Switch 2 has arrived, and Severance is back

Hello friends! Welcome to Installer No. 67 is your guide to the best and edge-The most wonderful things in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, happy Switch Week, and you can also read all the back issues at Installer Home.)

This week, I was watching Black pigeons and The Wonderful Life of Ibelinreading about Lorne Michaels and rodeo and Ben Shapiro, Reboot Twin Peaks In honor of David Lynch, who was nervously wading in Lemon8 and rednote, Watch old episodes of Work it out, And watch too much Balatro Strategy videos.

I also have my most awaited gadget of the year, the new season of to cuta super cool tech design gallery for you to explore, a nifty new AI-powered productivity tool, and so much more. It’s been this week wild, With the potential TikTok ban, the upcoming US inauguration, and what seems like 40,000 other things coming up – but we’ve got some great ways to take the pressure off. Let’s dig deeper.

(As always, the best part of… Installer These are your thoughts and advice. What are you reading/watching/playing/cooking/building/slicing up this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy it InstallerTell them that Subscribe here.)

• Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo is launching this thing in a typically weird, Nintendo-y way – so all we’ve really seen of the new device is a two-minute video with some details and vibes. But I’ve seen enough. This is the Switch successor I was hoping for.
• to cut Season 2. I just watched the first season and loved it even more the second time around. One of my favorite series in years, and by all accounts, season 2 is worth the wait. I’d put the first season up against any season of anything, so that’s high praise.
• Nokia Design Archive. A group of researchers has spent several years piecing together a massive, interconnected history of Nokia’s design work – from its bizarre phone concepts to its biggest ideas about the future of everything. You could spend weeks excavating there.
• Update on our family. As a still new father, I spend a lot I’ve been thinking about how much of my personal and family life I will share online. This story is exactly the opposite: what if you created a personal and family life? only To share online? It’s a wild ride.
• Donkey Kong Country Returns in high quality. While you wait for the new Switch, here’s a new take on the old game. I love Donkey Kong the same way a lot of people love Zelda and Mario, so the idea of ​​updating and upgrading, Super challenging side scroller It’s right up my alley.
• “Matrix Science with Laurence Fishburne“. A rather unexpected episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s series Startalk podcast, but boy, was it fun listening to Morpheus himself talk through the red pills, the absence of spoons, and Matrix‘s Deepest thoughts about everything.
• Raycast focus. Raycast became the first app I installed on a new Mac, and I use it for everything. I love this new feature, which can block specific apps or websites — and uses a countdown timer to help you stay focused.
• SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. Another one for the SNL 50th anniversary content machine: a four-part NBC doc about some of the biggest moments in the show’s history. It’s officially banned, so don’t expect fireworks, but it’s a fun dive into the archives.
• ChatGPT Tasks. A excellent Basic feature so far, and pretty buggy – did I invent a dentist appointment that I didn’t have? — but I’m really intrigued by the combination of a to-do list app and a chatbot. He sends me a new oatmeal recipe and a workout idea every morning, and it’s a really great routine.

It is an unintentional imitation Edge New people always seem to start out in incredibly chaotic situations. Often times, it will be the writer’s first day, like iPhone launch day, or they’ll be 15 minutes away from HR orientation and Elon Musk will suddenly buy Twitter. to Todd Haseltonour new deputy editor in chief for reviews and commerce, CES was a mess. Todd started at the beginning of this year, and was immediately inundated with 90,000 stories about weird gadgets no one had ever heard of. Welcome to the team!

I would love to ask something new edge Have employees share their home screen with us to see what we can learn about them from how they use their phones. You can fake it at work, but you can’t fake your phone, you know? This is Todd’s home screen, plus some information about which apps he uses and why:

Phone: iPhone 16 Pro Max. I’ve been using the larger iPhone for years. I also have an old Galaxy Z Fold 3 that I’ve been thinking about upgrading to a foldable phone.

wallpaper: It’s a photo of me graduating from Lehigh with my grandfather and uncle, who also went to Lehigh. They are role models for me. It’s a reminder to myself to work hard and be thankful for what I have. (My twin brother was cut off in this shot. Sorry, bro.)

My lock screen wallpaper is a rotating photo of my family.

Applications: Photos, Calendar, GroupMe, Xbox Cloud Gaming, ChatGPT, Gmail, The Verge, Messages, Phone, Safari, Camera.

David, are you sure you want me to do this? It may be the most boring home screen you’ve ever posted. It’s almost the default.

GroupMe It is to stay in touch with my college friends and also where my town’s volunteer fire department stays in touch. I haven’t been as active as I’d like to since the summer. Xbox cloud games It exists because I always tell myself that I will have all this free time to play on the go. But I don’t do that.

The photo frame tool rotates photos of your trips and photos of family members. This is a shot from my brother’s wedding in Santa Monica.

Just in case people think it’s fake: No edge The code was there before I started. I’ve been reading since the site started, and subscribed before I joined.

I also asked Todd to share with me some of the things he’s interested in now. Here’s what he said:

• Rest corner By Wallace Stegner. I’m just getting started so don’t ask me what it’s all about. I spend most nights reading on my Kindle Paperwhite. If you’re looking for other recommendations, here are some other books I just finished and enjoyed: Trust By Hernan Diaz, Stoner By John Williams, W Little friend By Donna Tartt.
• I mostly play on Friday nights with my college friends from about 9pm to 11pm. (We’re all parents now, so…early bedtimes.) It’s a ritual we started during the pandemic, and it’s a good, totally mindless way to stay connected. Players will hate you, but that’s how it is now Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 With duplicate Nuketown map. Just a classic map.
• I was really into the McDonald’s cheeseburger meal. It’s a small restaurant nearby with good prices and solid burgers. I Get it on DoorDashed. Starting a new job is always a little stressful (in a good way!), and I think that’s where my stress comes from. Dasher is waiting for my order now.

Here’s what Installer community this week. I want to know what you’re up to now too! Email installer@theverge.com Or send me a message on Signal — @davidpierce.11 ​​— with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here each week. For more great recommendations, check out the responses to This post is on topics and This post is on Bluesky.

“Derangeda simple and cheerful mood tracking app that can be used as a mini journal. I’ve always struggled to keep a journal, but this makes it easy (it only takes 15 seconds) to record my thoughts and details of my day. -Austin

“Sakamoto days On Netflix. It is an anime about the best professional killer in the world who retired and settled down with his family. Very tropey, I know. Mostly I watch just to see this cute kick. – Rayyan

“I’m trying to get better at Dutch, and I downloaded the excellent level Mochi program. Like Anki but much better at everything.” – Hans

“I just found out Stremio I have a deep feeling that it will change my life forever. Well, at least the way I consume media. With prices so high and not many services available in the Netherlands, this seems like a great alternative. – Jasper

“MacDroid. I always back up my full-resolution photos to an external hard drive every few months as well as Google Photos, but it’s a pain to do that on a Mac. I tried MacDroid today and immediately signed up for a lifetime subscription. A lot of time and stress saved! -Josh

“Indiana Jones and the Grand Circle On Xbox. It’s the best thing Indiana Jones has done in decades. I was shocked at how fun it was to explore and how perfectly it hit the tone. Wow, the voice actor pulled off a young Harrison Ford. It’s almost surreal.” – Disquez

“I started reading one piece Since the beginning last year after watching Netflix show -It’s a lot of fun, lighthearted, great art, and the characters are all likable and easy to get along with. -Louis

“I went back to Apple Arcade just to play Pocket Card Knight: Ride! Solitaire horse racing game developed by Game Freak ( Pokemon People), originally for the 3DS, although it looks very portable. It’s amazing fun and I can’t stop playing. -Oli

“A stunning safari stretch Search for keywords! It allows you to perform customized web searches by adding a keyword or letter, so adding “wiki” or “yt” will search those respective sites instead of your default search engine.” – Jamey

“Did you try? News Tower yet? Complete blast.” -Dave

The Australian Open is happening now, which means it’s part of the tennis calendar where I wake up in the morning and it’s 6am and somehow half the matches are already over and something really exciting is inevitably happening. It’s fun. The tennis has been great, but the real story of this year’s tournament is YouTube channel.

For complicated rights reasons, the organization behind the Open streams the matches on YouTube, but it’s not what you think: everything is live-streamed and everyone looks like Wii Sports characters. It’s so weird and so cliche, but against all odds, does it completely work? The Guardian He has a good story About how it works and why it is necessary. I’ve always thought these “alternative radio shows” were just silly, but I think there might be something here. Next year: Real Tennis, but make it Mario Tennis. I will be there.