Author: alex

Boards of Canada’s “Olson” Played on a 1959 PDP‑1 — How It Works Someone programmed a 1959 Programmed Data Processor-1 (PDP-1) to play Boards of Canada’s short, atmospheric track “Olson.” The project was done by Joe Lynch using engineer and Computer History Museum docent Peter Samson’s Harmony Compiler, originally built in the 1960s. Key links Video: YouTube — PDP-1 plays "Olson" Project repo and notes: github.com/joeblynch/pdp-1-boc About the PDP-1 (Computer History Museum): computerhistory.org/exhibits/pdp-1 Peter Samson and early PDP-1 music: computerhistory.org/pdp-1/peter-samson How it was done (summary) Peter Samson’s Harmony Compiler turns program instructions into timed on/off signals for four light bulbs on the PDP-1. Samson repurposed those bulbs as 1-bit DACs (square-wave generators). Joe Lynch translated Boards of Canada’s "Olson" into the Harmony Compiler format, produced a paper tape, and manually…

ESA Power of Play 2025: Who Plays and Why It Matters The Entertainment Software Association's "Power of Play: 2025 Global Video Games Report" paints a clear picture of today's gamers and the benefits they report from playing. Based on a global survey of around 24,000 respondents (age 16+ who play at least weekly), the report highlights demographics, mental and social benefits, and platform trends. Key findings Average respondent age: 41. Gender split: nearly even (about 48% women). Mental/emotional benefits reported: 81% — mental stimulation. 80% — stress relief. 73% — feel happier. 64% — less isolated / less lonely. Skills and cognitive effects: 77% — increased creativity. 76% — improved problem-solving. 74% — boosted cognitive skills and teamwork. Platform preferences: 55% — mobile is the favorite platform overall. ~50% of…

Warner Bros. Greenlights Minecraft Movie Sequel for July 23, 2027 Warner Bros. has officially set the release date for the untitled Minecraft sequel: July 23, 2027. Director Jared Hess (also co-writing with Chris Galletta) is expected to return, and producers listed include Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Roy Lee, Eric McLeod, Kayleen Walters, Torfi Frans Ólafsson and Jason Momoa. The first Minecraft movie surprised many critics and audiences alike, earning around $957 million worldwide and proving there’s strong demand for franchise storytelling in the blockbusting, family-friendly gaming-adaptation space. Key details Release date: July 23, 2027 Director: Jared Hess (returning) Co-writer: Chris Galletta Producers: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Roy Lee, Eric McLeod, Kayleen Walters, Torfi Frans Ólafsson, Jason Momoa Box office (first film): ~$957M Sources & further reading Coverage and confirmation is…

Samsung Galaxy XR (Project Moohan) — Full Leak Summary New leaks suggest Samsung's long-rumored mixed-reality headset, Project Moohan, will be marketed as the Samsung Galaxy XR. Multiple reports (Android Headlines, 9to5Google, SamMobile) have revealed detailed specs, design cues and potential pricing ahead of an expected late‑2025 launch. Key specs (reported) Brand name: Samsung Galaxy XR (Project Moohan) SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 Displays: One high-resolution 4K micro‑OLED per eye Weight: ~545 grams Battery life: ~2 hours (external battery support reported) Design: Adjustable headband with dial, passthrough goggles Tracking & controls: Eye, hand & voice tracking; two optional controllers resembling Meta Touch Plus Software: One UI‑styled Android XR Rumored price: KRW 2,500,000–4,000,000 (~$1,700–$2,800) Expected launch: Late 2025 (Samsung previously said it expects shipping in 2025) What this means Galaxy XR…

Anthropic: 250 Malicious Documents Can Backdoor LLMs — Summary & Implications Anthropic, in collaboration with the UK AI Security Institute and the Alan Turing Institute, released a report showing that a surprisingly small number of malicious documents can poison large language models during pretraining. Key points: Core finding: Injecting as few as 250 malicious documents into pretraining data can backdoor LLMs across model sizes (tested from ~600M to 13B parameters). Why it matters: The result challenges the assumption that attackers need to control a large percentage of training data to succeed. Small, targeted data injections can induce dangerous or unwanted behaviors. Evidence: Anthropic’s report and accompanying PDF detail experiments and results. An arXiv version is also available. Collaborators: UK AI Security Institute; Alan Turing Institute. Links for more information: Anthropic…

Mario & Wario lands on Nintendo Switch Online SNES — now worldwide Nintendo quietly released the Japan-only Super Famicom title Mario & Wario to the SNES library on Nintendo Switch Online. Originally released in 1993 and never officially available outside Japan until now, the point-and-click puzzle game puts Mario (after a bucket is dropped on his head by his money-obsessed doppelganger) through 100 mouse-driven levels. How it plays on Switch The original game required a mouse to control a fairy that helps Mario; the Switch release keeps that mouse-driven design. On current Switch models you can use a USB mouse. On the Nintendo Switch 2, Joy-Cons can be flipped and used as a mouse — a neat additional use for the new controllers. Other SNES additions Alongside Mario & Wario,…

Lyft + Tensor Auto: 'Lyft‑ready' Robocars and what it means for owners Lyft has partnered with San Jose‑based Tensor Auto, reserving “hundreds” of Tensor Robocars and planning to operate its own fleet. Tensor will ship Robocars that are "Lyft‑ready" straight from the factory, allowing owners in Level‑4 approved regions to list their vehicles on Lyft and earn income when the cars aren’t in personal use. Key specs 37 cameras 5 LiDARs 11 radars 8 NVIDIA Blackwell chips (Tensor claims ~8,000 trillion ops/sec) Planned deliveries begin by end of 2026 Production in Vietnam via VinFast partnership; Tensor spun out from AutoX and divested China ops Why it matters Tensor's approach flips traditional car ownership by turning private luxury vehicles into productive assets that can generate income when regulatory frameworks allow. It's…

OpenAI’s Sora Hits 1 Million Downloads in Under Five Days OpenAI’s Sora — an app that serves an endless vertical feed of AI-generated short videos — reached over 1 million downloads in less than five days, according to Sora head Bill Peebles. That milestone came despite the app being invite-only and only available in North America. What Sora Does Feeds: An endless, TikTok-like vertical feed of AI-generated videos rather than user uploads. Creation: Users can generate a 10-second video by prompting OpenAI’s Sora 2 model in the app. Cameo: Lets people create videos of themselves or anyone who has agreed to share their likeness. Growth & Availability Sora’s rapid download pace — reportedly faster than ChatGPT’s early run — shows strong interest. However, download counts don’t always equal active users,…

Monarch Money — 30% off annual plan (WELCOME) Monarch Money is a highly customizable budgeting app. Right now new users can use the code WELCOME at checkout to get 30% off the annual plan — typically $100/year, reduced to $70. Key caveats: this discount is for new users only, cannot be combined with other offers, and must be redeemed through the Monarch website (it won’t redeem via the mobile app). Why consider Monarch? Detailed dashboard: net worth, latest transactions, spending vs prior month, income, upcoming bills, investments, and goals. Month-in-review page for in-depth monthly breakdowns. Connects to banks and tracks Apple Card, Apple Cash and Savings; imports transaction and balance history and detects recurring expenses/income. Can keep car valuation updated. Note: Monarch can take more setup and has a steeper…

Sony & AMD Tease "Project Amethyst" Sony and AMD released a discussion video featuring Mark Cerny (lead architect of PS4/PS5) and Jack Huynh (SVP & GM, AMD Computing and Graphics Group) outlining early research collectively called Project Amethyst. The demo technologies—Neural Arrays, Radiance Cores, and Universal Compression—are intended to improve ray tracing, ML-based upscaling, and GPU efficiency for Sony's next PlayStation and future AMD GPUs. Key Technologies Neural Arrays Neural Arrays enable compute units to work together and share data across a larger tile of the screen, improving efficiency for machine-learning workloads such as upscaling (e.g., FSR/PSSR) and ray regeneration. AMD says this will deliver a "whole new level of machine learning performance." Radiance Cores Radiance Cores are a new fixed-function hardware block designed to accelerate ray and path tracing…