I played several Infocom text-based games in high school (Zork being the most famous example) and loved the Invisiclues system: a booklet with hints to the Infocom puzzles, printed in invisible ink that you swiped with a special marker to reveal the answers. I recently discovered they’re available online for all of Infocom’s games, with obscured answers that you must click to reveal.

What made Invisiclues especially fun and clever was that the booklet wouldn’t immediately give you a direct answer. Instead, it would often start with a vague solution—for example, in Zork, the first answer to “How do I open the egg without damaging it?” is “You don’t”, hinting at another who could—with the answers increasing in specificity before finally revealing the explicit solution.

(The booklets also included fake or unhelpful clues, which I found terribly amusing. In Zork, the answer to “Is the gas of any use?” is “It’s great for blowing up dim-witted adventurers who wander into a coal mine with an open flame.” Having been one of those dim-witted adventurers, I chortled.)

This is a completely niche site for People of a Certain Age and Geekiness, and I’ve already spent an inordinate amount of time exploring it.

Bilge Ebiri, in Vulture, with a terrific oral history of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (via New York magazine in Apple News+):

It is the strangest movie. When Ron Howard and Jim Carrey teamed up to make a live-action feature-film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s beloved children’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas, some might have expected a straightforwardly heartwarming family picture, but the resulting 2000 film was nothing of the sort.

I really enjoyed reading this history of this movie, which has become a holiday classic—but I’ve never seen it (I can only take Carrey’s manic energy in small amounts). It intrigued me enough to finally consider watching the darn film, a quarter-century later. The history also left me deeply impressed by Carrey’s commitment to his over-the-top performance.

When this story came out a couple of weeks ago, the anecdote making the rounds was about Carrey’s panic attacks during filming and needing an intervention to help him survive the full-body makeup process:

Carrey: Richard Marcinko was a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture. He gave me a litany of things that I could do when I began to spiral. Like punch myself in the leg as hard as I can. Have a friend that I trust and punch him in the arm. Eat everything in sight. Changing patterns in the room. If there’s a TV on when you start to spiral, turn it off and turn the radio on. Smoke cigarettes as much as possible. There are pictures of me as the Grinch sitting in a director’s chair with a long cigarette holder. I had to have the holder, because the yak hair would catch on fire if it got too close.

Later on I found out that the gentleman that trained me to endure the Grinch also founded SEAL Team Six. But what really helped me through the makeup process, which they eventually pulled down to about three hours, was the Bee Gees. I listened through the makeup process to the entire Bee Gees catalogue. Their music is so joyful. I’ve never met Barry Gibb, but I want to thank him.

Quite the fun Christmas Day read.

I was (and remain) a huge fan of Alton Brown’s Good Eats (and its various reboots and related books), so I’m thrilled to see he’s back with a new YouTube series, Alton Brown Cooks Food (episode 1, The Big Bird, revisits his classic roast turkey recipe). He’s five episodes in, and it’s everything I love about AB and Good Eats—from cameras-in-ovens to detailed-yet-digestible food concepts to his sarcastic sense of humor (which very much aligns with my own)—just with less over-the-top stagecraft. Even if I’ll never make a standing rib roast or gluten-free sugar cookies, I’m happy he’s returned to my screen.

Rob Carlson:

Interesting (but entirely anecdotal) note since I started responding with human trafficking assistance resources to every incoming sha zhu pan (“pig butchering”) text message -- they have stopped completely. I believe I got added to some exclusion list the criminals pass around. So I can endorse this strategy on several levels now.

Pig butchering “is a type of online scam where the victim is encouraged to make increasing financial contributions over a long period,” often initiated via a text message or phone call with a seemingly random query—“Are you free tomorrow?” or “I found your number while checking my contacts. Did I save the wrong number, or have we chatted before? 😅”—which I got today.

These “misdirected” text messages and phone calls rely on our human tendency to be helpful (“sorry, wrong number”). Once you’ve responded, the scammer will strike up a conversation, which will eventually—perhaps weeks or months later—lead to a request to send or make money.

I usually block-and-report these messages and calls as spam, but Carlson takes a different approach, recognizing that the scammers are themselves often victims. From that aforelinked Wikipedia entry:

Perpetrators are typically victims of a fraud factory, where they are lured to travel internationally under false pretenses, trafficked to another location, and forced to commit the fraud by organised crime gangs.

In an effort to combat this, Carlson responds with this message:

Sometimes people who send messages like this aren’t doing it by choice, and are being forced or trafficked into it. If that’s what’s happening, you don’t have to tell me details but please know you can get help confidentially and for free. You can message @BeFree (233733) in the U.S. or visit humantraffickinghotline.org for local numbers in other countries. They can connect you with safety, shelter, and legal help without involving the police unless you want that.

The potential dual benefits of reducing scam texts and addressing one of the underlying causes have me reconsidering my block-as-spam approach—though I remain wary of engaging.

Others in the thread have noted that Carlson’s options are U.S.-centric, and they’ve suggested other global resources, including:

• Thailand (via badsamurai)
• Australia (via Stib)
• Norway (via Lemmus)

I expect several more resources will be added to the thread.

If you’re curious to learn more about pig butchering—and how to protect yourself from the scam—read these three articles:

• Stay Safe Online: What Is Pig Butchering And How To Spot The Scam (2024)
• investopedia: Pig Butchering Scams: What They Are and The Red Flags You Must Spot Early (2025)
• ProPublica: What’s a Pig Butchering Scam? Here’s How to Avoid Falling Victim to One (2022)

I’ll end with this advice from Investopedia:

If you have already invested money with someone you suspect may be a scammer, stop all communication with them immediately and contact your bank or financial institution to report the incident and discuss your options for recovering your funds. You should also report the scam to the appropriate authorities, such as the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

What to Do If You’ve Been Scammed

1. If you suspect you’ve fallen victim to a pig butchering scam, you should immediately take the following steps:

2. Stop all contact with the scammer immediately.

3. Notify your bank or broker and block any further payments to the scammer.

4. Report the crime to local law enforcement and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

5. Gather all documentation related to the scam (text messages, screenshots, financial records, etc.) to assist investigators.

6. Consider seeking counseling to help you cope with the emotional impact of the financial loss and the other effects of being scammed.

The Kansas City Chiefs have played in Kansas City, Missouri since 1963, and in Arrowhead Stadium since 1972 (the third oldest stadium in the NFL). Come 2031, they’ll have a new stadium in a new city, and be known as… the Kansas City Chiefs:

Today we are excited to take another momentous step for the future of the franchise. We have entered into an agreement with the State of Kansas to host Chiefs football beginning with the 2031 NFL season. In the years ahead, we look forward to designing and building a state-of-the-art domed stadium and mixed-use district in Wyandotte County, and a best-in-class training facility, team headquarters, and mixed-use district in Olathe, totaling a minimum of $4 billion of development in the State of Kansas.

I believe this is unique in sporting history, with no other professional sports franchise moving from one city to another and keeping its full city and team name. The only other team that could realistically do this is… the Kansas City Royals.

The new stadium won’t be cheap. Clark Hunt, chairman and CEO of the Chiefs, as quoted in The Kansas Reflector (the headline for which—“Chiefs moving to Kansas with $3.3 billion plan for domed stadium, training facility”—I’d originally misread as “doomed stadium” and thought, that’s awfully pessimistic):

“The stadium we estimate will be approximately $3 billion,” Hunt said. “The practice facility will be approximately $300 million and then we have committed to do a mixed-use district that will have at least $700 million invested both in Olathe and Wyandotte County, and it could go up from there.”

Fortunately, Kansas is ponying up 60% of the cost. Plus, the team can save on rebranding expenses.

The Athletic offers an FAQ on the move, including this delightful nugget:

What other features will absolutely be at the new stadium?

Hunt highlighted two important factors based on fan surveys: Having a loud stadium and one that features great tailgating.

“We’ll work really hard on both of those,” Hunt said, “to make sure that we deliver something that’s as good or better than they have now.”

Donovan said he believed there were design possibilities available that could make the Chiefs’ home stadium even louder than it is now.

Arrowhead is already the loudest football stadium in the league. I hope the new stadium comes with earplugs.

Muhammad Ali, “The Greatest,” is finally getting his wish:

Ali once said, “I should be a postage stamp, because that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.”

(Of course, today’s stamps are self-adhesive, so Ali gets his stamp, but still won’t get licked.)

Ali’s wife Lonnie and broadcaster Bob Costas will host a “first-day-of-issue event” on January 15, 2026, ahead of the tenth anniversary of Ali’s death. I don’t usually get excited about postage stamps, but I’ve preordered these (and the associated Field Notes notebook).

Jim Harrington, The Mercury News (gift link):

The San Francisco Giants have just made an important acquisition.

But, no, it’s not a power-hitting second baseman so the team can better compete with the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2026.

It’s actually the Curran Theatre.

This news came out of left field. It’s being covered by Around the Foghorn and the SFGate sports section, and by Playbill and Deadline—quite the double-play.

Larry Baer, president and CEO of the Giants:

Acquiring the Curran expands our commitment to San Francisco and reinforces our core belief that sports, arts and culture are essential to San Francisco’s identity, economy and resurgence.

The Giants also are 50% owners of the Mission Rock neighborhood across from their ballpark; buying the Curran reinforces that they’re as much a real estate business as they are a baseball team.

This shouldn’t have shocked me; back in March, after the Giants sold a 10% stake in the team to a private equity firm, Baer was quoted in The New York Times:

“This is not about a stockpile for the next Aaron Judge,” he said, referring to the New York Yankees star. “This is about improvements to the ballpark, making big bets on San Francisco and the community around us, and having the firepower to take us into the next generation.”

Buying an historic, 103—year old theatre is an undeniably “big bet,” and certainly a commitment to the City, yet despite my love of both baseball and broadway, I’d much rather the Giants spend their windfall improving on-field performance.

Though perhaps they could commission a new play: Damn Dodgers.

(Via Cathy Hammer.)

Steve Hayman, “freshly retired” after 32 years at Apple (and a former colleague), on Saturday:

On this day in 1996, I was summoned to a phone call - which I took at a pay phone at the Steamtown Railroad Museum for complicated reasons involving new baby - in which we learned that Apple had agreed to buy NeXT.

My immediate reaction was: "wait, WHO is buying us? Apple? They're the only company going out of business faster than WE are."

It worked out pretty well.

Longtime Apple watchers like to joke that NeXT bought Apple for negative $400 million. It’s hard to argue against that. The NeXT merger remains the most consequential in Apple’s history. It is singular in its downstream effects; entire businesses and industries would not exist without it. The NeXTSTEP operating system became the foundation of Mac OS X, and thus, over time, of iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and HomePod. And, of course, the return of Steve Jobs set the stage that transformed a moribund business into a $4 trillion behemoth.

Steve wrote an expanded version of his post that offers more detail of that day, including this charming anecdote:

Two weeks earlier, I’d got a call from a former NeXT colleague Barb, who’d gone to work for Apple. She wanted to know if I wanted to come along.

“No thank you”, I replied politely, when what I was really thinking was “What, that bunch of losers? Why would I go there? They’re the only company going out of business faster than WE are.”

But the merger happened anyway, and Barb called me about a minute after it was announced to say “Well, we really wanted to hire you, so this is the only plan we could think of.”

The LADbible Stories YouTube channel released this fascinating video a couple of weeks ago:

In this episode of Honesty Box, Former CIA Spy and Whistleblower, John Kiriakou spills all about working for America’s primary intelligence agency.

I watched this with my mouth agape as Kiriakou unflinchingly answered questions like “What skills make a good agent?” (“people who have sociopathic tendencies”); “Are hitmen real?” (yes; a committee meets every morning at 9 am to review a “kill list”); “How does the CIA recruit spies?” (they spend lots of money and time “becoming best friends” with future “assets”); and “Does the CIA listen through our phones and laptop cameras?” (yes—and they can “remotely take control of your car… to make you kill yourself and make it look like an accident”).

What surprised me was hearing him give unequivocal “yes, and…” answers, with details, context, and examples behind them—no prevarication, no hedging—he just outright said it. His forthrightness made me wonder just how much of what he was saying was true and how much was simply believable. It certainly lends an air of both invincibility and inevitability to the CIA—something I’m sure they’re happy to cultivate.

For context (which I didn’t have before this video), Kiriakou was a CIA officer who in 2007 exposed the CIA’s waterboarding of al-Qaeda prisoners, and was convicted and sentenced in 2012 to 30 months in prison for “passing classified information to the media” (he served 23 months). I remember the waterboarding disclosures and outcry, but not the person, nor the arrest and trial that followed.

He was also a script advisor on The Bourne Ultimatum, Burn Notice, and a couple of other spy shows. (One note of advice he offered for watching shows: “If somebody calls the CIA ‘The Company,’ turn it off.”)

After watching Kiriakou, I wished I was able to ask him my own questions, like “How do you recognize a foreign agent?” and “Do you believe there are foreign spies working at high levels of the U.S. government?” and “What would a spy be doing differently compared to what some members of Congress are doing today?”

(Via my friend and former colleague, Jason Yeo.)

Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times (gift link):

The Trump administration plans to ramp up efforts to strip some naturalized Americans of their citizenship, according to internal guidance obtained by The New York Times, marking an aggressive new phase in President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The guidance, issued on Tuesday to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices, asks that they “supply Office of Immigration Litigation with 100–200 denaturalization cases per month” in the 2026 fiscal year.

There were 90 criminal and civil denaturalization cases filed in 2018—the most since the 1990s—but they plan on processing up to twice that every month? That’s not a legal process, it’s an assault on citizenship.

I continue to bang on about this because it’s more than an intimidation tactic to silence 26 million naturalized Americans—it’s a precursor to the Trump regime deciding, without any legal recourse, who it counts as “citizens” and who are therefore worthy of the government’s protection.

It’s not hard to grasp the Trump regime’s twisted logic here: naturalized citizens represent ten percent of eligible voters; 55% of them live in four states (California, Florida, New York and Texas); they are overwhelmingly non-white (Hispanic or Asian); and they lean Democratic across most ethnic groups.

Voter suppression by any other name smells as foul.

Sam Becker, Fast Company:

In a surprising move, Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT) said on Thursday that it is fusing itself to a fusion company.

The company will merge with TAE Technologies—a privately held fusion energy firm that’s backed by Alphabet, Chevron Technology Ventures, and others—in a deal that’s worth more than $6 billion.

It’s an all-stock deal, which is expected to close sometime next year, and is a huge and eyebrow-raising move for Trump Media, which is best known as the owner of President Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.

Of course. It makes perfect sense for a social media company owned by the president of the United States to merge with a fusion energy firm that’s funded by Google, Chevron, and—checks notes—the government of Russia.

This has so far been great news for investors in DJT, which is up 40% today on the news (but still down 63% from its 2025 high).

From the press release:

Upon closing, shareholders of each company will own approximately 50% of the combined company on a fully diluted equity basis.

Donald Trump owns 41% of Trump Media—which he controls via a revocable trust of which he is the sole beneficiary and his son, Donald Trump Jr., is the sole trustee—garnering him about 20.5% ownership of the merged company, worth over $1.2 billion. I’m sure there won’t be any conflicts of interest.

The companies have posted supplemental slides to their respective websites, all of which can be accessed at tmtgcorp.com and tae.com.

tae.com:

Truly confidence-inspiring.

Deal to combine TMTG’s access to significant capital […]

TMTG is controlled by the president of the United States, who has the power to regulate the energy industry, and he knows people. That capital can come from anywhere—sovereign wealth funds, billionaires, American taxpayers. We don’t know. We don't care.

The transaction will combine the strength of TMTG’s strong balance sheet with TAE’s leading technologies. As part of the transaction, TMTG has agreed to provide up to $200 million of cash to TAE at signing and an additional $100 million is available upon initial filing of the Form S-4.

TMTG lost $54.8 million on $973,000 in revenue last quarter. Investor’s Business Daily: “Trump Media stock has a low 1 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The stock also has a 6 Relative Strength Rating and an 11 EPS Rating.”

This is not a good business.

TAE’s next-generation fusion technology is poised for commercial application. After more than 25 years of research and development, TAE has significantly reduced fusion reactor size, cost and complexity. TAE has built and safely operated five fusion reactors […]

Fast Company: “Notably, there are not currently any operating fusion power plants. […] Further, the latest annual survey from Fusion Industry Association found that 75% of respondents don’t expect fusion power plants to start supplying energy to the grid until the 2030s.”

This is not a good business.

[…] and raised more than $1.3 billion in private capital to date from Google, Chevron Technology Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, NEA, the visionary family offices of Addison Fischer, the Samberg Family, Charles Schwab, and others.

And it’s high time we cashed out.

The transaction […] is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Did we mention that the president of the United States is a 20.5% shareholder, now? We anticipate no regulatory issues.

The mission of Trump Media is to end Big Tech's assault on free speech by opening up the Internet and giving people their voices back. Trump Media operates Truth Social, a social media platform established as a safe harbor for free expression amid increasingly harsh censorship by Big Tech corporations, as well as Truth +, a TV streaming platform focusing on family-friendly live TV channels and on-demand content. Trump Media is also launching Truth.Fi, a financial service and FinTech brand incorporating America First investment vehicles.

Harnessing the power of the sun is a natural next step.

What incentive was there for TMTG to merge now with TAE? The subhed of their pitch deck (“Advancing America’s energy dominance and powering the A.I. revolution”) offers one clue. Another is noted by TechCrunch:

Last week, industry representatives met with Energy Department officials, urging them to help direct billions of dollars toward fusion projects, and earlier this year, the DOE announced a new roadmap to guide commercial efforts in the sector […]

Ah. Coincidental, I’m sure, that the president’s administration is urged to invest in America’s fusion future, and, before doing so, the president’s personal company invests first.

Is that what they mean by “front-running”?

Or is it still cronyism?

I absolutely love this. Three years ago, Donald Trump sued the Pulitzer Board for defamation after it awarded its 2018 National Reporting prize to The Washington Post and The New York Times for their stories on Russian election interference. That case has been wending its way through the court system. Now, reports The New Republic, the Pulitzer Board has responded:

President Trump’s spiteful defamation suit against the Pulitzer Prize Board may backfire, as the latter is now demanding Trump’s psychological records, prescription medication records, and tax returns in the discovery process. […]

“To the extent You seek damages for any physical ailment or mental or emotional injury arising from Counts I-IV of Your Complaint, all Documents (whether held by You or by third parties under Your control or who could produce them at your direction) concerning Your medical and/or psychological health from January 1, 2015, to present, including any prescription medications you have been prescribed or have taken,” the board wrote in their filing. “For the avoidance of doubt, this includes all Documents Concerning Your annual physical examination. To the extent you do not seek such damages in this action, please confirm so in writing.”

This is exactly how everyone who’s targeted by Trump’s frivolous lawsuits should respond: by demanding extensive discovery of sensitive or potentially embarrassing documents. It’s a virtual certainty that Trump will now quietly drop this lawsuit before it gets too far into discovery (or push for a settlement so he can claim victory). If every Trump litigation target pursued this aggressive discovery strategy, perhaps he’d stop using these asinine lawsuits as a bullying tactic.

See also: BBC says it will defend Trump defamation lawsuit over Panorama speech edit.

Vanity Fair’s glossy, hagiographic profile of Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, is fascinating for the candor of its subject as for anything else. (If paygated, here’s a News+ link and AP’s summary.) The attention-grabbing quotes (‘Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality.”’; J.D. Vance ‘has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.”’) are juicy, the normalization of Trump is maddening, the sane woman in an insane world vibe is deeply disingenuous, and the non-denial denials are flying fast and furious, but here’s what caught my attention:

Wiles’s childhood had prepared her for difficult men. She was raised in Stamford, Connecticut, and Saddle River, New Jersey, the only daughter and eldest of three siblings. It was her famous father, Pat Summerall, who put Wiles on a path to the pinnacle of political power. Summerall had been a kicker for the New York Giants and afterward parlayed his knowledge and mellifluous baritone into fame and fortune as the “voice of the NFL.”

I had no idea she was Summerall’s daughter.

The “alcoholic’s personality” description of Trump comes from her experience with her father’s alcoholism:

The most valuable gift Susie got from her dad was hard-earned. Summerall was an absentee father and an alcoholic, and Wiles helped her mother stage interventions to get him into treatment. […]

“Some clinical psychologist that knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say. But high-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.” Wiles said Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality.” He “operates [with] a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”

That’s also, coincidentally, the personality of a megalomaniac who hubristically believes that opposing him is a cause of death.

Then there’s this:

Wiles is the most powerful person in Trump’s White House other than the president himself; unlike any chief of staff before her, she is a woman.

That’s not true. Everyone knows C.J. Cregg was the first female Chief of Staff, during the final two years of President Josiah Bartlet’s second term.

Donald Trump’s despicable attack on Rob Reiner (which he later doubled down on) prompted former CBS journalist Sam Litzinger to opine:

The day Trump dies should be declared a world holiday.

I disagree. Trump would welcome that, even in death, because it keeps his name alive. Instead we should all simply forget him. Refer to him simply as “the 45 and 47th president.” Render him as obscure a figure as John Tyler and as unmemorable as James Buchanan. Nothing would trouble Trump more than knowing he’ll be a forgotten footnote in history.

Keith Olbermann, on a “special bulletin edition” of his Countdown podcast (Overcast; Apple Podcasts):

To be that sick, that soulless, that self obsessed, that messianic—every word I have spoken in ten years of pointing to Trump’s insanity and Trump’s evil has evidently been insufficient. Whatever they total to, Donald Trump is twice as sick and twice as evil as I have said. […]

We do have a prominent public figure suffering from a massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession and obvious paranoia, and that public figure is Donald Trump, and his emotional and psychological incapacity for the presidency or any public role in this country is so obvious and so overwhelming that every further minute he is permitted by his enablers to stay in that job he risks the life of every living thing on this planet. Eventually, he and those enablers will wind up in hell. I pity them. But right now, a man this sick, this evil, this disconnected from reality, will physically do to us, if he feels he must, what he has just metaphorically done to the late Rob Reiner. He has celebrated his own claim that he helped cause this man’s death. We are next.

Few do outrage as well as Olbermann, and he captures mine perfectly, especially Trump’s need to be “the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.” The scales are also falling from the eyes of even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters. Maybe, just maybe, we’ve reached a turning point.

I debated linking to this but, well, here we are; Donald Trump, on his blog^[1]:

A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!

Absolutely pathetic.

In writing this self-aggrandizing screed, Trump effectively blames Reiner for his own death—implying Reiner was killed because of his opposition to Trump, with the inference being that the perpetrator is themself pro-Trump. It’s not much of a logical leap to read this as a warning to those opposing Trump—dissent is dangerous.

Variety, Sunday evening:

Rob Reiner, who segued from starring in “All in the Family” to directing movies including “This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Few Good Men” and “When Harry Met Sally…” was found dead Sunday afternoon in his Brentwood home alongside his wife Michele Singer. He was 78.

The deaths are being investigated as a homicide, according to the LAPD. The couple was reported to have been stabbed to death.

Then this morning:

Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Rob and Michele Reiner, is in custody after the apparent homicide of the director and his wife on Sunday afternoon.

Just tragic and heartbreaking on every level. Inconceivable, even.

I could not stop reading Zach Helfand’s New Yorker story on “The Airport-Lounge Wars” (paywalled; Apple News+), in which he dissects the lounge experience, the history of these liminal spaces, and the very nature of waiting:

Airport lounges are about who gets in and who does not. There are lounges with hot dogs on rollers, lounges with pedicurists, and lounges with personal butlers. Ease of admission varies accordingly. Most people at an airport don’t visit a lounge. If they did, it would kind of defeat the purpose.

And:

Kevin James, a history professor at the University of Guelph who has studied airport lounges, called their product offering “an enhanced experience of stasis”—waiting but better. Peter Greenberg, CBS News’ travel editor, who, fifty years ago, bought lifetime lounge passes with six airlines, said, “What they want people to say is ‘Well, it’s better than nothing.’ And that’s usually what they are—slightly better than nothing.” A lounge is the kind of place that puts fruit in your water. One better-than-nothing criterion to judge a lounge is its bathrooms. An Air France lounge in Paris has rest-room suites with padded leather walls and blown-glass chandeliers, like a jewel box for bowel movements.

Most of the lounges I’ve frequented are dreary places with mediocre food, but one of the primary reasons I visit them (other than complimentary alcohol) is for the restrooms—they’re almost always more spacious, more private, and much, much cleaner than the regular restrooms. I can do without the fruit in my water, though.

I also learned from the piece that the airport lounge was started by what I can only describe as an exceedingly eccentric fellow:

The airport lounge was created in 1939 by American Airlines’ C.E.O., C. R. Smith, as a way to build support for commercial aviation. Smith called his first lounge, at LaGuardia, the Admirals Club. (He referred to his planes as the Flagship Fleet.) Membership was private, free, and at the company’s discretion. A manual listed those eligible: generals, congressmen, governors, judges, members of the U.N. Secretariat, “persons listed in Who’s Who.” New “Admirals” were commissioned in faux naval ceremonies. Often, they’d get a writeup in the local paper. Smith would send personal letters about Admiral business. (“Dear Admiral: As you know, we are not permitted to extend membership in the Admiral’s Club to the ladies. . . .”) He’d sign off, “C. R. Smith, Fleet Admiral.”

One would-be patron was denied access to the Admirals Club and filed a “discrimination complaint […] seeking to open the clubs to the paying public.” It wasn’t appreciated:

One American Airlines executive asked, “If we let just anybody become an Admiral, why would anybody want to be an Admiral?”

A succinct and snooty mashup of “I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member” and “Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.”

American Airlines lost, the clubs were opened up, and now every airline and credit card company is trying to “out-fancy” its competitors with over-the-top amenities:

The Centurion Lounge at LaGuardia was nice, with refreshing lemon-cucumber water, but a little cramped. If this was once world-class, it is no longer. So, this summer, American Express rolled out a new buffet menu—crab frittata, cornflake-crusted French toast—created by four James Beard Award-winning chefs, including Kwame Onwuachi, the star chef of Tatiana. […]

The Chase Sapphire Lounge, next door, offers private lounges within the lounge, starting at twenty-two hundred dollars for three hours. Each is a suite that comes with a PlayStation, a shower, and bathrobes. Dana Pouwels, Chase’s head of airport lounges, showed me around. “Typically, when you arrive at the suite, you would have welcome caviar and champagne,” she said. The suite seemed unnecessary; the rest of the lounge was nice enough. There was an Art Deco bar, custom wallpaper, and carpentry imported from Germany. Everything was JPMorgan blue. Water taps were built into the wall. “We rotate this quarterly to maintain seasonality,” one of Pouwels’s deputies said. “This rotation includes a blackberry-sage spa water.”

There was also a photo booth, a faux fireplace, and a spa. “The Sapphire Reserve customer is an experience maximizer,” Pouwels said. I was booked for a facial.

I just want a clean bathroom, edible food, and a glass of Scotch.

It’s the holidays and for reasons unknown, it’s the one time of year I drink Irish cream. Back in December 2019 I discovered Smitten Kitchen’s homemade Irish cream recipe and I’ve been making it ever winter since. It’s delicious on its own—way better than the “real thing”—and, I’m told, terrific in coffee. For a couple of years, we distributed a carafe of this liquid ambrosia as holiday gifts—a definite crowd-pleaser.

Here’s the basic Smitten Kitchen recipe, with the espresso/coffee powder variant that adds “a faint coffee flavor,” which I think adds depth and should be standard:

• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder
• 1 cup (235 ml) heavy or whipping cream
• 1 (14-ounce or 415 ml) can sweetened condensed milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (235 ml) Irish whiskey (I used Jameson)

In the bottom of a pitcher, whisk [instant espresso or coffee powder,] cocoa powder and a spoonful of cream into a paste. Slowly, whisking the whole time, add more cream a spoonful at a time until the paste is smooth and loose enough that you can whisk the rest of the cream in larger splashes. Once all of the cream is in, whisk in condensed milk, whiskey and vanilla. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and keep in fridge for up to two weeks, possibly longer.

(While the author uses Jameson, Costco brand Kirkland Irish Whiskey works fantastically. It’s massively less expensive—especially if you’re whipping up a big batch for gifting—and subtleties get lost in the cocoa powder, cream, and milk. Save the Jameson for sipping. On the other hand, if you’re feeling especially splurgy, go for a Powers, Redbreast, or even Jameson Black Barrel and live it up.)

There are several other variants out there that may be worth trying. For example, there’s Spend with Pennies, which trades heavy cream for roughly double the volume of light cream or half-and-half, yielding a lighter, milkier Irish cream. Smitten Kitchen leans richer, creamier, and more decadent—much more my style.

(I have some ideas for my own variant, which, if it works out, I’ll share here.)

Whichever recipe you choose, homemade Irish cream is easy to make and better than store-bought. Whip up a batch—it beats Baileys.

I grew up watching Thunderbirds in reruns, and it’s one of my most beloved childhood TV shows. I watched it primarily for the beautifully designed vehicles—Thunderbird 2 and Thunderbird 4 are my favorites—though I may have also had a grade-schooler’s crush on Lady Penelope.

While I missed the actual 60th anniversary of the series debut (September 30), part of the ongoing celebration is the release of a “full remastered and restored” Blu-ray collector’s edition of the complete 32-episode series, along with three anniversary episodes and over eight hours of bonus content. My nostalgia demanded I buy it. It’s available for preorder ($150) on GerryAnderson.com (which has a ton of other wonderful items for sale, not just for Thunderbirds, but also for Space: 1999, which also has one of the most beautiful spaceships.)

One curiosity from the trailer: it touts as one of the improvements “Cropped Shots Uncropped”… with the uncropped shot example showing the hand of the marionettist moving Tin-Tin Kyrano around. I’m not sure how that’s an improvement!

Lastly, in a sign of the times, the pre-order page warns US customers that “this item may be subject to customs charges due to imposed tariffs,” while also promising on the checkout page that “The total amount you pay includes all applicable customs duties & taxes. We guarantee no additional charges on delivery.” America!

(Via The Iconfactory, which is currently offering iPhone wallpaper images inspired by the show’s anniversary.)

Bobby Allyn, NPR:

The developer of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that anonymously tracks the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, has sued the Trump administration for free speech violations after Apple removed the service from its app store under demands from the White House.

The suit, filed on Monday in federal court in Washington, asks a judge to declare that the administration violated the First Amendment when it threatened to criminally prosecute the app's developer and pressured Apple to make the app unavailable for download, which the tech company did in October.

Following Apple ejecting ICEBlock, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that "we reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so."

Lawyer Noam Biale, who filed the suit against the administration, said Bondi's remarks show the government illegally pressuring a private company to suppress free speech.

I applaud this principled (if quixotic) stance by Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer. The filing makes it clear that the app wasn’t designed to target ICE agents and that it would be difficult for it to be used that way.

It’s also clear the app shouldn’t have been pulled from the App Store, and likely wouldn’t have been except for governmental pressure: Apple apparently did a more-rigorous-than-usual review of the app before approving it (the lawsuit claims “[m]ultiple conversations included members of Apple’s legal department”).

The suit contends the government violated Aaron’s First Amendment rights by coercing Apple into removing the app. It’s pretty clear that Bondi et al. engaged in jawboning to bully Apple into pulling ICEBlock from the App Store, and in a normal administration he’d likely win on the merits. But we don’t have a normal administration and I doubt the case will ever get that far, because the judiciary is filled with Trump-aligned judges who gleefully carry water for this administration. I predict the case will get tossed by the first MAGA judge who lays eyes on it—and even if it isn’t, the Supreme Court will eventually do the administration’s dirty work.

Ultimately, though, while jawboning may be where it started, I think it was Apple’s own cowardly decision to yank the app. I believe Apple executives used Bondi’s “demand” as an excuse to remove an app they were becoming increasingly uncomfortable having in the App Store (reinterpreting its own guidelines to treat ICE officers as a “targeted group” as justification). Yes, Apple indisputably wanted to avoid the ire of the administration (tariffs, antitrust lawsuits), but they also wanted to steer clear of any possible controversy (and the vitriol coming from the MAGA crowd). Was it the government that curtailed Aaron’s First Amendment rights, or did a faint-hearted Apple cravenly use its complete control over what it allows in its App Store to kill a controversial app? In the unlikely event Aaron wins this case, he’d like for Apple to reinstate the app, but Apple isn’t obligated to do so—and most assuredly won’t.

The best outcome we can reasonably hope for is the release of some juicy discovery on Apple’s deliberations and justifications for removing the app (including the “information [they] received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock”), and perhaps some personal embarrassment for Bondi, Kristi Noem, and the Apple executives who made this decision.

There’s one more consequence I’d welcome: Requiring Apple to allow third-party app stores in the U.S. It’s no longer tenable for Apple to be the sole gatekeeper of what apps can be installed on Apple devices. I never thought I’d say that.

Listening to “Get Away Jordan” by Take 6 (one of the artists on the aforelinked list of essential jazz artists and albums) triggered a deep-seated memory of their performance in Spike Lee’s Do It A Cappella, a 1990 PBS Great Performances special directed by Lee, starring Debbie Allen (with a cameo by Samuel L. Jackson, fresh off Do the Right Thing) and featuring tremendous performances by Rockapella, True Image, The Mint Juleps, The Persuasions, Take 6, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This may be Take 6’s best version of their classic, and the Ladysmith Black Mambazo/Mint Juleps rendition of “In the Jungle” is stunningly beautiful. This may be my favorite “concert film” and a must-watch for fans of a cappella.

Kristen Roupenian reviewed the aforelinked Lennox Mutual for The New Yorker in March 2024:

Although much of “Lennox Mutual” is improvised, its writing team—[founder and creative director Evan] Neiden, along with the Candle House newcomers Olivia Behr and Joel Meyers—has crafted a work with a coherent, distinct sensibility. With its tone of icy melancholy, punctuated by both flashes of flinty humor and the occasional burst of heart-clutching shock, “Lennox Mutual” reminds me a great deal of the TV show “Severance.” Both “Severance” and “Lennox Mutual” involve the nefarious activities of mysterious corporations, but they strike me as less interested in critiquing a particular form of white-collar labor than they are in examining the world view that has given rise to today’s techno-optimist corporate culture—a set of beliefs whose choking tentacles stretch far beyond the office cubicle. This world view—which is, in essence, a theory of mind—takes as its fundamental premise that there is nothing about the human experience that cannot be made explicit in language, fitted into the blanks on a standardized form, and then submitted, in triplicate, to H.R. It is an instrumental approach to life which interprets every unproductive minute as a problem to be solved. In a world ruled by this philosophy, there is no trauma or dream or shame or pain or work of art exempt from the obligation to explain itself, and then put itself to work in service of the improvement of the self and others.

I loved watching Severance. I would not want to live Severance.

Neiden, the founder and creative director, told Roupenian:

[…] that there are people who have been doing calls once a week for more than a year.

What must it be like for the performers?

My good friend Cathy Hammer, reviewing Lennox Mutual, “an award-winning performance conducted entirely on the telephone,” for her site The Unforgettable Line:

This fictional “life en-surance” company would have a customer service representative reach out at the agreed upon times. Beyond that description, I did not know what to expect. […]

There are elements of improvisation, puzzle making, psychodrama, guided meditation, and interactive gaming, plus pure gut instinct. Each call lasts between 20 and 25 minutes and comes from an unknown number. You will need to be somewhere you can be alone and in dim lighting when you answer. You should also be prepared to sing, respond to unusual questions, and complete potentially disturbing scenarios.

As a theatre and improv nerd, the concept of an improv-driven, phone-based theatre experience fascinates me. But as someone who dislikes phone calls generally and absolutely loathes customer service calls in particular, this sounds like nightmare fuel. I’m getting anxious just thinking about it.

Scanning the (spoiler-heavy) Reddit threads, I see several people completing their 12th, 20th, even 38th call. They’re either dedicated to the bit or addicted—possibly both. I’ve avoided reading too far beyond headlines and unspoiled content, but I gather the experience can get emotional—which the Lennox Mutual FAQ seems to confirm, saying your time “may get personal and intense” and offering a “safe phrase” to end the call.

Whew. That’s too much immersion.

In response to my post on last week’s Apple-Intel rumors, my friend and former colleague Paul Ramsbottom shared a screenshot of Intel’s then-CEO Paul Otellini wearing a bunny suit as he hands a round Intel wafer to Steve Jobs.

That moment is from Apple’s 2006 Macworld San Francisco event (timestamped link). It’s a classic bit of Steve showmanship. My guess is more people remember Otellini for this appearance than for anything else he did for Intel.

As memorable as that moment is, it’s not my favorite from this event. It’s not even my second favorite (that would be Steve’s iconic “one more thing” that introduces Apple’s first MacBook Pro later in the event).

My absolute favorite moment comes after Steve announces the first iMac with an Intel processor and discloses that all the software he’d demoed runs natively on Intel. He then dramatically reveals that we “just saw them running on Intel…” because he’d been using a new Intel-based iMac all morning. The buildup to that surprise revelation is absolute perfection, right down to him switching his presentation clicker to his left hand so he can free his right hand to emphatically point to the computers.

Steve pulled a less-dramatic version of this reveal a few months earlier at WWDC 2005, as part of his Intel transition announcement: a nod, smile, and unvoiced “oh yeah…” to his audience of developers who’d quickly caught on to what he’d left unsaid.

Steve’s theatrical flair was unparalleled.

StarWars.com:

On February 19, 2027, we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars with a re-release of the 1977 original back for a limited time, in theaters everywhere.

Part of Lucasfilm’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release — later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope — will play in theaters for a limited time.

Star Wars is one of my earliest theatrical memories. I haven’t seen the original cut since then (do we count Harmy’s Despecialized Edition?). I’m excited to again see half a completed film that’s not very good and to confirm that, indeed, Han shot first.

Tom Warren, The Verge:

Microsoft has been publishing data about the gender, race, and ethnic breakdown of its employees for more than a decade. Since 2019 it’s been publishing a full diversity and inclusion report annually, and at the same time made reporting on diversity a requirement for employee performance reviews.

Now it’s scrapping its diversity report and dropping diversity and inclusion as a companywide core priority for performance reviews, just months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to try and eradicate workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

This won’t come as a surprise. Microsoft cut a major diversity team last year, and ongoing pressure from the Trump regime gives these companies all the cover they need to kill programs they never truly cared about. As I wrote last summer:

It was always just lip service. Companies never really bought into the progressive ideals. They just wanted to shut up Black folk.

Warren again:

Microsoft employees always had to answer “What impact did your actions have in contributing to a more diverse and inclusive Microsoft?” and “What impact did your actions have in contributing to a more secure Microsoft?” Both of these questions have been removed, replaced with a simplified form that asks employees to reflect on the results they delivered and how they achieved them, and any recent setbacks and goals for the future.

I doubt the diversity question mattered; most people likely had little useful to say. Apple added similar questions about diversity impact to its employee self-reviews a few years back (they’re still there, I’m told). I was always tempted to answer “How did you contribute to Apple’s diversity efforts?” by writing I exist—as the only Black engineering manager in the organization—but I resisted.

(Fortunately, co-chairing Black@Apple, recruiting and hiring female and Black engineers, and mentoring hundreds of employees gave me plenty to write about.)

It’s been quite the week for Apple personnel changes. Apple Newsroom:

Apple today announced that Jennifer Newstead will become Apple’s general counsel on March 1, 2026, following a transition of duties from Kate Adams, who has served as Apple’s general counsel since 2017. She will join Apple as senior vice president in January, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and serving on Apple’s executive team.

In addition, Lisa Jackson, vice president for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, will retire in late January 2026. The Government Affairs organization will transition to Adams, who will oversee the team until her retirement late next year, after which it will be led by Newstead. Newstead’s title will become senior vice president, General Counsel and Government Affairs, reflecting the combining of the two organizations. The Environment and Social Initiatives teams will report to Apple chief operating officer Sabih Khan.

Newstead joins Apple from Meta, where she was the chief legal officer. Quite the executive exchange. I’ll bet Apple got the better end of the bargain.

With this string of departures, perhaps Tim Cook actually is planning a near-term exit and these retirements are all about clearing the decks so it won’t seem like they’re bailing on the new guy.

No doubt Adams will be missed, but on a personal level, it’s Lisa Jackson’s departure that I think is most relevant and impactful.

I was deeply fortunate to have worked with her while I was co-chair for Apple’s African-American Employee Association/Black@Apple group (what Apple calls “Diversity Network Associations” or DNAs), and she was the DNA’s “executive sponsor.” Jackson was always extremely supportive of our efforts to build community among our Black employees and to host meaningful conversations that emphasized the cultural impact of Black contributions to society. It was through her efforts that we hosted such luminaries as Congressman John Lewis, Bryan Stevenson, Floyd Norman, and Carla Harris.

I understand moving her Environment team under Sabih Khan, Apple’s COO—it’s directly tied to Apple’s bottom line—but it troubles me that her Social Initiatives team will also move under Khan. For instance, I can’t help but wonder what will become of the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI) she championed and led. Social Initiatives aren’t an “operational” issue, simply one more set of dials to turn to make Apple more efficient or profitable. With ongoing pressure from the Trump administration to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (which other tech companies like Microsoft seem happy to do), I worry that with Jackson’s departure, Apple could be the next to end its diversity and inclusion practices. No doubt her leadership here will be missed.

California Academy of Sciences:

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Claude, our beloved albino alligator, has passed away at the age of 30. Claude was an iconic California Academy of Sciences resident who many visitors formed deep connections with during his 17 year tenure. He brought joy to millions of people at the museum and across the world, his quiet charisma captivating the hearts of fans of all ages. Claude showed us the power of ambassador animals to connect people to nature and stoke curiosity to learn more about the world around us.

The team later determined that Claude had “extensive liver cancer with evidence of liver failure” and that “[t]reatment options were limited and likely would have had minimal success.”

“Fuck cancer” is always the appropriate response—human or reptile.

Also: George Kelly’s obituary in The San Francisco Standard.

I visited Claude several times after he moved in. Here he is in August 2014, a month before his 19th hatchday:

I’ll admit I always harbored an irrational fear of Claude whenever I visited, worried he’d pick that day to finally scale the rocky walls of his swamp seeking food fresher than frozen fish.

Fortunately, Claude was always too chill to chase.

Later, gator.

Nadia Khomami, reporting for The Guardian on a UK poll:

The survey of 2,000 people by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) found that 44% did not believe Die Hard to be a Christmas film.

The British people are wrong.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg (paywalled; Reuters, Archive.today):

Meta Platforms Inc. has poached Apple Inc.’s most prominent design executive in a major coup that underscores a push by the social networking giant into AI-equipped consumer devices.

The company is hiring Alan Dye, who has served as the head of Apple’s user interface design team since 2015, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple is replacing Dye with longtime designer Stephen Lemay, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the personnel changes haven’t been announced.

Apple confirmed the move in a statement provided to Bloomberg News.

Gurman calls this “a blockbuster coup” for Meta and a “big loss for Apple,” but I think he got his order wrong—Apple is probably happy to finally wave bye-bye, Dye.

Dye comes from the world of glossy print, packaging, and brand marketing, and was initially hired onto Apple’s Marcom (Marketing Communications) team to work on iPod and iTunes marketing. When he moved to the UI team for the iOS 7 redesign, several coworkers expressed concerns that a “marketing guy” was designing the UI.

I think Meta is getting exactly who they deserve.

Steve Lemay is taking over Dye’s role:

“Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in the statement. “He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple’s culture of collaboration and creativity.”

One former colleague who worked with Lemay found him less than helpful as a designer and expressed surprise he’d managed to achieve such a senior design role, but Lemay at least seems to have a deep background in UI design. I hope that translates to Liquid Glass improvements.

One final note: Gurman’s reporting includes this nugget:

The executive informed Apple this week that he’d decided to leave, though top management had already been bracing for his departure, the people said.

Jeff Williams’ departure announcement noted that the Design team, headed by Dye, was to move under Tim Cook. I wrote then:

Reporting to Cook is a hell of an elevation for Dye […].

I presume this reporting structure is temporary, a stopgap until they find something—someone—better. Cook has enough problems on his plate. I can’t imagine him caring enough about design to push back on bad or poorly implemented ideas […].

(A little birdie informed me that after Jony Ive left, Dye refused to report to Federighi—who apparently has strong opinions on UI design—which is how Williams ended up with the group. I’m curious if reporting to Cook is an extension of that refusal.)

My presumption was Dye would eventually report to someone other than Cook.

Williams leaves in mid-November, Dye starts reporting to Cook, and two weeks later, Dye is gone.

Did Cook again try to move Design under Federighi (where I think it belongs) or under John Ternus (to give him broader experience before he ascends), and did Dye again refuse? Or did Cook and Dye not get along?

Perhaps Apple wasn’t so much “bracing” for his departure as eagerly anticipating it.