The Kids Online Safety Act was supposed to fix (or break) the internet. Now, after nearly three years of rewrites, it’s got days left to pass.

Read the full story at The Verge.

The streaming landscape may be on the cusp of change, but in this kingdom of content, Netflix is still the supreme ruler. Networks may be cracking down on password sharing and pulling back on output, but there’s still a dizzying number of things to watch on the streaming giant — and here are the best […]

It’s been more than four months since we entered a new era for Polygon. We hope that by now you’ve come to appreciate the speed, functionality, and look of our redesigned website. Our incredible product team has been hard at work listening to your feedback and adding features you’ve been clamoring for. Of course, there’s […]

One last item on Acorn 8. Whether you are a longtime Acorn user (like me), or a would-be new user, you should set aside some time to actually read Acorn’s documentation. It’s a full user manual, and it not only describes, in detail, what every feature in the app does and how to use them, but also a vast array of “how-to” tutorials, many of them videos.

In broad strokes, there are two approaches to documenting a serious, professional-level app or software system. One was is a comprehensive functional reference resource. That’s a way that you, the user, can teach yourself how to use a feature, refresh your memory about a feature you haven’t used in a while, or even just check to see if a certain feature even exists. The other is a narrative, storytelling, tutorial approach. That’s not teaching yourself — that’s letting an expert teach you, and today that’s often a visual approach through video.

Acorn’s document is so thorough that it encompasses both approaches. Either one would qualify Acorn as a well-documented application. But by including both, Gus Mueller should be given some sort of medal or award. Different people learn in different ways, and Acorn’s documentation is there for everyone.

It should go without saying, but no serious tool — hardware or software — is complete without thorough, polished documentation. Acorn goes above and beyond. It’s amazing enough that a company as small as Flying Meat — it’s really just Gus and his wife Kirstin — has produced a full-fledged professional-strength image editing application that has remained modern and cutting-edge for 17 years and counting. But it’s also accompanied by first-class comprehensive documentation.

If you want to make a cinephile cringe, “digital face replacement” is the phrase that pays. “Digital de-aging” and “deepfake” will do the trick, too. While theoretically just the latest addition to the filmmaker’s toolkit, it’s proven to enable some of Hollywood’s ugliest and most cowardly instincts. In an industry already averse to risk and […]