Articles by Mark Tyson, News Editor

Mark's enthusiasm for computers dampened at an early age by the rubber-keyed Sinclair Spectrum 48K and feelings of Commodore 64 envy. However, in the mid-80s, hope in a digital future was rekindled by the purchase of an Atari 520 STe. Since that time Mark has used a multitude of computers for fun and professional endeavors. He often owned both Macs and PCs but went cold on the former after OS9 was killed off, and warmed to the latter with the introduction of Windows XP.

Early work years were spent in artwork and reprographics but in the late noughties, Mark started to blog about computers, Taiwanese food culture, and guitar design. This activity led to a full-time position writing about breaking PC tech news for HEXUS, for the best part of a decade. When HEXUS was abruptly closed, Mark helped with the foundation of Club386, before finding a new home at Tom's Hardware.

When not wearing through the keycap legends on his PC keyboards, Mark can be found wandering the computer malls of Taiwan's neon-lit conurbations and enjoying local and international cuisine.

Articles by: Mark Tyson

BAE Systems: Apache wingman drone prototype

Apache helicopter's 'loyal wingmen' support drones to be used for precision strikes, other duties — British Army's Project NYX funding money goes to four firms as effort hits new milestone

By Mark Tyson published 16 May 26

UK Ministry of Defence shortlists four firms to develop 'loyal wingmen' autonomous drones for British Army Apache helicopters.

Australian who smuggled 50 pounds of cocaine inside printers get nine years behind bars — five devices intercepted by border forces had compressed powder stuffed in the paper trays

By Mark Tyson published 15 May 26

A member of a crime syndicate that tried to smuggle cocaine hidden inside printers has been sentenced to nine years behind bars.

Intel announces McLaren F1 partnership, will battle AMD-powered Mercedes — deal includes chips for aerodynamic analysis, vehicle-dynamics simulation, race strategy analytics, and more

By Mark Tyson published 14 May 26

Intel has announced a multi-year strategic partnership with F1's legendary McLaren Racing team. AMD has been Mercedes-AMG's partner for six years.

Fully-functional RTX 3070 16GB gets frankensteined into existence by harvesting dead PCBs and RX 6800 XT's VRAM chips — doubles frame rate in games like Spider Man 2 at 4K and includes switch for 8GB mode

By Mark Tyson published 14 May 26

A tech enthusiast has combined an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB) with defective memory and an AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (16GB) with a damaged GPU to make a working RTX 3070 with 16GB of VRAM.

Microsoft launches Cloud‑Initiated Driver Recovery for remote rollback of faulty updates — no user action or OEM intervention will be needed to handle broken drivers delivered via Windows Update

By Mark Tyson published 13 May 26

Microsoft introduces Cloud-Initiated Driver Recovery, an important Windows reliability change designed to minimize buggy driver mayhem.

Innovative startup pioneers 3D printing with recycled glass — new ‘binder jet’ process combines powder with adhesive agent in layering technique

By Mark Tyson published 13 May 26

A startup called Vitriform3D has developed an innovative 3D printing process that makes use of the abundance of post-consumer glass for raw material.

IRGC-linked media outlines plan to tax and control undersea internet cables in the Hormuz Strait — Iran's mouthpiece calls for a cut of $10 trillion of transactions that pulse through the cables daily

By Mark Tyson published 11 May 26

The oil and shipping choke point of the Strait of Hormuz looks set to become a digital pressure point with internet cabling under threat.

Former Epic director is building a European rival to the Unreal and Unity game engines — 'The Immense Engine' dev sees opportunity for AI agents to 'do the work of ten or fifteen people'

By Mark Tyson published 10 May 26

A heavyweight games industry veteran says he is building a fully European alternative to popular games engines from American and Chinese companies.

Tiny credit card computer includes eInk screen and is just 1mm thick — Muxcard is powered by the ESP32-C3 microcontroller

By Mark Tyson published 10 May 26

A GitHub project shares details of the prototype for 'a fully working computer that is literally the size of a credit card,' dubbed the Muxcard

AMD's legendary K5, its first independently-designed processor, is being removed from the Linux kernel — 4.3-million-transistor chip gets the axe because it lacks Time Stamp Counter (TSC) support, making it a coding burden

By Mark Tyson published 10 May 26

AMD’s landmark K5 processor family will no longer be supported by Linux when kernel version 7.2 arrives.

Ukraine’s new AI-guided laser destroys Shahed suicide drones in seconds from 3.1 miles away — also useful for demining operations, trailer-mounted Tryzub system is in final stages of testing

By Mark Tyson last updated 10 May 26

Ukraine has developed a mobile AI-powered anti-drone laser that can down lethal Shahed drones up to 3.1 miles away.

Commodore Amiga-emulating TheA1200 retro computer delayed nearly half a year by ‘global chip shortages’ — Retro Games Ltd says it will use the extra time to finesse the software

By Mark Tyson published 9 May 26

The A1200 has been delayed nearly half a year due to 'global chip shortages' and is now scheduled for release on December 4.

Linux mascot Tux the penguin hits 30 years old — Linus Torvalds outlined the design of the 'slightly overweight penguin' on May 9, 1996

By Mark Tyson published 9 May 26

Linux mascot Tux the penguin was first conceptualized by Linus Torvalds on this day in 1996.

Microsoft Azure Chief Technical Officer Mark Russinovich speaks

Microsoft CTO confesses that 30-year-old code from the mid-90s still forms the bedrock of Windows 11 — ancient Win32 API still the backbone, but CTO says it's 'more relevant than ever in 2026'

By Mark Tyson published 8 May 26

A top Microsoft exec has admitted that Windows 11 still relies on a bunch of old code from the 1990s.

Google's DeepMind to train AI on player actions in quarter-million-player MMORPG Eve Online — Google bought in by purchasing a minority stake in the newly independent Fenris Creations

By Mark Tyson published 8 May 26

Google will leverage data from one of the most complex and multi-layered sci-fi RPGs to train its AI, as DeepMind begins training in Eve Online.

Unity has a multitude of specialized tools useful in the real world.

Japan using game development engines for urban planning and disaster management — Kimono sales also stretching Unity and Unreal Engine capabilities beyond the small screen

By Mark Tyson published 6 May 26

Innovative game engine applications in Japan stretch from civil construction projects and urban planning to 'traditional' 3D avatar clothing.

Enthusiast builds a PC big enough to live in — humans in this RGB-lit fish tank case look just like figurines

By Mark Tyson published 3 May 26

A Chinese TechTuber scaled a tower PC large enough for a human to work and play in. It has air conditioning, too.

Keychain-size ‘GameCube’ uses genuine Nintendo silicon — system also includes a dock, design shared to GitHub

By Mark Tyson published 3 May 26

Video showcases the Nintendo Kawaii project, in which modders have shrunken a boxy GameCube down to a keychain.

45 years later, earliest DOS source code transcribed from a stack of old printouts found in a garage — code was open-sourced to mark 86-DOS 1.00’s anniversary

By Mark Tyson published 2 May 26

Microsoft continues to make some of the earliest chapters of its operating system history open-source and freely available. Here's 86-DOS 1.00, released on its 45th anniversary, for example.

Tech teardown specialist delids a Xeon with a blowtorch and hunting knife — wood chopping block makes a worthy stage for the sacrifice

By Mark Tyson published 2 May 26

The Hackinator delids an Intel Xeon Silver 4110 processor and prepares it for a die shot using unconventional techniques.

Slimline Commodore 64C Ultimate Edition computers go up for pre-order — firm reintroduces the C64’s sleeker 1986-1994 styling across the range

By Mark Tyson published 1 May 26

Commodore 64C Ultimate Edition reintroduces the C64’s sleeker 1986-1994 styling across the range using original molds and tooling.

Victim of AI agent that deleted company's entire database gets their data back — cloud provider recovers critical files and broadens its 48-hour delayed delete policy

By Mark Tyson published 30 April 26

An SaaS business got all its data back after its cloud data provider recovered critical databases that were ruthlessly wiped by an AI agent gone rogue.

Homebrew PlayStation DualSense controller adapter for PC can be built for just $20 with a Raspberry Pi Pico — wireless dongle delivers adaptive triggers and haptic feedback to gamers

By Mark Tyson published 30 April 26

A PC gaming enthusiast has shared a video demo of the new DS5Dongle which unlocks the full gamut of Sony DualSense controller features for Windows users who prefer wireless.

Legendary ZSNES Nintendo emulator rewritten from scratch with GPU-acceleration, no vibe coding — new Super ZSNES has ‘far more accurate CPU and audio cores than the original’

By Mark Tyson published 28 April 26

ZSNES is a legendary Super Nintendo emulator that has been reborn this week as Super ZSNES with 'super enhancements' powered by your GPU.

Decades-old pre-Stuxnet cyber sabotage tool breaks cover, NSA listed it as 'nothing to see here' — fast16 targeted nuclear reactors, dam design, and other high-precision civil engineering software years before Stuxnet broke cover

By Mark Tyson published 28 April 26

Security researchers have uncovered a cyber-sabotage platform that targeted software used for major civil engineering projects and predates Stuxnet by at least half a decade.

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