This week on Optimizer, a reminder that accuracy in health tracking isn't as important as consistency. None of these smart scales ever gives me the same reading and it's impossible to gain/lose 5% muscle in a day. Fixating on individual numbers is a losing game. tinyurl.com/3vjwhhdz

These Meta Glasses aren't Ray-Bans... but one of them is a collaboration with Kylie Jenner. Also Meta's VP of Wearables Alex Himel told me that updates to improve privacy are on the way. tinyurl.com/3br3pc67

You know what’s the most messed up indirect GLP-1 side effect? Losing too much EAR FAT so you become unable to regulate inner ear pressure, so you have to hang upside down a few times a day to pop your ears OR your ears just pop nonstop 24/7. I’m beginning to understand why Van Gough.

It’s been almost two weeks since I downloaded iOS 27. My phone is still indexing.

This week on Optimizer, I talk about the travesty that is US sunscreen, why it’s about to get better, and not listening to wellness grifters who say you can build up solar calluses.

:Taps sign: The number one rule of wearable design is that they must be comfy and stylistically versatile enough for everyday wear. These.... are not that. www.theverge.com/report/95148...

$2,195 lol That alone will make this a hard sell to non-devs. www.theverge.com/tech/950492/...

Does this count as Elon threatening my life lol

Thinking about this story a lot while testing so many AI products this conference season. Reminder: You read it from @miasato.bsky.social first. www.theverge.com/tech/900302/...

There’s a special place in jail for people who put their backpacks, small bags, and jackets in the overhead bin on a full flight after multiple asks to not do that.

The range of emotions going from a super busy day full of WWDC and Siri AI coverage to the Knicks losing and learning the Knicks in 4 thing is a Kalshi ad has left me with the crispiest brain. I’m going to stare at a wall now.

A lot of people are mad and defensive that I pointed out Kalshi is deeply entangled in the viral Knicks rhyme, which is fine! I’m just pointing it out because I’ve reported on the covert marketing and advertising these prediction markets are doing www.theverge.com/business/905...

🫩🥲😭

Fuck Trump for many things but especially for fucking up Knicks in 4.

The watchOS site updated to say Series 9 and later is supported. This makes more sense given that’s when the chip was updated to better support AI features.

This week’s Optimizer is about an unexpected reason why stepping on a scale gave me some anxiety: www.theverge.com/column/94363...

:taps sign:

I admit, if you ignore where it says ‘unreleased’ right below the headline (and on our homepage), then skip past the part where we say it required a code review, and ignore paragraphs 4, 8, 10, 12, 16, and all the adjectives that mean undisclosed, it does read like an active feature.

Just gonna leave what seems to be my evergreen take here: www.theverge.com/column/88174...

It me!

Happy Pride. I remain proud to work at a site that publishes important trans health journalism like this. tinyurl.com/mr2jxvrx

Hi, some good news for the Supernatural community 🥹 www.theverge.com/news/941816/...

Hacks is a perfect show.

I just got four days of nonstop napping and catching up on sleep. Am convinced sleep deprivation is how God decided to nerf my powers because if I slept 10 hours a night every day, it’d be over — OVER — for all of you.

Today my TikTok FYP showed me videos of: cave diving tragedies, ppl dying on Mt Everest, Australian spiders, and that one lady solo rowing from California to Hawaii. Check on your outdoorsy white friends. They may be making stupid decisions as we speak.

This week on Optimizer — some extra tidbits from my Enhanced Games coverage. Specifically some conversation about bodily autonomy, what you put in your body, and how hard it is to find reliable information in the wellness Wild West. www.theverge.com/column/93946...

Biohackers say drugs can help you be your best self. It’s hard to spot when they’re not telling the whole truth. Read more from @vicmsong.bsky.social in this week's Optimizer:

New: If Wikipedia breaks, the rest of the internet breaks. But now a series of layoffs at the nonprofit that supports the site has alarmed volunteer editors. Hundreds of them — responsible for millions of edits — are threatening to strike. Gift link: www.theverge.com/report/93944...

Who has two thumbs and just finished an 11-day work week? Dis bitch. Who gonna nap for four days??? Dis bitch but add a cat on top of her.

It didn't make it into my coverage (sometimes u gotta kill your darlings) but when I was leaving the venue on Sunday, this one lady kept waving bottles saying "WHO WANTS SEXY WATER?!" I don't know what sexy water is, nor do I care to find out. I did not take a bottle.

We sent @vicmsong.bsky.social to the invite-only ‘Steroid Olympics’ in Vegas, where performance-enhancing drugs are not only allowed, but encouraged. Here's what happened: www.theverge.com/features/937...

Hello, my writeup of the Enhanced Games is up. A lot happened. Here's a gift link: tinyurl.com/3s4cekke

This is just to say that being at the center of media drama sucks but I genuinely adore my coworkers and feel privileged to work with them.

Besides the "FOOTHILLS OF THE SINGULARITY" comment at the end of yesterday's I/O keynote, Hassabis also made a bold comment about using AI to "solve all disease." In this early issue of Optimizer, let's unpack that statement with the contextualization it deserves! tinyurl.com/5ac76mn9

Everything I have learned about Bryan Johnson is against my will.

Three Android XR glasses are arriving this year! Here’s my latest hands on. www.theverge.com/tech/933125/...

United keeps bragging about Starlink on its flights. Yeah, well, I've had exactly ONE united flight with starlink and now I'm even more miserable when I'm stuck with United's regular doo doo wifi.

Personalized health is the holy grail, but there’s a long way to go before algorithms can factor in chronic conditions. Read more from @vicmsong.bsky.social in this week's Optimizer:

This week in Optimizer, I wanted to talk about this quest for “personalized health” — why tech is chasing it, and how it falls short. Especially if you, like me, are one of the 170 million women worldwide who have PMOS (formerly known as PCOS). tinyurl.com/cbzxrjnt

For the love of god can every word processing software stop shoving AI writing tools down my throat… or at least make it opt in instead of opt out by default.

I just looked at my calendar for the next two weeks and please pray for me.

I wrote about being inundated with AI writing at every turn, unwittingly turning my brain into the AI police, and how shitty AI writing is randomly showing up in my real life outside of the internet www.404media.co/your-ai-use-...

My eye continues twitching www.reuters.com/business/hea...

This week in Optimizer, I expand on Fitbit nostalgia in light of the new Fitbit Air announcement. A Fitbit Charge HR was my first ever tracker, and while many ways, the Air is a return to Fitbit's roots... AI health coaching is a new era in health tech. www.theverge.com/column/92670...

Sat down with Science Quickly and @feltman.bsky.social to talk peptides! This was a fun conversation about the hype versus the science. www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

If you've learned the phrase "Wolverine stack" stack against your will and want to know what science actually says about the peptide craze, check out my conversation with @vicmsong.bsky.social for Science Quickly @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

I don’t like the new NJ Transit app design. I hated that app and now I dislike it even more.

My first thought was the Fitbit Air was a Whoop dupe. But then I started thinking it was a throwback to ye olde Fitbits. And then they told me the Fitbit app is getting rebranded to Google Health. It’s a lot. www.theverge.com/gadgets/9254...

When I say that every day this man strays further and further from the light of god, I did not mean to suggest that he :checks notes: clear a path for tanning beds. FOR MINORS. For the love of god use sunscreen.

Another Mia banger about how the internet's gig economy keeps shifting. I was, in fact, wondering about all the clips on my feed AND BECAUSE I READ THE THING I NOW KNOW WHY.