Grok told me: “The band has recently registered a new limited liability partnership (LLP) named RHEUK25, which includes all five members—Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, and Philip Selway. This move is notable because Radiohead has historically created similar business entities before announcing new albums, tours, or reissues.”

Some of the earliest international WordCamps I went to were in Manila and Davao, back in 2008. (I’m going to share some pictures at the start of my talk.) Between that and spending lots of time in Daly City when I moved to San Francisco when I was 20 I have developed a fondness for the cuisine, creativity, family orientation, and warmth of the culture here.

After this I’ll be taking a bit of time off for a trip to the big Hindu religious pilgrimage in India, the Maha Kumbh Mela, which is currently on a 144 cycle. It’s the largest human gathering in the world, with some days measured with tens of millions of people visiting. I’ll be returning to my Photomatt roots as well and bringing my big camera rig, right now a Nikon Z 7II, and two lenses: 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8.

Running a company of 1,700+ when 5% doesn’t like you, that’s 85 people! That fills a room.

150k followers and 5% don’t like you now you have a small stadium of 7,500 people.

It’s still 5%.

The other super inspiring thing today was Boom’s first supersonic flight. It’s worth watching the video. We’re 4-5 years away from halving flight times with supersonic flight. In that same timeframe we might have something even more dramatic from SpaceX, like Houston to Tokyo in 30 minutes. Really cool to see the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation around all of these things. It’s tempting to get distracted by drama (WPE and legal battles), but there’s such freedom and joy in just continuing to build, to engineer, to solve problems. I’m so grateful I get to do so every day with such incredible colleagues at Automattic.

See also: Australia’s Senate bans social media for kids under 16. But there are lots of other less controversial examples, like adult websites, or ordering alcohol online or through an app.

This is kind of funny because I’m obviously in the midst of the big battle with Silver Lake and WP Engine. I am a huge proponent of kindness, but sometimes you have to stand up for what’s right if someone is taking advantage of you.

I’m continuing to do some select press, and will be appearing in a conversation with Techcrunch’s Editor-in-Chief, Connie Loizos, at 10:30AM on Wednesday in San Francisco at their Disrupt conference. It’s an amazing conference! Over 10k people from all over the world, just started today. I’m glad they were able to work me into the schedule, I think it will be a timely conversation. We may even have an announcement to make.

The First Amendment is the basis of our democracy. It is inconvenient and important. It’s also short, so I’m going to quote the First Amendment in its entirety:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

This means that, with rare exceptions, the government cannot tell you not to say something.

Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Reach

The First Amendment says I should be able to state facts and my opinions about WP Engine. However, the New York Times is not required or compelled to publish them in their newspaper and distribute them to their subscribers.

WP Engine is free to publish whatever GPL code they want to the world. WordPress.org should not be compelled to distribute it or provide it free hosting.

Quiet For A While

After this post, I will refrain from personally commenting on the WP Engine case until a judge rules on the injunction. I will continue to exercise my First Amendment rights to promote others’ speech. However, I hope others speak up on our battle with WP Engine, and I will boost their speech wherever I can.

You hide behind lawyers and corporate PR when you’re wrong, not when you’re right.

I’m replying on Twitter, I’m commenting on Reddit and Hacker News, I’m dropping into livestreams with ThePrimeagen and WPMinute. I’m talking to journalists whenever they reach out, and I’m happy to go on any large credible podcast or show to discuss these issues.

Lee could do the same. Why isn’t he?

Lee is a managing director of a $102B private equity firm, he is probably richer than me. (Though I doubt he gives back as much.)

“Because their lawyers are telling him not to.” Why do you think their lawyers are telling them not to?

Open invite: Lee, let’s debate this publicly. Propose a neutral venue and moderator.

It’s hard to describe how much my Ironman Triathlon Datalink watch was my entire world when I was a little kid, I was totally obsessed with it. I filled up every bit of its memory with numbers and notes. And the Indiglo!

I drove in on Sunday, my first time driving in. Logistically, it’s been smooth so far regarding access to power and water, and of course, I set up a Starlink. It’s also been a Goldilocks year with the weather and wind.

I swear this will be my last Burn with Micro-USB, which I consider my personal nemesis. Ultimate Ears has finally upgraded their Booms to USB-C (thank you Hanneke!) but Micro USB came back to bite me unexpectedly this year.

Burning Man is heaven for photographers; the dust makes everything look dramatic. I wanted to return to my “PhotoMatt” roots and shoot this year, so I resurrected back my big camera, a Nikon D5, and I’ve gotten some incredible shots. Burning Man has a principle of Radical Self Reliance, which I tried to practice, but the XQD reader I brought isn’t working. The D5 has a USB port you can connect to, but it’s the one I consider the most cursed of all USB ports: Micro USB B Data.

No one likes that connector.

People often ask me what Burning Man is like, it’s hard to answer because it’s very much “choose your own adventure.” People can and do have radically different experiences. For me, this year has had highlights that included seeing the most amazing whirling dervish with live music, talking to people coding visualizations on art pieces, and doing dishes! This year I’m camping with Maxa and my work shifts are with the kitchen team. Maxa is legendary for the love and care they put into food, so it’s been amazing to see the effort that goes into making meals for 100+ people three times a day in extreme conditions. As you can imagine, this generates a lot of dishes and I’ve made it a personal goal to be the best dishwasher ever, scrubbing every nook and cranny while trying to conserve water.

If I can get a cable or card reader to download photos, I’ll post them on my Tumblr, so keep an eye out for updates.