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Mark your calendar: Local News Day is 9 April
It’s no secret that newspapers across the country exist in a fragile ecosystem. Automattic has long supported journalism and local media with investments in publications and platforms like Longreads, The Atavist, and Newspack. We believe that local news still matters—and now more than ever. That’s why we’re sponsoring Local News Day on April 9, 2026. — Support Journalism with…
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We named them after the humans they were replacing.
“The word ‘computer’ only really slid over to mean ‘a machine’ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, once we started building mechanical and then electronic devices to do that work instead [of people].…
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Cold Storage
Good UX is what companies do when they have to. A company that has your stuff locked away doesn’t have to.
Design
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Accessibility is a human right, cruelty a human wrong.
Once more for the folks in the back. Calibri is easier than Times New Roman for folks with certain visual disabilities to read. That’s why the Biden Administration chose Calibri for their digital communications: to include more people and make life just a wee bit easier for the disabled. And who in their right mind could…
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Behind every successful launch, there are 100 interesting failures.
We must stop thinking of failure as an end of something, and learn to see it as a natural part of progress. The first incarnation of a new idea may die, but the best ideas will find new lives. Behind every successful launch, there are 100 interesting failures.
My Glamorous Life
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My Glamorous Life: Entertaining Uncle George
Fam and I are visiting my 96-year-old Uncle George tonight. We love him. His complicated and somewhat meandering stories have been music to my daughter’s ears since she fell asleep in a cab at age…
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My Glamorous Life: Bots, Books, and Betrayal
My father was an engineer who designed robots. When I first learned what he did, I imagined the Robot from “Lost in Space,” and asked him to make me one. When I turned 13, I realized…
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Staying relevant
“And in their place came acceptance.” Staying relevant in your profession as you age and technology changes.
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The eye of God
My doctor sends me to Brooklyn for an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. As instructed, I fast for six hours beforehand. I don’t even brush my teeth, for fear of swallowing toothpaste and screwing up the…
the Daily Report
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Receipts: a brief history of the death of the web.
They say AI will replace the web as we know it, and this time they mean it. Here follows a short list of previous times they also meant it, starting way back in 1997. Wired:…
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How do you spell success?
Working in tech means being comfortable with change and uncertainty. Successfully working in tech means not letting change and uncertainty paralyze you. Forge ahead on the best information you have, and be prepared to change…
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Everybody’s lost it, Part I
My beloved veterinarian’s office apparently moved to a new office location without informing customers. They also changed phone systems. The new phone system doesn’t work, and they didn’t leave a forwarding message on the old…
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Too many meetings?
At Automattic, we know our time is finite and precious. Here are the questions we ask ourselves before agreeing to any meeting:
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Project 2026
Starting today, file suits to prevent biased gerrymandering. Fight harder for the right to vote than the GOP has fought to suppress the votes of Americans MAGA dislikes. Craft a Democratic party platform focused on…
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Accessibility 101
Nat Tarnoff covers the basics.
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