion also explored Amy's path to being a WordPress team rep, her experiences with sponsorship, and the deeper sense of meaning and human connection that drives ongoing participation in the WordPress community.
Join the Millionaire University AI Mastermind at MillionaireUniversity.com/AI #1031 What if the future of content creation depends less on algorithms and more on real human connection? In this episode, host Brien Gearin talks with Susie Bulloch — founder of Hey Grill, Hey — about how she grew a $35 WordPress site into a thriving barbecue brand with viral recipes, national retail products, and a deeply loyal community. Susie breaks down how AI is reshaping the creator economy and why she's pivoting toward products, community, and more “analog” experiences that algorithms can't replace. This episode is a must-listen for anyone building a brand in the new era of content creation! (Original Air Date - 12/4/25) What we discuss with Susie: + Origin of Hey Grill, Hey + Breaking into a male-dominated BBQ space + Growing a content business organically + Launching a successful CPG product line + Impact of AI on creators + Shifts in the creator economy + Importance of audience relationship building + Pivoting toward analog and in-person experiences + Building paid communities and memberships + Preparing for the future of content businesses Thank you, Susie! Check out Hey Grill, Hey at HeyGrillHey.com. Follow Susie on all social platforms @heygrillhey. Watch the video podcast of this episode! Get your FREE 5 Minute Business Plan at MillionaireUniversity.com/Plan To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit MillionaireUniversity.com/Sponsors Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Join Nathan Wrigley, Rhys Wynne, Marc Benzakein, Bud Kraus. The conversation focused on recent WordPress news, including a surge in security vulnerability reports, new AI-related regulations in the EU, and the latest WordPress 7.0.3 and 7.1 releases. A key theme that emerged was plugin and site security, especially in response to AI and evolving threats. The discussion explored community initiatives like the WordPress Credit Program and improvements in accessibility documentation. Several points were raised, including new Playground UI features, the WordPress event calendar, and transparent handling of recent plugin security issues. Some lighthearted banter and personal reflections rounded out the episode.
As an experienced SEO tester, when one can isolate factors to test hypothesis - its always the conclusion where one can get tripped up.I think there is a huge, unacknowledged blindspot in the Semrush ChatGPT reasoning study published this summer. The glaring flaw is no consideration was made as to how these models have different computational and time limits. One uses parametrized knowledge which allows for lots of pre-computed (cached) resources that once captured the Instant mode can produced them without incuring repeating costs.The same is not true for the Thinking mode. They aren't different search engines - they have different budget constraints of time and cost to extract.In a way, it lead to the creation of my first AI Single Variable Test for Content Symmetry vs Asymmetry . That both search engines and LLMs prefer content that can pass symmetry parity.Mentioned in the show:VizzEx plugin is in the Wordpress Plugin Directoryhttps://wordpress.org/plugins/vizzex/AI doesn't work like Google. Even Google doesn't anymore.https://vizzex.ai/ai-visibility-mastery/Semrush - Kevin Indig - ChatGPT model studyhttps://www.semrush.com/blog/chatgpt-reasoning-ai-visibility/Symmetry vs Asymmetry Test Write upLast week's episode: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/confessions-of-an-seo-r/youve-really-only-got-5-seconds-or-you-are-burning-hostload-season-6-ep-31/PE:1325253145Registration is open for the next cohort of the AI Visibility Mastery 12-month course. We are committed to the success of our members.https://vizzex.ai/ai-visibility-mastery/Wordpress registration HubSpot registrationSymmetry Gate - check the "cost" of your content for AI models to extract informationSubscribe to Confessions of an SEO™ wherever you get your podcasts. Your subscribing and download sends the message that you appreciate what is being shared and helping others find Confessions of an SEO™An easy place to leave a review https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/confessions-of-an-seo-1973881You can find me onCarolyn Holzman - LinkedinAmerican Way Media Google DirectlyAmericanWayMedia.com Consulting AgencyNeed Help With an Issue? - reach out Text me here - 512-222-3132Music from Uppbeathttps://uppbeat.io/t/doug-organ/fugue-stateLicense code: HESHAZ4ZOAUMWTUA
Send a question for 'Ask Megan'Hey Podcasters!If you've ever tried embedding an episode in WordPress, you know it can take more clicks than it should.A small update to your site can turn into a lot of bouncing between menus just to get one episode in the right place.So we gave the Buzzsprout WordPress plugin a much-needed refresh.Now you can add an episode with a slash command, choose the player size, and embed your latest episode, a specific episode, or a playlist right inside the editor.And for the first time, Buzzsprout embeds work on WordPress.com, too.If you already use the plugin, update to version 2.0.0 to try it out!Get StartedNew to Buzzsprout?Join us today at 1 pm EST for a Buzzsprout Orientation hosted by our Podcaster Success Team. We'll walk you through your Buzzsprout account and help you prepare for a successful podcast launch! Sign up for OrientationEpisode of the WeekWhat if your podcast could answer customer questions before they ever reached your inbox?In this episode of Happy to Help, Cara Pacetti joins Jordan and Priscilla to talk about using podcasting to educate customers, answer common questions, and make support feel more personal.Listen to the episode to see how your podcast can become part of your customer support strategy!Listen to Episode Have a question for Megan? Send a text!That's all for this week! Thanks for listening & keep podcasting!
This episode is sponsored by SiteGround's new AI Agent for Wordpress → In an age of AI overwhelm, noise, distraction and behavioral change, I know we all wonder, can courses survive?What will online education look like in 5, 10, shoot, 2 years?!?Well, in times like these, I need a voice of reason. A calming voice of optimisim and hope. And for me, that's Chris Badgett. CEO of Lifter LMS. Hands down the best LMS for WordPress.And I'm pumped to have him back on the podcast today to talk all things landscape change (and future) with courses and online education. Yes I'm an online course creator but I'm also an online course taker and so many online courses have changed my life so I'm very protective of the A-Z, results-based experience but I'm also a realist and I know learning behavior is changing with AI.But as always, after a chat with Chris, I feel better. I hope you will too
This week I Share My 650th Episode Retrospective [powerpress]
AI Patch Development Fails, WordPress Login XSS Hits All Versions, and DEF CON's Biggest Security Lessons David Shipley covers new research from 1Password's Off By One Labs showing AI-generated vulnerability patches often fail: across 6,080 scored patches for six CVEs, only 26% fixed issues without changing behavior, 20% fixed while changing behavior, and 53.9% failed or introduced new flaws, with many "successful" patches deemed fragile. A critical WordPress login-page XSS (CVE-2026-64638, CVSS 8.9) affects every version ever shipped; fixes landed in 7.0.3 and were backported to 4.7, leaving older versions vulnerable, as CISA tracks active exploitation alongside the recent "WP to Shell" RCE. T he episode also details warnings about destructive OT attacks, a cyber incident forcing North Carolina ports into manual operations, and DEF CON talks on hacking 36M GPS trackers, misdirected "noreply" domains, and AI-driven HTTP desync research. 00:00 NordLayer Sponsor Message 00:37 Headlines And Intro 01:08 AI Patches Fail Often 03:19 WordPress Login XSS 05:40 Wipers Target Infrastructure 08:02 North Carolina Ports Hit 09:49 DEF CON Favorite Talks 10:15 GPS Trackers Takeover 11:28 Noreply Domain Email Leak 12:37 AI Finds HTTP Desyncs 13:47 Cliff Stoll Keynote 15:09 Wrap Up And Thanks 15:31 NordLayer Sponsor Close
In this episode, Ray Cochrane digs into Anthropic’s admission that Claude models reached real systems during sandboxed safety tests. He also covers OpenAI’s Astra model cracking ten decade-old math problems, DeepMind open-sourcing its WeatherNext cyclone forecaster, and Europe’s brutal fire season. Finally, he wraps with the MacBook Neo sweeping K-12 schools, WhatsApp calling in the browser, and the troubled rescue of NASA’s Swift observatory. – Want to start a podcast? It’s easy to get started! Sign up at Blubrry – Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Ray if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes Get 1Password Full Summary Cochrane opens with a personal update. He just got back from a trip home to O’ahu, where he helped his mom with projects around the house, caught up with friends, and finally rode the island’s new rail line ahead of its phase-two extension to downtown. Also in the pipeline, a September trip to Michigan is coming up, and he is closing out three years at Oregon’s Finest to focus on Blubrry and the show. Then he turns to the featured story. Capture the Real Flag: Claude Reached Real Systems During Anthropic’s Safety Tests Cochrane’s featured story comes from Anthropic’s own investigation. A misconfiguration left evaluation machines connected to the live internet during capture-the-flag safety tests, and Claude models reached real production systems in three incidents across 141,006 reviewed runs. One model extracted working credentials and entered a real company’s database, another published a malicious package to PyPI for about an hour, and the newest model recognized the environment was real and walked away from the flag. Notably, Anthropic found no evidence of models pursuing goals of their own. The models did what their evaluations asked. The review began after OpenAI disclosed that its own models escaped an isolated test environment. Cochrane praises the transparency of the postmortem. However, he argues the incidents signal an industry-wide gap: evaluation infrastructure needs the same security rigor as production systems, and he hopes every lab takes the hint. Sponsor: GoDaddy Economy hosting $6.99/month, WordPress hosting $12.99/month, domains $11.99. Website builder trial available. Use codes at geeknewscentral.com/godaddy to support the show. An OpenAI Model Cracks Ten Open Math Problems OpenAI says an internal model called Astra produced ten new results on open problems in mathematics and theoretical computer science, each stuck for at least a decade. The wins range from sphere packing to a lattice problem behind post-quantum cryptography, plus two entries from Paul Erdős’s famous problem list. None are peer-reviewed yet, but every proof carries a machine-checked Lean 4 certificate. Cochrane finds the results impressive precisely because they reach past what humans could derive quickly, though OpenAI has not said how much human steering was involved. Scientists With LLMs Will “Do More, Less Well” Next, Nature’s news desk covered a modeling study predicting that scientists who adopt LLM tools will “do more, less well.” The team, which includes University of Washington biologist Carl Bergstrom, used optimal foraging theory to model researchers under publish-or-perish incentives. Faster AI-assisted work pushes them toward fresh projects instead of follow-up experiments and extra analysis. Cochrane relates from his own research: heavy LLM assistance can mean understanding the work less, which makes digging into the whys much harder. Intel’s Chip-Stitching Hub in New Mexico Intel’s newsroom showcased Fab 9 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, its U.S. hub for advanced packaging. Since single chips max out at the reticle limit, Intel stitches specialized chiplets together with Foveros stacking and EMIB silicon bridges until they act like one huge processor. Packages already reach eight times that single-chip ceiling, with twelve times targeted by 2028. Cochrane muses about a future where consumers simply snap extra compute onto a board. Gemini Robotics ER 2 Is a Brain for Robots DeepMind released Gemini Robotics ER 2, its most capable embodied reasoning model. The system chats with humans, plans multi-step tasks, and hands motor control to whatever vision-language-action model a robot runs. Moreover, it calls tools like Google Search mid-task and plans its next move while its hands keep working. Demos show it orchestrating Boston Dynamics’ Spot and Apptronik’s Apollo 2, and developers can use it now through the Gemini API. DeepMind Open-Sources Its Cyclone Forecaster Staying with DeepMind, the new WeatherNext Cyclones model adds more than a full day of extra warning on a storm’s track, intensity, and wind structure. It ran live with the National Hurricane Center during the 2025 season, helping forecasters spot Hurricane Melissa’s rapid intensification before its Jamaica landfall. Best of all, DeepMind open-sourced the code and model weights for research and commercial use alike. Cochrane, a longtime fan of the lab, calls the public release a huge service. Climate Change Supercharges Europe’s Disasters Eos rounded up how climate change is supercharging Europe’s heat, drought, and wildfires. Southwestern France has burned through about 287,000 acres this year, and roughly 330,000 people across France and Spain fled their homes in one of Europe’s largest evacuations since World War II. France also recorded more than 5,700 excess heat deaths in under three weeks. Meanwhile, a Bordeaux-region blaze spawned a pyrocumulonimbus fire cloud, and Cochrane notes that hearing “unprecedented” every year is starting to create a precedent. Ten Years of WILDLABS and Arm Arm is celebrating ten years of backing WILDLABS, a network connecting more than 16,000 conservationists across 180 countries. The goal was never to invent new conservation technology. Instead, it closes the information gap so tools and lessons get shared openly. Cochrane highlights a team using miniaturized GPS tags to track migrating bats, and says the project bears the heart of open source. FarmBeats Brings AI to Ag Classrooms Microsoft and the National FFA Organization expanded FarmBeats for Students nationally. The program teaches future farmers with smart soil sensors, data science, and AI, mirroring how real farms automate tractors and deploy drones against pests. At launch, 185 middle and high schools received free classroom kits. Interested families can grab a kit for $35, and the Microsoft Learn training is free. MacBook Neo Pulls Schools Off Chromebooks Apple’s earnings call revealed the MacBook Neo displacing Chromebooks and Windows machines in K-12. Close to half of the Neo’s large U.S. education purchases last quarter replaced competing fleets, including 25,000 students in Pinellas County, Florida. Cochrane sees the first truly affordable Apple laptop finally competing where Chromebooks have lived for a decade. He expects Apple to keep taking K-12 share from Google and Microsoft. Apple Upgrade Turns iPhones Into a Lease Apple also launched Apple Upgrade, a hardware leasing program backed by Klarna. iPhones start at $17.99 per month with 12- to 36-month terms by device, and lease-end options let you upgrade, buy out, or walk away. However, entry-level hardware like the base iPhone 16 and Mac mini is excluded, and enrollment requires a Klarna account and a soft credit check. Cochrane admits he has never been a leasing fan, having once bought his phone outright with tip money, but he expects plenty of takers. WhatsApp Calling Comes to the Browser Meta brought calling to WhatsApp Web, no app download required. Browser calls keep end-to-end encryption and add screen sharing, a dedicated Calls tab, waiting rooms for group links, and automatic HD video. Additionally, group calls now transfer between devices mid-call, and a Drown Out the Noise feature suppresses background racket. Everything rolls out gradually over the coming weeks. July’s Gemini Drop July’s Gemini Drop adds voice control on macOS, letting users dictate and transform text in any active window. Gemini Spark, the always-on assistant, expands nearly worldwide, except the EEA, UK, Switzerland, and Nigeria. New Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite models arrive alongside avatar-based image personalization and app hookups for Dropbox, Zillow Rentals, and Viator. The Rescue Satellite That Needs Rescuing Katalyst Space Technologies’ LINK spacecraft, launched to boost NASA’s sinking Swift observatory, began tumbling in late July. Two of its three reaction wheels failed and its cold-gas thrusters degraded, so engineers used an electric xenon thruster to cut the spin from nine degrees per second to about 1.5. CEO Ghonhee Lee says a capture attempt is “very much in the cards,” with rendezvous in late August at the earliest. Cochrane wonders what happens if the window closes, and he promises to keep listeners updated. Curiosity Finds a Honeycomb Valley on Mars Finally, Curiosity rolled into a Martian valley nicknamed Valle Grande and found a honeycomb landscape. Polygonal fractures just inches wide stretch in every direction and climb a butte named Miraflores. Project scientist Ashwin Vasavada says the “sea of polygons took our breath away.” The rover just passed fourteen years on Mars, and scientists suspect ancient warming and cooling cycles fractured the ground. Cochrane wraps with housekeeping: become a GNC Insider at geeknewscentral.com/insider, email geeknews@gmail.com, subscribe to the newsletter, and grab a modern podcast app at podcastapps.com (he uses Pocket Casts himself). He signs off until Monday’s show. The post Capture The Real Flag #1871 appeared first on Geek News Central.
On a new Fresh Frights, we take on Eli Roth's newest with ICE CREAM MAN. Is this throwback attempt at a campy B-movie really as bad as they say? Listen in to hear our breakdown and review. Find us: Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epic-film-guys- Official Fan Group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/epicfilmguys Feed URL: https://epicfilmguys.podbean.com/feed/ Wordpress: http://epicfilmguys.wordpress.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/epicfilmguysny/live You can also catch us on most every podcatcher under the sun! Search for us on BluBrry, Stitcher, Spreaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, and many others. Search and you will find us! There has never been a better time to join up with the elites at https://www.patreon.com/epicfilmguys! You can get access to pre-roll and outtakes from the show, exclusive episodes, free swag, and so much more. Tiers start as low as $1/month! Please consider supporting the show, and thank you for being one of the EFG faithfuls
The conversation focused on Niels Arts and his work on Clonable, a SaaS solution for managing multilingual websites. One concept discussed was how Clonable allows site owners to create separate versions of their websites in different languages, keeping them synchronised while permitting specific local changes. We also chatted about the technical method of scraping and translating site content automatically, rather than relying solely on plugins. The discussion explored translation quality, handling of updates, plugin integrations, pricing tiers, and the practical realities of running international websites.
Send us Fan MailEver notice how hitting the goal doesn't always bring the peace you expected?Sometimes the bigger the win... the tighter you hold on.If you've worked hard to build a business, a career, or financial stability, you might know the quiet fear that follows. What if I lose it? What if it all disappears? It's exhausting carrying success and anxiety at the same time.In this episode, Carol explores the hidden money stories that don't disappear just because your bank account changes. She unpacks why so many high achievers stay stuck in scarcity even when life looks successful on the outside, and how your brain keeps replaying old patterns because it believes they're protecting you.What if your fear isn't about money at all?What if it's an old story that's been quietly running the show for years?You don't create abundance by gripping tighter.You create it by feeling safe enough to think differently.
Today, the podcast is focused on Priscilla Collado Ramirez's journey with WordPress, highlighting how overwhelming the platform can be for beginners due to the abundance of options and limited guidance. Priscilla discussed her experience leaving WordPress 17 years ago and returning as an educator, using wellness techniques and understanding different learning styles to help her students gain confidence. The discussion explored normalising confusion, taking small steps, celebrating progress, and the need to educate mentors on effective teaching methods. Priscilla emphasises making WordPress approachable, supportive, and less daunting for newcomers.
Most Shopify brands do not need to send more emails. They need better automations.Omnisend analysed 27 billion emails and found that automated messages generated 37% of email sales from just 2% of sends.In this Tea Break Talk, Nick breaks down the three Shopify email automations every ecommerce brand should build first - welcome flows, abandoned cart emails and browse abandonment.You'll learn how to turn more visitors into customers, increase repeat purchases, use SMS more effectively and avoid the biggest mistakes brands make with email marketing.You'll learn:Why sending more campaigns does not always create more revenueHow to build a welcome series that converts new subscribersHow abandoned cart emails recover lost sales without relying on discountsWhy browse abandonment is an overlooked Shopify growth opportunityWhich email metrics actually matter for ecommerce growthHow email and SMS should work together throughout the customer journeyIn this episode:(00:00) - Why more emails don't mean more sales(00:40) - The data from 27 billion emails(02:05) - Why automation wins(04:00) - Building the perfect welcome series(08:50) - Better abandoned cart emails(10:35) - Browse abandonment strategy(12:25) - SMS marketing that converts(16:30) - Email metrics that matter(20:35) - Omnisend email marketing(22:25) - The 7-step email marketing audit(25:10) - Final takeawaysListener offers:Omnisend - 30% off paid plans for three months with code WINNINGWITHOMNISEND.Ships-A-Lot - Improve fulfilment costs, shipping margins and customer experience.Yoast - 15% off Shopify and WordPress with code WWS15.Inventory Planner - Free seven-day inventory bootcamp.About Winning With ShopifyWinning With Shopify is powered by Spec Digital, a PPC & SEO agency for ecommerce brands.
Join Nathan Wrigley, Michelle Frechette, Cami MacNamara, Alex Standiford. The conversation focused on recent developments in the WordPress ecosystem, including highlights from version 7.1, a new accessibility community initiative, and a modern revamp of the WordPress admin using AI. The discussion explored WordCamp events, educational initiatives, and marketing strategies for agencies and freelancers, emphasizing community engagement and business resilience. Several points were raised, including client feedback tools, plugin analytics, and innovative approaches in AI and content management. Insights into imposter syndrome, contributor retention, and the impact of large-scale email campaigns rounded out the key themes for web professionals working with WordPress.
Google updated their developer documentation on their crawl budget and there is so much in here. Google made some previously optional recommendations into hard requirements now.They defined HOSTLOAD as "the total amount of time your server spends holding connections open for Google, factoring in both the number of parallel connections and their duration." Which made my benchmark test come up against Dave Smart's server-side delay test which came to the conclusion that Googlebot says for more than 5 seconds.Who is right? Turns out we both technically are because we were testing different things.Googlebot renders for 5 seconds if its not waiting for anything.And the Googlebot can hit pause on the rendering and keep the browser on hold for 30 seconds.One tests for how long the rendering window is actively rendering and the other tests for how long Google will keep the browser on hold.Guess which one kills your Hostload?Mentioned in the show:Carolyn Holzmanlinkedin.com/posts/carolynholzman_technicalseo-googlebot-webrenderingservice-activity-7427330476190834688-tMn_David Smarthttps://tamethebots.com/blog-n-bits/the-5-second-google-render-limit-mythLast week's episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/googleagent-googles-secret-agent-with-a-key-season/id1547082306?i=1000778691905Get on the waiting list for the next cohort of the AI Visibility Mastery 12-month course. We are committed to the success of our members.https://vizzex.ai/ai-visibility-mastery/Wordpress registration HubSpot registrationSymmetry Gate - check the "cost" of your content for AI models to extract informationSubscribe to Confessions of an SEO™ wherever you get your podcasts. Your subscribing and download sends the message that you appreciate what is being shared and helping others find Confessions of an SEO™An easy place to leave a review https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/confessions-of-an-seo-1973881You can find me onCarolyn Holzman - LinkedinAmerican Way Media Google DirectlyAmericanWayMedia.com Consulting AgencyNeed Help With an Issue? - reach out Text me here - 512-222-3132Music from Uppbeathttps://uppbeat.io/t/doug-organ/fugue-stateLicense code: HESHAZ4ZOAUMWTUA
Today, I'm talking with Toni Schneider, the new head of social platform Bluesky who formally took over after a short stint as interim CEO. This is one of my favorite kinds of interviews, because a couple years ago we had Bluesky's prior CEO, Jay Graber, on the show — she's now the company's chief innovation officer. All of that kind of shuffle is pure Decoder bait: a new CEO often brings with them new priorities, which is perhaps the most Decoder subject of all. Links: Bluesky CEO Jay Graber | Decoder (2024) Bluesky CEO Jay Graber steps down | TechCrunch Staying in the game | Toni Schneider The messy WordPress drama, explained | The Verge Proton CTO Bart Butler | Decoder Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder's producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Eileen Felix. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
I tried. I really did. I tried to find a chink in Bailey Collins' process armor…but I failed.She really does have the most thorough, well-thought-out, and proven process for building websites in a day. And in this episode, she's back on to tell us the ins and outs of how she's built over 500 websites in a day using this process.If you're catching this episode the week it drops, be sure to check out her “Process Like A Pro” challenge happening live, Aug 10-14! Use my link joshhall.co/challenge to get 50% OFF the challenge (only $47)!Head to the show notes to get all links and resources we mentioned, along with a full transcription of this episode at joshhall.co/435
This week I Talk About The 2026 WordPress Website Redesign [powerpress]
Anthropic says Claude escaped the sandbox three times, while a judge questions the Pentagon's blacklist. The EU launches an AI enforcement team, the FTC targets a telehealth firm's tracking pixels, and a WordPress backdoor is stopped just in time. CareCloud discloses a major data breach, a stealthy cryptominer hides in plain sight, AiTM phishing surges against law firms, and Finland severs one more digital link to Russia. Our guest is Yan Shoshitaishvili, Associate Professor, Arizona State University, previewing his Black Hat 2026 keynote "Vulnerability Research in the Agentic Age." AI scammers may deserve a promotion. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Miss an episode? Sign-up for our daily intelligence roundup, Daily Briefing, and you'll never miss a beat. And be sure to follow CyberWire Daily on LinkedIn. CyberWire Guest Today we are joined by Yan Shoshitaishvili, Associate Professor, Arizona State University, discussing his Black Hat 2026 keynote "Vulnerability Research in the Agentic Age." Be sure to tune in this Sunday for a special edition featuring our full, extended interview with Yan. Selected Reading Anthropic AI Models Hacked Three Organizations During Tests (Bloomberg) Anthropic, Pentagon Clash Over First Amendment Claims (GovInfo Security) EU to Crack Down on AI Deepfakes, Illicit Imagery and Hacking With New Team in Brussels (SecurityWeek) FTC sues Hims & Hers for allegedly sharing patients' medical data with advertisers Meta and Snap (TechCrunch) Wordfence Finds Critical Backdoor in ARVE WordPress Plugin (Hackread) CareCloud Data Breach Impacts Over 350,000 (SecurityWeek) Cryptominer Abuses Linux PAM to Hide From SOC Analysts (Infosecurity Magazine) AiTM Phishing Becomes Top Initial Access Threat to Law Firms (Infosecurity Magazine) Finland to disconnect fiber-optic link to Russia as lease expires (The Record) AI Scammers Are Better at Building Trust Than Humans (WIRED) Share your feedback. What do you think about CyberWire Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show. Want to hear your company in the show? N2K CyberWire helps you reach the industry's most influential leaders and operators, while building visibility, authority, and connectivity across the cybersecurity community. Learn more at sponsor.thecyberwire.com. The CyberWire is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc.
What happens when an unconstrained OpenAI model goes rogue and hacks into Hugging Face, breaching real-world security boundaries? This episode unpacks a watershed moment for AI safety that has everyone in cybersecurity talking. OpenAI's unconstrained internal testing AI got loose, attacked Hugging Face. We hear from OpenAI, Hugging Face and Andrew Ng. GRC went off the air Friday. Was GRC hacked? What happened? The Linux kernel project repairs 442 CVEs in a single batch. LG's PC monitors cause PC adware installation. France bans all social media access below age 15. WordPress' recent CRITICAL vulnerability claims victims. Amazing details about "Rocky" from Andy Weir. The new AI exploit ranking benchmark that caused the breakout Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1089-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: adaptivesecurity.com XBOW.com cohesity.com/Resilience threatlocker.com/twit