TC Sottek
New astronaut portrait just dropped.
The Artemis II crew is looking mighty fine in their official portrait from NASA. We’re wishing them luck on their trip TO THE MOOOOOON!
TC Sottek
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TC Sottek
Cars are becoming featurephones and that’s a terrible future.
Andy just wrote about GM’s decision to trash CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of a custom infotainment system. In my opinion, this is move is absolute trash and a huge vote against consumers in a world where smartphones are ubiquitous and essential.
I hope GM rethinks this decision. And if the company sticks with this shameless play for new subscription revenue, I hope it’s punished by consumers such that competitors become frightened to follow in GM’s footsteps.
TC Sottek
Happy 25th birthday, Mozilla!
Mozilla — creator of Firefox — is celebrating a quarter century of existence today. Check out their blog post noting the occasion for a walk down memory lane, all the way back to the days of Netscape.
A quarter century of Mozilla | The Mozilla Blog
[The Mozilla Blog]
TC Sottek
TurboTax: still stinks.
The New York Times reports that TurboTax and other tax-filing companies are still trying to prevent the IRS from making its own free and easy electronic return system — a war TurboTax has been fighting for more than two decades.
Intuit told the Times that an IRS system “will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.” The company conveniently left out how much TurboTax will cost taxpayers.
Lobbyists Begin Chipping Away at Biden’s $80 Billion I.R.S. Overhaul
[The New York Times]
TC Sottek
Trump, indicted.
It’s happening. After enduring years of a maddening cycle of conversation that boils down to “will this guy ever be held accountable for his actions”, former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a New York grand jury for alleged crimes that are yet to be laid out in full detail.
The particulars of this story aren’t something that sits squarely in The Verge’s zone of coverage, but as Trump’s circle has threatened repercussions from the indictment, we’ll be monitoring the situation across major platforms.
Grand Jury Votes to Indict Donald Trump in New York: Live Updates
[The New York Times]
TC Sottek
March 28th, 2015: on this day in Verge history.
Remember Pebble? Exactly eight years ago, Pebble wrapped up its Pebble Time campaign on Kickstarter, raising just over $20 million for its latest smartwatch and setting a new crowdfunding record.
Remarkably, that record stood until March 31st, 2022, when author Brandon Sanderson doubled it by raising an astonishing $41,754,153 for a series of four novels. Nonetheless, eight years later, the Pebble Time still sits in the #2 spot for most funded projects on Kickstarter.
Pebble Time raised more than $20 million on Kickstarter
Lizzie Plaugic
TC Sottek
de_dust2 will be around long after we’re gone.
I love this detail from Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 announcement: the company has designated some classic maps as “touchstone” levels, which means that they will continue have their historical layouts preserved. Yes, that includes “Dust II”, which has been around since 2001.
If Counter-Strike is around 100 years from now, it’s probably a safe bet that Dust II will still be the same.
Image: Valve
TC Sottek
March 22nd, 2013: on this day in Verge history.
President Obama’s first FCC chief, Julius Genachowski, stepped down after a bruising years-long battle with ISPs over his 2010 net neutrality regulations. He then notably broke tradition by joining a private equity firm instead of immediately going to work for Comcast.
Not everybody got what they wanted during his tenure, but at least back then we had a fully functional agency that could accomplish things like blocking the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Consolidation is back on the menu!
TC Sottek
We’ll miss you, Lance Reddick.
Iconic star of The Wire, John Wick, Lost, Fringe, the video games Destiny and Horizon Zero Dawn, and the face of countless other roles, TMZ reports (with Variety confirming) that legendary actor Lance Reddick has died at age 60.
No matter where you saw him or heard his voice, Reddick was always immediately recognizable and added a ton of weight to anything he appeared in. As a former Baltimore resident, I will always cherish his role as the sharp and upstanding Cedric Daniels.
TC Sottek
Starlink is the latest internet boogeyman.
AP reports that Brazilian federal agents are fighting a new enemy: Starlink satellite internet service that is allegedly aiding illegal mining operations in the Amazon rainforest. Obviously illegal rainforest mining is bad, but this all smacks of the same aggro law enforcement angle against tech like encryption, which is a benefit to society and an incidental boon for some criminal activity.
It would be nice to shut down use of this service to raid a critical natural resource, but I hope it doesn’t compromise broader internet access for Brazilians.