Hi everybody, here’s the latest roundup of what’s happening in the world of WordPress, Automattic, and beyond. If you’re not already subscribed, sign up to receive future updates.
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What’s New with Publishers on WordPress
- We were saddened by Jenny Diski’s passing. Here are two collections featuring her outstanding work for the London Review of Books and elsewhere.
- Guggenheim.org redesigned and relaunched on WordPress, with the help of Alley Interactive.
- Jennifer K. Armstrong does a great job connecting the dots from Lemonade to the presidential election: “Beyoncé, Hillary, and ‘The Good Wife’: The Power of Women Scorned”
- Early reviews are coming in for Belle Boggs’s forthcoming memoir, The Art of Waiting: “Boggs writes with considerable heart and engagement about the decisions that are so tough for so many… . A story well-told and deeply felt.”
- “Twitter, Will You Fix My Timeline?” Margarita Noriega offers a prescription for change at Twitter.
- Janet Fitch shares what it’s like to have your novel turned into a movie — in this case, Paint It Black, directed by Amber Tamblyn.
- Per our friends at 10up, WordPress powered one out of every seven websites nominated for a Webby Award this year, including everyone from Beyoncé to The New Yorker.
- “HBO’s Silicon Valley is hilarious — but the tech bubble it depicts is terrifying.” (Quartz)
- We spoke with cartoonist Drew Dernavich about humor, craft, and drawing for The New Yorker.
- Alexander Chee explores gun culture in America for Longreads: “Our Well-Regulated Militia.”
- “Prince Can’t Die.” At MTV News, Carvell Wallace paid tribute to a legend.
- “What Would Happen If We Just Gave People Money?” FiveThirtyEight examines the concept of basic income.
- “Nestlé spent three decades building a beloved noodle brand in India. Then the world’s biggest food and beverage company stumbled into a public relations debacle that cost it half a billion dollars.” Here’s a look at Nestlé’s debacle in India, new from Fortune.
- “Some people have a 401K to secure their financial future. I have a letter of apology from Anna Wintour.” A story from Lulu Writes.
WordPress.com and Automattic News
- We took another big leap in the quest for HTTPS everywhere, teaming up with Let’s Encrypt to secure all custom domains hosted by WordPress.com. (WordPress.com itself has been HTTPS since 2014.)
- WordPress.com introduced new sharing buttons for the world’s most popular messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype.
- WooCommerce introduced WooCommerce Connect – sign up to get early access.
- Longreads turned 7 years old in April, and we partnered with Twitter Moments to showcase the best stories of the week.
- Six Automatticians recently traveled to Kampala, Uganda, to attend the CMS Africa Summit. Here’s what we learned.
Distributed Work
- Aaron Douglas talks about the fitness and health benefits of working for a distributed company: “How Working Remote (Probably) Saved My Life.”
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Memos 