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In the golden years of home computers, in the early 1980s, the race for consumers' souls was fierce. Computers were not compatible with each other, usually not even between different models from the same manufacturer.

As we well know, the biggest of them all was the Commodore 64. But in the UK, things were bit different.

There, British Spectrum computers held sway - and especially the almighty Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

Equipped with modest graphics capabilities, 48 kilobytes of RAM, and a keyboard dubbed as the worst in the world, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was also hugely popular in many other countries and sold over five million units globally.

Now, a graphical operating system has been crafted for that ancient gem of British computing. Because.. why not.

Released as an open-source project, ZXDesk is programmed entirely in Z80 assembly and offers windowing, built-in applications, support for files loaded from a cassette recorder, and all other delights imaginable for a computer released in 1983.

ZXDesk works as is, without any modifications, on a real ZX Spectrum computer, but testing it is probably easiest with an emulator.

This year has been tough for those dreaming of a new game console, as first Sony significantly raised the prices of Playstation 5 - and Microsoft did the same for Xbox.

And the consequences are starting to show, as according to figures from research firm Circana, Xbox console sales in the US in August of this year were 33 percent weaker than a year ago, and PS5 sales were also 25 percent weaker than last year.

At the same time, Xbox's year-to-date hardware sales in the US have fallen to their lowest level ever, and PlayStation's sales haven't been this sluggish since 2013.

From Circana's US Retail Tracking Service:

For 2026 YTD ending August, Xbox hardware unit sales are down 33% versus a year ago in the US, while PlayStation hardware units are 25% lower.

Google has made its SynthID Detector tool, developed for identifying AI-generated content, available to everyone. Previously limited to media professionals, the tool is now available globally in English starting today.

With the new tool, anyone can check if an image, video, or audio file encountered online was created with AI.

The function is based on Google's SynthID technology, which embeds a watermark imperceptible to the human eye and ear into digital media. These digital watermarks reliably persist in files, even if they are modified or compressed afterwards.

Google first introduced the SynthID watermark technology in 2023. According to the company, the technology has so far watermarked over 180 billion images and videos, and 240,000 years' worth of audio content.

SynthID Detector is not limited to identifying content produced solely with Google's own AI models. The tool can also detect materials created with the AIs of Google's partners. The detection scope includes OpenAI, Nvidia, and Kakao, and Google confirms that support will soon extend to Apple as well.

The new online tool complements Google's existing verification features. According to the company, its content verification functions integrated into Search, Chrome browser, and the Gemini app already process over a million verification requests daily.

One of those software companies that is both loved and hated is probably Adobe. The company has been criticized especially for its monthly subscription pricing model - and constant price increases.

For most Adobe products, alternatives are available, such as the products from Affinity, which can be purchased with a one-time payment. Not to mention, of course, the open-source GiMP.

But creative professionals are very, very set in their ways, and switching from Adobe products to something else often stumbles simply because the menus work slightly differently in other applications. And of course, not all Adobe products have a direct replacement.

But now someone has come up with the idea of putting AI to work and instructing it to "code" perfect, one-to-one clones of all of Adobe's most important applications.

ArtCraft boasts on its website that it develops open-source applications for creative industries. The creators behind the project have been very actively spreading the word on social media and emphasize that ArtCraft aims for the project to release fully identically functioning, Rust-coded, open-source clones of Adobe products.

The controversy surrounding smart glasses equipped with recording capabilities is intensifying around the world.

The main concern has been how easy it is to secretly film people with smart glasses, without them even realizing they are being filmed. Most smart glasses only have a small LED light indicating that video is currently being recorded with the glasses - and even that has been covered up by some users. The glasses have thus been given less flattering nicknames, e.g., "pervert glasses".

Norway appears to be the first to make a clear legislative move, as the country's government has announced (in Norwegian) that it will completely ban the use of recording smart glasses in certain locations.

The government does not yet specify exactly which places will be completely prohibited for smart glasses users, but the statement mentions that the ban may be extended to cover all public places where privacy protection is extremely important.

The Norwegian government's statement mentions, among others, healthcare facilities, sports venues, changing rooms, and shower facilities. In addition, the government states it is considering extending the ban to kindergartens, schools, universities, and playgrounds.

YouTube has announced that it is updating the recommendation system for its Shorts short-video service. With the update, algorithms will increasingly favor original content while simultaneously reducing the visibility of videos that have been copied or re-uploaded from other creators without adding their own value.

According to the company, the recommendation systems constantly process billions of different signals, including watch history, topics, and user engagement, to provide viewers with genuinely meaningful content.

According to YouTube, fine-tuning the recommendation algorithm improves the viewer experience and simultaneously ensures that creators publishing original content have the best opportunities to grow and succeed on the platform. The company notes that the change is also in line with its current rules and policies.

In practice, the change specifically targets channels whose operations are primarily based on re-publishing material from other creators or compiling videos without significant alterations.

YouTube warns that such accounts are likely to see a significant drop in the distribution and visibility of their videos in the Shorts feed.

The open-source browser Firefox has been completely revamped its appearance.

Firefox version 157, or FX 157, introduces the new visual look that has been in test use for some time, which Firefox developer Mozilla praises as being modern, yet not generic.

Firefox's Nova look

The new visual look is named Nova and is the product of long development. However, some users have not exactly fallen in love with the new look on social media, and tips have already been shared online on how to revert the appearance to the previous version.

The trick is done by typing about:config into the browser's address bar and then navigating to the settings hidden under the browser's hood. By finding the setting browser.nova.enabled and changing it from true to False, the browser will revert to the previous Firefox appearance when restarted.

Microsoft has started distributing Windows 11 26H2, also known as the 2026 update, to all compatible computers. This update continues the company's model adopted in recent years, where an annual update does not necessarily mean a heavy system reinstallation, but rather arrives for most users as part of regular monthly updates.

The reduction in update size is also evident in that the installation of the new "major" Windows 11 update might almost go unnoticed, as the installation process differs little from typical security updates - even in duration. The reason, of course, is that most of the functionalities included in the update have already been distributed to computers with previous monthly updates, meaning that if Windows updates have been kept up to date, 26H2 merely packages everything together in the form of the KB5121794 update - and raises the Windows version number.

Although a large part of the new features has already been distributed to Windows users, they have not been enabled for most users before, meaning that despite its small physical size, the update significantly changes Windows' operation.

Perhaps the most visible innovation is the deeper integration of AI functionalities into the operating system's core components. An AI assistant has been added to the Windows Settings view, capable of searching for and modifying system settings using natural language commands. This means that in the future, you no longer need to know exactly where a specific setting is located; instead, you can describe the desired item to the AI assistant, which can automatically find the correct location.

Although Meta has received a lot of flak regarding its smart glasses lately, the company also has another, parallel series of glasses: virtual reality glasses.

Virtual reality glasses are not used like smart glasses when moving outdoors and communicating with people; instead, they immerse their wearer completely into a separate virtual world, with the inner surface of the glasses acting as displays. The new Meta VR Glasses are unprecedentedly lightweight, as the glasses themselves weigh only 100 grams. For comparison, Apple's badly flopped Vision Pro glasses weighed 650 grams, and one of the biggest complaints from testers was their weight.

Meta has managed to lighten the glasses by ensuring that the glasses themselves only contain the displays, sensors, and control system, while computing power, battery, and storage have been moved to a separate, so-called puck unit that can be attached to a pocket or bag, which connects to the glasses via an optical cable.

According to Korean news sources, a recently released Samsung software update for the company's smart refrigerators has gone badly wrong.

The update arrived just before the important Chuseok holiday for Koreans and is most likely the very recent Tizen 10 update for the company's smart products, which we also recently reported on.

According to media reports (in Korean), immediately after the update, some consumers' Samsung smart refrigerators completely stopped working. This means the update not only affected the smart functions of the refrigerators, but also caused the basic cooling function of the refrigerator to cease working.

For some consumers, the refrigerator door would no longer close after the update, even though the refrigerator's cooling itself was still working. Several consumers report that the food in the refrigerator spoiled (in Korean).

According to ZDNet Korea, Samsung has temporarily halted the distribution of the software update and hired additional service personnel to help fix the refrigerators that malfunctioned due to the update before this year's Chuseok begins (September 24 - September 26, 2026).

Just recently Meta introduced a variety of Meta One subscription bundles, packaging various AI features and random paid features of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp together.

However, with the launch of Meta One, an exceptionally drastic measure was revealed too: from now on, sharing links on Facebook pages requires the Meta One subscription. So, from now on, sharing links costs money.

According to Facebook's own help pages and practical observations, Facebook pages can now only share two external links per month for free - after that limit is reached, a Meta One subscription is required.

The default limit resets on the first day of each month, and "unused links" do not carry over to the next month. This strict restriction directly affects businesses, organizations, and content creators who use their Facebook pages to grow their website traffic or e-commerce.

There are handful of exceptions to this rule: normal people, who don't have a separate Facebook business or organization page, can still freely post as many links as they want to. Also, registered news organizations are exempt, too - at least, for now.

The legendary MP3 player Winamp is making a comeback. Once again.

This time, the arrangements have been completely revamped compared to before, and the new Winamp, set to be released in 2027, is a combination of the iconic MP3 player and a modern streaming service. This means that, in practice, Winamp can retain its late-90s look if desired, while simultaneously enjoying the ease of streaming - without forgetting MP3 file playback.

Winamp will not build its subscription-based streaming service from scratch; instead, the company has licensed the music catalog and streaming technology of French Deezer for its use.

To avoid scaring off current users of the original Winamp too much, Winamp promises in its press release that the original Winamp application, which operates without a streaming service, will also continue to exist, meaning there will be two separate versions of Winamp available in the future.

This move is likely quite smart, as, surprisingly, according to Winamp, the original MP3 player still has about 40 million active users. The new Winamp, set to be released next year and coexisting with the traditional version, is also promised to support MP3 file playback, internet radio playback, and Winamp's traditional playlists.

Google's researchers succeeded at the beginning of September in creating a complete 3D model of the brain of a common adult, male fruit fly.

It was the first time that the entire brain structure of a reasonably complex animal was digitized into a 3D model containing over 166,000 neurons. The achievement is considered a significant milestone for brain research and is hoped to help researchers understand brain function more precisely.

But because humans are, after all, humans, such a fine scientific achievement was also harnessed for a rather perplexing use.

A few days later, programmer Alex Wormuth announced on social media (link leads to X/Twitter) that he had taken the fruit fly brain model created by Google and taught it to play Doom.

Because why not.

Wormuth states that the teaching process was based on brain stimulation, where each game frame (frame) is sent to the fruit fly's brain neurons that process external stimuli. The subsequent brain activity is then returned to Doom for character control. Correspondingly, whenever enemies are successfully damaged in the game, a reward-indicating stimulus is fed to the brain, stimulating its dopamine-sensitive cells.

The world's largest so-called content delivery network, American Cloudflare, has set a deadline that is fast approaching.

On Tuesday, September 15, 2026, Cloudflare will by default start blocking all bots that use the data they collect for training or developing AI services.

Cloudflare itself may not mean anything to the average internet user, but about a third of all significant websites in the world use Cloudflare as a kind of doorman for their content, which lightens the load on the sites' own servers - and blocks unwanted bot traffic.

And starting September 15, bots that collect data for "mixed use" purposes will also be included in that group of "unwanted bot traffic".

This category includes advertising giant Google's own bot, Googlebot.

Google uses its data-collecting bot to create the index for its traditional search engine, but the same bot also collects data for Google's AI search.

As Cloudflare's rules change on September 15, Google's bots that collect and index website content will therefore be blocked by default, unless the site administrator has decided to specifically allow them. Cloudflare calls the upcoming change day Content Independence Day.

Korean giant LG is once again at the center of a privacy scandal, as it was revealed that the company's smart TVs collect a frightening amount of data.

A two-hour video from the Gamers Nexus channel goes through all the alarming revelations that emerged when LG's televisions were examined more closely.

Firstly, the company's smart TVs constantly scan the local network to which they are connected and gather information about other devices found on the same local network. This means, for example, data from home phones, printers, and computers is collected and stored by the TV.

In addition, the TV's WiFi constantly collects information about other nearby WiFi networks, even when WiFi has not been used to connect the TV to the home's local network. The TV also stores this information in its own storage with timestamps.

Another observation concerned the operation of smart TV voice control. After voice control is activated and a voice command is given to the TV about what it should do, the TV does not stop listening. Instead, it actively listens to conversations for an extended period and transcribes the speech into text format, which is stored in the TV's storage.