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Kate Cox

@kcoxdc.bsky.social
9.2K followers 329 following 4.4K posts

Now: Making Decoder @ The Verge. Earlier: editor for Protocol; reporter for Ars Technica, CQ Roll Call, Consumerist, and Kotaku; decades of other writing strewn across the internet. Boston-born, now DC-dwelling. She/her.

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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 18h
"the new version... relocates the power button from the bottom of the e-reader to the top right edge ... prevent users from accidentally putting it to sleep when resting the e-reader on something while reading." Look, JUST BECAUSE I do this at least 3x every single day is no reason to call me out
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 21h
And this is why I want to keep my 2014 car until roughly the end of time, if possible. www.theverge.com/transportati...
theverge.com
Your car’s data privacy problems are worse than you think
“There’s a lot to be worried about,” the project lead said.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
There is a giant walnut tree next to our house and the fun thing on days like this, where it's fall but it's warm enough to have the windows open, is that with the offscreen thumps, rolls, and distant crashes it's like there's a foley artist practicing on our roof all the time
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Okay, 'Coyote vs Acme' was indeed excellent, absolutely a spiritual successor to Roger Rabbit, but also I left the theater trying to explain the line 'one must imagine Sisyphus happy' to a 13yo lololol
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"why don't people go to movie theaters" well it just cost me $67 to buy tickets to a matinee for a family of four tomorrow
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I do in fact send emails like this all the time haha. ( @nickstatt.bsky.social and I kind of had a good cop / bad cop routine going for a while with unreasonable requests lol but after a year of that, the requests mostly got more reasonable ) www.tiktok.com/@decoderpod/...
tiktok.com
a lot of what we do here is just saying no
TikTok video by Decoder with Nilay Patel
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
There is apparently a very small fly in the house and one of the cats just did some kind of capoeira-ass parkour move about it -- and yet, did not get the fly.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I'm not sure if having our children learn co-op through Portal 2 play was the best idea or the worst idea but it sure is an experience
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
13yo working on a school project just basically came to me with the ask "how do I find meaningful archival news sources on the internet" and I don't think I have ever felt such a strong sense of MY TIME HAS COME as a parent before lolol
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Elisabet apparently wants to be our next guest.
A grey tabby cat who is admittedly adorable shooting me side-eye while blocking my view of a computer monitor that has riverside open, because we're about to do a recording. Not of her.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I was part of a different blog commenting community that formed ca. 2008 and 18 years later, about 100 of us are still all in touch every day, we've been to each other's weddings, we've babysat each other's kids; it's a *community* and it was cool when blogs could spawn that.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A conversation this morning led me to reflect on just how many influential games and game series will celebrate their 20th anniversaries next year and I just... I think maybe I need to crawl into a ditch and stare at dirt for a while or something, gazing into the abyss is tiring
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I woke up to discover a gift from a friend in my Steam inventory. This was her note. The last time she left me such an instruction the game was Blue Prince lol so now I'm wondering what I'm in for. (This one is The Incident at Galley House.)
"you will like this, get a notebook"
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
ICYMI over the weekend, we ran an extra bonus episode after my own antitrust-nerd heart. My favorite line: "If you don’t build a safe and secure product, then perhaps there should be robot jail for your agents and it should be taken off the market.”
theverge.com
Jonathan Kanter on competition, cartels, and China
Is it too late to stop Big AI from being the next monopoly?
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My problem with letting the 13yo dye her hair colors is not actually her hair or her appearance, it is that I just had to de-blue half my kitchen and I am pretty sure she's just gonna be smurf-colored on her neck and face for a while
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
@megmorrone.bsky.social Hey, congrats on the new gig! <3
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Some software update I didn't notice has now turned my mouse into a waveform display device when I'm reviewing audio / video cuts lol, how unexpected and distracting
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Back at Consumerist I wrote a snarky-but-really-tho post for Jan 1, 2016, written from a decade into the future (e.g. 2026) and talking about how Amazon became the streaming cable company of the Great Rebundling Anyway, 💅
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It's the first really gorgeous day out in a long time and I would love to open my windows but instead road construction is happening outside 🙃
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It's amazing how they just *manifest* at my feet the second I sit down with a bacon egg and cheese
Two grey tabby cats on the floor next to a desk both looking up with extremely expectant "I can has?" expressions. Increasingly loud purr not pictured
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
These clearly AI-generated emails have been driving me nuts for a while, because I can't search my inbox, but also: replacements of the various oils and greases I need for my French horn are absolutely not "automotive" in any possible way
Email subject line screenshot reading "5 Decor, Automotive, and other items"
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It's Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive Cats now, apparently.
A grey tabby cat *intently* watching the TV where Strong Bad is wreaking havoc at Marzipan's house for obscure narrative reasons
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Hey, nerds (affectionate), esoteric Dragon Age question: Have we ever seen an orrery in Thedas and, if so, where?
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Okay I found one thing on Bluesky this week that is good: the automatic numbering of threads is fantastic, it's very helpful to see that the middle or end of something is the one reposted into my feed.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I spent the whole weekend shut in a house with my besties, telling stories and playing pretend and breaking bread together, and I cannot over-recommend doing this, it is so so so good for the soul.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We got the robot vacuum months ago and yet I am still somehow always fascinated to watch its little icon move around the map of our house. The house where I live and with which I am already very familiar and for which I do not need a map. But the map!
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Oh, no. No you don't. I *remember* our Packard Hell from 1993, even if it did manage to get me through all of high school, you will not fool me again. www.theverge.com/tech/988733/...
theverge.com
Packard Bell is back, and more colorful than ever.
Acer, which has owned the historic PC brand since 2008, has resurrected it in a line of cheap, cheerful, and exceedingly colorful hardware, ranging from a 14-inch laptop to a portable food steamer. It...
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I have a LOT of thoughts about this but what it really boils down to is: The last actual major breakup was AT&T, when I was a very small child, and by the time I was an adult nearly all the Baby Bells were either AT&T again, or else Verizon. Robert Bork has a lot to answer for.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's kind of funny to me how everyone has just now discovered Loudoun County, which is where my spouse lived 20 years ago when we started dating and which has not gotten less strange since.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Okay look I'm biased because Susana and Becky are among my closest friends, but also: both of them are smart as hell and you should go see them.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Stupid 21st century problems: My mouse software apparently background updated and I lost my lighting profiles and now I can't make my mouse stop flashing and load my damn colors. I just want my software to *work* dangit
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Summer's last hurrah.
Nats field, from the nosebleed seats, after the national anthem but before the first pitch.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Guest in an upcoming Decoder mentions this song as part of a throwaway comment but EVERY SINGLE TIME I hit the line in the interview with it, the song leaps into my head and gets stuck there so now you're stuck with it too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynop...
youtube.com
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei [Official Video]
YouTube video by Time Records
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I live in Virginia, which was an armpit even before the industrial age and has only gotten nastier and worse since, and have been thinking a LOT the past couple weeks about how the first time in *years* I've seen my 8yo actually really enjoy being outside was when we were in Iceland.
theverge.com
Being a mom is hard — the heat is making it harder.
Being a kid in the summertime isn’t what it used to be.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Today is how I learned that the Harvard Square movie theater where I did my teenage rite of passage -- going underage to a Saturday midnight RHPS showing and lying about my age -- closed in 2012. Alas! It was a great way to feel like we were Getting Away With Something.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Me: "Okay, wait, how much cake did you have?" 8yo: "...multiple" Me: "Was it a lot of cake, or a little cake? 8yo: *eyes wide like saucers* "COUNTLESS!!!"
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Younger child woke up today at sunrise and gleefully shouted, "I'M EIGHT!!" to his empty room at that hour, thus waking me. It is in fact his birthday and -- wow he is *so* damn eight, he was right about that. Whew.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I remember when I used to be able to actually find a hint or walkthrough or explanation for a video game without getting sucked into 93573674 AI-generated nonsense websites
static.klipy.com
Old Lady: 'It's Been 84 Years' Meme
Alt: Old Lady: 'It's Been 84 Years' Meme
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Reposted by Kate Cox
Matthew Cox @macindc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
@kcoxdc.bsky.social On this episode of Decoder I will be interviewing humans on why they won’t give me more pizza.
A gray tabby cat takes over a producer’s chair with a familiar blue background.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
There was a lot I actually liked about working retail, back when scheduling was predictable and done by humans. But the powerlessness in the face of the "customers" who just want to be bullies just keeps increasing and that's very bad!
theverge.com
Meta glasses are a workplace menace
“Pervert” glasses are making jobs weird and putting workers on edge.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Why is the Bsky app now asking me to enable location constantly, when I have never had it enabled in the past (and it never asked me) and do not intend to ever enable it in the future?
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
After a full day of being obsessed with my keyboard and sending messages to almost everyone I know (Slack, Discord, DMs...) Lis has finally assented to going in the cat trap and having a nap instead.
A grey tabby cat catloafing on the cat bed designated for such purpose
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I'd stretch that to 1990 at least and WOW does it really show when you are considering what old classics to try to watch with your modern-era kids
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I have had to say, "Thank you, I love you, please GO AWAY" at least two dozen times since 9:00 this morning. Only 7.5 more workdays to go before school finally starts...
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Back at work today. Also, both kids are home until school starts on the 31st. In related news it just took me 15 minutes to get through a three-minute video.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Weird 21st century milestones: Adding Elder Kid to the Steam family.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Today in Younger Child Learns Why His Family Says These Things: family Portal 2 playthrough reached the Cave Johnson "combustible lemons" speech
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Of all the things we discovered in Iceland, this is one of the ones Elder Child was most into and most excited to bring home.
A bottle of Icelandic "cocktail sauce," which is kind of a ketchup-flavored mayo with some other stuff in it and goes on fries and burgers.
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The worst part about international travel with a 7-8yo is that they do not process jet lag like adults and are up too damned early and too damned energetically while the rest of us can taste time from exhaustion
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Kate Cox @kcoxdc.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The last 45 minutes of the flight had us racing the evening thunderstorm and we lost lol. Whew that was a landing.
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