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

The Intel 286 CPU was introduced on this day in 1982 — 16-bit x86 chip introduced protected mode memory, and would power the IBM PC/AT and a tidal wave of clones

By Mark Tyson published 1 February 26

44 years ago, this crafty collection of 134,000 transistors would mark a major inflection point in the PC industry.

Japanese art museum intros $15 bookmarks made from PCBs — the PCB traces form a miniature Tokyo Metro map

By Mark Tyson published 1 February 26

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum has added some beautiful PCB Metro Map bookmarks to its souvenir store.

US Marine Corps develops first 3D printed drone with no China-sourced parts, dubbed HANX — modular design makes it quick to adapt from reconnaissance to one-way attack, and other duties

By Mark Tyson published 1 February 26

HANX, the first NDAA compliant drone, has been announced by the U.S. Marine Corps.

Duke Nukem 3D turns 30 years old, brought swaggering FPS action to real-world environments — 1996 release broke the Doom clone mold while adding humor and personality

By Mark Tyson published 31 January 26

Duke Nukem 3D smashed the 3D FPS Doom clone mold in 1996.

eFlesh for highly-tactile robot sensor grips

Scientists share design so you can make your own 3D-printable 'eFlesh' for robots — affordable, easy to produce, and highly-tactile robot sensor grips can be printed at home

By Mark Tyson published 31 January 26

Scientists share plans for highly-tactile 'eFlesh' robot sensor grips

UK Ministry of Defense backs new Drone Engineering Degree to make the army 10X more lethal using know-how from Ukraine

By Mark Tyson published 31 January 26

A new cutting-edge Drone Engineering Degree course will welcome its first intake of students in the UK, this year.

Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution: The Apple 50th Anniversary Auction items

Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ sells for $2,750,000 at auction, blows past estimates — sells for 5x anticipated value, obliterates previous record

By Mark Tyson published 30 January 26

Super-rare and extremely early Apple Computer motherboard sale blasts past auctioneer estimates to achieve hammer price of $2,750,000.

Retro gaming outfit unveils PC controller with built-in heart rate monitor — also features IPS screen, 1,000Hz polling, and six-axis gyroscope

By Mark Tyson published 28 January 26

Retro gaming handheld firm Anbernic has announced the tri-mode RG G01 controller with built-in IPS screen, and heart rate sensor.

Dev creates astrology-powered CPU scheduler for Linux, makes decisions based on planetary positions and zodiac signs — sched_ext framework informed by lunar phases, cosmic weather reports, and dynamic time slicing

By Mark Tyson published 27 January 26

A software engineer has developed a fully functional Linux scheduler that takes its cues from the popular pseudoscience of astrology.

DoomBuds ports the 1993 FPS classic to open-source earbuds by streaming JPGs at 18fps — runs on 300MHz CPU with less than 1MB of RAM

By Mark Tyson published 27 January 26

A developer has ported Doom to a pair of earbuds, but there were extra hurdles to jump, as the earbuds don't have a screen.

Steve Jobs and Macintosh computer, January 1984

The Apple Mac turned 42 this weekend — we are still using the WIMP GUI WYSIWYG computing paradigm in 2026

By Mark Tyson last updated 25 January 26

A youthful Steve Jobs unveiled the original Apple Macintosh 42 years ago.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S NEW CASTING PLANT AT FLAT ROCK, 1973

American factory worker Robert Williams became the first human to be killed by a robot on this day in 1979 — man crushed by a robot’s mechanical arm at the Ford plant in Flat Rock

By Mark Tyson published 25 January 26

Today marks the anniversary of what is widely regarded to be the first death of a human caused by a robot.

Open-source Intel 486 mobo built from scratch in under 6 months for i486 chips — M8SBC-486's goal was to achieve Linux and Doom compatibility, but it achieves far more than that

By Mark Tyson published 25 January 26

An enthusiast has showcased an open-source Intel 486 motherboard that they claim was 'made from scratch' in under six months.

Retro gamer resurrects Nintendo Wii Food Channel, uses Wii console to order Domino’s Pizza — the WiiLink project is the magic ingredient

By Mark Tyson published 24 January 26

Nintendo's 20-year-old Wii console is still useful for making online Domino’s Pizza orders in the U.S. and Canada.

Atari ST enthusiast announces the MiniST with FPGA, MiSTeryNano core, and black TKL case — priced at around $400 each, but the initial run is a mere five units

By Mark Tyson published 24 January 26

An Atari computer enthusiast is planning to produce a new TKL-sized FPGA-powered remake dubbed the MiniST.

Toilet maker Toto scores a royal flush as share price rises due to AI demand in unlikely chipmaking side-gig — Japanese company develops electrostatic chucks to hold silicon wafers in lucrative segment

By Mark Tyson published 23 January 26

Toilet manufacturer Toto has seen its shares soar at their most rapid pace in five years, as it benefits from AI memory market tailwinds.

Quantum computing firm dangles $22,500 Bitcoin prize — all you have to do is uncover a private key hidden inside a quantum-optimized problem

By Mark Tyson published 21 January 26

The Quantum Advantage Challenge offers a 0.25 BTC wallet prize to anyone who can answer a specialized problem that can be solved in under two hours on today’s quantum hardware.

Nvidia accused of trying to cut a deal with Anna’s Archive for high‑speed access to the massive pirated book haul — allegedly chased stolen data to fuel its LLMs

By Mark Tyson published 21 January 26

Nvidia has been accused of offering to pay for ‘high-speed access’ to Anna’s Archive, a notorious ‘shadow library’ portal, bursting with copyright-infringing materials.

This new 'DockFrame' expansion card can transform a PC's USB-C port into swathe of features and functions — Multimeter, Microcontrollers and Mini SSDs among new hot-swappable expansion card ecosystem

By Mark Tyson published 20 January 26

The first photos of the DockFrame, a modular USB-C hub built around the Framework-compatible Expansion Card standard, were released over the weekend.

Japanese city deploys anti-bear drones as 'human casualties at an all-time high' — non-lethal spray can be delivered with 10cm accuracy radius, 1km range

By Mark Tyson published 20 January 26

A Japanese city is rolling out an anti-bear drone system in response to 'record levels of bear casualties and sightings.' Over 12 people were killed by bears in Japan last year.

Hytale modder gets Windows 95 OS up and running inside the actual game — other projects include running Minecraft, and Hytale inside itself

By Mark Tyson published 19 January 26

Modders have run Windows 95 and Minecraft in Hytale, the hot new sandbox RPG that hit Early Access last Tuesday.

VHS Combo TVs debut with screen, old and new I/O, and a full videotape recorder in one — ‘Binge-watch like it's 1999’ says RetroBox

By Mark Tyson published 18 January 26

A new VHS Combo TV is on its way for folks who want to ‘Binge-watch like it’s 1999.’

A computer historian has documented the moment a 1974 kit computer successfully ran its first program – in 2016.

Erroneously assembled 1974 Altair 8800 computer gets fixed and enjoys first run in 2026 — Intel 8080 powered machine ran its first program 52 years later

By Mark Tyson published 18 January 26

A computer historian has documented the moment a 1974 kit computer successfully ran its first ever program – in 2016. Altair 8800 kit needed a new PSU.

Floppy disk drive converted into smart TV remote for kids — dev’s toddler inserts vividly labeled floppies to watch his favorite shows

By Mark Tyson published 18 January 26

Techy dad creates easy, tactile, Smart TV control system fed by colorfully labelled floppy disks.

Wikipedia is now 25 years old — world’s 7th most popular website now has over 7 million English articles and 7 billion monthly visitors

By Mark Tyson published 17 January 26

Free online knowledge base displaced giants like Encyclopædia Britannica and Microsoft Encarta in the public psyche.

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