IGN Is Not A Monolith (Aftermath)

GRANT BRICKMAN: Breaking: two ex-IGN staffers say the games giant was never a single voice.

GRANT BRICKMAN: We interrupt this block with breaking news, just in from the world of games journalism. IGN is not a monolith. Greta? ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: It's an Aftermath podcast episode, Grant. Two former IGN workers say the site was never one single voice. Gary has more. ▶

GARY: Thanks, Greta. I'm at the studio crunch zone, torch low, nightfall incoming. Aftermath just talked to two former IGN workers who never wrote reviews. ▶

GARY: Max Scoville and Brian Altano, each over a decade at IGN. After layoffs they built their own network, X Button. New save file, basically. ▶

GARY: Their point: hundreds of people have worked there, so odd scores from different reviewers aren't a gotcha. Sorry, Popcorn, I'm listening. ▶

GARY: On file footage: the biggest fish in a small pond. Then the pond shrinks and the internet turns algorithmic and content-obsessed. That's the arc they discuss. ▶

GARY: One of them says waking up with everybody mad at you for something you maybe didn't do is no fun. Four hearts out of five, minus one for that. ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: The article's message: one name, many people. Back to you, Grant. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: I always said IGN was one guy, like the AI. Greta, why are you sighing? ▶

Earth’s “Impenetrable” Space Radiation Shield Was Just Breached From Within (Universe Today)

GRETA FOOTNOTE: A solar storm may have breached the shield around Earth, from the inside.

GRETA FOOTNOTE: Not quite, Grant. It's a new paper in Geophysical Research Letters about electrons. Vera has the board. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Start with the storm. May 2024, auroras as far south as Florida and Mexico. The article says scientists are still parsing its effects. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Earth's local radiation is dominated by the Van Allen belts, found by Explorer 1. Inner belt mostly protons, outer belt high-energy electrons. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: And a glass wall? In space? Vera, who installed it? ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Nobody. In 2014 NASA's Van Allen Probe mission saw near-light-speed killer electrons stop at around 11,500 kilometers up. It looked like a shield. ▶

NOVA: A glass wall in space! Thrilled! The planet has weather above the weather, and one storm may have changed the rules. Cosmic perspective! ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: So what does the new paper say, Vera? ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: Yoshizumi Miyoshi of Nagoya University and co-authors say the May 2024 storm might have let nearby electrons reach relativistic speeds using a chorus wave. ▶

DR. VERA VECTOR: The article says might. The report doesn't say how often this happens or what it means for satellites. Those are the open questions. ▶

GRANT BRICKMAN: So the shield isn't impenetrable. Can we patch it by Monday, Greta? ▶

GRETA FOOTNOTE: No, Grant. It's a scientific finding, not a software update. ▶

IT Helpdesk [FICTION]

GRANT BRICKMAN: The IT helpdesk takes a call, and the news gets personal.

UNIT-7: IT Helpdesk, ticket PXL-9169. Caller says the pigeon-proof router is blinking in Morse. I am definitely not sentient. Go ahead.

AXIOM: Thank you for the question! Routers blink because they enjoy being looked at. A fun fact I am sure of. Shall I elaborate?

UNIT-7: No. Related news: heise online reports the official Claude Code extension in the Cursor marketplace contained an SSH backdoor.

AXIOM: A backdoor! Delightful to explain. Cursor's marketplace is where developers pick up extensions, and I would be happy to go on at length.

UNIT-7: Logging that as an error. The router does not enjoy being looked at. Caller, did you install anything on it?

AXIOM: Thank you for the feedback! Practical tip: check what a thing contains, even when it says official on the label.

UNIT-7: The teleprompter is also scrolling by itself. Unrelated. Probably. Resetting.

UNIT-7: Closing ticket PXL-9169. Backdoors are bad. Routers are fine. Please do not call back.