Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Every Saturday, we'll bring you some of the best and most important reads of the past seven days, from original reports, to in-depth features, to reviews and interviews. Think of it as a collection of some of our favorite pieces that you may have missed — or that you may just want to read again. You can follow along below, or keep up to date on Flipboard.
Feature
My keyboard tried to kill me: the overly complicated story of an ergonomics war
Sitting all day long and typing on your computer isn’t very good for your wrists, your back, or just about anything else. Trent Wolbe discovers that fixing the pain requires going vertical in more ways than just standing up.
Review
'Pacific Rim' review: epic, ambitious, and accessible
With big summer blockbusters, can less actually be more? When it comes to giant monsters fighting giant robots, it just might be: Pacific Rim creates an epic universe and has director Guillermo del Toro at the top of his game.
Report
Without the web, Syrian journalists turn to pirate radio
As civil war continues in Syria, access to news outside of the government’s propaganda is hard to come by. The web isn't an option for most, so a group of journalists is setting up a pirate radio signal to broadcast objective news into the country.
Report
With Apple's iWatch on the horizon, do Pebble and MetaWatch still matter?
Just about every tech giant appears to interested in smartwatches or wearable computing in one way or another. For now, that gives boutique smartwatches like the Pebble some room to flourish, but the story might be different in only a few short years.
Review
Battle of the waterproof phones: Samsung Galaxy S4 Active vs. Sony Xperia Z
Can a waterproof smartphone be just as small, light, and powerful as a top tier device? Samsung and Sony may have just proven that it's possible.
Report
From Scientology to the quantified self: the strange tech behind a new wave of self-trackers
A little bit of sweat can be used to measure a lot of things — but making any sense of the data is another story. Can a new product take on the Fitbits and Fuelsbands of the world by making it all mean something?
Interview
Maura Johnston on why she opened her iPad-only magazine to the web
Maura Magazine was exclusive to the iPad up until this Wednesday. We chatted with founder Maura Johnston about why she opened it up, and differences between digital and print.
Editorial
Pandora's PR problem: how the web radio titan became music's big villain
Despite being the web’s favorite radio service, Pandora has taken a lot of knocks from musicians and lawmakers as it tries to stay profitable. That bad press certainly hasn't helped — but the bigger issue may be that Pandora hasn’t been clear about its true intentions.
Report
Into the murky waters: hundreds brave New York City's East River for annual swim
New York City’s East River isn’t exactly known for its cleanliness. But in spite of the sewage and human waste that’s emptied out into the waterway, the river isn’t all that bad — and last weekend, about 400 swimmers dove on into it.
Report
How Apple changed the world again: the App Store turns five
Smartphones could install third-party apps before the iPhone, but none did it in quite the same way. Here’s how Apple turned cute games and productivity apps into a worldwide phenomenon.