Helen Havlak | The VergeThe Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.2025-01-29T14:45:44+00:00https://www.theverge.com/authors/helen-havlak/rsshttps://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1Helen Havlak<![CDATA[Renovating your house? Black Friday is a surprisingly good time to buy light fixtures]]>https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/29/24308140/black-friday-lighting-deals-2024-pendant-sconce-flush-mount2024-11-29T09:57:48-05:002024-11-29T09:57:48-05:00
Last fall I was in the thick of a home renovation project, doom scrolling thousands of light fixtures in search of clean, modern designs I didn’t hate. While I would normally consult my Verge colleagues for the best Black Friday TV and laptop deals, it did not initially occur to me to check for seasonal deals on the more contractor-oriented category of hardwired LED light fixtures. In fact, a lot of big lighting companies run meaningful Black Friday sales.
Fortunately, I happened to finalize our lighting selections just before Black Friday 2023 – and then saved hundreds of dollars by ordering pretty much every pendant, flush mount, outdoor sconce, and track light we needed by the end of Cyber Monday. If you are embarking on a home renovation, let this be your PSA to save a few dollars by placing your lighting order this weekend!
Lighting is a very subjective interior design decision, so this is not an ultimate guide to the very best light fixtures in the world. But these are all fixtures I have actually installed in my house, used for several months, and like. Generally, I was looking for hardwired LED fixtures with modern design, dimmer compatibility, and 2700K color temperature (the warmer and more flattering end of the spectrum; please don’t make your house feel like an operating room with 3000K or higher!). I also generally prefer fixtures that emit softer and more diffused light over harsh directional spotlights.
These are all generally in the $100-$500 range; you can get cheaper fixtures at your hardware store, but I plan to live in my house until I die. I have also included a few of West Elm’s contract-grade fixtures on this list, which are not on sale this weekend but I think still deliver good value for the price. If you are mid-renovation, you should already be getting used to the sticker shock on all materials, including lighting. Hopefully, shopping this weekend can help you get beautiful fixtures while staying on budget.
Deals on nice pendant lights
If you have a reasonably high ceiling or need fixtures to use over a dining table or kitchen island, a hanging pendant is a good choice for ambient light that is softer and nicer than overhead recessed lighting.
Nelson Pendant
A classic mid-century design by George Nelson for Hermann Miller that comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. They emit nice, soft light and look great by themselves in a high-ceilinged office or bedroom, or mounted in a line over your dining table.
A great kitchen island pendant. The integrated LED is bright enough for task light while cooking, but the brassy interior gives it a warm and cozy feel if you have island seating. It comes in a few shapes, so you can match or go a little funkier with a trio of different profiles.
A conversion kit to turn old can lights into pendants
If you are not planning a larger renovation, you can still make a big improvement to existing rooms by upgrading the main light fixture. In our son’s nursery, we used this conversion kit to DIY swap an old 1990s can light in the ceiling for a hanging, dimmable LED pendant light with much softer and nicer light. Just make sure you have a very stable ladder, and do a dry run of your assembly on the ground first.
Westinghouse Recessed Light Converter
An affordable kit that screws into most old can lights, allowing you to hang a pendant light instead.
Depending on the size of your can light and the diameter of your pendant’s ceiling mount, you may also need a small ceiling medallion to disguise the old opening. Before installing, paint the plastic Ceiling White to give it a more matte texture.
For ceilings that are too low to hang a pendant, a flush mount fixture is the next best way to avoid harsh recessed lights. Arguably the most famous flush mount fixture is the boob light, but you can do a lot better without breaking the bank.
Walker Small Flush Mount
This is a nice light for a bedroom or office with a low ceiling. The shade is a nice linen texture that gives off a pretty and diffuse light.
We used this flush mount in our open pantry. It’s a brighter light than you might want in a bedroom, though on a dimmer switch it could work well in most low-ceilinged rooms. The textured open shade gives it a nice vibe.
If you have beams or a more industrial open ceiling, you might be looking for track lights. These are generally not my favorite way to light a space as they can feel harsh and industrial, but when combined with other layers of light – ideally floor lamps and some up-lighting – they can provide good task lighting in a kitchen, office, or workshop.
Nora MAC LED Track Pack
We found that most nice-looking track light systems were inexplicably expensive, perhaps geared at more commercial installations. This is what we ultimately installed over our main living room, a very nice system and low-profile system that comes in black or white.
When choosing outdoor lighting, you want something rated for damp spaces. Sustainability and dark sky best practices recommend that any outdoor pathway fixtures emit targeted, downward light from a recessed bulb.
Mod LED Wall Sconce
We chose these simple sconces to light our front door and walkway. They come in both black and white and are dimmer compatible, something we did not find on many outdoor fixtures.
We put these pendants in a screened porch where a closed globe would have been likely to trap insects. They have a rigid pole but the shade can swing a little, making them a good choice next to a ceiling fan.
A deal on an expensive but awesome statement sconce
Our biggest splurge was the Tom Dixon Melt collection. These are wild acrylic blobs that when turned off make a perfect metallic mirror, and when turned on become transparent with a warm and interesting glow. They also come as pendants, chandeliers, and small rechargeable tabletop lights.
Melt Mini LED Surface Light
A very cool wall sconce that appears to be mirrored metal when turned off, with a warm and interesting glow when on.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The best deals on the baby gear I recommend to my friends]]>https://www.theverge.com/24306818/black-friday-2024-best-deals-baby-gear-snoo-stroller-cyber-monday2024-11-28T08:30:00-05:002024-11-28T08:30:00-05:00
This time last year, I was pregnant with my first child and extremely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of decisions to make. Should we buy a rocking chair or a glider? Which bassinet should we get? What how-to book, white noise machine, or magical schedule would make a newborn sleep? I spent a lot of time asking friends, searching Reddit, and reading blogs to try to figure out what things I would actually need — and then which specific products to buy.
I did not exhaustively test every product against the competition (having a baby is very all-consuming), but I can tell you what gear I frequently use and love with my son, who is now eight months old. A lot of these products get nice discounts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so it’s a great time to shop if you’re expecting.
Deals on bassinets and sleep accessories
Before we had our baby, I planned to be a chill parent with a chill baby who would sleep well without needing expensive gadgets. This went out the window very quickly when I got a baby who hated being still and wanted to walk or bounce 24/7. First, we bought this Norwegian gadget called the Sleepytroll to attach to our bassinet and DIY ourselves a cheaper Snoo. It soon rocked itself to death, its motion gradually weakening over time. After a particularly rough few nights, we broke down and bought a used Snoo on Facebook Marketplace. We would have saved money spent on our original bassinet, the Sleepytroll, and small sleep sacks if we had just bought a Snoo to begin with.
Snoo Smart Sleeper Bassinet
A smart bassinet that soothes your infant with motion and white noise.
The Snoo is a smart bassinet that plays white noise and rocks your baby, ramping up the intensity if your baby keeps crying. I have heard from friends that it does not work for every baby, but when it works, it really works — and you have truly magical moments when it successfully puts your baby to sleep. You can control the intensity manually and get nice sleep logs in their proprietary app — though Snoo’s parent company, Happiest Baby, has come under fire this year for introducing a new subscription fee of $19.99 / month for the main app functionality after nine months. While infuriating, I was so desperate for sleep that I still would have bought a Snoo. Also, look out for return policies; some parents prefer to buy their Snoos from Amazon to avoid Happiest Baby’s steep $199 restocking fee.
Guava Lotus Travel Crib
A pack ‘n play that is easy to set up and can be used for older toddlers.
If you plan to travel a lot, you may also want to invest in a portable crib or pack ‘n play. We went with the Guava Lotus, which came recommended because the mattress sits on the floor and doesn’t have a weight limit — meaning you can use it longer. It’s very easy to set up and collapse, secures the crib sheet safely to the supports, and has a nice carrying bag with backpack straps.
Hatch Rest Go
A nice little rechargeable white noise machine for your baby’s crib or stroller.
When your baby grows out of the Snoo, white noise is still an incredibly effective sleep aid. We set up an old Sonos One in our nursery, but as the “White Noise Baby Sleep” playlist has completely wrecked all of my Spotify recommendations, you may want a standalone white noise device instead of a Bluetooth speaker. We got this rechargeable little puck for traveling, and it works well and charges on a standard USB-C cable.
Baby carrier and stroller deals
Doona Car Seat and Stroller
An expensive but great lightweight car seat that transforms into a stroller, fantastic for city living and travel.
If you plan to travel a lot with your baby, have a small car, or live in a city where you’ll be frequently using mass transit, you should consider getting the Doona as your main infant car seat and stroller. It is an incredibly light all-in-one car seat with stroller wheels that fold into the seat itself, so you can easily transition between sidewalk, car, train, and plane without carrying a separate stroller that you need to gate check or shove in your trunk. It’s expensive, but the build quality feels great, it rides very smoothly, and once you get the hang of it, it’s very easy to transition between modes. My only complaint is that it’s easy to accidentally lock the wheels while walking. And because of its small wheel size and lack of hand brakes, it is best used on sidewalks and flatter terrain.
Beco 8 Baby Carrier
A solid choice for baby-wearing that distributes the weight to your hips.
There are lots of stylish baby carrier options out there, but we were sometimes walking our baby four-plus hours per day, and so we prioritized ergonomics over style. We have and love the Beco 8, which puts the weight on your hips like a backpacking backpack and has a shoulder strap. It has a newborn insert for very small babies that can be removed as your baby gets older and can face forward and a nice little sunshade that can snap onto the shoulder straps.
Solly Wrap
A soft and cozy baby wrap that’s especially nice for c-section recovery.
In the first few months, I also used a Solly Wrap as the Beco 8’s hip support was too close to my c-section scar. It’s pricey for what is essentially just a long, soft piece of fabric, but I found it very easy to use and great for getting things done around the house while my baby napped on me. Around three months, though, my baby got too heavy and squirmy and I preferred the additional support of the Beco 8.
Skip Hop Diaper Bag Backpack
A solid, very capacious diaper bag that clips to your stroller.
Any old backpack can become a diaper bag, so you don’t necessarily need to buy anything new. We got this Skip Hop backpack because its squat shape gives it more carrying capacity and makes it easier to find things. It has plenty of space for diapers, wipes, spare outfits, burp cloths, toys, and bottles; and has beverage holders on either side that can accommodate adult water bottles. I do wish it had a chest strap for hiking, but if you will mostly be using your diaper bag with a stroller, it can clip to the handlebar and is a solid pick.
Deals on bottle warmers and changing table accessories
If you plan to pump or formula feed, it’s nice to have an easy way to warm bottles. Our baby will drink room temperature bottles, but he definitely prefers nicely warmed milk. (Who wouldn’t?) This warmer sits on our counter, looks reasonably nice, and works well.
OXO Wipes Dispenser
A well-designed wipe dispenser for your changing table that lets you grab a wipe one-handed.
My favorite changing table accessory is the OXO wipe dispenser, which has a press-to-click open that enables you to grab a wipe with only one hand. This is critical when dealing with the dreaded blowout. I also remember to properly close it far more often than a regular wipe pack, so I don’t accidentally dry out the wipes.
Bumco Diaper Cream Spatulas
A set of very useful spatulas that suction to your changing table and keep your hands from getting sticky when applying diaper cream.
The weirdest and best baby gift I received was a set of baby bum spatulas. I was initially skeptical, but these are amazing for applying Aquaphor or Desitin during diaper changes with a lot less mess.
Baby toy deals
Because this is The Verge, I’ll stick to toys with batteries. These have been my son’s favorites — music, in particular, is a big hit with him. Any musical toy may eventually drive you insane, but these cycle through enough tunes that I am still dancing along to them with our son.
Fisher-Price Flap & Wobble Penguin
This musical penguin toy will keep your baby giggling.
A great cheap little teether and music-maker that has amused my baby for hours. While not technically on sale, at less than $10, it is still a good deal.
As first-time parents, we were nervous about getting the exact right bath temperature. We happened to have the very nice Thermapen One in our kitchen for cooking and baking, and hijacked it for our first several months of baths with our newborn.
This is the only baby hat that has ever stayed on my son’s head for more than three minutes, and we now own it in every size. It’s cute, it’s warm, and something about the construction helps it actually stay on — especially compared to the stocking-style hats that seem to scrunch off immediately.
BabyBjorn Bouncer
A baby bouncer that will captivate most babies, with a washable cover that extends its lifespan.
We were a little mystified about why the ubiquitous BabyBjorn bouncers are so expensive, especially the $60 toy bar accessory — but our son loved it. The cover is washable, so we just bought one on Facebook Marketplace for $100 that had the toy bar included. Especially in the first six months, our baby would spend at least an hour a day in his bouncer, contentedly watching the action and bouncing while we ate meals and caught up with friends.
Babelio Baby Gate with Cat Door
A nice, easy-to-install baby gate with an adjustable cat door to let pets roam freely.
When it came to baby-proofing our house, we had a bit of a conundrum: how to keep our baby in but let our elderly cat out to her litter box and food? We found this nice option with an adjustable cat door from Babelio, which seems to make some of the more popular baby gates on Amazon. We have three installed now. They were easy to install on both stairs and doorways, and they work very well. They open and close easily when you grip the two buttons on the top and bottom of the handle, and the door can be propped open at a 90-degree angle after our baby is in bed.
Babyletto Kiwi Glider
An expensive but very comfortable glider with an electronic reclining function and USB-A and USB-C charging ports for your phone.
A glider is really nice for nursing, soothing a fussy baby, and establishing bedtime routines. After testing a few, we really preferred the smooth motion of a glider to the tipping feeling of a classic rocking chair. We splurged on the Babyletto Kiwi, which has an electric recliner function, and it is awesome. We intend to use it in an office afterward, though, and it might not be worth the money just for a nursery. The performance fabric has held up well even after some epic spitups.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[Five little Google Sheets tricks I taught my dad]]>https://www.theverge.com/22387316/google-sheets-tips-tricks-reorder-rows-resize-columns-links2021-04-16T09:49:28-04:002021-04-16T09:49:28-04:00
I was recently working remotely next to my dad, and realized just how many time-saving little Google Sheets shortcuts I take for granted. These aren’t advanced formulas or pivot tables; just simple tricks to save you time if you work with basic organizational spreadsheets. Some of these are old Excel tricks; but some even my Verge colleagues only discovered recently.
Easily rearrange rows and columns by dragging from the row number
If you want to reorder a row, you can do it in one step by first clicking on the row number to highlight the row, then clicking and dragging from the row number to easily slot it wherever you want it.
Before learning this trick from my partner, who (full disclosure) was a one-time Google Docs product manager, I am embarrassed to admit that I wasted a lot of time reordering things by first inserting a blank row, then dragging the content to that new space, and finally deleting its old row. Don’t do this.
Start a new Google Sheet by typing “sheets.new” into your browser
Quickly resize columns to fit the content by double clicking between the column headers
This is as easy as it sounds — if you want your column width to automatically resize to the shortest or longest entry, just double click in between the column headers. This also works in Excel.
Paste something with clear formatting with Command + Shift + v on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + v on PC
I pull data about The Verge from a lot of different sources, which all have their own fonts and styling, so this trick comes in handy. By using Command + Shift + v instead of Command + v on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + v instead of Ctrl + v on PC, you can strip the old font and font sizes as you paste and insert clear text.
You can also paste plain values by double clicking into a cell before you paste, but that’s a little more cumbersome. To clear formatting from multiple cells at once, first highlight them and then use Command + \ on Macor Ctrl + \ on PC. There are a ton more keyboard shortcuts like this, which Google catalogs here.
Add multiple hyperlinks to one cell
This one’s more of a PSA — for a long time, you could only hyperlink entire cells. My colleague Jay Peters recently discovered that this is no longer the case; you can now add as many links as your heart desires. Just click into the cell and highlight the word or phrase you want to hyperlink before adding your links.
If you have other favorite Google Sheet tricks you want to share, leave a comment! And because I used my parents and sibling’s cats for my sample data set, here is my cat Olivia striking one of her signature poses.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[How to stop Spectrum junk mail]]>https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/29/21157801/stop-spectrum-junk-mail-how-to-spam-calls-online-form2020-02-29T10:00:00-05:002020-02-29T10:00:00-05:00
For years, I have been getting inundated with physical junk mail from my internet service provider (ISP), Charter Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable). In huge red capital letters, the envelopes are stamped “OPEN UPON RECEIPT” or “NOTICE” or “IMPORTANT ACCOUNT INFORMATION.”
I always open them, just in case there is a legitimate problem and my internet is about to be shut off. Every single time, I get duped. Instead of legitimate account notices, the mailers are ads trying to get me to upgrade my plan or buy more services from Spectrum. In addition to tree-killing paper mailers I can at least recycle, Spectrum often likes to mix in unrecyclable thick plastic cards.
It’s not like I can switch internet service providers to get away from the obnoxious mailers. My building isn’t wired for any other ISP, so I don’t have a choice if I want internet. According to an April 2018 report by the New York City Mayor’s Office, 69 percent of NYC households have only one or two options for broadband providers; as of 2016, at least 24 million Americans had no broadband provider at all. So like many of Spectrum’s 26 million US broadband internet subscribers, I thought I had to accept misleading junk mail as a cost of getting my internet.
But thanks to a tip from Verge reader KO, I found out you can opt out of Spectrum junk mail online and tell Spectrum not to call, email, or come knocking with sales offers. As a bonus, the privacy page where you opt out of spam also lets you easily opt out of letting Spectrum use your personal data to target ads to you. Spectrum does deserve some credit for this; Verizon Fios makes you call a 1-800 number, reread your contract for instructions, and then navigate two separate sections of your account preferences to achieve the same results.
For the rest of the instructions, we will assume you’re filling out the online form; however, it’s probable you’ll go through a similar process if you call.
Information you will need to provide
Your first and last name
Your street address
Your phone number, if requesting Do Not Call
Your email address, if requesting Do Not Email
Opt out of Spectrum junk mail and sales calls
You can opt out of receiving marketing and sales offers from Spectrum by phone, email, physical mail, and door-to-door sales. You will still receive actual account notifications about your service via these channels, even if you opt out of marketing.
First, identify yourself as a current customer and fill out all of the address fields
Now, check the four boxes for Do Not Call, Do Not Email, Do Not Mail, and Do Not Knock. For Do Not Call, you’ll need to provide a phone number or numbers. You can also add up to two additional addresses to your Do Not Mail and Do Not Knock requests.
None of these are immediate fixes. Spectrum says Do Not Email can take up to 10 days, Do Not Call can take up to 30 days, and Do Not Mail and Do Not Knock can take up to 60 days. I submitted my opt-out notice on February 26th, and I will update this post if I continue to receive mail after the 60-day mark.
Before you complete the CAPTCHA and submit, pause to expand the section called “Additional Privacy Preferences.” It should be at the bottom, right after the Do Not Knock section. If you don’t see it, go back to the top of the form and make sure you answered “Yes” to the question “Are you a current customer?”
Opt out of Spectrum using your data to target ads
In “Additional Privacy Preferences,” you can opt out of letting Spectrum use your personal information to customize ads for you. While Spectrum heavily disclaims that “Your personally identifiable information is not disclosed to the third-party advertisers… and we do not share your personally identifiable information with third parties for their own marketing or advertising purposes,” there have been reports of individual people being identified from “anonymous” data like browsing habits. So opting out here is a good idea if you care about your privacy.
(Side note: data sharing by your ISP to target ads would have been restricted or prohibited altogether by Federal Communications Commission internet privacy rules that Congress shut down in 2018. Alas.)
Check the box labeled “Do Not Use CPNI” to opt out of marketing based on your “customer proprietary network information” or “CPNI,” which sends you promotions based on the “quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, location, and amount of your use of the Spectrum telecommunications services, and information about your Spectrum phone service that is contained on your bill.”
Opt out of interest-based ads online where Spectrum targets you with custom ads on its sites as well as third-party sites and apps using personal information “such as your zip code, information about your current subscription, use of our products or services, or other demographic and generally available information.” This only impacts how the ads Spectrum serves are targeted, not online ads in general. If you move or get a new account, you’ll need to resubmit this request.
Opt out of interest-based ads on television and then on TV applications where some of the ads you see are targeted based on your location or other things Spectrum knows about you, such as “your use of our products or services or information that we receive from others.”
Note: all of these are opting out of how Spectrum acts on your personal data; you’re not opting out of Spectrum’s data collection altogether.
California only: opt out of Spectrum selling your data
If you identified yourself as a current customer and claimed your state as California at the top of the form, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) means you’ll get an extra option called “Opt-Out of Sale of Personal Information (California Consumers Only),” and you can check that box as well.
The CCPA also means you can request that Spectrum send you all of your data or delete it from its systems. That involves filling out a separate form, which you can find here.
Confirm you’re not a robot and submit!
Now, all you have to do is complete the CAPTCHA, submit, and wait up to 60 days for all of your preferences to take effect.
Are you having similar problems with another ISP?
Let us know in the comments!
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The Verge Guide to Cyber Monday]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/20/204306/black-friday-2018-cyber-monday-best-deals-sales-tech-gadgets2025-01-29T09:45:44-05:002018-11-26T09:46:13-05:00
For most in the US, the end of November is a time of much-needed relaxation, whether you’re making memories and / or sharing food with friends and family. We hope that you enjoyed some time off, but now that Black Friday, the retail industry’s biggest sale event, is still fresh in the past, that must mean that Cyber Monday is here. Some deals will require you to head to your local stores, but if you don’t have that kind of time, you can find many of the same deals shopping online.
the best deals for your consideration and your money
Practically every retailer is participating in the Cyber Monday festivities, including Google, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and Microsoft. You’re bound to find a discount on most of your wishlist items, and we’re seeing particularly good deals on 4K HDR televisions, laptops, video game consoles, headphones, and more.
Many Cyber Monday sales will end at the close of Monday, November 26th. If you waited for a deal on Black Friday, this is probably your last chance before the holidays to score a good deal. There are thousands of sales happening right now, and we’ve got you covered with what we think are the best deals for your consideration and your money.
Credits
Vice President: Helen Havlak
Deputy Editor: Dan Seifert
Director of Audience Development: Ruben Salvadori
Reporters: Cameron Faulkner, Chaim Gartenberg, Dami Lee, Sean Hollister, Micah Singleton, Stefan Etienne
Social Media Manager: Esther Cohen, Kaitlin Hatton
Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The Verge fall 2018 movie guide]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/4/206631/verge-fall-movie-guide-20182018-10-04T09:00:01-04:002018-10-04T09:00:01-04:00
The annual shift to shorter days and colder weather also signals a regular shift in the cinematic landscape. In the summer, studios aim their biggest, loudest blockbusters at kids who are out of school and families who are looking to get out of the sun long enough to watch some explosive action. But the fall movie season starts shifting the focus toward adult movies and end-of-the-year awards.
Every fall is a mixed bag: a few superhero movies and supernatural thrillers the studios didn’t think would be competitive with the biggest shows of summer, a handful of indie movies making a quick bow in theaters before finding a home on streaming services, and a pile of new movies from Netflix, which seems to know no seasons in its rush to get more original content online.
some of the year’s most ambitious and complicated movies
But once September wraps up cinema’s transitional season where studios often dump their least-loved projects and October launches an inevitable wave of horror movies to sync up with the Halloween season, November and December traditionally roll out a wave of movies aimed directly at Oscar voters and end-of-the-year best-of lists. These are rarely the most profitable movies of the year that set studio agendas and launch big franchises, but they’re often some of the year’s most ambitious and complicated movies that are most likely to surprise and challenge audiences.
So here’s an assembly of The Verge’s fall movie coverage, including previews of upcoming projects, freshly launched trailers, reviews of the films as they come out to interviews, and behind-the-scenes looks at the people who made them. Follow along for a guidebook to the movies that matter to Verge readers: the speculative stories, science fiction adventures, groundbreaking and trendsetting projects, and some of our favorite films of the year.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The Battery Issue]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/13/15327/lithium-ion-battery-science-future-phone2018-08-17T11:27:28-04:002018-08-17T11:27:28-04:00
In 1800, Alessandro Volta invented the first version of the thing we now call a battery. We’ve come a long way from his initial gadget to the lithium-ion batteries that power much of our lives, including our phones, batteries, cars, satellites, and more.
Batteries are undergoing a kind of renaissance. They’re more powerful than ever, and we’ve gotten smarter about how to use them. Besides being an important part of our everyday lives — who doesn’t get stressed out when their phone is at 9 percent? — they’re also playing a role in storing renewable energy.
lithium-ion batteries power much of our lives
This workhorse technology influences a lot more than just tech. Some gaming systems depend on battery-powered controllers, and in order for movie protagonists to be truly isolated, their phones must be drained of power. Fast-charging stations are more important than ever. Scientists and engineers are trying to figure out how to make even better batteries, ones that are less likely to explode and able to hold even more energy.
We’re taking a week to celebrate the humble battery and its influence on technology, culture, science, and transportation. If you’re reading this on a smartphone, after all, you have your battery to thank.
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Nilay PatelTC. SottekHelen HavlakDieter BohnEleanor DonovanThomas Ricker<![CDATA[Newsrooms must stand up to targeted campaigns of harassment]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644878/the-verge-new-york-times-sarah-jeong2018-08-02T15:39:33-04:002018-08-02T15:39:33-04:00
Since announcing her new job with The New York Times, a widespread campaign of harassment has targeted Verge reporter Sarah Jeong for a number of tweets she wrote years ago. Many of those now reacting to these tweets have intentionally taken them out of context, and she has since received an unrelenting stream of abuse from strangers on the internet.
You can read Sarah’s own statement about her tweets here. But as the editors of The Verge, we want to be clear: this abusive backlash is dishonest and outrageous. The trolls engaged in this campaign are using the same tactics that exploded during Gamergate, and they have been employed in recent years by even broader audiences amid a rise in hostility toward journalists. From cries about “ethics in journalism” to “fake news,” journalists have been increasingly targeted by people acting in bad faith who do not care about the work they do, the challenges they face, or the actual context of their statements.
Online trolls and harassers want us, the Times,and other newsrooms to waste our time by debating their malicious agenda. They take tweets and other statements out of context because they want to disrupt us and harm individual reporters. The strategy is to divide and conquer by forcing newsrooms to disavow their colleagues one at a time. This is not a good-faith conversation; it’s intimidation.
So we’re not going to fall for these disingenuous tactics. And it’s time other newsrooms learn to spot these hateful campaigns for what they are: attempts to discredit and undo the vital work of journalists who report on the most toxic communities on the internet. We are encouraged that our colleagues at The New York Times are standing by Sarah in the face of feigned outrage.
Until she begins at the Times, Sarah is still one of us — a senior writer at The Verge. During her time working with us, she has produced remarkable journalism, including difficult reporting on victims of harassment and abuse. We are incredibly proud of Sarah’s work for The Verge, and we consider ourselves lucky to have gotten to know her as an excellent colleague, a formidable thinker, and a fine human being.
We have no doubt Sarah will continue to contribute thoughtful and rigorous reporting and analysis at the Times. She is an essential voice on technology and the internet, and we will all benefit from her continued work.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The best of E3 2018]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/15/42425/e3-2018-best-of-microsoft-nintendo-sony-ea-ubisoft-bethesda2018-06-15T11:50:40-04:002018-06-15T11:50:40-04:00
Ahead of this year’s E3 conference, a number of game studios and publishers announced news that, in years past, would typically have been reserved for the big press conference keynotes. That left many wondering whether there would be any substantial surprises in store for fans and critics who were tuning into the industry’s biggest annual gathering here in Los Angeles.
Thankfully, it was a show jam-packed with news. Nearly every press conference contained an eye-popping number of big reveals, new trailers, and confirmed release dates. And beyond the slew of keynote headlines, a number of big narratives came together. Fans were displeased and intrigued by the possibilities of an online-only Fallout. Electronic Arts took a stand to quell gamer backlash toward Battlefield V. And Sony is still grappling with a massive controversy over its decision to block PS4 Fortnite accounts on Nintendo Switch devices.
By now, the show has wound down, but the best part about E3 is that a vast majority of what we see here is either in its earliest stages or still quite a few months away from release. That means it’s just the beginning for fan favorites like CD Projekt Red’s futuristic RPG Cyberpunk 2077, Naughty Dog’s brutal revenge tale The Last of Us Part II, and Hideo Kojima’s bizarre and haunting Death Stranding. In the coming months, expect to hear plenty more about titles like BioWare’s Anthem, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts III that are slated for release in late 2018 or early 2019.
There’s always too much to play and not enough time. But for those who want to at least read all the news from E3 2018, we’ve collected all the best announcements and trailers for the most anticipated titles, as well as all the news, hands-on reports, interviews, and analyses from the show floor.
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Helen Havlak<![CDATA[The Cambridge Analytica scandal]]>https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/10/51351/facebook-cambridge-analytica-scandal2018-04-10T11:01:10-04:002018-04-10T11:01:10-04:00
In the wake of the 2016 US presidential election, Facebook has come under increasing scrutiny for the ways its platform can be misused. That scrutiny intensified greatly last month amid reports that a London-based data mining firm named Cambridge Analytica had improperly obtained user data from as many as 87 million people — and that Facebook had failed to confirm that the company deleted the data as promised.
The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating, and Congress is holding hearings. Meanwhile, Facebook faces at least three related crises: the data privacy scandal; the collapse of trust in the News Feed caused by revelations that Russian agents had flooded it with divisive content; and the broader reckoning over social media and whether it is good for us and democracy.
Check back here for the latest developments on this story.
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