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Automattic offered employees another chance to leave – this time with nine months of severance pay

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Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a ‘cancer to WordPress’ and urges community to switch providers

Days after 159 people accepted Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg’s offer of six months of severance pay for employees who wanted to leave, the corporate late October 16 made a brand new offer of nine months of severance pay to anyone who would leave immediately. Employees had 4 hours to determine whether or not they wanted to join the contract.

In a Slack message seen by TechCrunch, Mullenweg wrote that those that accept the offer will lose access not only to Automattic but additionally to WordPress.org. This effectively means that folks leaving won’t give you the chance to contribute to the open source project – not less than under their existing ID. This would also mean that they’d be effectively banned from the WordPress community. The transaction was previously announced by, amongst others, 404 Media.

In addition to being the CEO of Automattic, Mullenweg also owns and controls the open source website WordPress.org.

Mullenweg gave him 4 hours’ notice and told him that those that wanted to accept the offer should send him a non-public message: “I am resigning and would like to take advantage of the 9-month buyout offer.”

“You don’t have to give any reason or anything. I will reply, “Thank you.” Automattic will accept your resignation, you can keep your office belongings and work on your laptop. You will lose access to Automattic and Worg,” Mullenweg said.

He said, “I think some people were sad that they missed the last window,” and that is why he introduced a brand new, short window.

Automattic didn’t comment on this story by press time. It is unclear whether any of the employees took advantage of the brand new offer. According to the corporate’s website, employment currently totals 1,731 people; a couple of hours ago it was 1732.

The WordPress co-founder’s first offer was addressed to individuals who didn’t agree with his views on Automattic’s fight against the hosting provider WP Engine. The first group of people to leave Automattic included several of the corporate’s top employees, including the pinnacle of WordPress.com (Automtic’s business WordPress hosting arm), Daniel Bachhuberhead of programs and co-creator of the experience Naoko Takanochief AI architect, Daniel Walmsleyand Executive Director of WordPress.org Joseph Haden Chomphosa.

The battle began almost a month ago when Mullenweg called WP Engine the “cancer of WordPress” and accused the independent company of not contributing enough to the WordPress open source project. Over the past few weeks, the fight has included stop-and-desist letters, Automattic accusing WP Engine of trademark infringement, a lawsuit filed by WP Engine, and WordPress.org blocking WP Engine’s access and seizing the plugin it maintains.

Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Automattic was preparing to defend its trademarks by retaining “nice and not-so-nice” lawyers, according to an internal post published earlier this yr by the corporate’s then-chief legal officer.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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US medical device giant Artivion says hackers stole files during a cybersecurity incident

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Artivion, a medical device company that produces implantable tissue for heart and vascular transplants, says its services have been “disrupted” resulting from a cybersecurity incident.

In 8-K filing In an interview with the SEC on Monday, Georgia-based Artivion, formerly CryoLife, said it became aware of a “cybersecurity incident” that involved the “compromise and encryption” of information on November 21. This suggests that the corporate was attacked by ransomware, but Artivion has not yet confirmed the character of the incident and didn’t immediately reply to TechCrunch’s questions. No major ransomware group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Artivion said it took some systems offline in response to the cyberattack, which the corporate said caused “disruptions to certain ordering and shipping processes.”

Artivion, which reported third-quarter revenue of $95.8 million, said it didn’t expect the incident to have a material impact on the corporate’s funds.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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It’s a Raspberry Pi 5 in a keyboard and it’s called Raspberry Pi 500

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Manufacturer of single-board computers Raspberry Pi is updating its cute little computer keyboard device with higher specs. Named Raspberry Pi500This successor to the Raspberry Pi 400 is just as powerful as the present Raspberry Pi flagship, the Raspberry Pi 5. It is on the market for purchase now from Raspberry Pi resellers.

The Raspberry Pi 500 is the simplest method to start with the Raspberry Pi because it’s not as intimidating because the Raspberry Pi 5. When you take a look at the Raspberry Pi 500, you do not see any chipsets or PCBs (printed circuit boards). The Raspberry Pi is totally hidden in the familiar housing, the keyboard.

The idea with the Raspberry Pi 500 is you could connect a mouse and a display and you are able to go. If, for instance, you’ve got a relative who uses a very outdated computer with an outdated version of Windows, the Raspberry Pi 500 can easily replace the old PC tower for many computing tasks.

More importantly, this device brings us back to the roots of the Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi computers were originally intended for educational applications. Over time, technology enthusiasts and industrial customers began using single-board computers all over the place. (For example, when you’ve ever been to London Heathrow Airport, all of the departures and arrivals boards are there powered by Raspberry Pi.)

Raspberry Pi 500 draws inspiration from the roots of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a non-profit organization. It’s the right first computer for college. In some ways, it’s a lot better than a Chromebook or iPad because it’s low cost and highly customizable, which inspires creative pondering.

The Raspberry Pi 500 comes with a 32GB SD card that comes pre-installed with Raspberry Pi OS, a Debian-based Linux distribution. It costs $90, which is a slight ($20) price increase over the Raspberry Pi 400.

Only UK and US keyboard variants will probably be available at launch. But versions with French, German, Italian, Japanese, Nordic and Spanish keyboard layouts will probably be available soon. And when you’re in search of a bundle that features all the things you would like, Raspberry Pi also offers a $120 desktop kit that features the Raspberry Pi 500, a mouse, a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro-HDMI to HDMI cable.

In other news, Raspberry Pi has announced one other recent thing: the Raspberry Pi monitor. It is a 15.6-inch 1080p monitor that’s priced at $100. Since there are quite a few 1080p portable monitors available on the market, this launch is not as noteworthy because the Pi 500. However, for die-hard Pi fans, there’s now also a Raspberry Pi-branded monitor option available.

Image credits:Raspberry Pi

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Apple Vision Pro may add support for PlayStation VR controllers

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Vision Pro headset

According to Apple, Apple desires to make its Vision Pro mixed reality device more attractive for gamers and game developers latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

The Vision Pro was presented more as a productivity and media consumption device than a tool geared toward gamers, due partly to its reliance on visual and hand controls moderately than a separate controller.

However, Apple may need gamers if it desires to expand the Vision Pro’s audience, especially since Gurman reports that lower than half one million units have been sold to this point. As such, the corporate has reportedly been in talks with Sony about adding support for PlayStation VR2 handheld controllers, and has also talked to developers about whether they may support the controllers of their games.

Offering more precise control, Apple may also make other forms of software available in Vision Pro, reminiscent of Final Cut Pro or Adobe Photoshop.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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