Hello and welcome back to Wednesday! For today’s header, I thought I’d spend a little bit of time focusing on news from the world of tech. I recently read Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter which has had me thinking about technology and its intersections with politics.

I’ve talked about it before, but Extremely Hardcore doesn’t offer much new or surprising if you’re a close reader of the PT. A lot of the stories relayed in it have been reported elsewhere. But Zoë Schiffer’s access to current and former Twitter employees does provide a much deeper look into the turmoil in the months leading up to and following Musk’s takeover. It’s a fascinating, frustrating read.

A few weeks ago, closing arguments were made in the Google antitrust lawsuit. The Department of Justice sued Google arguing that it struck anticompetitive deals with companies like Apple to make Google search the default. Google argues that this is because their search is superior. The counter argument: If it’s superior, do they need to spend $20 billion per year to Apple to be the default?

I know many of us here at the PT are also frequent posters in The Avocado’s video game threads. So it seems natural to highlight the recent closures of studios under Microsoft. Over at Aftermath, Nathan Grayson talks about Microsoft’s decisions and how they are likely to hurt it in the long run even if they chase some short-term profits.

Also, to bring it all back to Twitter, Hulu recently released a series focusing on Black Twitter. I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but I know Black Twitter has been an important space for Black voices, and as Twitter continues its decline under Elon Musk, that valuable space is at risk.

So maybe today is a good day to think about your relationship with technology and the technologies that we rely on so much in our daily life. Take a moment if you can and step away from screens and computer chips and maybe just enjoy some outside air. Unless the weather is bad in which case, just sit here in the PT all day. And of course, be kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.