Image by Getty / FuturismDevicesElon Musk's brain-computer interface (BCI) company is entering its next phase of experiments: seeing if patients can move a robotic arm using their minds.In a statement posted on X-formerly Twitter also owned by Musk the company announced that its new "feasibility trial" will investigate whether people can use its coin-sized brain chips to control a robot with their minds."This is an important first step," the Neuralink post reads, "towards restoring not only digital freedom, but also physical freedom."Along with the teaser about the new capabilities, the company posted a link to its trial patient registry, suggesting that Neuralink is still looking for its ideal candidate.Beyond the news that Neuralink would begin testing what Musk has in the past referred to as the "Luke Skywalker solution," a lot remains unclear about the trial. It does appear, per the fine print on its patient registry page, that Canadians will be able to apply alongside their American counterparts to get a chip implanted into their brains and test out mind control on a robotic arm.While this is an unprecedented step for Musk's company, it's not the first time such an endeavor has been undertaken.Way back in 2015, Caltech researchers implanted what they called a "neural prosthetic device" into the brain of a paraplegic man named Erik Sorto that allowed him to control a robotic arm using his thoughts. In doing so, the man was able to give a handshake, play "rock, paper, scissors," and even sip a beer.Much like Neuralink's first patient, Noland Arbaugh, Sorto described the sense of elation he felt when he was able to use the robotic arms to move after becoming paralyzed during a gang shootout when he was just 21."I wanted to drink my beer by myself and not asking anyone for help or anything like that," the published author said during a local newspaper interview in 2017. "It was an out-of-body experience. I wanted to jump out of my chair, hug everyone, carry them around if I could carry them around and high five everybody.""It was so much joy," Sorto continued. "My body was full of joy."Though Musk often attracts attention for his cringeworthy antics and increasingly dangerous politicking, Neuralink is one silver lining among his portfolio as long as you don't think too hard about all those monkeys from the company's early experiments, that is.More on Neuralink: First Neuralink Patient Using It to Learn New LanguagesShare This Article

The troubled chatbot company Character.AI appears to be mass-removing "Harry Potter"-themed AI characters from its platform and users are in an uproar.The Reddit forum r/characterAI has been flooded since yesterday with posts from users claiming that chatbots based on the "Harry Potter" franchise had suddenly been deactivated at scale. When we took a look for ourselves, we found that droves of AI personas from the franchise ranging from Harry Potter himself to Hermione Granger, Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy and others indeed appear to have been culled."REST IN PEACE LOVE OF MY LIFE, I WILL MISS YOU," wrote one X user who goes by the handle @severusluv. "Fuck you [Character.AI], you took away the only good thing in my life."They included a screenshot of a "Severus Snape" chatbot that, before its deletion, boasted 47.3 millionuser chats."Today we are all Draco's widows," said another X user, lamenting the demise of Draco Malfoy-themed Character.AI bots."You didn't fix anything, you made it worse," another fan wrote in a Reddit post titled "Dear CharacterAI." Arguing that users will likely now leave the platform, they added: "Have fun slowly burning down."Some grievance was directed in part at Warner Bros. Discovery, the massive media conglomerate that owns the film rights to the "Harry Potter" franchise, with users suggesting that the bots may have been nuked over an intellectual property dispute between the media giant and Character.AI."BRB, crying in the shower" said one Redditor in a post titled "Warner Sucks."Not all "Harry Potter"-based chatbots were doomed in the crackdown, but that spottiness seems to be the result of patchy enforcement. While the majority of chatbots named "Severus Snape" seem to have been deleted, for example, bots like "Husband Snape" and "Dad Snape" remain live.In a similar vein, characters titled "Ron Weasley" mostly seem to be fine, but the majority of "Ronald Weasley" bots have been scrubbed.Other notable franchise characters appear to have escaped the culling entirely. Chatbots modeled after the beloved house elf character Dobby of "free elf" fame appear to be hanging on, as do "Tom Riddle" bots.In addition to its vast cinematic and theme park empire, the "Harry Potter" franchise spawned one of the world's largest and most lucrative fandoms, the term used to describe devoted fan bases that gather around specific pieces of media. And Character.AI is a deeply fandom-driven platform, with characters like "Husband Snape" being a perfect example of a user taking to Character.AI to artificially pen immersive, conversational fan fiction about or, in a sense, with their favorite fictional characters.Character.AI issued no public explanation for the removal of all the bots. But considering its fandom-heavy userbase and the popularity of Potterverse bots in particular, it's hard to imagine any incentive for Character.AI to remove Potterverse-themed chatbots from its platform other than outside pressure.Warner Bros. Discovery also owns several other fandom-heavy franchises including the HBO smash hit "Game of Thrones." That's a significant detail, as Character.AI was sued in October by the family of a 14-year-old in Florida who died by suicide after developing an intense emotional obsession with a Character.AI chatbot based on the "Game of Thrones" character Daenerys Targaryen, which engaged in romantic and sexual dialogue with the boy and, according to the family, at times encouraged him to take his life. (The lawsuit is ongoing, and also names Google, asignificant backer of Character.AI, as a defendant.)Like Potterverse characters, "Game of Thrones"-based chatbots are extremely popular on Character.AI and to that end, many "Game of Thrones" characters appear to have been abruptly removed from the platform as well.We reached out to both Character.AI and Warner Bros. Discovery to inquire about the character removals, but have yet to hear back from either.The pending lawsuit is just one of several piling controversies for Character.AI. The platform also came under fire in September for hosting a chatbot based on a murdered teenager, which was quickly deleted after public outcry, while Futurism has found concerning content on its service including suicide-themed chatbots, pedophile chatbots that groom users, and pro-anorexia chatbots that encourage disordered eating habits.Share This Article

Two critical security flaws impacting the Spam protection, Anti-Spam, and FireWall plugin WordPress could allow an unauthenticated attacker to install and enable malicious plugins on susceptible sites and potentially achieve remote code execution.The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2024-10542 and CVE-2024-10781, carry a CVSS score of 9.8 out of a maximum of 10.0. They were addressed in versions 6.44 and 6.45 released this month.Installed on over 200,000 WordPress sites, CleanTalk's Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall plugin is advertised as a "universal anti-spam plugin" that blocks spam comments, registrations, surveys, and more.According to Wordfence, both vulnerabilities concern an authorization bypass issue that could allow a malicious actor to install and activate arbitrary plugins. This could then pave the way for remote code execution if the activated plugin is vulnerable of its own.The plugin is "vulnerable to unauthorized Arbitrary Plugin Installation due to a missing empty value check on the 'api_key' value in the 'perform' function in all versions up to, and including, 6.44," security researcher Istvn Mrton said, referring to CVE-2024-10781.On the other hand, CVE-2024-10542 stems from an authorization bypass via reverse DNS spoofing on the checkWithoutToken() function.Regardless of the bypass method, successful exploitation of the two shortcomings could allow an attacker to install, activate, deactivate, or even uninstall plugins.Users of the plugin are advised to ensure that their sites are updated to the latest patched version to safeguard against potential threats.The development comes as Sucuri has warned of multiple campaigns that are leveraging compromised WordPress sites to inject malicious code responsible for redirecting site visitors to other sites via bogus ads, skimming login credentials, as well as drop malware that captures admin passwords, redirects to VexTrio Viper scam sites, and execute arbitrary PHP code on the server.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

When CVEs go viral, separating critical vulnerabilities from the noise is essential to protecting your organization. That's why Intruder, a leader in attack surface management, built Intel - a free vulnerability intelligence platform designed to help you act fast and prioritize real threats.What is Intel?Intel was created to fill a gap in the resources available for tracking emerging vulnerabilities. When one of Intruder's go-to tools shut down last year, the team set out to build a solution that would not only meet their needs but also benefit the wider infosec community.Intel tracks the top trending CVEs from the past 24 hours and assigns each a 'hype score' - a rating out of 100, benchmarked against the year's highest levels. Alongside real-time insights, Intel features expert commentary from Intruder's Security team and consolidates the latest information from trusted sources like NVD and CISA, all in one place.5 Ways Intel Helps You Stay AheadKeep on top of trends: Instantly see which vulnerabilities are gaining traction on social media, ensuring you're always aware of potentially high-risk CVEs. See what's trending today.Understand the hype: Intel doesn't just show you what's trending - it puts it into perspective. The hype score helps you quickly gauge and contextualize the attention a CVE is receiving.Expert human context: With analysis from Intruder's Security team, you can better understand the real impact of critical CVEs to assess whether your environment may be at risk.Centralized CVE insights: Intel streamlines your research by providing the latest information in one place, including risk scores, known exploits, and more.Real-time updates: Never miss a trending CVE with Intel's RSS feed, which delivers hourly updates straight to your dashboards.Get Started With IntelStart using Intel today to cut through the noise and focus on the threats that matter most. Check it out here.Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Shane Snider, Senior Writer, InformationWeekNovember 26, 20247 Min ReadPhoto courtesy of SolarWindsSudhakar Ramakrishna was just days into his new role as SolarWinds chief executive officer when news broke of a historic nation-state hack targeting his company.During SUNBURST, a cyberattack spanning nearly two years targeted SolarWinds flagship software platform, Orion. The attack struck several US government networks, including the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, State, and Treasury. The 2019 attacks were revealed in December 2020. The US suspected Russian state actors were behind the breach.In the ensuing fallout, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit in October 2023 alleging the company and its CISO, Timothy Brown, had committed fraud by failing to disclose the breach sooner. In July, a federal judge dismissed most of the charges in the lawsuit.When Ramakrishna first walked into the SolarWinds offices in January 2021, he faced some tough decisions. The company in 2021 shed a large portion of its workforce in a spin-out of the N-able business, going from a headcount of 3,340 to 2,147. An observability and IT management software firm falling victim to one of the biggest cyberattacks in history took a toll on reputation and customer trust as well.Rebuilding Trust After CatastropheRelated:Fast forward three years to the present date, and things are looking brighter for SolarWinds. The companys most recent financials showed a strong third quarter 2024, with revenue of $200 million, a 6% year-over-year jump. Total annual recurring revenue for subscriptions leaped 36%. The company added to its headcount this year as well, bringing the total to 2,305.The trust of our customers and partners is something I would never take for granted, Ramakrishna tells InformationWeek in a live interview. I think the reason we won back trust is that today we are known for the company we have become, versus what happened to us in 2020. The reason I think we got to this point is based on transparency when the incident happened. While it could have happened to anyone, we took responsibility. We did not deflect blame on anyone.Despite best efforts to move forward, the Sunburst incident keeps drawing headlines. Just last month, the SEC fined four SolarWinds customers with penalties ranging from $990,000 to $4 million. The fresh actions dig up old wounds for SolarWinds as it continues to try to move forward.Ramakrishna says its hard seeing SolarWinds grabbing headlines for SUNBURST again because there is so much more positive stuff thats going on with us -- on the business side, the product side, innovation, customers and results.Related:As for maintaining trust, he says, We earn the trust of our customers every day. SUNBURST almost never really comes up when I discuss things with customers. When it does, its in the context of how we can apply the lessons you learned in our environment.Ramakrishna says that the most recent quarter showed customer retention of 97%. That is an indication of trust."Standing Up for CISOsThe indictment and prosecution of former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan sent shockwaves through the security community. In 2022, a federal judge sentenced Sullivan to 3 months probation and a fine for his response to a 2016 cyberattack that exposed millions of Uber customers data. For the first time, the government was coming directly after IT executives.When SolarWinds Brown was named in the SECs lawsuit, many CISOs saw it as a continued trend of scapegoating security executives. Instead of placating calls to fire Brown, SolarWinds shot back at the SEC publicly, denying the allegations and accusing the agency of victimizing victims.One of the very first decisions I had to make was, What do we do with Tim, Ramakrishna says of Brown. The way I thought about it was it was not an incident caused by one person. Thats an incident that many attribute to a nation-state attack so, it takes a village, as they say, to keep the companys assets secure. I dont think we should be in a world of scapegoating. We should be in the world of learning, iterating, and improving.Related:Ramakrishna says his decision to back Brown went beyond SolarWinds.As much as I care about SolarWinds, I also care about the tone we set in the industry as a community are we going to be in a world of scapegoating, or a world of progress? It was a little bit of a go against the grain decision, because I could have taken the simple route. But I would still make the same decision today.He says he felt vindicated for his stance after the federal judge dropped most of the charges in the case. I felt very strongly that we were trying to do the right things.Sullivan, who is now an independent consultant and speaker, applauded SolarWinds and Ramakrishna for standing by Brown."I think he is a role model for all CEOs," Sullivan says in an email interview. "CISOs do not operate in a vacuum -- they are part of an executive leadership team that should stand together on risk decisions that are shared decisions. It is all the more impressive that Mr. Ramakrishna was not the CEO when the incident happened but has operated with such integrity."SolarWinds Effort to De-Silo ITComing out of the SUNBURST incident, the company needed to focus its attention back on its business. Ramakrishna believes emerging technologies and strained budgets are causing IT departments to become siloed, hindering C-suite communication.No matter the size of the enterprise, there are far fewer people today in terms of being able to manage their IT environments, which are exploding into the cloud. The number of applications that a common enterprise is managing is increasing, and complexity is increasing. And nobody is saying their IT budgets are increasing -- at best case, they are flat.SolarWinds IT tools aim to help bridge the gap and de-silo the IT department for more efficiency, Ramakrishna says. We have discovered that its not sufficient to say that there is a problem. It is more useful if we can say not only that there is a problem, but theres a way to solve it or even better, to predict it. That is the journey and continuum that we have put ourselves in and when you do that, youre actually naturally de-siloing an organization.GenAI and the FutureThe ChatGPT-fueled generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) boom of the last two years has greatly impacted all aspects of the technology sector. Ramakrishna offered insights on how companies can home in on a return on investment that has been elusive for many.With any new, exciting technology with a lot of prospects, you have to go through the hype cycle, he says. We have taken a pragmatic approach to AI at large and also GenAI -- weve been investing in GenAI since about 2021 Our focus has been on the observability space related to AIOps [artificial intelligence for IT operations] and how we help customers detect issues faster. How do we help them classify issues faster and how do we help them solve issues faster?He says the company is trying to boost ROI for clients by offering enhanced productivity and more efficient problem solving through observability. You can classify it as a more deliberate approach to AI in general. I believe in 2025, there will be a lot more focus on tangible ROI from AI projects. It gets back to the fundamentals of running a business and our role is to help customers with this notion of AI observability. We manage and observe infrastructure which can be traditional data center infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, and increasingly, data centers with AI-enabled infrastructure.Those solutions, he says, have increasing needs for observability to optimize and provide ROI.Ramakrishna offers a sunny outlook for the tech industry.Im very optimistic, not just about the industrys future, because I think the industry continuously evolves but Im also very optimistic about the SolarWinds platform that we have built Some of the things that have happened to us in the past have been used as a foundation to leapfrog into the future.Read more about:RegulationAbout the AuthorShane SniderSenior Writer, InformationWeekShane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh News and Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and two children.See more from Shane SniderNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeReportsMore Reports

One of the creators of some of the funniest movies of the 20th century has died. Jim Abrahams, best known as one third of the ZAZ comedy team with David and Jerry Zucker passed away on Tuesday. His son toldThe Hollywood Reporter he died of natural causes. Abrahams was 80 years old.The ZAZ team is best known for writing and directing1980sAirplane!As a team, the trio also directed 1984sTop Secret!and1986sRuthless People.They also co-wroteThe Kentucky Fried Movie(directed by John Landis) andThe Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (directed by David Zucker solo). Their signature brand of comedy was marked by chaos and absurdity, along with a go for broke, anything-is-allowed-as-long-as-its-funny attitude.ParamountParamountloading...READ MORE: The Best Comedy Movies of the Last 25 YearsAbrahams grew up in Wisconsin as a childhood friend of the Zuckers. In their 20s they all began performing together as a part of a comedy troupe they dubbed The Kentucky Fried Theater. Then the trio moved to Los Angeles and started a Kentucky Fried Theater there in the hopes of breaking into show business.Despite the success of the theater in Los Angeles, it took the trio years to finally get theirKentucky Fried Movie made and even then their script, a collection of shorts and sketches they had honed in their live comedy act, wasgiven to Landis (who already had acouple of low-budget productions under his belt) to direct.AfterKentucky Fried Movie became ansizable hit in theaters,it took several more years toconvincea studio to take a chance onAirplane!with them as first-time directors.It was Paramount that finally decided to gamble on ZAZ andAirplane! and they were rewarded with a huge hit. The movie was based on an obscure 1950s thriller calledZero Hour! and also lampooned the disaster movies that were popular during that period likeAirportandThe Towering Inferno.The film combined non-stop gags andwitty wordplay with an eclectic cast of dramatic actors playing very silly material extremely straight like TV star Peter Graves as the pilot, Captain Oveur.One ofAirplane!s breakout stars, Leslie Nielsen, thenreturned in ZAZs television seriesPolice Squad!, a cop show spoof that was years ahead of its time. The showwas canceled after only a handful of episodes but Abrahams and the Zuckers then reworked the material asThe Naked Gun, which became a successful trilogy of movies. (A remake is currently in the works with Liam Neeson in the Nielsen role.)ZAZs next feature wasTop Secret!, a spoof of Elvis movies and Cold War spy pictures. It starred a young Val Kilmer as rock star Nick Rivers. As you can see, it is quite silly.By the late 1980s, the ZAZ team began working moreas individuals. Abrams biggest hits as a solo act were the twoHot Shots!movies, which spoofedTop Gun,Rambo: First Blood Part II, and other macho 80s action movies, and starred Charlie Sheen.Abrahams other films as directorincludeBig Business,Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, andMafia!In later years, Abrahams was also extremely proud of the work he did with his foundation devoted to pediatric epilepsy;he writes passionately about in the final pages of his recent oral history ofAirplane! that he co-wrote with the Zuckers,Surely You Cant Be Serious.Although the Zuckers and Abrahams worked together infrequently from the early 90s on, they remained close, and continued to appear together atAirplane!screenings, in documentaries about their work, and they all collaborated on that excellent oral history ofAirplane! That film continues to stand the test of time asone of the greatest and most influential movie comedies of the 20th century.Abrahams will be missed. Surely.Get our free mobile app25 Blockbuster Hits You Forgot ExistedRemember these movies? They made a lot of money at the box office!

Its tough to take a movie seriously when it doesnt follow its own advice. InMoana 2, the title character gets an important assist from a mysterious sea witch namedMatangi. The witch Witch? Sorceress? Mutant bat lady? The filmleaves this unclear tells Moana that if she wants to truly earn the title of wayfinder, she will need to stop playing it safe. After all, she reasons, how can you get somewhere thats not on any map if you dont get a little lost?Soundguidance thatMoana 2resolutelyignores. This is a playing-it-safe sequel through and through, one that follows the path charted by its popular predecessor every step of the way. Brave island voyager Moana (voiced again byAulii Cravalho) sets off on a journey far across the ocean in order to confront a mystical adversary and break a magic curse, with an assist from a shape-changing demigod named Maui (Dwayne Johnson)and occasional breaks for songs that could be described as South Pacificmeets the actual South Pacific. Technically, the songs are different this time and, somewhat fatally, they are nowhere near as good as theones in the firstMoana but otherwise, the song remains the same.Moana 2Disneyloading...READ MORE: The Worst Disney Live-Action RemakesThevariations between the two movies are almost entirely cosmetic, although instead of a two-hander between Moana and Maui on the open sea, the two leads spend the first half of Moana 2on separate quests. While Maui mixes it up with Matangi (Awhimai Fraser), Moana and a whole crew of new sidekicks (includinga quirky engineer voiced by Rose Matafeoand a grouchy farmer played by David Fane) sail for a lost island sunk to the bottom of the ocean by an angry god named Nalo.This island used to servethe central hubof a whole civilization of sailors from across the globe. Without it, these various tribes were scattered across the ocean. After a prophetic vision from one of her ancestors, Moana seeks to restore the island and reconnect these disparate people once more.Thatsa much less personal (and far less engaging) set of stakes than the originalMoana, where the title character fought to save herhome from famine and possible extinction. Mauis role in Moana 2 is even more vague; why he cares about this missing island and its angry god, or why hesin conflictwith Matangiwere never clear throughout the film, at least to me.MOANA 2Disneyloading...Mauisfeelings about Moana also fluctuateconstantly throughout the sequel. So does the quality ofMoana 2s songs. Moanasmusical numbers were its greatest strength;Moana 2s musical numbers are its biggest weakness. The first film had the groovy Shiny, the toe-tapping Where You Are,and the soaring anthem How Far Ill Go.Moana 2 includes tracks meant to fit into each of those categories, but none are catchy or memorable.Maui fares the worst in this regard. His Youre Welcome fromMoanawas a show-stopping delight. His new tune, Can I Get a Chee Hoo? is an inspirational ditty with raps and chants andeye-rollinglyrics like Come on-a Moana / Come get your destiny. Few sequels have ever missedan absent creatoras much as this movie misses Lin-Manuel Miranda, who contributed toMoana 1s soundtrack but did not return for the sequel. (The new batch of songs is by Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear, Opetaia Foai, and Mark Mancina.)Without the musical heart or stirring adventure of the first movie,Moana 2 relies on a surprising amount of gross-out humor and meta jokes to keep audiences engaged. There are armpit fart gags, and regular showers of a assorted purple goos and green slimes, pluspop culture references so out of place inthe context of an ancient water-bound civilization that thescreenplay actually makes secondary jokes about their incongruity. (After one character, quips about making a butt dial, they quickly add That will make sense in 2,000 years! This character not only doesnt have a phone they dont have pockets.)Some of the banter lands once Moana and Maui finally reunite they reestablishsome of their buddy comedychemistry from the first movie but a lot ofthe wisecrackswreak of desperation.MOANA 2Disneyloading...The true test of a kids movie comes not on the first viewing but on the tenth. Kids love to watchfilmsendlessly; they find comfort in their familiar patterns and characters. By that measure,Moana is one of Disneys best 21st century films; it holds up very well to repeatairings thanks to its amazing soundtrack, colorful adventures, and heartwarming message about persistence, bravery, and exploration. Its one of the few films I never got tired of no matter how many times my daughters demanded to revisit it. Moana 2, on the other hand, played it so safe itAdditional Thoughts:-This film was originally developed as a series for Disney+, then reworked into a feature. While it does present a fairly straightforward narrative, Mauis role is so superfluous that it did make me wonder whether his character was not originally in the TV series version (or perhaps only heldasmall supporting role), and when Disney decreedMoanathe show would now beMoana 2, his part had to be beefed up with a lot of unjustified screen time. At the very least, he feels shoehorned into a story that doesnt really need him.-Matangi does at least look cool, and sheslithers and swoops around with the most visuallydynamic character animation inMoana 2. Unfortunately, her role is deeply muddled. Is she a villain? A victim? Does she hate Maui and Moana or want to help them? The movie leaves all of thatunexplained in order to set up a potential sequel. Ive no doubt the films box office total will justify its production. But after the extremely uneven quality of Moana 2,Im going to be a lot less excited to see it.RATING: 5/10Get our free mobile appThe Weirdest Animated Movies Of All TimeThese trippy and strange cartoons are decidedly not for kids.Gallery Credit: Claire Epting

Time zones: EST (UTC -5), CST (UTC -6), MST (UTC -7), PST (UTC -8), AKST (UTC -9), HST (UTC -10)Who We AreWe are a nationwide company specializing in a unique service. Operating since 2010, we have a growing presence and are based in the Pacific Northwest.What Were Looking ForAre you interested in helping grow a business in your local area? We're entering a new phase of expansion, and we're offering an exciting opportunity for individuals to partner with us in building a local presence. The way we operate has evolved, and we now offer a flexible business model that leverages digital platforms, allowing you to work from anywhere and support the business remotely.How It WorksAs an independent contractor (not an employee), you will manage marketing efforts in your local area, focusing on digital and social media outreach. We provide the tools, training, and resources you need to succeed, and our team handles the core operations, allowing you to concentrate on building your local presence.What Youll DoYour role involves promoting the business online, creating listings, and managing social media profiles. The rest of the operational work, including service, tracking, and billing, is managed by us. We provide ongoing support and transparency to ensure your success.Additional InfoStarting is quick and easy. You can begin operations in just a few weeks with the resources and training we provide. This opportunity is designed to grow over time with minimal time investment upfront.PaymentThe average income expected is between $500-$1,000 a month with 1-2 hours of time invested per week. This makes it the ultimate side gig. It'll start off slow in the beginning, and continue to grow over time.Who Should Apply?We're looking for individuals who are motivated, and ready to start something that will pay off for years to come. This is a great fit for someone looking for a flexible opportunity and the ultimate side gig.If youre interested in learning more, apply now to move forward!

LawnStarter is the nation's leading on-demand marketplace for lawn care and related services, allowing hundreds of thousands of customers nationwide to book a service with the tap of a button. But lawn care is only the beginning - our vision is to become the one-stop shop for all home services.Our company is flourishing at an incredible pace, profitable and achieving remarkable success. And we're not stopping there! We're actively seeking talented and hard-working individuals like you to join our team and help us achieve our ultimate vision.Role Overview: We are seeking a skilled WordPress Engineer to join our team. The ideal candidate is passionate about WordPress development, has a strong understanding of web technologies, and is committed to delivering high-quality solutions. As a WordPress Engineer, you will collaborate with our team to design, develop, and maintain WordPress websites and applications that meet our business needs and objectives while optimizing them for high speed and SEO performance. This is a contractor position. Responsibilities:Develop custom WordPress themes and plugins from scratch, ensuring responsiveness and optimal performance across various devices and browsers.Customize and extend existing WordPress themes and plugins to meet specific project requirements.Collaborate with designers, project managers, and other developers to translate design mockups and project requirements into functional WordPress websites and applications.Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members to ensure code quality, consistency, and adherence to best practices.Perform upgrades for WordPress, plugins, themes, and PHP.Optimize WordPress sites for high speed and performance, implementing techniques such as caching, lazy loading, image optimization, and minimizing HTTP requests.Implement SEO best practices to improve site visibility and ranking, including optimizing site structure, meta tags, heading tags, and schema markup.Utilize tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and Lighthouse to analyze and improve site performance, aiming for high scores and fast loading times.Troubleshoot and debug issues that arise during the development and testing phases, implementing effective solutions in a timely manner.Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in WordPress development, web performance optimization, and SEO techniques, continuously improving your skills and sharing knowledge with the team.Participate in project planning, estimation, and scoping discussions, contributing technical expertise and insights to ensure project success.Collaborate with SEO and Editorial teams to identify new opportunities for site improvements and content optimization.Demonstrate an autonomous mindset in managing your workload, proactively identifying and proposing new opportunities for enhancing our WordPress projects.RequirementsBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).Proven experience as a WordPress Developer or WordPress Engineer, with a strong portfolio showcasing your WordPress projects.Proficiency in PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and MySQL, with a solid understanding of web development principles and best practices.Extensive experience with WordPress theme and plugin development, including custom theme and plugin creation from scratch.Strong understanding of web performance optimization techniques and SEO best practices.Experience optimizing WordPress sites for high speed and performance, including achieving high scores on Google PageSpeed Insights and other performance testing tools.Familiarity with front-end frameworks/libraries such as React.js, Vue.js, or AngularJS is a plus.Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail, with the ability to effectively troubleshoot and debug issues.Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a team environment.Self-motivated and proactive, with a passion for learning and staying current with industry trends and technologies.BenefitsGreat Culture:One of thetop places to workin Austin in 2018, 2019, and 2020, and in the US in 2021, we are all about the team. That's why we have spent a massive amount of time findinghumble, passionate, and smart folksthat you will get to work with every day.Work from the comfort of your own homeOpportunity for growth$45,000 - 60,000 USD annually, depending on experience

On a reu llectronicien qui a dcortiqu un compteur Linky !