We've all seen marble runs before, but they are usually handmade with only a few tracks at most. However, mechatronics engineer Will Morrison wanted to kick it up a notch, so he devised an algorithm that used procedural generation to draw the splines of its eight tracks. He thought it......
Yes, it runs Minecraft: Hacker turns cheap Wi-Fi light bulb into functional game server
The bulb of choice was a cheap Wi-Fi unit from AliExpress that's powered by the BL602 chipset. As Tom's Hardware highlights, it features a single RISC-V core clocked at up to 192 MHz alongside 276 KB of RAM and 128 KB of ROM. The hardware hacker wasted little time cracking......
Texas sues Roblox, accusing the platform of failing to protect children from predators
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently filed a lawsuit against Roblox Corporation, alleging that the multi-billion-dollar company operates a dangerously unsafe online platform. According to Paxton, Roblox hosts one of the largest gaming communities for children but is flagrantly disregarding state and federal laws designed to protect young users. Read...
LibreOffice developer says open formats are the only way to future-proof your files
LibreOffice developer The Document Foundation (TDF) is once again reminding users that not all document formats are created equal. Italo Vignoli, TDF's co-founder, warned that using proprietary formats can render important files unreadable within a few years – though he acknowledged the issue is less critical today than it once...
Apple’s quiet satellite strategy is starting to look like a long-term play for global coverage
Nearly a decade after hiring two senior satellite engineers from Alphabet to explore off-world communications, Apple's once-secret project has become a core part of its connectivity roadmap. What began as a radical plan to bypass wireless carriers entirely has evolved into a cautious, technically complex expansion of mobile services via......
PCSX2 lets you play your entire PS2 library on Windows, macOS and Linux
The latest version brings major performance gains, HDR texture optimizations, and a new "Align to Native with Texture Offset" upscaling mode. With 98.44% of the PS2 library now playable, PCSX2 remains the best way to revisit classic titles with modern enhancements. Read Entire Article
Hackers are saving Google’s abandoned Nest thermostats with open-source firmware
Cody Kociemba, the developer behind the Hack/House collaborative project, is waging war against Google. The tech giant recently decided to discontinue the first two generations of its Nest Thermostat, stripping the devices of much of their original functionality. Thanks to Kociemba's hacking efforts, Nest customers now have an alternative path......
Still using TeamViewer? Try the faster and open-source RustDesk
Remote desktop access remains a critical utility, especially for support, collaboration, or accessing files on the go. RustDesk has emerged as a modern, privacy-conscious alternative to options like TeamViewer. It's open-source, fast, and works seamlessly across platforms without the usual bloat. Check out more in our essential apps feature. Read...
The microchip era may be ending – and wafer-scale systems could be what comes next
Nowhere is this transformation more visible than at Nvidia, whose valuation recently soared to about $5 trillion, making it the world's most valuable publicly traded company. Nvidia's flagship processors are intricate marvels. Each unit – encapsulated in a plastic package and interwoven with copper connections – contains up to 208...
Hackers used booby-trapped images to spy on Samsung phones, no clicks required
For months, hackers conducted a quiet but highly advanced espionage campaign targeting select Samsung Galaxy users. The invasion used an exploit so sophisticated that it infected devices without users taking any action. Security researchers at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 have disclosed full details of "Landfall," a commercial-grade spyware that......