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

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.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raises $252 million for brain computer interface venture — but Merge Labs is still in an early research phase

By Mark Tyson published 16 January 26

OpenAI has signaled its intentions to become a major player in brain computer interfaces (BCIs) with a $252 million investment in Merge Labs.

Buying all DLC for Monster Hunter Wilds unlocks twice the FPS performance — higher FPS accidentally paywalled by resource-hogging background check for paid content

By Mark Tyson published 15 January 26

A performance-crushing bug in Monster Hunter Wilds appears to vanish as more DLC is purchased and added to the game.

Chinese UK 'Super embassy' to feature ‘hidden chamber’ alongside ‘Britain’s most sensitive communication cables’, claims report — 'spy basement' plans cited as security concern, but true purpose unclear

By Mark Tyson published 13 January 26

Unredacted plans for China’s new ‘super embassy’ in London suggest the CCP wants to build a 'spy bunker' in the UK's capital, says The Telegraph.

Iran government takes down Starlink amidst civil unrest with 'military-grade jamming signals', report claims — President Trump vows to speak to Elon Musk to restore internet in crisis-hit country

By Mark Tyson published 12 January 26

Amid widespread anti-government protests, Iran shut down all methods of internet access, including Starlink.

Retro Apple emulator ported to $60 ESP32 microcontroller-powered touchscreen tablet — supports Mac OS8.1 and a virtual MC68040 CPU in major emulation leap

By Mark Tyson published 12 January 26

A new emulator makes running classic Apple Macintosh 68K software a breeze on a cheap, portable, IoT development kit.

Gauss MT90 3D printer offers office‑safe metal printing without powders — uses paste-based metal extrusion (PME) tech

By Mark Tyson published 11 January 26

MetalPrinting was at CES 2026 with its next-generation metal paste 3D printer dubbed the Gauss MT90.

Windows Media Player’s ‘find album information’ functionality has been removed — you’ll have to find other software for playing and ripping CDs with relevant track information

By Mark Tyson published 11 January 26

Microsoft has quietly removed ‘find album information’ and ‘update album info online’ tools from the Media Player apps supplied with Windows 11.

Dev creates selection of UEFI games you have to beat in order to boot your computer — 10-month project will shut down your PC if you lose

By Mark Tyson last updated 10 January 26

Dev creates a quintet of UEFI games with the premise of Win -> Boot, Lose -> Shutdown.

Superheat H1, ASIC Bitcoin miner and water heater

This $2,000 Bitcoin mining water heater can pay for itself by slashing your energy bills, company claims — can rake in $1,000 a year in BTC, offset 80% of electricity and water costs

By Mark Tyson published 10 January 26

It also estimates that a 700-apartment community could earn nearly a million dollars a year.

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

Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ system is expected to fetch $500,000+ at a 50th Anniversary auction — and the firm’s first ever check is valued at the same amount

By Mark Tyson published 9 January 26

An auction featuring 191 lots of historic Apple Computer artifacts, some with estimates of $500,000+, has begun.

Sofmap Gaming in Akihabara, January 2026

Major Japanese electronics store begs customers for their old PCs as hardware drought continues — ‘we pretty much buy any PC’ pleads the Akihabara outlet

By Mark Tyson published 8 January 26

A major Japanese PC and electronics store is pleading with customers to sell it their old PC gear.

Samsung Magician SSD software ‘High Severity’ vulnerability patched — upgrade to the newest v9.0.0 to prevent potential DLL hijacking and privilege escalation

By Mark Tyson published 7 January 26

Samsung has published a security advisory after a high-severity vulnerability was discovered in its Magician SSD management software on Windows.

Commodore 1541 floppy disk electronics used as a computer

Commodore 64 floppy drive has the power to be a computer — bulky 1982 Commodore 1541 5.25 inch drive packs a 1 MHz MOS 6502 CPU

By Mark Tyson published 6 January 26

TechTuber shows that the Commodore 1541 floppy disk electronics were powerful and capable enough to work as a standalone computer.

Sega co-founder David Rosen passed away on Christmas Day — 95-year-old former U.S. airman helped set up Sega after his service ended in Japan

By Mark Tyson published 6 January 26

David Rosen, one of the co-founders of Sega, passed away on Christmas Day.

Chinese semiconductor outfit has Linux MPP repository on Github disabled after a DMCA takedown request — FFmpeg team accuses it of using libavcodec code without attribution

By Mark Tyson published 6 January 26

Leading Chinese fabless semiconductor company Rockchip has had one of its major software repositories taken down in response to a DMCA takedown notice.

Samsung teases AI OLED Cassette, Turntable, and more at CES 2026

Samsung teases AI OLED Cassette and Turntable — display division stretches the feasible use cases for its latest tech at CES 2026

By Mark Tyson published 4 January 26

Samsung is teasing some intriguing new OLED products, ready to showcase at CES 2026 over the next few days.

Blu-ray hits 20 years old, and it isn't dead yet — optical disc format was introduced to the public at CES 2006

By Mark Tyson published 4 January 26

20 years ago today, the CES in Las Vegas was buzzing with talk of Blu-ray technology, players, and media, and the format isn't dead yet.

US Army tests 20,000W vehicle-mounted laser systems for drone defense — updated LOCUST device is now more lethal against drones

By Mark Tyson published 4 January 26

The U.S. Army is now testing a more lethal 20kW vehicle mounted LOCUST laser weapon system from AeroVironment (AV) Inc.

Laser cutting and engraving from a software perspective — master your hardware and optimize your creative output with some software know-how

By Mark Tyson published 3 January 26

We take a closer look at the software side of laser cutting and engraving.

Dev uses Claude AI to write a ‘functional NES emulator’ — you can test it now, playing Donkey Kong in your browser

By Mark Tyson published 2 January 26

A developer has succeeded in prompting Claude to write 'a functional NES emulator.'

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