Clive Thompson

@clivethompson.bsky.social

7929 Followers 1294 Following

Writer, musician, hobbyist coder. Wired / NYT Magazine / Mother Jones, author of "Coders". Blog at clivethompson.medium.com. Free "Linkfest" newsletter ("the opposite of doomscrolling"): https://shorturl.at/XcutG. Built https://www.weirdoldbookfinder.net/

A photo of a bell jar with a plant inside. The bell jar has a thick wooden base with a slot inside it into which an iPhone has been slid. At the top of the bell jar is a wooden semicircle from which light is shining down on the plant. It looks both high tech and warm, The dark wood feels very lo fi
An aerial picture of a large basketball court. It is very colorful and divide it into different geometric shapes, including dark blue triangles, light blue rectangles, and burnt orange circles and parallelograms. The is surrounded by a high white fence and has a forest of green trees on the left side and what looks like another smaller court on the right side. There are four people playing basketball, one is shooting the ball towards the hoop
The actor Steve Buscemi in an orange space suit with no helmet, looking pensive
Screenshot reading: "Jonathon Yule, executive creative director for design at the creative studio Concrete in Toronto told 404 Media that these types of posters continue a long tradition of terrible graphic design that we see in the world, but with “none of the charm” that may accidentally come from a business owner making something low quality. “Terrible posters are nothing new,” Yule said. “The only difference today is generative AI makes it easier than ever to get the veneer of "polish" with none of the charm that these types of posters might have had when the designer was faced with constraints (usually time, resources or experience). These types of posters would have typically been done by designers either working at a small agency or print shop and these mid-level design jobs are disappearing. Stepping back to think about where this style (and its acceptance in the world) might have come from I'm going to have to pin the blame on YouTube and AB-tested-whatever-gets-more-clicks approach to thumbnail design with the exaggerated facial expressions and shoddy yet eye catching typography.”"
A large colorful chart entitled "Sumida penguins relationship Chart 2026". It shows tiny images of cartoons of perhaps 2 or three dozen Penguins together with a welter of colored lines illustrating relationships
Three screenshots of the game Doom. In the first one, top left, It shows the logo "Doom" with the phrase "press to start" in red below it. In the right it shows the exact same screen except crudely pixelated in black and white grayscale. In the bottom is a screen that appears to be the same thing, except pixelated only in white and black, so you can't quite make out the letters "Doom" though you can very generally see the outline of their shape
An animated gif of an app. It has a QWERTY keyboard, and above the keyboard is a black area. You can see someone typing on the keyboard because letters start getting highlighted in orange, and we see these words appear in the black area, letter by letter: "I can hear the sound of the keys". While the letters are being typed we see a sound wave rise and fall in orange, in between the keyboard and the black area
An animated gif showing how "Violent Checkers" works. It shows a checkers board in its Beginning state, with the red checkers on the bottom and the Black checkers on the top. A mouse touches a red piece and pulls backwards, creating a vector arrow that points from the red checker to a black checker. Then suddenly the player lets go and red checker zips forward and slams into the black checker and destroys it. For the next move, the other player drags on a black piece, creating a vector arrow pointing towards a red piece. then the player lets go and the black piece shoots forward and bounces off the red piece, and the collisions move several pieces around, almost like curling stones or billiard balls.
A withered old grey rectangular object that looks possibly like a piece of old buckled wood, or some sort of ancient cloth. It has characters written in scratch marks on it
A dark, minimalist webpage titled “Current Rothko” displays a large reproduction of Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Orange (1961) centered on the screen. A left sidebar shows the user’s location (New York), current weather (88°F, clear sky), time of day (afternoon, 4:15 PM), a mood register labeled “radiant,” and a list of world cities with their local times. Beneath the painting, the caption reads: “Orange, Red, Orange, 1961” followed by the text, “Full sun overhead — the orange field carries the same vivid hour.”
An iPhone case that is made of clear see through plastic. Inside we can see a riot of greenery, small leafed plants and Moss growing inside the case. It has a very whimsical look to it
Screenshot reading: "The neuroscientist Anil Seth has noted that no one claims that AlphaFold—the program developed by Google DeepMind to predict the folding of proteins—is conscious, even though its underlying architecture is in many ways similar to that of LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude. This indicates that it’s not any intrinsic property of so-called neural networks that leads people to believe that LLMs are conscious; it’s simply the fact that LLMs emit grammatical sentences and we are accustomed to reading intention into sentences, whereas we are not accustomed to reading intention into the way that amino acids fold into protein molecules."
A crudely pixellated version of the cover of the album "Abbey Road", done in lego blocks
A close up picture of two electronic devices that are sitting on a wooden table in St Paul's cathedral. Each consist of thin metal pin -- perhaps 4 inches long -- each with a small circular object attached one third of the way up the pin. Each pin is being held upright in a vertical position by a document clip. In the background you can see desks and shelves of books and a white bust of an old man
A moody, black and white photo of the two actors from the movie Withnail and I. On the left, crouching on the ground, is the actor Paul McGann, He has shaggy dark hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. Standing over him to the right is the actor Richard Grant, Wearing a thick tweed great coat with trousers, a white shirt, and a long necktie, and Grant is looking at the camera and scowling and leaning against a wooden fence. In the background is the countryside.
A screenshot of a Kagi translator called "LinkedIn Speak". On the left is the sentence: "I'm curled in a fetal ball under my desk so I'm going to be late filing my quarterly expenses", and on the right is the translation: "Taking some much-needed time for deep reflection and grounding today! Sometimes you have to disconnect to reconnect. Prioritizing mental wellness means my quarterly expense report will be slightly delayed, but I'm leaning into the process and embracing the journey. I #SelfCare #WorkLifeBalance #Mindfulness #GrowthMindset"
A yellow game boy, showing the game Tetris being played, with a score of 131
A closeup of two plant pots in the rain. They are filled with soil and have large trunks of plants growing out of them. The rain has made the soil so wet is is almost like a little dark muddy pool inside each plant pot
alt="A pentagram shaped image that looks like a metal medallion. At the top is a skull wearing a military helmet with glowing red eyes and two machine guns pointing out of its ears, below that is the text “operation Metro Surge Minnesota” with the text below that saying “one nation under God”. Below that aer images of Donald Trump and another white men both looking stern and angry, and below that 5 figures clothed in military tactical equipment, with face masks, helmets, and Appear to be machine guns or sniper rifles with these logos on their chests: Bortac, Hsi SRT, FPS, Borstar, Border patrol. At the bottom is a German Shepherd looking at the viewer with its mouth open. The overall impression is grim, with the esthetics of a badly designed early 2000s video game"
A screenshot of the live stream of the Artemis two space mission, showing the spacecraft poking in from the far left, bright in the sunlight, with six rocket cones sticking out, and a black solar panel jetting out at 2 o’clock. In the middle of the picture is a very large planet earth, 2/5 shrouded in blackness, 3/5 in bright sunlight, and the sunlit part is blue with a small amount of land visible through many swirling white clouds. The background is completely pitch black, making for an exceptionally dramatic image
A screenshot of the live Nassau stream from the Artemis to Space Mission, showing spacecraft Poking in from far left, Bright in sunlight, with six or seven small cone shaped thrusters sticking out from and a solar array jutting out at 5:00. In the middle of the picture near the bottom is a very large planet Earth half inch shadow and half in light with the part that light showing the planet bright blue interspersed with lots of swirling clouds. The backdrop is pitch black, making for a very dramatic view
A screenshot of the Youtube live stream of the Artemis Two mission, it shows the Artemis 2 craft on the far left lit by the sun, and next to it, in the middle of a completely black background is Earth, looming fairly large half shadowed, with the brightly lit part showing blue ocean interlaced white clouds
A screenshot of the Youtube live stream of the Artemis Two mission, it shows the Artemis 2 craft on the far left lit by the sun, and in the middle of a completely black background is Earth, looming fairly large half shadowed, with the brightly lit part showing blue ocean interlaced white clouds
The Artemis II crew captures a portion of the Moon coming into view along the terminator – the boundary between lunar day and night – where low-angle sunlight casts long, dramatic shadows across the surface. This grazing light accentuates the Moon’s rugged topography, revealing craters, ridges, and basin structures in striking detail.
A screenshot of the Artemis spacecraft Comm With the spacecraft in the left bright white, And the rest of it is dark space a tiny earth far in the distance in the middle of the screen, visible only as a sliver of light
A screenshot of the NASA live stream from the Artemis Two mission with the Artemis Two capsule In the far left, brightly lit by the sun and on the right side the moon almost entirely obscured, only slightly lit on the far right side; then at the far right edge of the moon the earth far in the distance, visible only as a sliver of light, about to vanish behind the moon`
A screenshot of a youtube stream from the Artemis mission, showing the spacecraft poking in from the far left, brightly lit, while in the middle of the screen is the moon -- large, lit from the sun on the right half, with lots of small craters visible, and the left half in darkness
A screenshot of the video stream from the Artemis 2 mission in orbit around the Earth, showing the earth in the top right corner and a large area of purple and light blue glitched blocks in the video stream
Three artworks by Chris Silverman. On the left, a blue car driving at night beneath huge crescent moon, past a moody forest and tall poles with lights. In the middle, an orange brick building that's shaped almost like a robot, surround by orange scrub brush, against an orange sky; the building/robot is emitting a puff of smoke out a window that looks like an eye, or a mouth. On the right, a drawing of the surface of the moon, with earthrise in the background, and -- incongruously -- a manhole with a yellow traffic cone next to it, and a ladder peeking out.
The parts of a disassembled machine lie on a white background. There are two large red rectangular pieces, a dozen or so smaller gleaming alumnium pieces that have been precision milled, a few small motors, an integrated circuit, and several shiny plastic pieces of casing
Picture of a box of “ah caramel” cakes. It shows a large hand scripted name of the brand behind a big heart shaped blob of dark fudge, with a small picture of one of the cakes with a bite taken out of it; the cake is covered in a thin shell of black chocolate, and inside it is white cake with a topping of caramel and white cream. Honestly, it looks pretty disgusting
A screenshot reading: Writing Specialty-Specific Qualifications Applicants must meet the qualifications for one of the Writing Specialty areas listed below, and must provide verifiable proof of same (verifiable via URLs, ISBNs, award sites, etc.). No NDA-covered or unverifiable claims; such will result in automatic rejection and bar applicant from applying at xAI in the future. Creative Fiction Writing: For prose fiction writers--At least two of the following: (1) verified novel publishing deals with major houses (e.g., Big Five); (2) novel sales >50,000 units (excluding free promotions); (3) 10+ short stories in major outlets (e.g., The New Yorker, Clarkesworld); (4) major awards recognition (e.g., Hugo, Nebula finalist or comparable); (5) critical acclaim (e.g., starred reviews in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, features in Library Journal or NY Times Book Review). For screenwriters--One or more of the following: (1) verified "written by" or "screenplay by" credits on at least two produced feature films distributed by major studios, networks, or streaming platforms (e.g., Warner Bros., Netflix, HBO, Disney); (2) "written by" (or equivalent) credits on 10 produced half-hour or one-hour episodes aired on broadcast TV or cable networks, or having achieved an aggregate of 10 million views on streaming services like YouTube; (3) nominations, wins, or finalist placement for major screenwriting awards (e.g., Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, WGA Awards, Nicholl Fellowship).
Screenshot reading: Applebaum: Of course, totalitarian leaders in the past did try to use schools and universities and research institutions to create an alternative reality. Stalin wanted to build a world in which everything he said was automatically accepted as true and nobody ever questioned him. Hitler manipulated science to prove his theories about race. But still, both of them were interested in engineering, in nuclear technology, in energy technology. They weren’t cutting research funding across the board. Ruth, as we heard from Joan Brugge at the top of this episode, huge cuts in federal support have already been impacting research labs across the United States, including labs that don’t have anything to do with politics. Can you think of an example, prior to this administration, of a very advanced society with very advanced scientific institutes, simply threatening to cut off funding? Ben-Ghiat: The only example I can think of is China, during Mao. Applebaum: I was just gonna ask about that. Ben-Ghiat: During Mao’s long-tenured Cultural Revolution, et cetera, science was put back by generations. Scientists were among the intellectuals and researchers who were killed and imprisoned and purged. And so you had some of this winnowing-out because of loyalty. You had ideological obedience to the party and to the revolution over fact-based knowledge, and fact-based research became the enemy. Universities were destroyed. Experts were sent to the countryside for reeducation.
Screenshot reading: But if they missed the fact that I was an anti-ICE journalist who didn’t fill out her paperwork, what else might they be missing? How many convicted domestic abusers are being given guns and sent into other people’s homes? How many people with ties to white supremacist organizations are indiscriminately targeting minorities on principle, regardless of immigration status? How many rapists and pedophiles are working in ICE detention centers with direct and unsupervised access to a population that will be neither believed nor missed? How are we to trust ICE’s allegedly thorough investigations of the people they detain and deport when they can’t even keep their HR paperwork straight?
Screenshot reading: "During a showdown with protestors at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, I watched as one ICE officer fist-bumped a pro-Trump content creator once he learned he was there to support them. I also watched as a gang of groyper livestreamers, led by January 6th insurrectionist Jake Lang, rile up a crowd of protestors, creating the perfect pretext for ICE agents to fire pepper spray balls and tear gas at the crowd. To say nothing of the other right-wing media networks like OAN, NewsNation, and The Daily Wire, that sent video crews to the city, all of them running their own version of Libs Of TikTok. Singling out protestors and ridiculing them on social media. Olivia Reingold, one of Weiss’ Substack squad, spent the weekend on a state-sanctioned ride-along with ICE agents, posting selfies to her Instagram Stories."
Arrivals from nearly all regions of the world have dropped, according to the research firm Tourism Economics. Visitor arrivals from Germany fell nearly 12 percent through November, compared with last year. The number of visitors from France plunged by nearly 7 percent. Arrivals from South Korea were down almost 6 percent. But the sharpest retreat came from Canada, the second-biggest source of foreign tourists in 2024, after Mexico. Arrivals fell nearly 26 percent through November compared with last year, when Mr. Trump first suggested making Canada the “51st state.”
A cave floor is covered in thick, twisted lava formations that resemble coiled ropes, their surfaces dark and textured. The ceiling above is rough and pale, lit to reveal layers of rock and mineral deposits. The scene captures the striking natural patterns of hardened lava, frozen mid-flow in intricate, looping shapes.
An isometric illustration shows a maze-like architectural structure made of pale stone, with multiple staircases, platforms, and archways arranged in an Escher-like, impossible layout. The walls and steps are textured with a speckled pattern, giving the scene a surreal, dreamlike quality. Soft beige and gray tones dominate the image, highlighting the geometric forms and disorienting spatial logic.
"A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is open, showing a row labeled “Input,” “Formula,” and “Output,” with the number 472.5 entered in the first column. The formula cell displays “=BAHTTEXT(A2),” and the output cell contains Thai text converting the number into words. The interface is the standard Excel layout with toolbars, gridlines, and a green top menu bar."
"A close-up photo of a tree branch shows a single bright green bead of sap glistening on the bark. The background is softly blurred with warm greens and browns, suggesting dense foliage in a forest setting. The sharp focus on the tiny droplet highlights its vivid color and jewel-like appearance."
"A black-and-white photo shows an abandoned, weather-beaten house on a slight hill, surrounded by leafless trees and overgrown brush. The building’s siding is warped and peeling, with boarded or broken windows hinting at long neglect. The stark contrast and barren landscape give the scene a haunting, desolate atmosphere."
"A vintage Casio wrist remote control watch is shown with a rectangular digital display and an array of buttons along the sides and bottom. Labels like “POWER,” “TV/VCR,” “STOP,” and “PLAY” indicate its ability to operate electronics, while directional and channel buttons sit below the screen. The black strap and chunky, gadget-filled design emphasize its 1980s–1990s tech aesthetic"
A hand holds a circular embroidery hoop showing a detailed, textured aerial landscape with fields, roads, clusters of green trees, and a bright blue canal running vertically through the center. A small embroidered boat floats on the canal, adding a pop of color against the green terrain. The stitching varies in texture and density to mimic foliage, paths, and water, giving the scene a rich, tactile depth
A cyclist in a blue jersey and black helmet performs a wheelie on a light-blue bike while riding indoors on a track. The background is motion-blurred, emphasizing speed, with gym equipment and a few people faintly visible. The rider looks focused and balanced, holding the handlebars steady as the front wheel lifts high off the ground.
A luminous landscape painting depicts a vast mountain valley bathed in golden light. Towering cliffs rise steeply on either side, framing a tranquil river and meadow stretching into the distance. The warm glow of the setting or rising sun filters through a partly clouded sky, creating a dramatic contrast between shadowed rock faces and the radiant horizon
A dark, moody photograph of a house at night shows a cabin-like structure surrounded by tall trees. The building’s windows glow from within. It's pretty creepy
Screenshot of a web page. It is nearly all white, except at the top is a big bold headline: An emoji of an hourglass followed by "Text Pomodoro". Beneath is reads "How many minutes to work for?" Beneath that is an empty text box. At the very bottom in a small font reads "made by clive, here's why, remix"
A close-up image of a bright green sea slug with ruffled, leaf-like edges, resembling a piece of underwater lettuce. Its surface is speckled with golden dots, and delicate frills ripple along its sides as it floats near strands of green algae. The creature’s translucent texture and vivid color give it an almost plant-like appearance.
A clear martini glass filled with a pale cocktail sits on a wooden ledge outdoors, garnished with two green olives on a pick decorated with shiny green tinsel. The background is softly blurred, showing sunlit trees and white umbrellas, suggesting a relaxed resort or seaside setting. The image conveys a summery, leisurely mood.
A digital map of Europe is shown with dark blue location markers displaying white numbers, indicating quantities at various points across the continent. The highest concentrations appear in Germany (9.7k), France (130), Italy (228), and the United Kingdom (84), with smaller clusters in surrounding countries. The map offers both “Map View” and “List View” options, suggesting an interactive interface for exploring regional data or listings.
A digital crossword puzzle titled “Worm” is shown with several partially completed answers. Words like “WOOD,” “BOOK,” “MEAL,” and “HOOK” appear on the grid, color-coded in blue or orange. To the right, the clues and notes display hints and feedback such as “Right word, built wrong!” and “Wrong direction!,” suggesting this is an interactive word puzzle game that checks answers in real time.
A screenshot of me asking ChatGPT to "Write a description of how to use git, in the style of the 18th century poet Alexander Pope." The poem begins: “The Git Epistle: or, How to Commit with Grace” (In the Style of Alexander Pope) Know, gentle coder, when thy work’s begun, Each file must live beneath the ruling Sun Of Git—whose care preserves the mortal line ’Twixt chaos’ flux and order’s calm divine. First, init call’d, the temple’s stones arise, And folders breathe beneath creation’s skies. Then add, to mark thy children of the code, Lest wayward edits wander unbestow’d. With commit seal the record, pure and tight, And fix thy message, brief, yet keenly right. So doth the chronic hand of time enroll Thy mortal keystrokes in immortal scroll. Yet pride not o’er thy local store confined— Push upward, friend, to realms of cloud enshrined! There GitHub’s ether, boundless as the blue, Awaits to mirror all thy labours true. When others clone, or branch, or merge in turn, Let patience rule, and temper’d wisdom learn; For oft when minds or merges clash in pain, The sage resolves with rebase—clear again. Thus work with grace, in version’s measured art: Keep order near, and hubris far apart.
An infographic titled “Younger People Really Don’t Like Data Centers” presents survey results showing attitudes toward data centers being built nearby, broken down by age group. A brief description explains that data centers house servers for the internet, apps, and artificial intelligence, and respondents were asked if they would support or oppose one being built near where they live. The results are displayed in horizontal bar charts with three colors: red for “Total support,” yellow for “Not sure,” and blue for “Total oppose.” Among 18- to 34-year-olds, 36% support, 16% are unsure, and 48% oppose. For ages 35 to 49, 37% support, 12% are unsure, and 51% oppose. For ages 50 to 64, 47% support, 14% are unsure, and 40% oppose. For those 65 and older, 51% support, 17% are unsure, and 32% oppose. A caption notes that the poll was of 3,741 registered American voters, conducted August 22–29, 2025, by Heatmap Pro and Embold Research, with a margin of error of ±1.7 percentage points. The Heatmap logo appears at the bottom right.
Screenshot of the first page of an academic-style paper from Google, with the Google logo at the top left and a short URL at the top right reading “https://goo.gle/project-suncatcher-paper.” The centered title reads “Towards a future space-based, highly scalable AI infrastructure system design.” Below it is a list of authors: “Blaise Agüera y Arcas¹, Travis Beals¹, Maria Biggs¹, Jessica V. Bloom¹, Thomas Fischbacher¹, Konstantin Gromov¹, Urs Köster¹, Rishiraj Pravahan¹ and James Manyika¹,” followed by “¹Equal contributions, ¹Google.” The abstract appears in a single-column layout before the text splits into two columns, and reads: “If AI is a foundational general-purpose technology, we should anticipate that demand for AI compute — and energy — will continue to grow. The Sun is by far the largest energy source in our solar system, and thus it warrants consideration how future AI infrastructure could most efficiently tap into that power. This work explores a scalable compute system for machine learning in space, using fleets of satellites equipped with solar arrays, inter-satellite links using free-space optics, and Google tensor processing unit (TPU) accelerator chips. To facilitate high-bandwidth, low-latency inter-satellite communication, the satellites would be flown in close proximity. We illustrate the basic approach to formation flight via a 81-satellite cluster of 1 km radius, and describe an approach for using high-precision ML-based models to control large-scale constellations. Trillium TPUs are radiation tested. They survive a total ionizing dose equivalent to a 5 year mission life without permanent failures, and are characterized for bit-flip errors. Launch costs are a critical part of overall system cost; a learning curve analysis suggests launch to low-Earth orbit (LEO) may reach ≲$200/kg by the mid-2030s.”
This image shows a chalkboard covered with mathematical diagrams and trigonometric equations written in white chalk. On the left are sketches of right triangles labeled with sides A and B, alongside trigonometric identities such as sin(300°) = cos(30°). In the center, a large circle encloses a right triangle with an angle marked α, radius r, and arc-related labels. To the right, several equations involve fractions with π, r, and α, representing formulas for arc length and sector area. The board has a dense, slightly chaotic look, typical of an active math or geometry lecture.
Screenshot with the following text. Two sentences are highlighted in blue; I have put them in square brackets: The bad news is that the opposition is much more disorganized than it ought to be. Coordination is bolstered by shared knowledge that others will coordinate too. We don’t have that, in part because of lack of leadership, in part because of a media landscape that makes it difficult to generate such shared knowledge. Remember Hume’s phrase about the “presumed opinion of others.” [ Our presumptions about what other people think can play an extraordinarily powerful role in shaping how we ourselves think, and what we are prepared to do. And in a country where such presumptions can be grossly skewed, it can be very hard to generate coordinated action. ] Finally, exactly because the opposition is disorganized, and because humans are human, it faces its own collective version of Trump’s temptation to humiliate and subjugate defectors from the other side, rather than welcoming them in.
Screenshot reading: "This then, gives us a simplified but useful understanding of where we are right now. The good news is that the Trump administration is playing its hand very badly. If Trump had been more willing to accept defectors into his camp, by sticking to deals that gave them something worth having, he would be in a much stronger situation than he is at the moment. Furthermore, and somewhat less obviously, this may also disrupt his own existing coalition. Wall Street, for example, may worry that it is next for the chopping block. Silicon Valley the same. The bad news is that the opposition is much more disorganized than it ought to be. Coordination is bolstered by shared knowledge that others will coordinate too. We don’t have that, in part because of lack of leadership, in part because of a media landscape that makes it difficult to generate such shared knowledge. Remember Hume’s phrase about the “presumed opinion of others.” Our presumptions about what other people think can play an extraordinarily powerful role in shaping how we ourselves think, and what we are prepared to do. And in a country where such presumptions can be grossly skewed, it can be very hard to generate coordinated action. Finally, exactly because the opposition is disorganized, and because humans are human, it faces its own collective version of Trump’s temptation to humiliate and subjugate defectors from the other side, rather than welcoming them in. The strategic implications for what to do are not surprising. Leadership is crucial. It is really, really hard to make a coalition cohere if the plausible leaders abdicate. More generally, figure out how to generate common knowledge that will enable coordination. Protests - especially if they are widespread, and especially if they happen in unusual places, or involve surprising coalitions can help generate information cascades. But getting media coverage and broader conversation is important. Welcome in the strayed sheep, and work o…
This image shows a quirky orange robot-like machine on the left, with a boxy body, cylindrical base, and a hinged panel that resembles a head looking down. On the right sits an orange tray holding a jar of Jif peanut butter, two limes, a potato, an apple, and a red onion. The setup is against a plain white background, giving it a clean, minimalist, almost surreal look that contrasts the bright orange device with the everyday groceries.