Mark Tyson

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

Doom in EDA

DOOM gets ported to board design app, transforming walls into PCB traces, iconic demons into 64-pin packages, and ammo into 3-pin parts — fully playable KiCAD editor port runs at up to 25 FPS on modern systems

By Mark Tyson published

KiDOOM is a version of DOOM that runs within a PCB design application.

Playing Minecraft using a printer as the display

Crazed gamer plays Minecraft using a receipt printer as a display — crippling 0.5 fps frame rate not even the biggest drawback

By Mark Tyson published

Playing Minecraft with a printer as your sole source of visual feedback is not advisable.

Mosquito

Dead mosquito proboscis used for high-resolution 3D printing nozzle — scientists boast of the extremely fine output from ‘necroprinting’

By Mark Tyson published

A deceased female mosquito’s blood sucking proboscis makes for a great high-resolution 3D printer nozzle, researchers have discovered.

Starlink hardware

China simulated a Starlink blockade over Taiwan that uses around 2,000 drones with jammers to create an 'electromagnetic shield' — CCP scientists devise potential plan to cut off satellite internet to the island

By Mark Tyson published

A Chinese study has outlined how the PLA could jam Starlink access across the entirety of the island of Taiwan.

Napster

The U.S. patent for MP3 audio was granted on this day in 1996 — laid the foundations for peer-to-peer music sharing, iTunes, and today's streaming services

By Mark Tyson published

On this day in 1996, a freshly inked U.S. patent quietly laid the cornerstone of the digital music revolution.

Trident Z5 RGB

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says RAM pricing crisis isn't going away anytime soon — Fortnite boss says crunch 'will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years'

By Mark Tyson published

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney’s long-term RAM pricing prediction might make you wince.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7 audio

Frustrated users crowdfund a $2,000 fix for Lenovo Legion ‘speakers not working properly’ error — bug bounty posted, coder wins the cash by fixing complex audio annoyance in just a month

By Mark Tyson last updated

A motivated Lenovo Legion Pro 7 (16IAX10H) owner has successfully gotten their system’s speaker issues fixed after setting up a bug bounty program on GitHub.

A new perforated tape reader design has been demonstrated

Retro computing enthusiast creates perforated tape reader designed 'from scratch' — reads data at about 50 bytes per second

By Mark Tyson published

An electronics enthusiast has demonstrated a compact new perforated tape reader design.

Winnebiko

40 years ago an enthusiast biked 17,000 miles over 17 months with mobile computer to complete the pioneering Computing Across America expedition — solar and 1980s portable gadgets powered the 'Winnebiko' across America

By Mark Tyson last updated

In 1983, writer and computer whizz Steven K. Roberts began his multi-year Computing Across America quest, pioneering the digital nomad lifestyle.

IPv5 - a dead branch

The industry skipped from IPv4 to IPv6, leaving IPv5 and the Internet Stream Protocol to the annals of history — a data streaming experiment rendered unnecessary by broadband

By Mark Tyson published

The Internet's early twisted shoots of growth sometimes led to a dead end, like IPv5.

Intel 4000 chip family get together

Supersized chip family gathers for the 54th anniversary of the Intel 4004 CPU — 4001 ROM, 4002 RAM, and 4003 shift registers feature in a reconstructed Busicom calculator build

By Mark Tyson published

A sneak preview of a complete MCS-4 computer, built from discrete transistors, has been shown off to mark the recent Intel 4004 anniversary.

Atari Gamestation Go

Atari Gamestation Go review: 200+ Atari classics in your hands, supported by a unique selection of physical controls

By Mark Tyson published

But perhaps the $180 price makes it a stretch, even for retrogaming diehards.

Mac Classic II ROM bug

A 34-year-old Apple Mac crash bug ‘would have gone undiscovered for all eternity,’ but the accuracy of the MAME emulator shone a light on it

By Mark Tyson published

On real hardware, the Motorola 68030 executed an undocumented instruction to prevent a system crash at boot, but it caused problems with the emulator.

An Enigma M4 machine, but not the one sold this week

WWII Enigma machine sells for over half a million dollars at auction — one of the rare four-rotor 'M4' models

By Mark Tyson published

A WWII Enigma encryption machine with four rotors was sold at auction earlier this week, achieving double its estimated price.

various flash memory cards

A tiny 0.5MB SmartMedia card wins the Small Capacity Memory Card Championship (Japan) — 2KB Casio battery-backed RAM card lost due to a technicality

By Mark Tyson published

The Small Capacity Memory Card Championship (Japan) has been a tightly run race, but the results are now in.

Windows 1 brochure

Windows 1.01 was launched 40 years ago, but it didn't start well — Microsoft's graphical OS adventures were uncompetitive at launch

By Mark Tyson published

Windows 1.01 was released by Microsoft 40 years ago. It didn't start well.

Intel 386 die detail showing the 'PG' initials

Pat Gelsinger explains how his initials ended up etched into every i386 processor ever made — ex-Intel CEO bluffed Andy Grove to keep his mark on the legendary chip’s silicon

By Mark Tyson published

Pat Gelsinger's initials remained on the Intel 386 silicon die, despite this being something that wasn't done at Intel, thanks to some quick thinking.

Kingston Dual Portable SSDs

Kingston debuts versatile SSD thumb drive with USB-A and USB-C connectors — offers 1,050 MB/s transfers, priced from $97 for 512GB

By Mark Tyson published

Kingston Technology has announced its first cable-free SSD, the new Kingston Dual Portable SSD Storage Solution, in capacities from 512GB to 2TB.

Some VHS tapes

Gigantic VHS videotape hoard of thousands of videos stored in McDonald's boxes being given away for free — Internet Archive looks set to claim the tapes of U.S. news output spanning 2004-09

By Mark Tyson published

If you would like to rehome thousands of old VHS videotapes, there’s an incredible hoard being given away for free on Reddit.

THE NVMe DESTROYINATOR

The NVMe Destroyinator can wipe 16 NVMe drives simultaneously at speeds up to 64 GB/s — it could be the data shredder of your dreams, or nightmares

By Mark Tyson published

The NVMe Destroyinator can securely wipe up to 16 NVMe drives at once at 64 GB/sec.

SilverStone FLP03 PC case compared

SilverStone takes the wraps off the FLP03, its latest homage to beige 1980s PC design — retro micro-ATX case has modern amenities

By Mark Tyson published

SilverStone surprises EXPO 2025 Japan attendees with an early appearance of the unannounced FLP03 PC case.

F-14 Tomcat

The MP944 was the ‘real’ world’s first microprocessor, but it was top secret for nearly 30 years — F-14 Tomcat's chip lived in the shadow of the Intel 4004, but was eight times faster

By Mark Tyson published

The real 'world's first microprocessor' was a classified military secret for nearly 30 years.

Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D publisher recalls fight to distribute game in Germany — porn stores and plain packaging came to the rescue of 1990s FPS gamers

By Mark Tyson published

The publisher of Wolfenstein 3D has recalled the struggle to distribute copies of this seminal FPS game in Germany back in the early 1990s.

Nintendo 8-bit cartridge systems

The NES at 40: Employees reveal there were plans for a woodgrain veneer model to rival the Atari 2600

By Mark Tyson published

In 1985, there were designs that envisioned the NES as a wood veneer clad Atari 2600 successor for the US market.

xTool P3 laser

xTool P3 review: Massive flagship laser engraver claims to offer '2x the workspace, speed, and efficiency' of its predecessor

By Mark Tyson published

Editor's Choice

The expanded work area, boosted power, and advanced features could make this a favorite among prosumers and small businesses.

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