After protests broke out in early January, the Iranian regime shut down the internet, starting the longest blackout in Iranian history. Despite this attempt to stop the protests from spreading, they did not stop. Still, the internet shutdown slowed down the spread of information both inside and outside Iran. Behind the heavily policed borders and … Read more
In Seattle, the only thing we love more than coffee is our coffee shops. On a six-block walk I pass at least a half dozen, each with their own vibe: one focused on chai, another inside a yoga studio, a Starbucks that’s surprisingly busy for late afternoon downtown. I passed them all up to get … Read more
I am not, by any definition, a coder, but when I started seeing people’s vibe-coded smart home projects all over my social feeds this month, I was intrigued. From a “master command center” built on a Lutron system to AI controlling a smart oven, people were unleashing AI in their smart homes, using Claude Code … Read more
Spotify is probably one of the most well-known music services available (if not the most popular) around — and it seems that the company it taking advantage of that. As of this month, Spotify announced that it was raising its prices, the third time since 2023. If that concerns you (especially if you’re a current … Read more
In a good and just society, it would have been possible to bury Charlie Kirk without either threatening mass violence toward his enemies or making light of his death with a furry sex meme. But America in 2025 did not remotely resemble a working society, let alone a civil one, and Kirk’s killing came prepackaged … Read more
These days when you want to engage with some media, you can choose from podcasts, videos, games, live performances — or books, one of the oldest and most popular ways to learn something new or escape (at least temporarily) from today’s troubled world. We polled the staff of The Verge to find out what books … Read more
On December 9th, Rolling Stone published a story that some saw as a bombshell: a network of coordinated, “inauthentic” social media accounts had a hand in the weekslong discourse that trailed the release of Taylor Swift’s recent album, The Life of a Showgirl. It was a big deal for those in the Swiftie/anti-Swiftie universe. Immediately … Read more
For many, iRobot’s Roomba robot vacuum was their first experience with a home robot. When I got my Roomba in 2005, I felt like I was a step closer to my dream of living in a Jetsons-style home where a robot did my chores for me. It was expensive, around $300 for a small black … Read more
