Category Archives: Thoughts

Jetpack 2.9.3: Critical Security Update

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Public Service Announcement: please update your Jetpack!

George Stephanis's avatarJetpack

Jetpack version 2.9.3 contains a critical security update, and you should update your site and any you help manage as soon as possible.  You can update through your dashboard, or download Jetpack manually here .

During an internal security audit, we found a bug that allows an attacker to bypass a site’s access controls and publish posts. This vulnerability could be combined with other attacks to escalate access. This bug has existed since Jetpack 1.9, released in October 2012.

Fortunately, we have no evidence of this being used in the wild. However, now that this update is public, it’s just a matter of time before exploits occur. To avoid a breach, you should update your site as soon as possible. (The vulnerability has been disclosed on the MITRE Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures system as CVE-2014-0173.)

This is a bad bug, and Jetpack is one of the most widely used plugins…

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The Pixar Theory

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It was Earth all along! *shakes fist*

Jon Negroni's avatarJon Negroni

pixar theory

Every Pixar movie is connected. I explain how, and possibly why.

In 2012, I watched a video on Cracked.com that introduced the idea (at least to me) that all of the Pixar movies actually exist within the same universe. Since then, I’ve obsessed over this concept, working to complete what I call The Pixar Theory, a working narrative that ties all of the Pixar movies into one cohesive timeline with a main theme. Another, longer, title is “The Grand Unifying Theory of Pixar Movies.”

This theory covers every feature-length movie made by Pixar Animation Studios since 1995. They include:

  • Toy Story
  • A Bug’s Life
  • Toy Story 2
  • Monsters Inc.
  • Finding Nemo
  • The Incredibles
  • Cars
  • Ratatouille
  • Wall-E
  • Up
  • Toy Story 3
  • Cars 2
  • Brave
  • Monsters University
  • Inside Out (in Part 2)
  • The Good Dinosaur (in Part 3)
  • Finding Dory (in Part 4)
  • Cars 3, Coco, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story…

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Software patents drive me bonkers, but it’s an interesting thought: did Samsung just pay $1B to become the #2 device manufacturer? At the levels that these guys are playing at, that’s probably cheaper than authentically growing to that position.

It makes me wonder if Samsung intentionally crossed that line knowing that it’s costs, while steep, would ultimately be less expensive in the long run. Or are they just clumsy copycats that lucked out?

Ryan Kim's avatarGigaom

After Samsung’s stunning $1 billion defeat in court at the hands of Apple (s aapl), calling it a winner might seem awfully far-fetched. But that’s the argument some are making about the South Korean conglomerate.

In a blog post, Robert Scoble said while Samsung will take a big PR hit and lose $1 billion, it was worth it to copy Apple because it vaulted the company ahead of other smartphone rivals. Samsung also sells an array of products that Apple doesn’t and setting up the comparison with Apple worked out well for the entire company, Scoble said.

“It only cost $1 billion to become the #2 most profitable mobile company. Remember how much Microsoft (s msft) paid for Skype? $8 billion. So, for 1/8th of a Skype Samsung took RIM’s (s rimm) place and kicked HTC’s behind…I bet that RIM wishes it had copied the iPhone a lot sooner than…

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How the Rich Get Rich

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Obvious conclusions:

  • Working for a salary won’t make you rich.
  • Neither will making only safe “income” investments.
  • Neither will investing only in large companies.
  • Owning a business or businesses, whether in part or partnership, could not only build a solid wealth foundation but could someday…
  • Generate a huge financial windfall.

…

Clearly, getting rich–in monetary terms–is the result of investing in yourself and others, taking risks, doing a lot of small things right… and then doing one big thing really, really right.

via How the Rich Get Rich | Inc.com.

I’m always been interested in quantitative analysis of things most folks “just have a gut feeling for.” For instance, how many folks have run the numbers on why certain folks are rich and certain folks are poor? Maybe we don’t have all the answers, but insight into some of the causes provides valuable insight into the way things work. For instance, it’s easy to see why there are many affluent people in America: a culture of entrepreneurship encourages people to takes risks until they do their one big thing “really, really right.”