The Wordpress Malware Ecosystem Something upwards of 40% of all Internet websites use WordPress blogging software. WordPress is written in the PHP programming language. Because PHP has a lot of quirks, and because just about any wanker can come along and crap out a solution to any given problem, WordPress installations have traditionally had security flaws. That makes WordPress installations subject to a lot of shady activity. There are sub-industries devoted to activities like brute-force-guessing admin passwords of WordPress sites, and then selling that illicit access There are apparently people who do feral software engineering, mostly in PHP, to support financial exploitation of cracked WordPress blog installations.

I dropped my cell phone and cracked the screen, so I got a Google Pixel 6 and a wireless charging stand. I ended up looking up the “Qi” standard for these chargers. It seemed like the coils used to transfer energy weren’t particularly exotic in size, shape, material or manufacture, so I decided to try to receive some energy from the charging stand. I pious believe I have some knowledge of electronics, so I decided to make a coil, put that coil close to the charging stand, rectify whatever voltage the charger’s pulses induce in the coil, and use that electricity to light an LED.

I’ve been reading science fiction for a long time, since maybe Second grade, circa 1968. I believe that the first scifi book I read was Lester Del Rey’s Mission to the Moon. Although Del Rey copyrighted it in 1956 (renewed 1984), there’s a 2015 edition available. It’s got a very cool, retro cover: There’s a lot wrong with this book. The prose is carved out of wood, it’s very clunky to read.