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Peter

Vitalik Buterin Slams ETH Backer Peter Thiel

by admin October 3, 2025

Thiel’s Straussian views
Making ETH more like BTC?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin took aim at controversial American entrepreneur Peter Thiel in his recent social media post.

“Reminder that Peter Thiel is, to put it mildly, not a cypherpunk,” the 31-year-old computer programmer said.

Thiel’s Straussian views

He attached an expert who discusses the philosophical framework of American scholar Leo Strauss, which argues in favor of surveillance and establishing a robust Pax Americana with the help of global intelligence cooperation. The text comes from “The Straussian Moment,” an influential essay written by Thiel that dissects the philosophical foundations of modern Western politics, criticizing the Enlightenment-era liberalism.

Thiel has been highly influenced by Straussian philosophy. At Stanford, he studied within the intellectual circles of Harry Jaffa and Allan Bloom. He, of course, co-founded The Stanford Review, a controversial conservative paper shaped by Straussian themes. Moreover, Thiel has echoed Strauss’s criticism of democracy.

This, of course, fully contradicts the anti-surveillance, anti-centralization cypherpunk ideology that underpins crypto.

Making ETH more like BTC?

Buterin agrees that the Ethereum leadership should be more careful when deciding who they let into their circle.

PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II filter review

by admin October 2, 2025

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PolarPro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II: Two-minute review

The latest product of PolarPro’s ongoing collaboration with hugely popular videographer and YouTube creator Peter McKinnon, the VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II has become an interesting and valuable part of my camera setup over the past few weeks.

First, a quick explanation of what a ND filter does. One of the key principles of photography and videography is the so-called “exposure triangle” – the way that ISO, aperture and shutter speed interact to control the amount of light that hits an image sensor.

By adding a neutral-density (ND) filter – which reduces the amount of light coming in without affecting the color hue – to the equation, photographers gain one extra factor to influence how the camera behaves, and more control over shutter speed and aperture.

For photographers, the ability to reduce light means we can use longer shutter speeds than the lighting conditions would ordinarily allow. That means artfully blurred waterfalls, or night-time shots with streaking, laser-like car headlights. For videographers, control over shutter speed allows for motion blur and wide-open aperture shooting in brighter conditions.

The main selling point of the PolarPro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II (also known as the PMVND II) is that it’s a variable ND filter. In other words, twisting the filter allows the photographer to select an ND value from anything between two and five stops, saving them the bother of having to add filters to and them filters from their lens. (PolarPro also sells a stronger 6-9 stop edition of the VND filter, plus mist-diffusion Black Mist versions of both).

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II at Adorama for $199.99

Because my review sample sits at the weaker end of the range for ND filters, I found that it couldn’t stop enough light to get truly long exposures outdoors on a bright, sunny day. Even at its highest 5-stop setting, and with my camera at its lowest ISO setting, a shutter speed of anything longer than a second resulted in a blown-out, overexposed image. So, if you want to shoot multi-second daytime exposures on sunny days or in bright landscapes (like snowfields), you’ll want to have the 6-9 stop filter to hand. If you’re feeling flush, buying both filters provides a wide stopping range.

On more overcast days, at night or indoors, however, the two to five stop range feels very usable. Even during the day, it allowed me to set a wider aperture than I’d normally be able to use for video, resulting in a shallow depth of field with background bokeh while maintaining an ideal shutter speed (of roughly double my frame rate, as the rule of thumb suggests).

The filter glass is extremely clear and neutral, although it does appear to add a very slight warm color cast when compared to shots with no filter attached. I couldn’t spot a single incidence of ghosting or chromatic aberration, however – two issues that can plague cheaper filters. And it doesn’t seem to affect the sharpness of images at all, which is what I would expect of a filter in this price range.

Today’s best PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II deals

I also encountered no vignetting when shooting with a wide-open aperture at my lens’ widest field of view (12mm on a Micro Four Thirds camera, equivalent to 24mm on a 35mm or full-frame camera). PolarPro claims the filter exhibits no vignetting right down to 16mm, but I wasn’t able to put that to the test myself.

I also noticed that a small amount of additional contrast could creep into shots as I moved up the ND stop range. That’s a side effect of the variable ND filter design, I think – VNDs require polarized glass to achieve their variable effect, and that will affect the final image slightly. If that’s a no-no for you, you’ll need to use regular, non-variable ND filters instead.

While performance is strong, build quality might be even better. I was sent a 67mm filter to review (it’s also available in 49mm, 77mm, 82mm and 95mm sizes), and used a step-up ring (also by PolarPro) to fit it to the 62mm thread on my Panasonic 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 lens. Both the filter and ring screwed on smoothly and securely, with no awkward threading.

Image 1 of 5

The combined case and lens cap (known as the Defender 360) makes fitting even easier – and ensures greasy fingerprints stay well away from the filter glass. The cap features two parts, one metal (aluminum to be precise) and one rubber, with the rubber element gripping around the filter’s frame so that you can, with a twist, add or remove the filter from your lens. When not in use, the filter sits inside the rubber part while the metal screws back on over one side to keep it safe. It’s an ingenious piece of design.

The filter itself feels beautifully precision engineered. The machined ridges or knurls on the edge give your fingers plenty to grip onto, while the subtle ‘click’ expressed as each ND stop is reached is welcome (and useful) feedback. Of course, some users might prefer a completely smooth turn, particularly videographers who want to adjust the stopping value while rolling the camera. It’s something to note, but I personally found it a clever design touch.

And, while this is a subjective thing, I think the PMVND II looks really classy too, with its two-tone black and brass finish. It’s hydrophobic too, with water beading and running off the glass easily.

Overall, I’m hugely impressed by the quality of the PolarPro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II. Yes, it’s expensive – but it’s also thoughtfully designed, impeccably constructed, and works exactly as a variable ND filter should. If you’re looking for an ND filter to expand your creative repertoire, this 4-in-1 champion should certainly be on your radar.

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

PolarPro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II: Price and availability

The PolarPro VND Filter Peter McKinnon Edition II is available now worldwide, priced at around $150 / £150 / AU$260 for the 49mm size or around $250 / £240 / AU$450 for the 67mm, 77mm, 82mm and 92mm sizes.

The filter is available in two ND stop ranges: 2-5 (which I’m reviewing here) and 6-9, with both models additionally available in a Black Mist version designed to soften highlights for a different look.

These are high prices for ND filters, but I think the quality and adaptability of the PMVND II makes it well worth the price to the right buyer.

Should I buy the PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II filter?

(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

How I tested the PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II filter

I used it for several weeks
I fitted it to a Panasonic Lumix GH6
I tested it for photo and video capture

I used a 67mm PMVND II on and off for several weeks in the late summer and early autumn on the English south coast, threading it to a 12-60mm zoom lens on my Panasonic Lumix GH6 via a 62mm-to-67mm step-up ring (also supplied by PolarPro). I recorded video and shot photos using all of the filter’s ND levels, and tested it in various weather and light conditions, from overcast drizzly evenings to blazingly sunlit mornings.

First reviewed October 2025

PolarPro Peter McKinnon VND Edition II: Price Comparison

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October 2, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Former TT Games head takes on Peter Pan

by admin September 30, 2025

Back in 2020, UK games industry veteran Tom Stone stepped down from his position as managing director at the Lego games maker TT Games.

Having spent almost 18 years at the helm of the studio – and before that, working at Lego Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Giant Interactive (which merged with Traveller’s Tales to form TT Games) – he departed to do something new.

To start with, this took the form of becoming the chair of FuturLab (the maker of Powerwash Simulator) and acting as managing director for the venture capital firm Juno Capital Partners.

Tom Stone, Second Star Games

Then, in Christmas 2024, Stone had a conversation with The Blair Partnership and Great Ormond Street Hospital. The former is a media agency that manages franchises such as Harry Potter; it had been appointed by the latter to develop the Peter Pan and Neverland IP in the video games space.

Back in 1929, author JM Barrie granted the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street. Although the IP is now in the public domain, the hospital receives royalties from its commercial use.

Thus, Second Star Games was born. The name itself, for those who know, is a telltale sign of what IP the studio is working on. In the Disney animated movie, Peter gives Wendy the directions to Neverland with the famous line: “Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”

Let’s go round again

The venture is staffed by some of Stone’s former colleagues from TT Games, including lead game designer Andrew Holt, art director Nicola Daly and head of engineering Chris Stanforth. The last piece of the puzzle was funding: Stone is putting some of his own money into the venture, but the majority of the investment has come from Grahame Chilton, who helped fund 2005’s Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. The company is still weighing up whether to partner with a publisher or go it alone.

“We could have made fewer games slightly better”

Tom Stone, Second Star Games

While Second Star Games definitely has an element of bringing the band back together, Stone wants to do things slightly differently this time.

“I think we’re going to take a breath and look up occasionally,” he says. “When we were making the Lego games, it was intense. It was blood, sweat and tears. I loved every single moment of it, but upon reflection, we could have made fewer games slightly better and sold probably the same number of units that we sold.”

Though TT Games saw wild success with its series of Lego games, there were some at the studio who were unhappy with its culture. An investigation by Polygon in 2022 painted a picture of a workforce under relentless pressure and crunch, at least on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. To his credit, Stone is reported to have held meetings to find out how staff felt and tried to rectify the situation before he departed the company.

“It was a pretty tough 15, 16, 17 years we had at TT. We were on a mission. We were focused. We achieved incredible things,” Stone says.

“Everything in life is a trade; people worked incredibly hard and the games were phenomenally successful. I don’t think everyone complained that it was a tough culture. As happens, there were a number of people who justifiably and rightly said it was a tough environment; their voices were louder than the people who were saying they enjoyed working there and loved making Lego games. Their voices weren’t heard so much.”

Concept art for Second Star’s Peter Pan game | Image credit: Second Star Games

Despite his earlier reflection that he wants his new studio to make fewer games slightly better, Stone says that in order to do extraordinary things, developers must be open to tough and challenging work.

“We’re currently a team of 18 full-time employees. Everyone’s the same. We’re all in this boat together. Everyone knows each other. We don’t want an HR department. Everyone is there to support one another in building this game together,” Stone says.

“It’s going to be tough and challenging because we’re setting ourselves incredibly high goals. We had a meeting last week in the studio, where we agreed on a particular design feature, which is going to be very, very challenging to achieve.

“If we are not going to do stuff like that, what’s the point of doing it? If we aren’t going to break through and make this game truly memorable, then why bother? Everyone is on board. Everyone knows we are going to set ourselves some really, really high bar challenges, and everyone wants to do it.”

A changed world

At last official count back in 2019, the Lego games made by TT had sold north of 200 million copies (Stone reckons now it’s closer to 380 or 390 million). There’s no denying that the franchise has been hugely successful. But Stone and co are mindful of the fact that the games industry has changed wildly since 2005, especially when it comes to younger audiences.

More concept art depicting Neverland | Image credit: Second Star Games

“We want to do something really special. We’re aware that we’re launching into an entirely different market now. In 2005, there was no Roblox, no Minecraft, no Rocket League, no Fortnite,” he says.

“We know that the age group we are aiming at – five through 13 years old – is engaged in one of those games. Obviously, it’s going to be a challenge to have them look up and turn their head and say: ‘There’s a game over there I’d really love to play,’ because they are so engaged in those other games.

“Back in 2005, we were releasing into a physical goods, console-led market, but with no backdrop of people being absorbed by other games that they are playing. Now that’s different. That’s the key change. The other major change is discoverability – there are so many games being released. Unless you have an IP, it’s quite hard for people to discover your game.”

Working on licensed IP has also changed a great deal in the last 20 years. Companies appear to be more relaxed than they were in the past when it comes to their intellectual property and are more open to video games in general.

“Licensors now realise the power of video games and that we can actually enhance and grow and build the intellectual property by making an amazing game,” Stone explains.

“The magic of Lego added to any one of the franchises that we made helped give that other franchise a slight lift. It’s a symbiotic relationship, right? As Harry Potter gave Lego a lift, Lego gave Harry Potter a lift. It just expressed it in new, different, and interesting ways.

“Consumers who love those intellectual properties are always ready for a new treatment and a new way of looking at Harry, a new way of looking at Lord of the Rings, whatever the franchise might be.”

Thoroughbred stable

Across its history, TT Games worked on everything from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to Marvel and DC properties. Stone has similar aims for Second Star; he wants the studio to have a range of intellectual properties in its repertoire.

Neverland concept art | Image credit: Second Star Games

“The first is Neverland and the adventures of Peter Pan. Once we announced the studio, we actually had quite a lot of inbound interest, asking whether we’d be interested in working on this IP or that piece of IP. Obviously, we will be selective and thoughtful. We have to be mindful that we can’t do it all at the same time, but the goal is to build out a stable of expertise in this young gamer space.

“I imagine 100 years ago, the family would gather around the fire and share stories. They would have that shared moment of family community. What I’m imagining now is the family gathering around a screen in co-op mode, playing a game together, watching it being played and Peter Pan is that magnet.

“Peter Pan is the fire that everyone is watching, while they all gather around the television together. The vision is to build a stable, bring the thoroughbreds in, and have everyone playing together around a screen.”

He concludes: “When we introduced co-op play into the first Lego Star Wars game, it made such a difference. It was such a breakthrough moment; people were able to play together in a social cooperative way. We are going to build on that.”

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September 30, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Peter Schiff Explains Why Strategy (MSTR) Should Have Bought Gold Instead of Bitcoin

by admin September 28, 2025

Analysts mapped a slow-grind path for bitcoin and flagged $112,000 as the trigger while gold advocate Peter Schiff revived the gold-versus-bitcoin debate by challenging Michael Saylor’s BTC treasury bet for his firm.

CoinDesk Senior Analyst James van Straten said bitcoin’s market structure has shifted alongside gold’s repricing.

He expects a slow, stair-step advance supported by steady ETF inflows, with 10–20% pullbacks along the way. He compared the setup to gold in the early 2000s, when prices climbed for years but often paused for healthy corrections.

In his framing, bitcoin may sometimes lag gold and sometimes outperform it, yet he still sees bitcoin leading on total returns over a full cycle.

Read More: Bitcoin Trails Equities, Metals, and USD in Q3. Here Is a Key Level to Watch for Next Move

Michaël van de Poppe focused on near-term levels.

He called sub-$107,000 a buy zone, signaling where he thinks dip buyers are likely to step in. He also pointed to $112,000 as the ceiling to beat. A clean break and hold above $112,000 on UTC closes would, in his view, confirm strength and broaden risk appetite, the point at which flows often rotate into large altcoins. That is what he means by “altcoin mode.”

Euro Capital CEO Peter Schiff, meanwhile, challenged Michael Saylor’s strategy by contrasting Strategy’s bitcoin exposure with a hypothetical gold program.

His core claim is liquidity. He argued that tens of billions of dollars in gold could be sold with limited market impact, while trying to exit a similar bitcoin position could hit prices hard and set off copycat selling.

Supporters of bitcoin would counter that any large seller could stage exits over time and use over-the-counter channels, but Schiff’s point is that gold’s market depth offers more flexibility to very large holders.

CoinDesk Research analysis

Window: Sept. 27, 09:00 UTC to Sept. 28, 08:00 UTC.
What happened: According to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model, bitcoin consolidated in about a $692 band (~1%), between $109,156.82 and $109,849.28.
Support showed up: repeated holds near ~$109,400 late on Sept. 27 (UTC).
Resistance formed: ~$109,750 capped rebounds in that same late-evening window.
Final 60 minutes: between 07:09 UTC and 08:08 UTC on Sept. 28, price popped to $109,663.84 at 08:03 UTC, then settled near ~$109,580, turning ~$109,575 into fresh, short-term support.
Read-through: Support ~$109,400–$109,575; resistance ~$109,750. A UTC close above ~$109,750 sets up $110,000–$111,000. Lose ~$109,400, and ~$109,150 is next.

Latest 24-hour and one-month chart read

24-hour context (as of Sept. 28, 14:41 UTC): price near $109,724 sits above ~$109,400/109,575 support and below ~$109,750 resistance. A break and hold above ~$109,750 (UTC) points to $110,000–$111,000, with $112,000 the broader momentum trigger many traders watch. A slip back under ~$109,400 risks a retest of ~$109,150, then ~$108,500.
One-month context: after mid-September highs near ~$117,000, bitcoin has compressed into the $109,000–$112,000 area. Reclaiming and holding $112,000 would likely reignite upside momentum. Failing that, more sideways consolidation is the base case rather than a trend break on its own.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.

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September 28, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

‘Bitcoin Is Next’: Peter Schiff Slams Ethereum into Bear Market Territory

by admin September 26, 2025

Ethereum dipped below $4,000 on Thursday, kicking off a technical bear market and causing Peter Schiff to sound the alarm once again. The move took ETH more than 20% off its August peak, where the token briefly touched $4,850 and marked the sharpest correction since early summer.

The sell-off got worse once ETH hit $4,150. A heavy session dragged the major altcoin down to the $3,930 zone, canceling out weeks of gains and putting a damper on corporate treasury purchases that had been promoted as a stabilizing force.

ETH/USD by TradingView

The latest breakdown means we are now looking at whether the second-biggest crypto can find a floor above the $3,800 support band, or if it is going to go even lower.

Peter Schiff strikes again

Schiff, who has always been cautious about crypto rallies, said that the Ethereum reversal was linked to Bitcoin. In his words, ETH’s decline is a sign that the crypto market has turned bearish, and BTC is poised to be the next asset to dip.

Ethereum just tanked below $4,000. Despite all the Ethereum Treasury company buying, the #2 crypto is now in an official bear market, down 20% from its August record high. Bitcoin is next.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) September 25, 2025

For traders, the report is about more than just Schiff’s criticism, though. It is also about the numbers on the chart. Ethereum is trading at the same levels it was at in early August, and it is clear that the momentum is broken right now . This means that the two biggest digital assets might have problems holding on until the end of 2025.

Ethereum’s fall gave Schiff another headline. The big question now is whether Bitcoin will follow suit.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Peter Schiff Condemns Bitcoin, Embraces Blockchain Gold

by admin September 23, 2025

Popular Bitcoin critic and gold advocate, Peter Schiff, has once again stirred reactions across the crypto community after expressing faith in the long-term value of his digital art collection, compared to Bitcoin.

Schiff made the move as he flaunted gold’s new all-time high of $3,726 in the faces of Bitcoiners, seizing the opportunity to promote his Golden Triumph Ordinals Set. Notably, Schiff claimed that the art collection is more scarce and valuable than the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin.

Schiff’s Golden Triumph Ordinals vs. Bitcoin

The Golden Triumph Ordinals is a blockchain-based digital art collection of 50 one-of-a-kind digital inscriptions, launched on the popular NFT platform, Magic Eden.

With Schiff refusing to back down on his long-standing skeptical stance on Bitcoin, his decision to launch a digital art collection based particularly on the Bitcoin blockchain has raised eyebrows among crypto users.

During the initial launch of the NFT collection, crypto users had suggested that Schiff might already be softening his stance on the leading cryptocurrency. However, his recent post further affirms that Schiff might never accept the idea behind Bitcoin’s invention.

According to his post, Peter Schiff downplayed Bitcoin’s scarcity, noting that Bitcoin’s total supply, which is divisible across the global population, makes it accessible to everyone on the planet. As such, he emphasized that the digital art product is more scarce and valuable than Bitcoin, as only 50 Golden Triumph Ordinals will ever exist.

As always, the Bitcoin skeptic issued an unsurprising piece of advice to the Bitcoin community, urging Bitcoiners to consider selling portions of their depreciating BTC to acquire the ordinals — a move that, according to him, could propel physical gold to more upsurge.

Nonetheless, Schiff’s selective support of blockchain-based gold collectibles, as opposed to the first blockchain-based digital asset, has received criticism and displeasure among commentators, who argued that Schiff is promoting “shitcoins” over a long-viable cryptocurrency.

The commentators find it inappropriate for Schiff to condemn blockchain when it supports Bitcoin, but praise it when it amplifies his pro-gold stance. Hence, many believe that Schiff might need to rethink his resentment towards Bitcoin.

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September 23, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Bitcoin Trader Peter Brandt Gives Rare Tesla (TSLA) Price Update

by admin September 15, 2025

People are taking another look at Tesla shares after a message from a well-known trader, Peter Brandt. He pointed out a pattern on the chart that looks like an ascending triangle.

His approach is based on classical charting, a discipline that was first set out almost a century ago, and he has noted that Tesla’s price movements are following those same structures.

What’s next for Tesla (TSLA)?

Brandt’s chart and Musk’s purchase show that technical traders and corporate news are both pointing in the same direction right now. This is also happening at a time when there is a lot of speculation about Musk’s next compensation plan, worth $1 trillion.

That plan, if approved in November, would require Musk to stay at Tesla for another decade and to raise the company’s valuation from its current $1 trillion to $8.5 trillion, with milestones tied to robotaxi rollout and advances in artificial intelligence.

Not Very Bullish? Peter Thiel-Backed Crypto Stock Is Overpriced, Says Compass Point

by admin September 3, 2025

In brief

Crypto exchange Bullish debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in August.
Its stock soared to more than triple the initial offering price.
But analysts at Compass Point say it’s currently trading too high.

Analysts at investment bank Compass Point initiated coverage of crypto exchange Bullish with a neutral rating and a $45 price target, about 16% below its current price, and amid wariness about its ability to crack the U.S. market.

Ed Engel and Abdullah Dilawar wrote that the U.S. Congress had yet to pass the CLARITY Act, market structure legislation that would clarify the jurisdictions of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. New York State’s restrictive BitLicense could also hinder Bullish’s efforts, they wrote.

“We have a hard time seeing Bullish entering U.S. markets until Congress passes market structure legislation,” the analysts wrote. “Until then, NYDFS [New York Department of Financial Services] is viewed as the industry’s de facto U.S. regulator.”

They added: “NYDFS is historically less hospitable to novel blockchain technologies which leaves us cautious towards Bullish’s Bitlicense approval. While the company is extremely transparent with its AMM [automatic market maker] liquidity and algorithm, we have a hard time seeing NYDFS issues a Bitlicense to an exchange that acts as a market maker on its own exchange.”

Bullish shares (BLSH) closed down 12% Wednesday to trade a little over $54. The Peter Thiel-backed exchange debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last month, with shares hitting as high as $118 after being offered for $37 in the IPO. The analysts noted that BLSH seemed overvalued with shares trading at 110 times their core operating profit and 68% over its IPO price.”

Despite their concerns, the analysts wrote that if Bullish secures a U.S. license, it could become a formidable competitor to Coinbase, which dominates institutional trading in the U.S., noting Bullish’s low fees.

“We think there could be a better buying opportunity within 1-2 quarters,” the analysts wrote.

They also wrote: “We believe competitive pricing can help it take market share from Coinbase which dominates institutional spot markets,” the analysts wrote. “COIN’s institutional fee rates are above international exchanges alongside limited competition domestically.”

Bullish allows clients to buy, sell, and bet on the future price of digital coins and tokens, with a focus on institutional investors rather than retail traders. It currently targets traders in Europe and Hong Kong.

Coinbase—America’s biggest exchange (COIN)—went public in 2021. Its share price is down more than 11% since then, despite reaching an all-time high of $444 in July.

Bullish’s debut follows closely after other public offerings by crypto-focused companies. San Francisco-based Circle, which issues the USDC stablecoin, had a roaring June NYSE debut when its stock tripled from its original IPO price of $31 per share to a peak of $299. It was recently trading at close to $119.

And brokerage platform eToro’s stock closed 29% higher following its Nasdaq debut in May.

Bullish CEO Tom Farley, who previously was NYSE’s president, said in August that the firm timed its IPO to the intended to IPO as “the digital assets industry is beginning its next leg of growth.”

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September 3, 2025 0 comments

Spinneret and Spiderling race over the rooftops of New York

Gaming Gear

Magic: The Gathering’s Spider-Man set is full of Spider-Verse Spider-Folk including the superhero identities of Peter Parker’s alternate-universe wife and daughter

by admin September 2, 2025

It’s wild to think how influential Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions was. The actually pretty good videogame from 2010 gave us a meeting of four alternate Spider-Mans, though that wasn’t enough for one its writers, Dan Slott, who thought it would be better with all of them. That inspired him to write the crossover Spider-Verse, which in turn inspired the animated Spider-Verse movies, the live-action movie Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the character’s whole modern status quo where he’s part of his own multiverse of Spider-People.

Which includes Spinneret and Spiderling, as depicted in this preview card from Magic: The Gathering’s Spider-Man set. They’re from an alternate Earth where Peter Parker and MJ stayed married and had a daughter, Annie-May Parker, who developed spider-powers of her own. She became the superhero named Spiderling while MJ, thanks to a high-tech suit that lets her share her husband’s abilities, fights crime alongside her family as Spinneret.

(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)

This is told in a series that began as a crossover spin-off called Renew Your Vows, focusing on the domestic life of this Spider-Family. The struggle of two constantly exhausted parents who are not as young as they used to be makes for a surprisingly grounded superhero saga, one where heroes still have to worry about having breakfast on the table for their kid in the morning. The least realistic thing about it is that a fashion expert like MJ would wear an outfit with those boot cuffs.

The cards revealed so far in Magic’s Spider-Man set show plenty of similar multiversal deep cuts, like Spider-Cat from Spider-Island, Lyla the hologram sidekick from Spider-Man 2099, and multiple cards sharing the keyword ability “menace” because it’s J. Jonah Jameson’s favorite word for summing up Spidey. Which is cute.

The Renew Your Vows storyline that gave us Spinneret and Spiderling felt like a continuation of Spider-Man’s original promise. The early issues back in the ’60s depicted Peter Parker’s changing life as he grew up, but at a certain point the clock was wound back to trap him in bachelor stasis. Renew Your Vows let us see how Spider-Man would have changed if he’d been allowed to reveal his quips were dad jokes all along, and how his supporting cast could have grown alongside him to become co-stars in their own right.

It was only ever an alternate timeline, but thanks to the Spider-Verse we get to spend time with it and every other possibility, from the cartoon world of Spider-Ham to the hard-boiled Spider-Man Noir, and Magic’s clearly leaning into that variety with this set. They even brought back the Riot keyword from Ravnica Allegiance just for Spider-Punk. We owe it all to the outsized influence of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, a seven-out-of-ten game that nevertheless reshaped an entire corner of popular culture.

Magic: The Gathering x Marvel’s Spider-Man will be available from September 26. Prerelease events begin on September 19.

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September 2, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

The CDC’s Nightmare Interim Director Is a Peter Thiel Pal

by admin August 29, 2025

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is in chaotic disarray, as a slew of resignations and an unprecedented walkout of staff have roiled the agency. At the center of the controversy is the CDC’s weirdo director, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose most recent contribution to public health dialogue was a bizarre rant about what passes through his mind as he stares at children. No wonder longtime agency staffers are losing their minds.

Now, in a development that is sure to help (*sarcasm*), Jim O’Neill, Kennedy’s deputy secretary, has been selected to take over at the agency. People are freaking out about O’Neill’s nomination because, well, he’s a freak—or, at the very least, he is anomalous in regards to his espoused beliefs and career experience and how little they seem to match his new job. But, as Stat reports, the sure-fire tell that this man waves a freak flag is his deep connections to PayPal co-founder and all-around weirdo Peter Thiel.

One of the first things you notice when you check out O’Neill’s LinkedIn is just how much time he’s spent working for organizations that were created by rightwing billionaire Peter Thiel. Between 2008 and 2012, O’Neill served as the managing director of Clarium Capital Management, one of Thiel’s first hedge funds. After that, O’Neill spent nearly a decade as the managing director of Mithril Capital Management, one of Thiel’s venture capital firms, which has been responsible for funding companies like Thiel’s defense contractor, Palantir (which is also doing a lot of work for the Trump administration right now).

O’Neill was also previously a board member of Thiel’s Seasteading Institute, an organization that is devoted to the creation of autonomous floating cities that are governed by private entities rather than traditional (i.e., democratic) governments. A picture on the group’s website from 2014 shows O’Neill hanging out with dead-eyed libertarian operative Grover Norquist at Burning Man. The Seasteading Institute is run by Milton Friedman’s grandson, Patri Friedman, who is also a point person for the “Network State” movement, which Thiel is also all wrapped up in.

Frankly, O’Neill’s dense ties to Thiel are one of the less worrying things about him. Much more concerning is the wealth of information about him online that would give any sane person pause when considering whether to let him run a public health agency. For one thing, there’s an old YouTube video of him talking about how we should open up organ donation to the “free market” (there’s nothing wrong with incentivizing people to but and sell organs, right?), and he’s also a fan of Silicon Valley’s trendy new life-extension sciences (he has shared kind words about the penis-shocking, teen-blood-transfusing health guru Bryan Johnson). During the pandemic, he is said to have advocated for the use of alternative medications, like hydroxychloroquine and Joe Rogan’s favorite, ivermectin. The Seasteading Institute is run by Milton Friedman’s grandson, Patri Friedman, who is also a point person for the “Network State” movement. O’Neill also reportedly advocated for dispensing with the FDA’s mandate that drugs be deemed “effective” before they’re sold to the public. In 2014, he told a biotech group: “Let people start using them [the drugs], at their own risk.” And, of course, he wants healthcare to be a “free market” enterprise.

In short, he sounds like a complete and total nightmare and, also, the exact kind of person that RFK would want to run the CDC.

Unlike his boss, O’Neill is not a complete stranger to government, although this should offer little comfort. During the George W. Bush administration, he served in several roles at the HHS, even rising as high as principal associate deputy secretary. In that role, between 2007 and 2008, he is said to have focused his attention on food safety regulations. Then, during Trump’s first term in office, O’Neill was mulled as a potential choice to head the Food and Drug Administration. When it originally broke that Trump was considering O’Neill for this post back in 2016, Gizmodo wrote an article entitled: “Trump is Considering an Insane Silicon Valley Libertarian to Head the FDA.” At the time, much controversy was stirred up by the mere suggestion that O’Neill take the FDA role, and eventually, Trump dropped the idea. Now, unfortunately, O’Neill is going to be running an agency nearly twice as large and significantly more important, at least for the time being. Gizmodo reached out to the government for more information.

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August 29, 2025 0 comments