Purity Ring last night was such a good show and refreshing in multiple ways. The production was awesome, with several spinning LED “fans” that showed video, making the video look like it’s hanging in the air in the space around them. There were several of those in front of and behind them, plus a large screen at the back of the stage, so it was a really cool 3D effect. Photos don’t quite do it justice since they pause the spinning, but they still came out pretty cool.

I was also excited for this show because the band requested fans wear a respirator mask and provided them if anyone needed them. I was even more impressed when I learned that they invited mask blocs from each city to table at the event, so my Fan Favorite SD buddies were there and I got to meet a few new people!

The band talked about it briefly, thanking everyone who masked and stressing its importance as an act of community care. 💛😷

As the Mandalorians say, “This is the way.”

Hey Portland, just saw that starting November 1, Heretic Coffee is offering free breakfast to anyone losing SNAP benefits. No proof needed and no questions asked.

via Instagram

I quite enjoyed KPop Demon Hunters. Loved the animation style, quite funny, and some good bops. It’s one I probably wouldn’t have considered without a friend’s recommendation, so I’m passing it along.

From an interview with a costumed Portland protester. Portland rules and this is spot on:

“There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.”

— An Interview With the Portland Chicken (archived)

★ Meetable Release Notes - October 2025

Loved it growing up but haven’t revisited it or the reboot yet! I don’t think it scared me, but Dark Crystal definitely did. Time for some Jim Henson nostalgia watching!

“It was the ’80s man. We were built (traumatized) different.”

Me responding to a friend who said how frightening Marjory the Trash Heap was in Fraggle Rock. 🤣

Y’all, this one is close to me. A San Diego mutual aid organizer I’m connected with needs support to pay for a jaw surgery they’re having soon: https://gofund.me/09d07f525

Any amount helps and boosting is much appreciated. 💛

Want to read: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain (ISBN 9780060899226)

★ Whitewashing Charlie Kirk Promotes Political Violence

I watched Local Hero for the August IndieWeb Movie Club. I went into it knowing nothing about it and quite enjoyed it. There was some great, subtle humor in it and a surprisingly young Peter Capaldi (25!). It unfolded slowly but never felt slow or boring. I think it is one I would definitely re-watch sometime. Thanks for the recommendation, Thomas!

Have we come up with a better question than “how are you?” I haven’t known how to answer that for a while now; it changes frequently.

“Aziz, light!” Time for a re-watch of The Fifth Element.

Indeed! Hello from a San Diego CC pal 👋😷

I was reminded of this WordPress issue that has bitten me twice now, so it’s definitely time to document it.

Short version: If you write a custom WordPress theme or plugin only for your site, you probably want to include Update URI: false in the header comment. This stops WordPress from checking for updates against the official directories and potentially overwriting your code. Read more in the official blog post.

Longer version: When WordPress checks for updates to plugins and themes, it is basically checking the name and the version number against the official directories. If there is a newer version, then it prompts you to install the update. This generally works fine until you consider more generically-named things. For example, years ago for a work client, we set up a member directory plugin that we very aptly named... “member directory.” Later, the client saw there was a new version available so clicked “update” and suddenly the directory stopped working.

Yep, the WordPress update system didn’t really have a way to differentiate generically-named plugins. The update process replaced our custom plugin with the one in the official plugin list. We have backups so it was an easy fix, but it was baffling to find out that could even happen. I tracked down a WordPress issue discussing it and chimed in with my +1.

Thankfully there was an update in version 5.8, but it still requires developers to opt-out by adding a line to the header comment. We were bitten by this again today with a third-party plugin called “custom post types.” No, not that one.

Lessons for custom plugins and themes:

• Use Update URI: false in the header comment to disable update checks
• Optional, but a good practice: use more specific names. Prefixing the name with the client/organization goes a long way to making unique names.

Today’s fun Unicode character: Multiocular O, aka biblically accurate angel: ꙮ

h/t benji

Sorry, #2 is wrong. The Omidyar Network runs the Reporters in Residency program that Lorenz is in. Both that org and Lorenz have disclosed that (it was announced in a blog post) and the Omidyar Network is not dark money. Omidyar the person did donate to the Sixteen Thirty Fund years ago. These are not comparable; Lorenz has not been shown to be taking dark money.