The FTC is moving to destroy noncompete agreements, which lock workers in jobs across the economy. In an NYT op-ed, FTC chair Lina Khan argues that these employment agreements have been stunting American innovation.
[The New York Times]
I love writing headlines at The Verge but I have to give it up to our friends at Polygon today who have us beat with this one.
Boeing’s Starliner crew flight test patch is out and it really pops. I support going to space if only for the threads.
If you’re a nerd like me you’ve been glued to C-SPAN all week as the House of Representatives struggles to... exist. The nonprofit public service channel is one of the cable TV industry’s best ideas and most enduring creations.
It also happens to be one of the most visually interesting periods in C-SPAN history due to the chaos on the House floor. Motherboard has a fascinating piece on why we’re suddenly seeing so many candid shots this week.
Just look at these outrageous new sonic monuments from Drop, which look like evil wizards’ towers. I want to put them on either side of a giant CRT monitor and fire up some “legally obtained” music on Winamp. Hell yeah.
Thank you all again for reading The Verge. I want to take a moment to also thank all of my colleagues — across text, video, audio, illustration, design, operations, events, and every other facet of Verge production — for the wonderful work they’ve done over several challenging years. If you want to get to know them better, just take a look at all of these incredible people across our masthead.
Let’s all make a better future in 2023 and beyond. Onward!
We’ve had a huge year of reporting, videography, design, and everything else that we love to do at The Verge — including a massive new redesign that has given you all lots of feelings and opinions. I’ve been at The Verge for more than a decade now and seen the site change from the months before launch through all of our various challenges and triumphs.
The one constant has been you: the reader and member of our community. On behalf of everyone at The Verge: thank you. We’re grateful that you’ve joined us in this journey to the future and our best years are still ahead, together.
Happy New Year!
I really love this piece from my colleague Makena Kelly on the rise of “cozy games”, which both describes a sprawling genre and a cultural movement in gaming. I cut my teeth on a lot of intense FPS and action games growing up, but in recent years I have found a very happy place in games that allow you to have more of a relaxing experience — like wearing a warm sweater during the holidays. I’m happy to see this part of the industry be increasingly rewarded by consumers.
I saw a vague trailer for Knock at The Cabin in theaters a couple months ago and it was scary enough, but the latest trailer adds enough context from the story to amplify the horror substantially. Honestly, though, I’m posting this because we spent a while in Verge chat today talking about how much we stan Dave Bautista.
She’s an Austrian streamer who is currently digging deep in Dwarf Fortress, which loyal readers will know is my recent obsession. I love watching talented people figure out games in ways I can only aspire to.
[Twitch]
