Yeah, if you had any remaining hope for CBS News under Bari Weiss, this should kill it. If they are pulling stories for these reasons, we just can't trust their reporting anymore.

This is true for A LOT of areas of study. AI is not 100% good or evil, but it is very powerful. It's better that students learn how to use it responsibly rather than stumble around on their own and possibly/likely make mistakes with a big impact.

Just to recap: The TikTok ban? Bad. The SCOTUS ruling upholding the TikTok ban? Also bad. Trump choosing not to enforce the ban? More bad. The Trump-backed mostly-US consortium taking over US Tiktok? You guessed it...bad.

Trump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers

I KNOW YOU THINK THINGS ARE BAD BUT WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THEY ARE ACTUALLY GOOD I WILL NOT PAUSE LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT IT I WILL JUST KEEP TALKING ABOUT HOW GOOD THINGS ARE TARIFFS

Trump's speech right now is just an absolutely chaos of lies and propaganda, but all the networks have to carry it because if they don't, he'll send the FCC and other government agencies after them. Fact checkers working tonight can't keep up with the just ever growing pile of blatant lies.

I'm starting to get back into keeping up with political news again. I mostly avoided it for the last year because, while it's a privilege not everyone has, my mental health just could not deal with it. Having said that, anyone have any good recs for #progressive political news sources on here?

What's tough for me is that I do think AI has some (limited) usefulness. The issue is that every company insists on forcing it down everyone's throat that even I get frustrated. I mean, I just moved entirely to the Brave browser & search engine because, while it has AI stuff, I can turn it all off.

Elle is just awesome. I'm really going to miss her covering women's basketball with Andraya and Chiney, but I hope her new job is good to her.

Support local news whenever you can. If you live (or are just interested) in Tennessee, the @tennesseelookout.com is a great outlet to support and follow.

😢

"Amazon has launched a new AI feature in the Kindle app that gives spoiler-free answers to questions about the book you’re reading and confirmed that authors can’t opt out from the feature." This is fine. Totally no problems at all about not giving authors the ability to opt-out. 🤦

This entire weekend

Great to see that Amazon and Funko Pop care so much about the @wnba.com that they can't even properly identify A'ja Wilson and Angel Reese. Also, these listings have been wrong for literal months. I've reported them several times, but they still have not been fixed.

@runwithskizzers.bsky.social I just wanted to drop a note that your BG3 thread is just amazing. I've played through 4 times, but I still love hearing what other people do. Plus, I've never played as a bard, so a lot of your dialogue choices are brand new to me! Keep being awesome and enjoy the game!

Granted Bluesky is a somewhat self-selecting environment, but just about every update I see about the Post makes me glad I cancelled my subscription. I know there are still good reporters doing good work there, but this 👇 is bonkers.

Shout-out to Good Game with @sarahspain.com, @theathletic.com' No Offseason, and @theverge.com's Vergecast for being some of my top podcasts of the year. I did end up moving more of my podcast consumption to video, so here's my top 5 from both @pocketcasts.com & YouTube.

"there's a new serif in town"

This is your daily confirmation that we live in the dumbest timeline. 🤦

I'll add that it's important to separate the underlying tech (artificial intelligence) from the various applications (many of which are indeed your classic grifts). The dot com bubble would eventually burst, but the Internet is still a remarkable and important invention. I see the same with AI.

It is simultaneously true that ML tools are incredibly useful and that many of their most intense adherents are selling snake oil

@davidpierce.xyz @reckless.bsky.social Random question for you both from a new dad-to-be. My wife & I are wanting to get something to play music in the baby's room from streaming sources like Spotify w/o using our own phones. Is the best bet to just get a really cheap Android phone?

The fact that this is apparently even a question is just bonkers. What are we even doing? 🤦

This is a wild story to read as I work in Nashville just a few streets over from Music Row. Granted I'm not in the music industry, but still.

Given recent AI shenanigans from Google, I'm looking for a new general news app. Anyone have any good recs for an app that brings in news from reliable sources? Basically I want something that is not social media. If anyone knows of a good one, let me know.

While a ton of national media parachuted in for the special election, @tennesseelookout.com has been here the whole time reporting & breaking news. And when those outlets all leave, the TN Lookout will still be here. If you have a few dollars, send them to a good cause and support local journalism.

It's an 18% point improvement, so that's something to hold on to. But we know that 1) Dems typically overperform in special elections, 2) incumbents are hard to beat in general elections, & 3) we have no idea if @aftynbehn.bsky.social would give up her State House seat to run for this seat in '26.

I'm soo nervous, and this is not even my district.

Yeah, this is really, really bad. 😬 Looks like I picked the right time to start to de-Google my internet usage. I know I won't be able to leave Gmail, Google Calendar, or Android, but I have switched to a new browser, search engine, & I'm on the lookout for a better general news reader.

I was helping my dad with something the other day (he just had heart surgery a few weeks ago), and he was scrolling Facebook. Between total AI videos, real videos with AI voiceovers, and totally made up AI slop like this, Facebook is a minefield of mis and disinformation these days.

@jessicasmetana.bsky.social This is somewhat random, but you know ball much more than I do. Do you see any possible scenario where Vanderbilt makes the playoff? Given the small number of games on Saturday, I'm assuming not (even if BYU & Bama both lose), but I wanted to get your expert opinion.

Highly recommended, especially at this price point. Great tech reviews, tech chat, and ad-free podcasts. IMHO one of the best values out there in the field. Thank you for what you guys do, The Verge.

Granted I have not played that many games this year, but this is probably my game of the year. Once they fix a few bugs, I'm probably going to start another playthrough. If you have any interest in story-rich RPGs, this is a great one to pickup!

Anyone else have the experience where you have a big "people-ly" day like Thanksgiving, and then you are just socially shot for days after? I spend 12 hours surrounded by different large groups of people, and then I spend the next 48 just avoiding everyone but my wife to try and recharge.

I swear. The one thing that is going to get me to actually lose weight is not the health benefits or saving money on not eating out. It's going to be the almost total lack of #WNBA merch options larger than 2xl-3xl. Between the lack of plus sizes & the Fanatics monopoly, I'm dying for a new hoodie.🤦

@sarahjeong.bsky.social Just wanted to drop a note and say you were great on the Limewire episode of Version History! I could watch you, @reckless.bsky.social, & @davidpierce.xyz talk about any tech topic. Hope you have a great day!

Went straight in order of odds, but we'll take it. Seattle with the #3 pick should be good. Now to get a CBA done and pay these players!

Just tuned into ESPN to watch the WNBA Draft Lottery. It's a bit odd to see players represent every team in the running except for Chicago. The Sky couldn't get any players out to LA for this?

The newest edition to our Christmas tree this year! #OregonTrail

So according to howlongtobeat.com, The Outer Worlds 2 should take about 51 hours to beat if you're doing absolutely everything. ... I'm at 60 hours, and I haven't even gotten to the last area yet. I guess that means I really like yet another game from @obsidian.net! Shocking, I know. 🤷

This thread is amazing. Take some time out today for a positive mental health break and scroll through these. The last one continues to be one commercial I really, really love.

@sabreenajm.bsky.social Finally got to watch the latest No Offseason & the talk about the top 10 cities for women's sports. I appreciate you speaking up for TN, but I do have a small correction. UT & the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is in Knoxville, not Nashville. I wish they were in Nashville!

Between Cloudflare this week and AWS a couple of weeks ago, I think a lot of normal people are starting to learn how precarious the backend of the internet can be.

If Duke loses this game to West Virginia when WV only had 5 eligible players the ENTIRE 2nd half, Duke should not be ranked moving forward. I love Kara Lawson, but this is ridiculous.

Pat McAfee is proudly “apolitical,” saying sports is meant to unify. And yet he still finds ways to be divisive.

At what point in the last decade has the GOP given even the slightest indication that they care about shame? They are the definition of shameless, and ending the shutdown without guaranteeing the ACA protections (not just getting the promise of a vote) is just cowardly.

@benpickman.bsky.social @sabreenajm.bsky.social @zenakeita.bsky.social Hello No Offseason! Love the podcast, but I wanted to pitch you on something. Since the NCAAW season starts w/ mostly uncompetitive cupcake games, could you spotlight some actual good games to watch in the 1st part of the season?

@sarahspain.com Just catching up on this week's episodes, & as a Tennessean, I'd like to offer some constructive feedback on your pronunciation of Lady Vols. Every time I've heard you say it, it sounds like Vols rhymes with vole (the animal). It would be more accurate to rhyme with ball or Volunteer

@reckless.bsky.social Any chance of @theverge.com getting __ number of sharable gift articles for subscribers? I share Verge articles A LOT, & it's tough to share something that doesn't have any sign of being subscriber only, but then who I share it with can't read it. Thanks for considering it!