LeChonk’s debut, open-source Windows projects, and Wired’s take on digital control shape today’s tech news and business decisions.

Bob Dunn and Derek Hanson reflect on blogging, personal writing, and using post formats to shape digital presence beyond social media.

What is WordPress MCP, which of its routes fits your site and AI app, what does each cost, and how do you set one up with a read-only token?

This security release features fixes for multiple issues. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. You can download WordPress 7.1.4 from WordPress.org, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”. If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.WordPress 7.1.4 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 7.2, currently planned for December 8th. For more information, please visit the WordPress 7.1.4 HelpHub site. Security updates included in this release The security team would like to thank the following people and organizations for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities, and allowing them to be fixed in this release: A weakness in the WordPress upgrade process which can lead to remote code execution during the upgrade window, reported by Umut Bayram. A stored XSS with specially crafted block markup, reported by Rafie Muhammad (Awesome Motive, Inc.). Privacy Data Removal Requests can be created in a way that leads to stored XSS, reported by Anthropic. Multiple stored XSS issues in the Interactivity API independently discovered by AnC and DatNLQ from VietSunshine Cyber Security, rekter0 and Anas cherni, Marcel Karlsson (whoismarcel), and Weston Ruter, Jon Surrell, Alex Concha, and Luis Herranz of the WordPress Security Team. A stored denial of service issue in the Interactivity API, reported by Jon Surrell of the WordPress Security Team. A stored XSS in Customizer selective refresh, reported by Rafie Muhammad (Awesome Motive, Inc.). A Stored XSS in the Categories block reported by Ben Bidner of the WordPress Security Team. Specially crafted User Logins can lead to a stored XSS reported by Anthropic. Unpublished customizer changesets can be discovered by unauthenticated users, reported by Antonio Lorensius Silaban. A Stored XSS in Playlist and image blocks, reported by Ben Bidner of the WordPress Security Team. Stored XSS in core/comments-pagination-next and core/comments-pagination-previous blocks, reported by Alex Concha of the WordPress Security Team. Notes can be read by privileged users that lack access to edit the post the note is attached to, reported by Ramon of the WordPress Security Team. An update to the bundled root certificates due to the eMudhra revocation. Thank you to these WordPress contributors This release was led by Aaron Jorbin and Nik Tsekouras. WordPress 7.1.4 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people: Aaron Jorbin, Adam Silverstein, Alex Concha, Andrew Duthie, Andrew Serong, David Arenas, Dennis Snell, Ella Van Durpe, George Mamadashvili, Isabel Brison, Jake Spurlock, Jb Audras, Jeremy Felt, John Blackbourn, Jon Surrell, Jonathan Desrosiers, Kira Song,Lance Willett, luisherranz, Marco Ciampini, marcs0h, Marin Atanasov, Mario Santos, Miguel Fonseca, Nik Tsekouras, Peter Wilson, ramonopoly, Rudy Faile, Sergey Biryukov, umut3806, Weston Ruter Backports As a courtesy, the security fixes were backported to all branches eligible to receive security fixes (currently through 4.7). As a reminder, only the most recent version of WordPress is actively supported. The backports are in progress and will ship as they become ready. WordPress 7.2 Beta 3 has also been released, containing all applicable fixes.

Today the podcast is focused on Scanfully, a WordPress site health and performance monitoring tool, detailing its evolution to version 2.0. We talk about how the tool is making complex site data accessible and actionable for users of all skill levels, from freelancers to agencies and hosts. We explored new features, including a public API, improved dashboards, human-readable alerts, and an MCP for AI-powered queries. Upcoming add-ons like WooCommerce checkout and form monitoring also got a mention, with emphasis on proactive site management and the importance of community-driven skill development in the WordPress ecosystem.