It's Either the Best Time or the Worst Time to Have a Baby

Here’s everything you want or need to know about reproduction—from the best fertility apps to secret Facebook groups for egg donors.

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Robot ‘Natural Selection’ Recombines Into Something Totally New

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Simple Experiments Show How Motion Is Equivalent to Heat

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In Germany, Solar-Powered Homes Are Really Catching On

The country is getting closer to the solar home revolution: a panel on every roof, an EV in every garage, and a battery in every basement.

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Space Photos of the Week: Keep Space Weird

From pulsars to asteroids, the dark nothingness is full of surprises.

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Things We Loved in March: iPads, AirPods, Fitbits, and Pizza Ovens

These are the best products we tested, handled, and carried with us this month.

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Sci-Fi Writers Are Imagining a Path Back to Normality

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Google Play Store’s Malware Problem, and More Security News This Week

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Apple AirPods (2019) Review: Little, Better, Not That Different

You’d think the new AirPods would be leaps and bounds better. That’s not the case.

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5 Best Rain Jackets for 2019: Lightweight, Hiking, and More

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The Biggest 'Matrix' Question of All: Red Pill or Blue Pill?

Is it better to free your mind? Or live in blissful ignorance? Two WIRED writers argue it out.

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Machine Learning for March Madness Is a Competition In Itself

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17 Best Deals on Laptops, 4K TVs, and More Awesome Tech

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*The Matrix* Is Nothing Without Its Sequels—Nothing!

A cultural majority of dweeby gasbags holds that the *Matrix* sequels are trash. Go unplug yourself.

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Tracking Readers’ Eye Movements Can Help Computers Learn

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Facebook Takes On White Nationalism, Plus More in Tech News

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Will Facebook’s New Ban on White Nationalist Content Work?

Depends on Facebook.

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US Is Forcing a Chinese Firm to Sell Gay Dating App Grindr

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The Godfathers of the AI Boom Win the Turing Award

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Memes Are in Danger, but This Chat App Is Saving Lives

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Europe's New Copyright Law Could Be Bad for Memes

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Inside an Effort to Use Data-Crunching to Reduce Preterm Births

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Apple Enters the Credit Card Market With—Yep—Apple Card

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McDonald's Acquires Machine-Learning Startup Dynamic Yield for $300 Million

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Can AI Be a Fair Judge in Court? Estonia Thinks So

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The Biggest 'Matrix' Question of All: Red Pill or Blue Pill?

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*The Matrix* Is Nothing Without Its Sequels—Nothing!

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How 'The Matrix' Built a Bullet-Proof Legacy

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Our 11 Favorite 'Matrix' Scenes, Ranked

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Angelina Jolie Might Be in Marvel's 'The Eternals'

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Data Rules the World

It has become second nature. You probably don’t even realize that you’re doing it. However, you are always offering up some information about yourself in exchange for goods and services. Need a few examples?

• Whenever you download a movie
• Whenever you buy an ebook
• Whenever you call for a driveshare service

You’ve already given away your contact information, but these services also have data on your location, preferences, interests, and more.

Lyft and Netflix and similar big-name businesses have not only become huge brands, but they are a part of our daily lives. No one thinks twice about the information they offer up in exchange for a ride, an evening’s entertainment, or a meal ordered in.

This is the new world that we live. It’s different than things were only a few years ago, and there’s no going back. Data now sits at the heart of everything. Every business is collecting it and using it to create marketing strategies and customer experiences designed to win over their customers and keep them coming back again and again.

How can you compete? How can you thrive?

First, you have to realize it’s not so much about brand building. You need to focus on generating revenue. This means you put out the best and most convenient services possible tailored to your audiences. Data helps you accomplish this. With it, you can create a connected, consistent, and comfortable experience for customers across all channels. They have expectations that you meet with your services and the rate at which you innovate and expand.

How do you make data work for you for you?

Well, you might have an awful amount of it, but data is useless is you can’t properly utilize it. You have to strive to connect and fit your data together so that you can take action with it. You can tie your marketing and sales strategies to what the numbers say and build a customer experience that reflects the vivid picture the metrics you have available has painted.

If you have too much data and don’t know how to use it and where it all connects together, you have what’s called a “data island.” You don’t want to end up trapped on one.

Therefore, you need actionable, real-time data and teams that can properly use it to your advantage. With it, you can generate new customer segments to target and possibly bring down your sales cycle. For instance, going from a four-week to a three-week cycle can save money, time, and have you responding quicker and more urgently to customer needs, which helps you stay on the ball.

You should have different specialized teams working in different areas, such as email, apps, the customer experience, sales, marketing, and more. However, your teams should not operate in silos. You should have access to the data and work together using it. Proper data sharing is the key to your teams coming together to craft a better experience that better excites and interests customers and allows them to grow comfortable in providing you more data and returning for more service again and again.

Learn how to put your customer data to good use with “Lead Scoring for Modern Marketers.”

Read the guide

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19 Best Real Estate WordPress Themes for Realtors (2019)

Are you looking for the best real estate WordPress themes? WordPress is the most popular website builder among real estate companies, realtors, and property management companies to showcase their listings.

By default, most WordPress themes are either made for blogs or business websites. This makes it a bit harder to find a suitable real estate theme.

In this article, we will show you some of the best WordPress real estate themes that will help you manage your listings and grow your business.

Building a Real Estate Website for Realtors

The first thing you need to know that all themes on this website are for self-hosted WordPress.org site, and they will not work on most WordPress.com plans. Please see our comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org for more details.

You will need the following items to make a real estate website using WordPress:

• WordPress hosting (this is where your website files are stored)
• A domain name (For example, wpbeginner.com)
• A real estate WordPress plugin
• A real estate WordPress theme

First, you need to get a domain name and web hosting.

We recommend using Bluehost or SiteGround because they are both officially recommended by WordPress.

Bluehost will even give you a free domain name + free SSL certificate if you signup using the link above.

After you have signed up for hosting, you can go ahead and install WordPress.

For more detailed instructions, see our step by step guide on how to create an IDX real estate website using WordPress.

That being said, let’s take a look at our expert pick of the best real estate WordPress themes for realtors.

1. AgentPress Pro

AgentPress Pro is a premium WordPress real estate theme for realtors. It comes with AgrentPress listings plugin which allows you to add a listings management system to your WordPress site.

AgentPress comes with 4 color schemes, custom widgets, backgrounds, headers, and theme options panel. It is developed by StudioPress and runs on top of the powerful Genesis theme framework. Genesis follows all the best practices and that’s why we built WPBeginner website theme on top of it as well.

StudioPress is now part of WP Engine, the most popular managed WordPress hosting company. You can get this theme and all 35+ other StudioPress themes if you sign up for WP Engine hosting to build your website.

Bonus: WPBeginner users also get additional 20% off. Get started with WP Engine.

2. Astra

Astra is a beautiful WordPress theme, which is designed to be used for any kind of websites including real estate businesses. This flexible theme comes with dozens of ready-made websites that can be installed with a single click.

It is compatible with all essential WordPress plugins and can be used with any real estate plugin of your choice. Beginners would find it easy to customize with simpler theme settings.

3. OceanWP

OceanWP is a popular free WordPress theme with tons of premium-like features and incredible flexibility. This multi-purpose WordPress theme also comes with a pro version, which gives you access to dozens of ready-made website demos that you can quickly install.

It is highly customizable and works with all popular page builders and real estate plugins. It comes with built-in page templates, custom widgets, multiple navigation menus, multiple layouts, widget areas, customizable header, and backgrounds.

4. Divi

Divi is the ultimate multi-purpose WordPress theme. It comes with the Divi builder, a popular drag and drop page builder plugin and several ready-made website layouts for different kind of websites.

It also comes with a real estate layout pack complete with a landing page, listings template, contact page, about page, and custom widgets.

Divi is quite easy to use and setup. You can easily change colors, layout, fonts, and templates using simple point and click tools.

5. Altitude Pro

Altitude Pro is an elegant WordPress business theme made on top of the Genesis theme framework. It is suitable for real-estate agents, brokers, coaching and training websites. Its homepage features a fullscreen background with your welcome message and call to action.

It comes with multiple page templates, page builder support, custom widgets, and a widgetized homepage layout. It is optimized for the Gutenberg block editor and comes with full WooCommerce support.

6. Presence

Presence is an all-purpose WordPress theme made specifically for small business websites. It includes 10 ready-made website designs, including one for a real estate website. All website demos can be easily installed with a single-click.

The real estate website comes with listings template, agent page, search widget, and IDX support. It also includes 6 color schemes, sliders, photo galleries, and custom widgets for social media integration.

7. Ultra

Ultra is another excellent multi-purpose WordPress theme that can be easily used to make a real estate website. It comes with Themify page builder plugin, several ready-made websites, and over 60 layouts.

Its simple drag and drop capabilities make it super easy to use and customize for your needs. It works with all popular real estate WordPress plugins, allowing you to easily add listings, property search, and agent profile features.

8. Realtor

Realtor is a premium theme for realtors, agencies, and real estate listing websites. It comes with full-featured listings area that can be displayed in grid or list view.

It also features an advanced property filter and search, properties map (built using Google maps API), realtor profile page, multiple listing templates. It has various shortcodes, custom widgets, and all the options you would want to see in a premium theme.

9. Estate Engine

Estate Engine is can convert any website into its own real estate engine. You can monetize your real estate website by allowing users to add their own listings for a fee.

It has a powerful listing search filter with Google Maps support, galleries, sliders, and custom widgets. Estate Engine also comes with a mobile theme that your mobile users will see, it looks equally beautiful without compromising the functionality.

10. Academy Pro

Academy Pro is a WordPress theme designed for training, online courses, and learning communities. It is ideal for realtors, real estate training, consultancy, and similar businesses.

This powerful WordPress theme is developed by StudioPress. It runs on the Genesis theme framework, which ensures the best performance and higher coding standards. It is super-easy to customize and comes with flexible header, drag and drop homepage layout, multiple page templates, and full Gutenberg support.

11. WPCasa Elviria

Built on WPCasa, a framework designed specifically for real estate websites. Eliviria is an elegant WordPress theme with powerful real estate features baked in.

It has listings widgets, listings slider, and listings carousel. There are multiple homepage layouts with unlimited color choices.

12. Residence

Residence is a classy mobile friendly real estate theme. It has Google Maps powered listings and IDX-MLS search filter, which makes it easier for users to find listings.

This beautiful theme comes with custom widgets, multiple page layouts, gallery carousel, and a currency and unit converter.

13. WP Real Estate

WP Real Estate is a free WordPress theme made specifically for real estate agents, brokers, and agencies. Upon activation, the theme recommends a real estate plugin which adds property listings features including a filterable search bar.

It includes a featured posts section, social media icons, customizable header, custom background, and Google Fonts. All theme options are neatly organized under theme customizer making it easy to set up.

14. WPCasa Bahia

WPCasa’s Bahia theme for realtors features large background image on the homepage with a very prominent search feature for listings. This beautiful real estate theme comes with multiple homepage layouts, custom widgets, templates, and much more.

15. Main Street

Main Street is a classy WordPress real estate theme with IDX-MLS integration and mobile-ready Layout. It has built-in support for Google maps, feature property slideshow, gorgeous property galleries, lightning-fast search with a professional look for agents and realtors.

16. London

London is another WordPress theme designed on top of WPCasa framework. It is sleek and modern featuring large background images and a prominently displayed listings search.

It is easily customizable with multiple color choices, custom templates, shortcodes, and IDX support. It has widgetized listings page, multiple homepage layout options, and one-click demo importer.

17. Real Estater

Real Estater is a free WordPress real estate theme with a professional design. It comes with a fully customizable homepage layout with sections for property listings, about us, features, services, rentals, and gallery.

It supports popular real estate plugins to manage property listings and add a listings search feature. It includes custom headers, backgrounds, social media menu, and layout choices for individual posts and pages.

18. Oslo

Oslo is a beautiful bright WordPress theme for realtors. It has listings search, filters, templates, and complete IDX support.

Apart from that it is SEO friendly, mobile-ready, and comes with tons of features needed to build an awesome real estate website.

19. Oikia

Oikia WordPress theme for realtors and agencies is a powerful feature rich theme. It features an advanced map and location filter integrated into listings management. It has custom post types, widgets, shortcodes, and multiple color choices.

That’s all for now.

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress real estate theme for realtors. You may also want to see our ultimate step by step WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 19 Best Real Estate WordPress Themes for Realtors (2019) appeared first on WPBeginner.

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How to Remove Author Name from WordPress Posts (2 Easy Ways)

Do you want to remove the author name from your WordPress blog posts? Normally, blog posts are supposed to show author name with other meta-data like date and category.

However, some blog owners may not want to display the author name next to their blog posts.

By default, WordPress does not have an option to remove author name, and you must select an author to publish a post.

In this article, we will show you two ways to easily remove author name from your WordPress posts. We will also discuss the pros and cons of each approach.

Why Would You Want to Remove Author Name?

Author name is an important type of metadata added to your WordPress posts by default. It allows your readers to learn about authors who create content on your blog.

However, there are times when you may want to hide the author name.

For example: if multiple staff members in your team collaborate on each blog post, then it may seem unfair to credit a single staff member for the work.

In another scenario, you may have several contributors/freelance writers who occasionally write articles, but you want to keep a consistent style and voice for your blog.

With that said, let’s take a look at solutions for easily removing author name from WordPress posts while still allowing multiple authors to work in the background.

Method 1: Manually Remove Author Name from WordPress Posts

Your WordPress theme decides when and how to display the author name in your blog posts. Themes use multiple approaches to do that which makes it harder for a plugin to provide a generic solution for removing author names.

You will need to edit some code to prevent your theme from displaying the author name. If you are uncomfortable editing code, then try the second method instead.

The first method requires you to edit WordPress theme files. If you haven’t done this before, then please take a look at our guide on how to copy and paste the code in WordPress.

Note: Make sure that you create backup of your theme or child theme before making any changes. If something goes wrong, then this will help you easily revert changes.

WordPress themes use different variations of code to display the author name. You will need to locate the code responsible for showing the author’s name in your theme files and delete it.

Most common locations to find this code are single.php, content.php, archive.php, and index.php files.

In many cases, you will not be able to find the code that outputs author name. Instead, you will find a template tag defined in the functions.php file or template-tags.php file.

For example, the default Twenty Nineteen theme uses the function twentynineteen_posted_by to display author name. This function is defined in template-tags.php file and uses the following code:

function twentynineteen_posted_by() {
                printf(
                        /* translators: 1: SVG icon. 2: post author, only visible to screen readers. 3: author link. */
                        '<span class="byline">%1$s<span class="screen-reader-text">%2$s</span><span class="author vcard"><a class="url fn n" href="%3$s">%4$s</a></span></span>',
                        twentynineteen_get_icon_svg( 'person', 16 ),
                        __( 'Posted by', 'twentynineteen' ),
                        esc_url( get_author_posts_url( get_the_author_meta( 'ID' ) ) ),
                        esc_html( get_the_author() )
                );
        }
endif;

Once you have located the code that outputs the author name, you need to delete it.

For example, you have to delete the code from the second line to the ninth line in the above code. After that, the remaining code will look like below.

function twentynineteen_posted_by() {
}
endif;

Don’t forget to save your changes after deleting the author name code. Then, upload the files back to your website.

You can now visit your website to see your changes in action:

This method hides the author name on all your posts; however, the author archive pages will remain intact. An author archive page is where WordPress creates a list of all articles written by a specific user.

You can find author archive page on a URL like this:

https://ift.tt/2HYlyun

This URL is discoverable by search engines, which means you may still get traffic to those pages.

You can disable the author archives easily using the Yoast SEO plugin. Once you install and activate the plugin, go to SEO » Search Appearance your dashboard and then click the ‘Archives’ tab.

Now you can see the author archive settings. You can toggle Author Archives switch and disable author archives on your site.

Doing so will disable author archives and hide author-sitemap.xml file created by the Yoast SEO plugin.

Method 2: Create a Generic Author Name for Publishing WordPress Posts

This method does not remove the author name, but it can be used as a workaround.

You will create a generic author name and use it for all your past and future articles. You will need to change the author name before publishing each post.

Note: This method is irreversible. If you do this and want to revert, then you will have to edit each post and assign it to the original author manually.

That being said, let’s get started.

First add a new author to your WordPress site and give it a generic username such as editorialteam.

Next, you need to visit Users » All Users page and click on the ‘Edit’ link below the username you just added.

On the user profile screen, scroll down to the ‘Nickname’ option and enter the name you want to be displayed (for example, Editorial Team).

After that, click on the drop down menu next to ‘Display name publicly as’ option and select the nickname you just entered.

You can also add a generic bio and even create a gravatar for that user account.

Now go to Posts » All Posts page and click on the screen options menu at the top. Enter 999 for number of items to display.

This will allow you to quickly edit and change author name for a large number of posts.

You need to select all posts using the checkbox and then select edit under the bulk actions drop down menu. After that click on the ‘Apply’ button to continue.

WordPress will now show you the bulk editing options. You need to change the author to the generic author name you added earlier and then click on the Update button.

WordPress will now update all selected posts and change author name. Remember, this process may take some time depending on how fast your WordPress hosting is.

If you have more than 999 posts, then you will need to go to page 2 and repeat the process.

That’s all. You can now visit your website to see it in action.

Our Recommendation

Removing author name using the coding method gets the job done, but it is not the best solution. For example, if you are not using a child theme, then a theme update will override your changes.

This is why we recommend the second method to create a generic author name.

Doing so allows you to use the built-in WordPress functionality and does not require you to edit any code. It will not remove author name or archives but will make them generic. It will also help to ensure consistency of authorship on your site.

If you are good with coding, then you can also use a combination of both approaches. You can create a generic author name to publish all your blog posts, and then hard-code author profile in a WordPress child-theme.

We use a similar approach at WPBeginner. You can see ‘Editorial Staff’ as the author for all blog posts including this one you are reading right now.

You can also see that in the author info box at the bottom of the article.

If you want to add an author info box like this, then take a look at the best free author bio box plugins.

We hope this article helped you learn how to remove author name from WordPress posts. You may also want to see our list of 30 effective ways to monetize your website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Remove Author Name from WordPress Posts (2 Easy Ways) appeared first on WPBeginner.

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How to Fix Briefly Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance Error in WordPress

Are you seeing the ‘Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance’ error in WordPress? This error usually appears while updating WordPress core, plugins, or themes.

Basically, your WordPress site fails to finish the update which leaves you stuck in the maintenance mode.

In this article, we will show you how to easily fix the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” error in WordPress. We will also show you why this error occurs and how you can avoid it in the future.

Why Does The WordPress Maintenance Mode Error Occur?

Maintenance mode page is technically not an error. It is a notification page.

During the update process, WordPress downloads necessary update files to your server, extract them and then install the update.

WordPress also puts your site on maintenance mode and displays the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.” notice during the process.

To trigger the maintenance mode notification, WordPress creates a temporary .maintenance file in your website’s root folder.

If everything works normally, then this notice will probably be displayed for only a few seconds. After the successful update, WordPress will automatically delete the maintenance file to disable maintenance mode.

However, sometimes due to a slow WordPress hosting server response or low memory issue, the update script will timeout thus interrupting the process. When this happens, WordPress does not get a chance to take your site out of maintenance mode.

In other words, your site will continue showing the maintenance mode notice, and you will need to manually fix it.

How to Fix WordPress Maintenance Mode Error?

To get your website out of maintenance mode, all you really need to do is delete the .maintenance file from your site’s root folder using FTP.

If you can’t find the .maintenance file in your WordPress root directory, then make sure you checked your FTP client to show hidden files.

In Filezilla, you can force it to show hidden files by clicking on Server » Force showing hidden files from the menu bar.

Once the .maintenance file is removed, your site will come out of maintenance mode, and the error should be fixed.

If you don’t know how to use FTP, then you can also remove the files by going to the file manager in your WordPress hosting control panel, and then deleting the .maintenance file inside the file manager.

How to Avoid WordPress Maintenance Mode in the Future?

We already know that the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” error is caused by slow server response or low memory issue on your web hosting server.

The easiest way to avoid this error is by upgrading to a higher hosting plan. We recommend going with one of these managed WordPress hosting companies that offer superior hosting performance.

If upgrading to a higher hosting plan is not an option, then we recommend doing plugin and theme updates one at a time.

Often users have a tendency of quickly clicking on the update link underneath each plugin. WordPress then staggers the update order, but even a millisecond of delay in connection could cause a conflict leading your site to be stuck in maintenance mode.

Instead of quickly clicking on the Update link, we recommend patiently updating one plugin at a time.

How to Customize Maintenance Mode Notification

An easier solution to avoid showing the default maintenance mode notification is by manually putting your WordPress site on maintenance mode before installing any updates.

The best way to do this is by installing and activating the SeedProd plugin. It is the most popular maintenance mode plugin for WordPress. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to Settings » Coming Soon Pro page and check the box next to ‘Enable maintenance mode’ option.

After that, you need to click on ‘Edit Coming Soon/Maintenance Page’ button. This will open the SeedProd theme customizer. From here you can choose a theme and then customize it to create a beautiful maintenance mode page for your website.

Now, if you don’t want to manually put your website in maintenance mode every time you update, then you can create a maintenance page in WordPress without using a plugin.

Simply create a new file called maintenance.php on your desktop and paste this code inside it:

<?php
$protocol = $_SERVER["SERVER_PROTOCOL"];
if ( 'HTTP/1.1' != $protocol && 'HTTP/1.0' != $protocol )
    $protocol = 'HTTP/1.0';
header( "$protocol 503 Service Unavailable", true, 503 );
header( 'Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8' );
?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<body>
    <h1>We are updating the site, please check back in 30 minutes.</h1>
</body>
</html>
<?php die(); ?>

Next, you need to upload this file to your WordPress site’s wp-content directory.

Now whenever you are updating your website, WordPress will show this page during the maintenance mode. You can use CSS to style this page anyway you want.

Troubleshooting WordPress Maintenance Mode Error

Since we have helped thousands of users fix the “Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance” error in WordPress, we have helped users solve several unseen issues that can come up.

Below are some additional steps you might have to take if the above solution does not work.

WordPress still stuck in maintenance mode after the update and fix above?

If this is the case, then you need to update the wp-activate.php file located in your main WordPress folder. This is the same place where you found and deleted the .maintenance file.

You will need to either open the file using your hosting company’s file manager or download it on your computer using FTP.

Next, you need to find the code: define ('WP_INSTALLING', true) and change the true to false.

So your code will look like this:

define ('WP_INSTALLING', false)

After that you need to save the changes and upload the file to your hosting server using FTP. If you’re using the hosting company’s file manager, then simply saving the file should get you out of maintenance mode.

My site is broken after I fixed the WordPress maintenance mode error. How do I fix it?

An unfinished or interrupted update may cause issues when your site comes out of maintenance mode.

If this error occurred when you were updating WordPress core software, then you will need to follow our guide to manually update WordPress using FTP.

If the error occurred when you were updating a WordPress plugin, then you will need to temporarily deactivate all WordPress plugins using FTP. This step will ensure that the corrupt plugin is disabled, and your website will come back.

Next, you will need to login to your WordPress dashboard and activate one plugin at a time, to see which plugin caused the issue. After that you need to manually install the plugin update, so it’s working properly.

We hope this article helped you fix ‘Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance’ error in WordPress. You may also want to bookmark our ultimate guide on fixing the most common WordPress errors.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Fix Briefly Unavailable for Scheduled Maintenance Error in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

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Google Play Store’s Malware Problem, and More Security News This Week

Plus, Russia cracks down on VPNs, Microsoft cracks down on Iranian hackers, and more of the week's top security news.

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Animated David Byrne/Big Suit enamel pin

PSA Press's $15 Stop Making Sense pin is jointed for moving Big Suit action, just like in the greatest concert movie ever made; I just bought one at Wondercon and it's superb.

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Frazetta sweatta

The $100 Frank Frazetta Death Dealer Xmas sweater is licensed, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Frazetta museum in East Stroudsburg, PA.

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Come see me this weekend at Anaheim's Wondercon!

This weekend, I'm wrapping up the tour for my new book Radicalized at Anaheim's Wondercon, where I'm giving a keynote appearance on Saturday at 4PM (Even if You're Paying for the Product, You're Still the Product, room 211), followed by a panel on Sunday at 11AM (Technology Is Cold; People Are Warm, Room 300B), followed by a signing from 1215PM-1PM (in the Author Signing Area). I hope you can make it! (Image: Brandon Locke)

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Researchers find mountains of sensitive data on totalled Teslas in junkyards

Teslas are incredibly data-hungry, storing massive troves of data about their owners, including videos of crashes, location history, contacts and calendar entries from paired phones, photos of the driver and passengers taken with interior cameras, and other data; this data is stored without encryption, and it is not always clear when Teslas are gathering data, and the only way to comprehensively switch off data-gathering also de-activates over-the-air software updates for the cars, which have historically shipped with limited or buggy features that needed the over-the-air updates to fix them.

Tesla has a history of being secretive about the data its cars collect, fighting customer attempts to recover data from their cars, and selling a special cable needed to access limited car telemetry for $995. Tesla employees told CNBC that the company uses telemetry to secretly identify Tesla owners who tinker with or investigate their cars, and flags them for late software updates.

Two pseudonymous security researchers called GreenTheOnly and Theo recovered "hundreds" of wrecked Teslas from scrappers and junkyards and systematically investigated the data left behind on the cars. Much of the data that these junked Teslas store is not unique -- other manufacturers' "smart" car systems store mountains of driver data in the clear (this is especially a problem for rental and fleet cars, which harvest data from many different drivers). But Tesla does store more data than its rivals, and goes further than other manufacturers in disincentivizing independent security research through its alleged blacklisting system; the fact that Tesla also operates a robust bug bounty system reveals a deep ambivalence about independent scrutiny about its products.

But GreenTheOnly and Theo noted that in Teslas, dashboard cameras and selfie cameras can record while the car is parked, even in your garage, and there is no way for an owner to know when they may be doing so. The cameras enable desirable features like “sentry mode.” They also enable wipers to “see” raindrops and switch on automatically, for example.

GreenTheOnly explained, “Tesla is not super transparent about what and when they are recording, and storing on internal systems. You can opt out of all data collection. But then you lose [over-the-air software updates] and a bunch of other functionality. So, understandably, nobody does that, and I also begrudgingly accepted it.”

Tesla cars keep more data than you think, including this video of a crash that totaled a Model 3 [Kate Fazzini and Lora Kolodny/CNBC]

(Image: Theo)

(via Matt Blaze)

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Facebook owns Netscape

AOL bought Netscape, renamed it New Aurora Corporation, sold it to Microsoft, who sold it to Facebook, where it is a "non-operating subsidiary." Netscape veteran JWZ writes, "That makes Facebook the current owner of the cookie patent, so I was hoping that this meant that they are now embroiled in the Forever War with ValueClick, but I now see that it was settled in 2010. Bummer!"

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I want to go to the cast iron market in Brimfeld, Mass

I want to go there.

My favorite pan is a Wagner I got at Goodwill in San Francisco.

I especially like to refinish cast iron waffle irons.

(Thanks, David Wolfberg!)

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Second try with my neglected sourdough starter

Sourdough is not the complicated, finicky bread baking technique some folks might like you to believe. Sourdough baking takes very little effort and is mostly an art of patience.

This loaf is an example of what you can achieve by barely paying attention to your starter. I left mine in the fridge for months, and then forgot it on the kitchen counter.

Here is the dough after its first rise, and before I spread it out for folding.

Here is the loaf in its proofing basket. It was VERY wet and took a lot of the flour out of the basket.

Here is the finished second loaf, baked from a starter that had been left on my kitchen counter, unfed, for over a week. Previous to ignoring the starter on my counter, I had left it in my fridge for well over 6 months.

Here are some details on preparation of a basic sourdough loaf.

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Alex Jones's deposition over his role in the harassment of Sandy Hook parents is a total shitshow

As the lawsuit against Alex Jones for his role in directing and encouraging the vicious harassment of the parents of children murdered at the Sandy Hook shooting has led to a lawsuit, and that has led to discovery and depositions that reveal much about how Jones deliberately and cynically created the campaign of terror against the grieving parents -- and the role that organizations like the NRA play in the creation of cruel and destructive conspiracy theories about mass shootings.

The law firm of Farrar & Ball are representing the parents in the suit, and they've uploaded the video of their deposition of Jones, conducted by attorney Mark Bankston. It is a complete shitshow, as Jones spins, and does backflips, going back and forth on whether he believes that the Sandy Hook parents are part of a conspiracy or not, repeating conspiracy theories about shadowy figures in the woods and so on.

If you can't bear to watch the video, you can read a transcript.

Jones is asked about the supposed “deep research” he did on the shooting shortly after being read the official report:

Bankston: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones, I’ve noticed on a lot of these answers you’ve said, “Well, I’m just going off what Mr. [Wolfgang] Halbig said.” So what I want to know is: When you talked earlier about how you did deep research, what was that? What deep research did you do?

Jones: Well, I mean, I did look at the news articles saying they were being very secretive about the case, that a lot of things were sealed, which is unusual. There were lawsuits involved with that, and I did do research on [Michael] Bloomberg putting out an e-mail the day before saying, “Get ready. There’s going to be a big event,” you know, just straight up, people waiting around for mass shootings or whatever. And just the way the media made a spectacle out of it right away is what really made me question. That scene like with the WMDs or babies in the incubators, I just saw the media so on it, so ready; and I thought that added credibility to it.

Bankston: Okay. I mean, I’m glad you brought up the Bloomberg thing. I remember there was a couple of episodes where you talked about this Bloomberg e-mail and you said to your audience that there was an e-mail that came out in the lawsuit where Bloomberg told his people: Get ready in the next 24 hours to capitalize on a mass shooting. That didn’t happen; that’s not a real e-mail, is it?

Barnes: Objection as to form.

Jones: I mean, I don’t think it’s exactly that; but there’s one similar to that.

Bankston: Yeah. I mean, what you said is not real.

We Got Alex Jones’ Deposition Video. It Was A Predictable Disaster For Him. [Sebastian Murdock/Huffington Post]

(Thanks, Kathy Padilla!)

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Watch Betsy DeVos smirk and smile as she ignores questions about her attempt to gut the Special Olympics

Watch CNN's @ryanobles try to ask Betsy DeVos about proposed federal cuts to the Special Olympics. pic.twitter.com/69yzJsq5Hy

— Daniel Lewis (@Daniel_Lewis3) March 28, 2019

This week inherited wealthy person and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos tried to cut all Federal funding to the Special Olympics. Watch as she smirks and smiles while ignoring CNN's Ryan Nobles.

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Brexit Crisis: Church of England to host Emergency Tea Parties

With the Prime Minister's Brexit deal failing for the third time to receive Parliament's blessing and the looming possibility of crashing out the EU without a deal, or a snap general election, or a second referendum, or another series of Parliamentary votes, or a general-purpose popular uprising, or alien intervention, the Church of England has a plan: tea parties.

Churches are being encouraged to host “informal café-style meetings” over the weekend of 30 March “to bring together people of all standpoints and encourage open discussion.” The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, have today backed newly-commissioned resources to invite people to “get together and chat over a cup of tea and pray for our country and our future”.

Under the slogan “Together”, the packs include specially-chosen Bible passages, prayers and questions designed to prompt conversations. The introductory notes urge participants to have “respect for the integrity of differently held positions, encouraging communities which feel the same about the issues to use their imagination to consider the viewpoints of those who feel differently.”

Photo: AS Food studio / Shutterstock

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Oklahoma Republicans introduce bill forcing doctors to warn abortion patients about the existence of an imaginary "reversible abortion"

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma House Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 614, which forces doctors to counsel patients seeking medical abortions with false statements claiming the procedure is reversible; doctors who refuse to lie to their patients would be guilty of a jailable felony.

The law's backer is Rep Mark Lepak [R-9, (405) 557-7380), who falsely claimed that "medical science has developed a method for reversing the effects of a medication abortion and saving the life of an unborn child."

This belief is widespread among anti-abortion extremists, and has prompted the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to issue a statement in 2017 that reads, "Claims regarding abortion ‘reversal’ treatment are not based on science and do not meet clinical standards."

Four other Republican-led states (Arkansas, Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah) have passed laws requiring doctors to tell this lie to their patients and seven more are considering it, as part of a nationally coordinated, nonconsensual Handmaid's Tale LARP that made significant advances with the elevation to the Supreme Court of accused serial rapist Brett Kavanaugh.

Arizona was the first state to pass such a law, but it was later overturned after a court challenge because the law's proponents couldn't find a single credible expert to testify that "abortion reversal" was a thing.

The bills are grounded in a series of flawed and deeply unethical experiments performed by Dr. George Delgado of Southern California.

Anti-abortion extremists have made forcing doctors to lie to patients a centerpiece of their tactics: a string of state laws also require doctors to give medically unsupported warnings to abortion patients about a supposed (and unproven) link between breast cancer and abortion. These deceptive practices also extend to the creation of "crisis pregnancy centers" -- fake abortion clinics operated by anti-abortion extremists where women are deceived into thinking that they can get an abortion, and are then systematically lied to about the supposed risks of the procedure.

Other anti-abortion laws passed by state Republicans have included rules requiring doctors to sexually assault women seeking abortions by inserting medically unnecessary ultrasound wands into their vaginas.

For nearly a decade, Dr. Stephanie Ho has been providing abortion care in Arkansas, a state where lawmakers have worked steadily to curb abortion access under the pretense of “protecting” women. They’ve tried to ban medication abortion altogether and have devised informed consent materials that are medically inaccurate — including requiring doctors to counsel patients of the possibility of reversing medication abortion, a measure passed in 2015. “Basically, they’re using my mouth to lie to patients because they can’t do that themselves,” Ho told The Intercept.

The requirement is a dangerous intrusion on the doctor-patient relationship, she argues. After giving patients the inaccurate information the state forces her to provide, she then backs up and tells them what is accurate. It has confused and infuriated a number of her patients, who have asked why the state makes her lie to them. “That’s a really hard conversation to have,” Ho said.

She penned an explanatory letter to provide to every patient in this situation. “By inserting themselves into our conversation [state lawmakers] have violated our first amendment rights to free speech and have intruded into the time-honored doctor-patient relationship that we share at this critical time in your life,” reads the letter. “It is, however, the current state law in Arkansas.”

Oklahoma Bill Would Force Doctors to Lie to Patients by Telling Them That Abortions Can Be Reversed [Jordan Smith/The Intercept]

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War criminal and snowflake Erik Prince cancels Beloit College talk after student protests, threatens lawsuit

Genie Ogden writes, "Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince (previously) was invited to speak at Beloit College last night, by the right wing group Young Americans for Freedom. A couple of weeks ago, a Beloit student who is Muslim posted on the internet that he was angry - about the shootings of fellow Muslims in New Zealand, and then about the YAF bringing Erik Prince to speak. He was suspended. Fellow students were upset about his suspension, and protested in the hall where Prince was scheduled to speak last night. They banged on drums, and some of them piled their chairs on the stage. Erik Prince cancelled his speech and has threatened to sue." (Image: Tess Lydon/The Round Table)

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The Chinese Communist Party's newspaper has spun out an incredibly lucrative censorship business

People.cn is a publicly listed subsidiary of The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party; its fortunes are rising and rising with no end in sight as it markets itself as an outsource censorship provider who combine AI and a vast army of human censors to detect and block attempts to circumvent censorship through irony, memes, and metaphors.

Analysts praise People.cn for its "precise grasp of policy trends," and the company's customers agree, using People.cn's censorship service to block content in apps and on social media.

Full-year net income is expected to have risen as much as 140 percent, People.cn said in late January, the biggest annual increase since 2011. That would mean net profit of as high as 214.8 million yuan ($31.93 million).

Revenue from its censorship business is forecast to have jumped 166 percent last year, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Encouraged by surging revenue, People.cn is raising a bigger army of censors. This month, it signed a strategic deal with the government of Jinan in eastern Shandong province to help the city become China’s censorship capital.

Censorship pays: the Chinese Communist Party's newspaper expands lucrative online scrubbing business (via Naked Capitalism)

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UPDATE: New York State goes after the Sackler family's opioid fortune, claims they funneled their Oxy millions through offshore laundries

Update: We have received a legal letter from Thomas A. Clare, of Clare Locke LLP, writing on behalf of the Sacklers expressing the family's concern that the image of a guillotine and the "guillotine watch" tag originally accompanying this post would be interpreted as a call to violence against the Sackler family, who have, per Mr Clare, received such threats. For avoidance of doubt, the use of the guillotine image and "guillotine watch" tag is intended as hyperbole and should not be interpreted as a call for violence against anyone, including any member of the Sackler family. I apologize unreservedly for any distress Sacklers experienced due to my hyperbole, or any concern this raised on their part that violence would be forthcoming. I also apologize for my imprecise use of the word "criminal" to refer to the Sacklers' activities; I have amended the relevant passage to read "alleged criminal," as there have been no criminal convictions stemming from Purdue or its owners' activities in relation to the opioid epidemic or the marketing of Oxycontin. -Cory

The Sacklers (previously) are mostly known around the world as "philanthropists," with their names adorning the wings of galleries, museums and institutes of higher learning; but the Sackler family fortune came from their pharmaceutical company, Purdue, whose deceptive marketing and underhanded regulatory evasion for their highly addictive drug Oxycontin has contributed to the prescription opioid overdose deaths of 200,000 Americans so far, with another 200,000 overdoses from heroin and other opioids likely related to the addiction epidemic created by Purdue and the Sacklers.

The Sacklers are anxious to keep details of their allegedly criminal activities out of the press and the public eye -- they recently gave Oklahoma $270m to settle a claim rather than have it go to trial, and you only have to look at the recently unsealed deposition of family boss Richard Sackler to see why: it reveals that Purdue execs, led by Sacklers, took steps that led to the addiction of as many people as possible and went to elaborate lengths to avoid regulatory detection of their misdeeds.

Now the family has been sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose (heavily redacted) legal complaint claims that as the Oxy epidemic drew more legal attention, the Sacklers began to extract millions from Purdue via offshore money laundries that would hide their fortunes from US courts, going so far as to abolish Purdue Pharma's written quarterly reports and replacing them with verbal reports direct to board members, leaving no records to subpoena as fortunes were sent abroad.

The suit claims that the Sacklers incorporated a new pharma company, "Rhodes," to use as a "landing pad" if they had to shut down Purdue due to the legal claims and scandal around it. Rhodes has operated in the background since 2009, selling generic opioids, and now has a larger share of the market than Purdue did at its peak. Rhodes is owned by a trust whose beneficiary is the Sackler family. The New York AG says that Rhodes's aggressive pursuit of new addicts reveals that the Sacklers are not penitent for their complicity in the opioid epidemic, and have no intention of abandoning their deadly business model.

The suit also names the Sacklers' major distributors, claiming that they worked closely with pill-mill doctors and pharmacists to help avoid regulatory detection and interdiction.

A Sackler spokesperson said "We strongly deny these allegations, which are inconsistent with the factual record, and will vigorously defend against them."

By 2014, fearing that Purdue could face catastrophic financial judgments, the Sacklers directed Purdue to pay family members hundreds of millions of dollars a year in distributions, sending money to offshore companies, the lawsuit claims, an act of clear “bad faith.”

As a result of these distributions, the lawsuit says, “assets are no longer available to satisfy Purdue’s future creditor, the state of New York.”

The complaint takes a skeptical view of recent reports that the company is considering filing for bankruptcy. It charges that the company is actually conducting “a well-thought out and deliberate media campaign to intimidate the litigating states, including New York, by threatening to commence bankruptcy proceedings.”

The lawsuit also goes well beyond other cases in spelling out in granular detail how pharmaceutical distributors played a role in the opioid epidemic by ignoring blatant “red flags” that indicated mountains of opioids were being diverted for illegal use.

New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors [Roni Caryn Rabin/New York Times]

(via Naked Capitalism)

(Image: Edwardx, CC-BY-SA)

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After the Parkland shooting, NRA official reached out to Sandy Hook denier to discuss possibility that it was an anti-gun conspiracy

NRA training instructor and program coordinator Mark Richardson is a veteran of the organization, having worked there since at least 2006; in the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting, Richardson used his NRA email account to correspond with Infowars correspondent Wolfgang Halbig, a Sandy Hook denier who has pursued a career of harassing the grieving parents of the children murdered there and accusing them of being "crisis actors" in a "false flag operation" whose children were either imaginary or unharmed.

Halbig and Richardson pursued a lively correspondence, discussing their belief that the Parkland shooting was a hoax designed to provide cover for the confiscation of guns from musketfuckers and ammosexuals across America.

The emails were revealed through the discovery process in a lawsuit against Alex Jones brought by grieving Sandy Hook parents who have been harassed and threatened by Jones supporters who were weaponized by Jones's repeated insistence that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax and that the parents were anti-gun conspirators who had faked their losses and their grief.

Wolfgang,

You have included me with a lot of Information since the Sandy Hook Incident and I do appreciate it very much. Concerning what happened in Florida yesterday, I have been asking the question and no one else seems to be asking it. How is it that Cruz was able gain access to a secured facility while in possession of a rifle, multiple magazines, smoke grenades and a gas mask? To pull the fire alarm, he had to already be inside. Correct? When my Children were in school the only way into the school was through the front door and past the main office. We have been told that he was. Prohibited from entering the building With a backpack. No longer a student, why was he allowed in the building at all? Where was all the equipment, in his back pocket? Just like SH, there is so much more to this story. He was not alone. Just a few questions that have surfaced in the past 24 hours. Thank you for all the information And for what you do. STAY SAFE

Exclusive: NRA Official Sought Sandy Hook Hoaxer To Question Parkland Shooting, Emails Show [Sebastian Murdock/Huffington Post]

(Image: Mosaic 36, CC-BY)

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British parliament rejects Prime Minister May's Brexit plan for third time

This time she'd promised to resign if they approved it, paving the way for new leadership to execute Prime Minister Theresa May's deal with the European Union for Britain to depart the bloc. Dangling the keys to Downing Street reportedly won over a few power-hungry Tories like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg, but not enough. Her Brexit deal was defeated again, for the third time.

The vote on Friday might have been Mrs. May’s last chance to succeed on the issue that has dominated and defined her time in office, and the result left open an array of possibilities, including renewed demands for her resignation and early parliamentary elections.

The defeat appears to leave the increasingly weakened prime minister with two unpalatable options in the short run: Britain can leave the bloc on April 12 without an agreement in place, a chaotic and potentially economically damaging withdrawal; or Mrs. May can ask European leaders – who have ruled out a short delay if her plan failed – for what could be a long postponement.

It wasn't quite the thrashing as the first two votes — 344 votes to 286 — but still so far off that the sheer surreal chaos of it all impresses once again.

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Soviet space dog shoes

Belka and Strelka, who both survived their trip to orbit, are immortalized here on a pair of shoes.

Soviet Space Dog Shoes [$59, octophant.threadless.com]

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How to save your ass if the Boeing 737 MAX you're flying decides to nosedive

In the extremely unlikely event that you end up piloting a Boeing 737 MAX jet and it decides to nosedive, here's a 20 minute tutorial from Mentour Pilot on how to turn off MCAS.

Don't forget your duty free!

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Grooveless metal engineering (Electrical discharge machining)

In this otherwise unsourced video (via Singaporean news site Mothership) we may enjoy seeing parts so finely engineered that when they are socketed together, they appear to become single blocks of metal.

UPDATE: Commenter for_SCIENCE pointed out that these are made using Electrical discharge machining, which Mark posted about here.

More from RandomDude:

"It is the only technology that makes specifically the kind of Parts you saw in that video possible. No other process can create perfect shapes that mesh so perfectly this way they appear seamless. I don’t care how good of a machinist you are it is physically impossible to do with traditional machining techniques what you saw."

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Inexpensive adjustable smart phone stand for desktop

This desktop phone stand has a heavy base and a platform that swivels up to 45 degrees. The platform is coated with silicone rubber so as not to scratch your precious device. It also has silicone pads on the base to keep it from sliding around. I have an earlier discontinued model and use it every day.

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AOC is going to Appalachia to talk to coal miners

After Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delivered a blistering rebuttal to Rep Sean Duffy's [R-WI] charge that the Green New Deal and environmentalism were "elitist" concerns that ignored the needs of rural people, Congressional Coal Caucus member Rep. Andy Barr [R-KY] invited her to visit Appalachian coal-towns and "go underground" to talk to people in the mining industry.

AOC has taken Barr up on his invitation, saying "It’s a complete injustice the cancer levels that a lot of these communities are confronting. We have to plan a future for all of our communities, no matter what. Failure to plan is planning to fail and I feel like we’ve been failing Appalachian communities for a very long time and it’s time to turn that ship around."

“We have to plan a future for all of our communities, no matter what,” she said. “Failure to plan is planning to fail and I feel like we’ve been failing Appalachian communities for a very long time and it’s time to turn that ship around.”

Ocasio-Cortez says Appalachia ‘close to my heart’ as she accepts Barr’s coal mine invite [Lesley Clark/McClatchy]

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Former NSA contractor Harold Martin pleads guilty to 'willful retention of national defense information'

Former NSA contractor Harold Martin today changed his plea to guilty, on charges of willful retention of national defense information.

Harold Martin was originally charged with 20 counts of violating the Espionage Act. He now appears more likely to face up to a recommended 9 years in prison, after pleading guilty to only the one charge, and may get credit for time served.

Martin was arrested in 2016 on charges he stole an enormous amount of sensitive information and stored it on various devices he kept at his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

From CBS News, Baltimore:

He initially pleaded not guilty.

The government recommended a nine-year-sentence. Martin has already served two and a half years, which he will get credit for.

He pleaded guilty to one count of stealing a top secret NSA document and leaving it in his car, and another copy in the living room of his Glen Burnie home.

His sentencing is scheduled for July.

And from a 2016 Daily Beast profile of Martin:

The retired Navy officer arrested for allegedly removing highly classified information from the National Security Agency worked with the organization's elite computer hackers, who specialize in using computer code to penetrate the systems of foreign nations, according to a former colleague and the man’s online resume.

Harold Thomas Martin, III, who goes by Hal, was also enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The university has a partnership with the NSA, in which the agency helps develop curriculum for the school and agency employees can take classes there.

Martin worked with NSA’s Tailored Access Operations unit, sources with knowledge of his background told The Daily Beast. In his LinkedIn resume, Martin says he worked as a “cyber engineering advisor” supporting “various cyber related initiatives” in the Defense Department and intelligence community.

More from reporters on Twitter:

Martin has already served 2 1/2 years. He will get credit for that. He pleaded guilty to just 1 count of stealing a top secret NSA document and leaving it in his car—and another copy in the living room at his Glen Burnie home @wjz

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) March 28, 2019

Former NSA contractor Hal Martin has pleaded guilty to one count of willful retention of defense information. Martin and government agreed to a 9-year sentence and for other 19 counts to be dismissed at sentencing in July. News via @scottmcalvert https://t.co/lwp1ElFHCt

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) March 28, 2019

Previously charged with 20 counts of violating the Espionage Act, it looks like former NSA contractor Hal Martin will face only 9 years in prison after pleading guilty to a single charge. https://t.co/xgyqCEbD2e

— Andrew Blake (@apblake) March 28, 2019

#BREAKING: Former NSA contractor Hal Martin pleads guilty to willful retention of national defense information; government recommends 9-year sentence. Sentencing is in July @wjz pic.twitter.com/lQIAzEWSvp

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) March 28, 2019

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