Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 04-28-26

I failed to post daily Pook-Emu Bee links on Sunday (out) and yesterday (work). But I return to you on this fair morning of April 28, 2026, with nine links from around the world wide web. 1. Hipster NYC straphangers fear third straight summer of hell on G train: ‘Here we are again’ (Nicole Rosenthal, Sofia Pozansky, and Haley Brown for the New York Post). I remembered having published a short post about G train upgrades and assumed that I had published it here on ECS. It turns out I published it as a “Leaf Bud” short post on NLJ all the way back in August 2023, before this site existed. We can track MTA time through my link posts. 2. Obama-Biden Iran Negotiator Says Trump Doesn’t Have Enough Experts, Bemoans ‘Genocide’ in Gaza (Ira Stoll for The Washington Free Beacon. April 28, 2026.) How do you write an article about Wendy Sherman without noting the leading role she played in prevening North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons!? Wait. I’m getting an update… 3. “Pathetic. Keyboard Courage. Can’t Stand It” – Call Of Duty Movie Director Has A Dim View Of The Video Game Series (Damien McFerran for Time Extension. April 28, 2026.) I never played Call of Duty and will not see the Call of Duty movie. But as an outside observer, it seems odd to choose as the director of a Call of Duty movie someone who is on record as holding the audience for said movie in contempt. For example, you would probably be unwise to hire me to direct a movie celebrating a game which makes heavy use of generative AI, right? But what do I know? I’m not a Hollywood executive. 4. Valve Confirms Steam Controller Release Date, $99 Price (Michael Larabel for Poronix. April 27, 2026.) It looks tempting… 5. U.S. companies back Sam Altman’s World ID even as much of the world pushes back (Ananya Battacharya for Rest of World. April 27, 2026.) The article notes three U.S. companies, at least one of which has engaged in censorship on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, and a few countries from around the world. Oversell, under-deliver. With that being said, I too will pass on the Sam Altman eye-scan thing. 6. I Stumbled Across My Boyfriend’s ChatGPT and It Ended Our Relationship (Lindsey Hall. March 31, 2026.) This article gives you a TMI feeling when you read it. I will link it less as a recommendation and more because it gives me an opportunity to dispense life advice: Don’t ask chatbots for relationship advice. 7. A telltale AI phrase is taking over corporate comms (Molly Liebergall for Morning Brew. April 24, 2026.) It’s not AI, but… wait… yeah it’s probably AI. 8. Ralph Sampson: Why He Can’t Be a Winner in Houston, 1986 (Bob Kuska from Way Downtown, reprinting article by Fran Blinebury froom March 1986 issue of Basketball Digest. April 24, 2026.) Looking back at the NBA’s first, and perhaps only, 7’4″ forward. 9. Fernando Mendoza, System QB (Mike Tanner for Too Deep Zone. April 20, 2026.) No one with any credibility ranks Mendoza in the Trevor Lawrence S-tier of recent quarterback prospects. No one but the dedicated naysayers foresee an epic bust. This line struck me as interesting since my understanding as a distant follower of today’s NFL is that Trevor Lawrence has not yet turned into an S-tier NFL quarterback (albeit I understand he had a very nice season in 2025.)