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I Lived 5 Minutes From the Ghibli Museum and Here’s My Thoughts on the Ghibli AI Trend

Back in 2018 I spent some time in the city of Mitaka – which happens to be where the Ghibli Museum is located. I walked by it several times a week and have fond memories from there. When the internet became flooded with Ghibli style art last week after OpenAI released their newest AI image generator, my reaction was probably more visceral than most people’s. After spending some time Ghibli-ficating myself, reading others’ opinions, and having a few days to reflect on it all, here are my thoughts.

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How to Add Search to a Static WordPress Site for Free Using Lunr

If you have a static WordPress site or you’re strongly considering launching one, then you’re probably already aware of its default limitations. One of the big ones is the inability to add a search function to your site. But with a little bit of creative thinking, you can use a free, open-source JavaScript library called Lunr (along with a few other tools) to get around that problem and build one anyway. Here’s how…

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How to Add Contact Forms to a Static WordPress Site for Free

Static WordPress sites have a lot of advantages over more traditional WordPress projects. In most cases they are cheaper, faster, and more secure. However, one big drawback is that you can’t use contact forms on your pages or posts by default. In this guide I’m going to show you a free solution to get around this problem.

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How to Launch and Maintain a WordPress Site for Only $10.44 a Year (Domain + Hosting Included)

I know what you’re probably thinking – there’s a catch. Well, there IS. But it’s not some special promo rate or a first-year deal. The catch is that this solution requires more effort to pull off compared to signing up for a shared hosting plan with pre-installed WordPress. What I’m going to teach you is how to build a WordPress site on your computer using Local by Flywheel. Then you’re going to convert that site to a static version, deploy it Cloudflare Pages, and maintain it using GitHub and some code. It’s ambitious, but worth it.

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How to Create Stripe Donation Forms on a WordPress Website

Whether you work for a non-profit organization or a charity, or you’re simply running a fundraiser for a particular cause, you know that having a donation form on your website is a must. And if your website happens to run on WordPress, then today’s your lucky day because I’m going to show you one of the easiest available ways to add it.

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How to Remove Unwanted Elements From Screenshots in 20 Seconds Without AI or Image Editing Tools

If you work in content or social media and you often have to take screenshots of other websites then you know how annoying it is when you come across a page with random obstructions. Whether its a giant banner announcing a seasonal sale, a popup window, a sidebar widget, or some awkwardly inserted Google ad – it doesn’t matter. The point is that you don’t want it there. You want a nice, clean image. Fortunately, there is a very quick and very easy way to do it. Here’s how.

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Almost Pwned: How a Sophisticated Google Scam Nearly Fooled a Seasoned Programmer

Sometimes the difference between security and compromise comes down to a single click – and a healthy dose of suspicion. And it’s because scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated with their phishing attempts. It’s to the point where even following standard security best practices isn’t enough to protect you. Case in point: last week’s near-successful phishing attack on Zach Latta.

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Everyone Is Talking About DeepSeek AI, but Is It Really THAT Good? I Tested It Against GPT-o1 and Claude

The new DeepSeek R1 model from China launched last week. If you’re into AI or even into technology more broadly, it was hard to miss the news. Everyone was talking about it. But it’s not just that. It’s the way everyone was talking about it. I was left with the impression that DeepSeek is going to drive a stake through the heart of OpenAI and Anthropic.

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The Real AI Threat Isn’t Coming – It’s Already Here: 3 Cases of Algorithms Destroying Lives

While the web buzzes with anxiety about AI taking our jobs or achieving consciousness, real artificial intelligence systems have already been making life-altering decisions about healthcare, housing, and basic human rights – often with devastating consequences.In this article I’m going to examine three real-life cases where AI systems destroyed thousands of lives. Then I’ll share my opinion on what we can do about it.

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Google Now Requires JavaScript Because “Security”…They’re Not Telling the Entire Truth

Google has made a significant change: you now need to enable JavaScript to use Google Search. According to them, this move is about security and improving the experience for users like you and me. By requiring JavaScript, Google says it can better protect its platform against spam, bots, and other types of abuse. It also claims this change ensures you get “the most relevant and up-to-date information.”

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The Rise of “GEO” – or How AI is Transforming Search Engine Optimization

If you’ve used Google lately, you’ve probably noticed a change: instead of just getting a mix of links and snippets, you’re now seeing AI-generated responses that synthesize information from multiple sources right there in your results. This is what’s known as generative search and it’s changing how we optimize content for search engines. In this post, I’ll explain how traditional SEO differs from GEO and where the concept of GEO originated from. Then I’ll go over some best practices so you can improve your odds of getting featured in generative search results.

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How the Holidays Are Shaping Web Traffic Trends (and Why You Should Care)

Happy almost-2025, everyone! While you’re finishing up your year-end to-do’s (or wishing you had started them earlier), I’ve been diving into some fresh data published by Cloudflare. This time, they’ve looked at how people around the globe have been spending their time online during the holiday season – between Christmas and the New Year. As it turns out, when the feasting starts, the web often takes a back seat.

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I Tried OpenAI’s Sora Video Generator…It’s Mostly Unusable

If you haven’t tried Sora yet (or are in a region where it’s not currently available) and you’re curious about it, then keep reading. I will begin with an overview of Sora’s usage limits, its UI / UX, and the different ways you can make a video with it. Then I’ll share samples of the videos I made – both good and bad – and I’ll review some of Sora’s additional features that you can use to edit your videos.

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I Read Through Cloudflare’s “2024 Year in Review.” Here’s What You Should Know

Cloudflare just released their “2024 Year in Review” report – a detailed document that dives into the key trends and patterns shaping the web over the past year. I’ll be honest with you, it’s my first time paying attention to this report, but I’m really fascinated by the insights that they’ve been able to deliver. It’s an opportunity for all of us (website owners) to explore the forces behind the internet as we use it every day, and perhaps walk into 2025 a little more prepared.

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WP Engine Gets Its Preliminary Injunction Against Automattic/Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg’s crusade against WP Engine seems to have hit a roadblock as the case moved from the court of public opinion to the court of…well, the actual court. On Tuesday December 10, WP Engine won a preliminary injunction against Mullenweg and Automattic that seems to be aimed at preserving the status quo from before Mullenweg’s alleged attack, thus giving the case time to work through the court system while limiting the damage to WP Engine.

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The Dark Side of Reddit’s Search Dominance: Inside the Parasite SEO Game

Have you noticed in the past few months that Reddit seems to pop up in almost every single one of your Google search results? Whether you’re looking for product reviews, travel tips, or life advice, those distinctive Reddit threads are almost always there on either page one or two – though it’s usually the former. This isn’t just Google’s algorithm being extra friendly to Reddit – there’s actually a story behind it.

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WordPress 6.7 “Rollins” Released, Including a New Default Theme

On November 12, WordPress 6.7 was released for WordPress users everywhere to enjoy. Keeping with the jazz theme, WordPress 6.7 goes by the name “Rollins,” named after Sonny Rollins. In total, 750 different contributors worked on WordPress 6.7. In this post, I want to take you through some of the highlights of the release, including features that regular users will care about and features that developers might care about.