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Tech News
Mimic Systems advertised its Spartan peripheral for the Commodore 64 for nearly two years, using recurring magazine ads featuring a mime, before actually releasing the product in 1986. By the time it arrived, reviewers found its specs outdated and users reported persistent bugs and poor support.
Scientists used a citizen-science method of burying cotton underwear in soil for several months as a low-cost way to assess microbial activity, since healthier soil decomposes cotton fabric faster. Volunteers around the world dug up roughly 1,000 pairs and reported how much material had degraded, generating a broad dataset on soil condition.
Audacity 4.0 has shipped with a rebuilt Qt-based interface, a new clip-editing model, customizable workspaces, native high-DPI rendering, and a new AUP4 project format. Official Windows builds also gain ASIO playback and recording support alongside broader changes to how the app handles recording, playback, plugins, and projects.
Multiple Samsung account holders report on Reddit and Samsung's own community forum that their accounts were suddenly deactivated, with Samsung citing vague security reasons. Some users regained access after contacting Samsung's phone or chat support, while others remain locked out. One theory ties the suspensions to email aliases using '+' or '.' characters, but Samsung has not confirmed a cause.
WebFPGA has introduced a web-based development environment that lets users program FPGA devices directly from their browser after purchasing a compatible board. The project, which originated on Kickstarter, also offers a command-line option for Linux users and includes community-shared demo projects.
Apple emailed developers announcing that universal macOS apps requiring macOS 13 or later can now be built as arm64-only, removing Intel compatibility. Developers must update build settings to arm64 and resubmit; Intel Mac users can still use the last compatible version of an app they already have.
Scientists analyzed ice cores extracted from a glacier in Peru, finding trapped air bubbles that preserve a historical record of atmospheric methane concentrations. The ice-locked data allows researchers to track methane trends across an extended timeline, offering a rare Southern Hemisphere perspective on the greenhouse gas's history.
A commentary published in Nature argues that ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty should explicitly address how armed conflicts and energy insecurity affect plastic production and waste management. The authors contend that wars and fuel shortages can shift countries toward greater reliance on plastics for energy or materials, complicating efforts to curb plastic pollution worldwide.
A startup investor who has backed nearly 20 companies argues that after hundreds of pitches, the idea itself rarely determines success. Instead, founders who combine humility, adaptability and decisive action under uncertainty are the ones who push through predictable problems like execution gaps, cash shortages and weak teams.
Nintendo says it will stop supplying new original Switch hardware to European retailers by mid-February 2027, citing EU rules mandating user-replaceable batteries. The company will continue manufacturing the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED through 2026, keeping them widely available in Europe, though no timeline has been given for the US or Japan. Existing owners will still be able to use their games and accessories, and online services will continue for the foreseeable future.
A new global analysis estimates how many people worldwide are bitten by snakes each year, along with associated rates of death and disability. The research aims to fill gaps in data on a health issue that disproportionately affects rural and low-income populations.
A group of programmers who previously built the DK64 Randomizer have released DK64: ReKONGpiled, a project that recompiles Donkey Kong 64's original N64 machine code into C using the N64: Recompiled framework and RT64 rendering. Users must supply their own ROM, after which the game runs natively on Windows, Linux, and Mac without emulation overhead, gaining ultrawide support, uncapped framerates, and faster load times.