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 world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots

World’s smallest autonomous robots are 'smaller than a grain of salt,' cost one penny apiece — researchers expect new micron-scale fully-programmable robots to be used in medicine, microscale manufacturing, and other areas

By Mark Tyson published 28 December 25

Fully programmable, autonomous robots 'smaller than a grain of salt' have been developed by research teams from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan.

Cyberpunk 2077 transformed into a stunning VHS visual experience using new ReShade preset — so 1980s real you start watching for mullets, another enthusiast benchmarks preset's visuals using an actual VHS recording

By Mark Tyson published 28 December 25

A retro 'VHS tape' ReShade present targeting Cyberpunk 2077 is earning glowing plaudits on social media.

Razer laptop motherboard repair video showcases superhuman hand-soldering skills — PCB damage appears to be the result of a misplaced screw hole on a motherboard that one repairer says has 'a fatal design flaw'

By Mark Tyson published 28 December 25

An electronics technician succeeds in the most intricate gaming laptop motherboard repair we have seen completed.

Extremely rare East German game console from the late 1970s tested — only such device produced by communist GDR, bought for $1,000 at auction

By Mark Tyson published 28 December 25

One of the rarest video games consoles has been acquired and tested by YouTube docu-channel Fern.

Scale sized Commodore 1084 monitor mini remake

Amiga A500 Mini user builds working scale-sized Commodore 1084 monitor with 3D printed components — 3D printer project details shared for all

By Mark Tyson published 28 December 25

A retro computing aficionado with a love of the classic mini releases has built a complementary, compact, and cute 'Commodore 1084 Mini' monitor.

Amiga motherboard project to add NVMe SSD boot support and a driver for the onboard Ethernet — Mirari project hopes to ‘breathe new life into the next-gen Amiga platform’

By Mark Tyson published 27 December 25

Mirari, a Micro-ATX mainboard designed to "breathe new life into the next-gen Amiga platform," is set to launch mid-2026.

Robots fashioned from dead lobster exoskeletons have awesome strength, light weight, and flexibility — necrobotics advance mixes sustainable food waste with synthetic components

By Mark Tyson published 26 December 25

Swiss scientists have demonstrated the use of dead lobster tails as robotic appendages.

Starlink satellite pictured ‘tumbling’ after recent ‘anomaly’ in space — it will be incinerated when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere in a few weeks

By Mark Tyson published 25 December 25

Starlink satellite 35956 suffered from a serious anomaly on December 17. It has been pictured largely intact, tumbling in space, but it will be weeks before it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

TSMC shared a super-cool digital greetings card

TSMC’s Christmas Card evokes a retro 8-bit winter wonderland — ‘pixelated’ kids play Breakout with snowballs, carving out a festive scene

By Mark Tyson published 25 December 25

TSMC has shared a super-cool digital greetings card with a retro-nostalgic 8-bit style gaming animation.

Floppy disk pre-paid cash card launched in Taiwan — NFC payment method 'only has a card function' warns supplier, so keep it out of your FDD

By Mark Tyson published 25 December 25

Taiwan’s iPass has released a new custom payment card that looks just like a Floppy Disk.

The Christmas Present Peeker Trap uses an ESP32 Cam board, photoresistor, buzzer, and connected app to catch even the sneakiest of gift glimpsers

By Mark Tyson published 25 December 25

Here's a project for makers who suspect that they have a Christmas present peeker in their home.

World’s oldest Bitcoin Mining Pool celebrates 15th anniversary, has mined 1,311,339 bitcoins worth $115 billion — group has 255 billion times more hash power than at inception

By Mark Tyson published 24 December 25

15 years ago, the first Bitcoin mining pool was introduced by coder Slush.