There is a spot behind the 30 story apartment towers just outside my window where the acoustics are incredible. Someone is singing gospel on this cold early morning causing the pigeons to take flight wheel as one above the NYC skyline.

They fly over the pale yellow and pink clouds intermittently visible through the windows (which have been frosted over with condensation from the heater) And that fiery beast in the basement is also singing and banging.

It's going to be a beautiful day.

A little off-topic for this account, but just wanted to take a moment to say a big thank you to all the Wikimedia SREs, Incident Coordinators and everyone else involved in keeping Wikipedia up and running during this PHP vulnerability[0].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHP2Shell

@acdha

but the meter works, so...

O Sysadmin, O Sysadmin
How weary are your fingers
O Sysadmin, O Sysadmin
The unpatched version lingers

A compromise
A CVE
Now a CA
Now PHP

O Sysadmin, O Sysadmin
How weary are your fingers

is there a song yet about this week of vulnerabilities and patches?

am thinking "Oh PHP" to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)"

RE: https://mastodon.social/@phpnewsnet/117478884978444315

A useful summary of the PHP security emergency many folks might have to deal with this morning. The patch release is expected a little over an hour from when I write this; If you're running a PHP-based web application (such as your own Wordpress installation), you might want to take it offline for now until you're able to install updated software, or have verified that the issue doesn't affect you.

You may see some downtime today (some services are already unavailable) due to an upcoming PHP security release.

https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Incidents/2026-10-21_PHP_security_update/Community

Trying to read the CA cert inclusion policy because of Today's Massive Security Problem #1 but the site is offline due to Today's Massive Security Problem #2 :blobcat_thisisfine:

poll: if you use Git, do you use a terminal text editor to edit your commit messages? (or other things that Git asks you to edit like interactive rebases etc)

(you can pick more than one)

Fyi, if you have a risky patch, deploy, infra change, today's the day to do it. You can pretty much get away with anything. Don't waste this opportunity.

In honor of #FOSDEM rejecting our Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Belonging (DEIB) track, and time permitting, I will be posting numbers about diversity in tech and my personal experiences in IT today.

Feel encouraged to share numbers and experiences as well ❤️

An embargoed security issue in PHP leaked and it is extremely serious: all versions >5.4 are affected. No patches are available yet.

I highly recommend shutting down any PHP services until the patch is available—that's how serious this issue is.

Apache HTTPD users can run

a2dismod php8.2 # any version
a2dissite <affected website configs>
systemctl restart apache2

https://cert.europa.eu/publications/security-advisories/2026-018/

The PHP security team is giving advance notice of an upcoming security release scheduled for Wed, 21 October 2026 at 14:00 UTC, addresses two critical vulnerabilities, both rated CVSSv4 9.2.

All PHP users are encouraged to prepare so they can upgrade immediately tomorrow. Should details of the vulnerabilities become public, or should evidence of active exploitation appear we will release sooner.

Full details, affected versions, and the fixed versions will be published with the release.

#php

Trust On "4" Use

hey so, i got a Yamaha PSR-70 from someone who wasn't using it, and the manual for the thing alludes to some midi settings, but doesn't explain how most of them are set. Does anybody know where i can find some resources on something like this? I found someone who reverse engineered the chips inside, but didn't really get into how it maps to the interface.

#Today Public service announcement for anyone buying a car from a dealership: When they shove that tablet at you to get your electronic signature, insist they show you each & every document to review. DO NOT trust them to be following what you agreed on. We discovered every optional service had been added in, increasing our loan amount by $10K 😳 Had to go back in yesterday & have them cancel them all. 🤬

Something I've noticed while on book tour for the past couple of weeks is that Mastodon is a really good way to let people know about bookstore events. So many people I've met on the road have told me that they found out about my book tour from me or other folks on the fedi. I think it's partly because so many book-loving people are on Mastodon. But also if you compare Mastodon to places like Bluesky or Insta, the community here has a higher percentage of actual humans vs. bots or operatives.

https://otherwiseaward.org/2026/10/motherboard-seeking-new-members I'm the chair of the board for the @OtherwiseAward . We're seeking a couple more board members. It's a #volunteer gig. Some things that might appeal to you:

* You’ll get a behind-the-scenes understanding of forces and structures affecting #SpeculativeFiction #GenreFiction #scifi #ScienceFiction #fantasy #horror and more, such as publishing schedules, organizations’ budgets, publicity and fundraising dynamics, changes in career possibilities for authors, and competing access needs.
* If you have never been on the board of a nonprofit org before, this is a good one to start with. Pretty calm & friendly bunch, with a budget that's relatively small and easy to understand.
* Our board meetings are infrequent and productive, and they end on time.
* There is a small secret pleasure of knowing who the Award and Fellowship winners are before they do, and before the public finds out.

We're asking people to apply by December 1st. Please feel free to share.

For non-traditional-escalator relationships, are these in the right order of increasing intimacy? Sharing free/busy calendar info, setting someone as emergency contact, sharing all calendar info, sharing location, setting someone as Legacy Contact, setting someone as backup to your password vault.

Reminder that it’s ok to go to a food bank if you’re struggling to buy groceries. At least in my part of California, anyone at all can walk in and get stuff without proving need.

And that’s why they exist!! It’s ok to make use of them.

I was given a Praktiflex camera. They were made from 1931-1959. I know next to nothing about it. I'm hoping I can get it working and take some photos with it. I wonder if I can find a manual for it.

#camera #film #vintagecamera