Monday 2 November, 2026

Le chat magique Snapped by my wife outside a café in Provence where we were having breakfast. Quote of the Day “My father confused me. From the ages of one to seven, I thought my name was Jesus Christ!” Spike Milligan Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Eric Clapton | Wonderful Tonight Link Long Read of the Day The PHP flaw could be just the start of the web’s ‘vulnerabilities tsunami’ My latest Observer column. The other day, I discovered that the social bookmarking service Pinboard had suddenly disappeared from the web. It had been taken offline by its owner, Maciej Cegłowski, because of the discovery of two security vulnerabilities in PHP software that could allow hackers to exploit web servers. For me, this was not just a minor annoyance because, in addition to writing this column, I work in a busy academic research centre and produce a newsletter that goes out three times a week. Pinboard plays a critical role in the workflow needed to sustain those activities. And,…