The Weekender: dirty pool water, smoggy skies, and a beautiful blue umbrella

The best of the week gone by

by Jacob Kastrenakes

Jun 29, 2013, 2:00 PM UTC

Jacob Kastrenakes is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.

Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Every Saturday, we’ll bring you some of the best and most important reads of the past seven days, from original reports, to in-depth features, to reviews and interviews. Think of it as a collection of some of our favorite pieces that you may have missed — or that you may just want to read again.

Feature

The electrified brain: the power and promise of neural implants

A new wave of brain implants known as "deep brain stimulation" devices are starting to help patients in major ways. We know that they can cure the ill, but could these high-tech implants one day be used as a real-world mind control?
Review

Pure Android: Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One 'Google Play editions' review

The dream of Android fans everywhere came true on Wednesday when HTC and Samsung released their best devices yet running a completely clean version of Android. Now that they’re finally here, we find out if the two devices are the phones we’ve long been waiting for.
Report

Brain-eating amoebas thrive in US lakes as global warming heats waterways

All it takes is a single amoeba. The deadly organism Naegleria fowleri has existed for some time now in American rivers and lakes, but warmer weather has helped its numbers surge — and there might not be a way to fight back.
Interview

Director Saschka Unseld discusses Pixar, photorealism, and the making of 'The Blue Umbrella'

Pixar’s latest short film, The Blue Umbrella, adopts a gorgeous, photorealistic style that’s a big departure for the ever-cartoonish Pixar. We sat down with the picture’s director to find out how he made it happen.
Report

A floating pool has inspired the world, but will it sink before you can swim?

A group of designers wants to put a floating pool in the middle of New York City’s East River. The team has launched a Kickstarter to get the project rolling, but it still has a few details to nail down: namely, its location, its final design, and the necessary permits to actually build it.
Preview

OS X Mavericks and Windows 8.1: an early look at what’s coming next to your desktop

The upcoming versions of OS X and Windows don’t change much, but their newfound polish could make them important releases that users won’t want to miss. We have previews of all the major changes for Windows right here, and for OS X right here.
Report

Suffocating in Singapore: smog crisis engulfs Southeast Asia in controversy

In Southeast Asia, the loose enforcement of laws banning slash-and-burn land clearing has led to some major problems. Singapore was engulfed in smog last week, but while that’s brought the agricultural practice into the spotlight, actually making it stop could be harder than it sounds.
Feature

All the president's hitmen: tracking Washington's secret army

Today’s wars are fought in secret — hidden from the American public by twisted language or simple silence. But Jeremy Scahill and Richard Rowley have helped bring some of these details to light in a new book and documentary.
Interview

Steve Wozniak on Newton, Tesla, and why the original Macintosh was a 'lousy' product

We caught up with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to talk about his role in Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, his taste in fancy cars, and how the Newton changed his life.
Report

My barber gave me a head orgasm: the strange world of ASMR

Have you ever experienced a funny tingling feeling for no real reason at all? A makeshift community has formed around studying and embracing that fleeting emotion — but serious scientific research is yet to even consider its existence.