Tech policy nerds, please apply. I’m extremely proud of The Verge’s policy coverage over the past decade, which has led to lots of citations in Congress and real change in the tech industry. If you’re interested in leading policy coverage at The Verge, please apply:
[boards.greenhouse.io]
Well, this is a touch embarrassing. Epic Games just got hit by an... epic... $520 million fine for allegedly scummy business practices like tricking kids into making unwanted purchases. In its own press release, the company pretends like accepting the FTC’s fine puts it “at the forefront of consumer protection.” Sure.
But all Epic had to do was look at its arch-nemesis, Apple, which got hit with a similar fine way back in 2014. For those keeping score, Epic’s fine is $487.5 million higher than Apple’s was. Innovation!
Devon Palmer is hands-down one of the funniest people on TikTok and his latest skit speaks to my soul about quantified health. Enjoy your step counters, I’ll be counting pebbles.
Many of my colleagues in the industry are now quitting Twitter for some of the same reasons I did. And honestly — Elon hasn’t changed much. It has been a hive of scum and villainy for many years. I won’t say “I told you so” — I’ll just be glad for anyone who escapes its clutches.
Here’s a thing about me: I was once a huge EverQuest nerd. If you were too, you should know that there’s still a vibrant community of players who have created their own classic experience in a private server. If you were a former player who needs family at this time of year, I suggest you check it out.
[www.project1999.com]
All I want for Christmas is this special holiday episode of Murderville, out today on Netflix. This is a very silly show but also one of my favorite new series this year. The real joy in each episode of this murder mystery improv is waiting for the celebrity guest stars to break.
Following a recent report that we co-published with The Markup, Senator Elizabeth Warren and her colleagues are looking into the sharing of sensitive financial data with Meta from tax filing companies. It’s an important step toward accountability — but maybe this wouldn’t have been such a problem in the first place if the IRS would just fix the way Americans do taxes.
I’m dying to know which QuickBooks accounting software plan FTX was subscribed to. “Simple start” for $15 a month, or did it splurge on “Advanced” for $100?
Mini Motorways is a charming game about building traffic grids until they inevitably break and everyone in town is unhappy with you. (Boo, cars.) I always found it both relaxing and stressful — until a recent update removed the stress by letting you keep playing after “Game Over.” I am really loving this trend in game design that lets people play things at their own pace.
