Tech
Washington Just Made It Harder to Buy Your Next Robot Vacuum
The FCC added foreign-made robots to a national security list on July 28. The one already cleaning your floor keeps…
Writer
Todd Ruffner-Schoenfeld
Editor in chief. A knack for the fine print.
Todd Ruffner-Schoenfeld has spent his working life being handed things he did not yet understand. He started at the bottom, a developer in a bullpen, and worked his way up to running IT. The places were a strange assortment: consulting firms, accounting firms, a biotech startup, a tech startup in Silicon Valley and, of all places, Chiquita. Four small businesses of his own along the way. The work never really changed. Get into something unfamiliar, find out what is actually going on, and help someone make a hard decision with it. HeadLines Decoded is that job, pointed at the news.
Selected work
Tech
Washington Just Made It Harder to Buy Your Next Robot Vacuum
The FCC added foreign-made robots to a national security list on July 28. The one already cleaning your floor keeps…
Series Parts
The SAVE Act, Part 8: What It Would Mean for Voting
Strip away the slogans and ask a narrower question: at the polling place, on the day, what would change?
Series Parts
Shanghai Disneyland After Dark: The Biggest Castle Lights Up
The tallest castle Disney has ever built, lit from the inside. What Shanghai does with the hour after sunset.
Series Parts
The SAVE Act, Part 7: Who Feels the Impact, and What the Evidence Shows
Who actually gets caught by a documentary proof requirement, and what the evidence says about how many people that is.
Series Parts
Hong Kong Disneyland After Dark: Two Shows, One Night
Two nighttime shows in one evening, on a park compact enough to actually catch both.
Series Parts
The SAVE Act, Part 6: States’ Rights and Federal Power
Elections have always been run by the states. This bill reaches into that, and the constitutional argument is older than…
Series Parts
Disneyland Paris After Dark: The Park Turns Operatic
Paris does not do subtle after dark. The park turns operatic, and the castle is the reason people book the…
Travel
So You Found a Cheap Cruise. Here’s How to Make It a Great Trip.
Fares really do fall as a ship fills up. What you hand back for the discount is the right to…
Series Parts
The SAVE Act, Part 5: What Actually Triggers It
It does not re-register the whole country. It catches you at the moment you move, marry, or register for the…
Series Parts
Tokyo Disneyland After Dark: A Castle Show’s Farewell
A castle show is taking its final bows in Tokyo. What it feels like to catch it before the lights…