Skip to main content

The Weekender: a better Bitcoin, a 1986 supercar, and a one-way trip to Mars

The Weekender: a better Bitcoin, a 1986 supercar, and a one-way trip to Mars

/

The best of the week gone by

Share this story

Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Each week, we'll bring you important articles from the previous weeks' original reports, features, and reviews on The Verge. Think of it as a collection of a few of our favorite pieces from the week gone by, which you may have missed, or which you might want to read again.

  • Review

    ‘The Machine’ review: a stylish indie sci-fi thriller about humanity's obsolescence

    It may echo Blade Runner and RoboCop, but director Caradog James’ new thriller still offers a fresh take on big sci-fi questions. As humans become increasingly augmented with their machines, what becomes of their humanity?

  • Report

    Star search: a non-profit group wants to send four people to Mars... forever

    Mars One is part game show, part reality TV, and part science experiment. The Dutch non-profit wants to bi-annually send send four people on a one-way trip to Mars and then film their every move.

  • Review

    Samsung Galaxy S4 review

    It’s finally Samsung’s turn to take a shot at upgrading a massively successful phone. The company has built in a ton of new features and a really great display — but that may not be enough to stand up to HTC’s latest and greatest, the One.

  • Feature

    Status Symbols: Porsche 959

    Meet the 1986 supercar that Bill Gates waited over a decade to ride inside the United States. The Porsche 959 introduced a multitude of features unheard of at the time — and set the stage for cars of today.

  • Review

    'Lil Bub & Friendz' review: internet cat culture doesn't need rock stars

    Does a meme deserve space on the big screen? Lil Bub gained a massive following online over the past year, and now it's spawned a documentary covering the cat, her owner, and cat fandom as a whole. But do we really need a love letter to too-cute cat culture?

  • Report

    World Wide [Redacted]: inside Iran's private internet

    Iran has long threatened to build a state-controlled internet, and we’re beginning to see what that internet looks like. The country is now blocking ways that citizens use to get around censorship, and it looks as if it may be acquiring more and more advances ways to do it.

  • Review

    Fujifilm X100S review: Making today’s pictures with yesterday’s design

    The X100S has a throwback design that makes it distinctly fun to shoot with and a hybrid viewfinder that gives photographers the best of both mirrorless cameras and traditional SLRs. Our own Dan Seifert took it around New York to see if Fujifilm’s camera is a serious tool or just a fancy novelty.

  • Report

    Gold 2.0: can code and competition build a better Bitcoin?

    Will the future of Bitcoin be merely a modification on the digital currency or will it be something altogether new? One product, Zerocoin, is trying to improve the currency that we already know, while a new startup, Ripple, is completely rethinking the concept.