T.C. is a Senior Editor at The Verge, where he has obsessed over headlines and internet speeds since 2011. Prior to The Verge, he worked in the nation’s capital as an advocate for the National Park System, which continues to be America’s best idea. (The internet is a close second.) Ethics statement: T.C. is the creator of Quest, a tabletop roleplaying game. As such, he is not involved in any kind of coverage of tabletop games for The Verge.
First reported by Medpage Today, police in New Orleans pushed out medical experts at an American Diabetes Association meeting for the grave crime of… distributing an editorial that was critical of the Trump administration’s war on science. I’ve stopped being able to keep score on the actual censorship happening in this country.
I’m blown away by this piece from The New York Times about executive compensation. We all know Elon is strapped to his own compensation rocket, but my eyes popped seeing Figma CEO Dylan Field’s comp in second place. Especially considering the stock is down more than 80% since going public. We’re truly just paying people based on vibes.
[New York Times]
If you grew up enjoying Stephen Biesty’s cross-sections like me, you’ll appreciate this brilliant project from Google engineer Bryan Macomber. The website breaks down mechanical objects, like the G2 retractable pen (my favorite), the PEZ dispenser, and the Zippo lighter. I can’t wait to see what comes next. (h/t to Kottke for spotting it.)
[Mechanical Pencil]
The S&P just found the backbone that Nasdaq discarded on the street alongside the rest of New York City’s trash. While others are bending the rules to accommodate SpaceX and other gargantuan IPOs, the S&P is standing firm. “No changes will be made” to accommodate these mega offerings.
[S&P Dow Jones]
Adrian Bliss never misses. I might actually start being nicer to my Google Nest orbs.
I enjoyed this piece from Ted Chiang in The Atlantic because it’s a well-deserved smack in the face to the clowns who suggest LLMs might be conscious. Nope, we’re just falling for one of the most obvious confidence tricks of all time: giving in to “someone” who appears to like us.
[The Atlantic]
The original lightsabers in Star Wars were hacked together from antique camera parts, so it’s fitting that folks are still going back to basics to build new ones. As lightsaber home-build videos are exploding right now on TikTok, it’s fun to see Home Depot embrace it. Sure, you can still buy something fancy directly from Disney, but the best lightsabers in the world have always been built by fans.
Cooler Master’s just introduced new DDR5 sticks with built-in fans, which promise significant improvements in heat management. If you can’t afford new fancy new RAM, like most of us, consider making friends with the Snow Miser.
