We’re at a fortunate moment: microcontrollers available at modest prices are edging into the capability level previously reserved for full-fat systems and can, through emulation, run software beyond classic 8-bit home computers, consoles, or old arcade games. A project we’ve been watching for a while is tiny386, an emulator for ESP32 boards that provides a 386 PC with just enough 486 and 586 instructions enabled to run a modern Linux kernel. Now we’re pleased to note that this platform is making it to the RP2350, with ports for both the FRANK emulation platform and the Waveshare Pi Zero boards. You can now have a 32-bit PC with all the peripherals, including VGA and DVI/HDMI, for the cost of an inexpensive development board.
Having seen tiny386 run on its minimum-spec ESP32 platform, we’ll concede that while it’s usable, it’s not the fastest experience, but the RP2350 port promises better performance. It’s not for a modern full-fat Linux distro, but should work well for running older operating systems such as DOS, or Windows 3.1 and 95, or even a lean Linux setup. This has fascinating potential: while these systems are old, they still have an enormous software library. The idea of useful general-purpose computing, 1990s style, in the palm of the hand, is interesting.
Two USB-C cables can look identical, fit the same port, and behave completely differently on your computer. One charges a laptop at full speed and transfers files in seconds; the other barely keeps a phone topped up. Baffling, I know. But you'd be surprised by how much stuff can differ between two cables full of copper.
CDs have been around for a long time, with people still having ones from decades ago. Even today, CDs — which stand for compact discs — are sold to people who like owning physical music and want the additional content included with the physical copy rather than what is on streaming services.
We tend to think of breaking the sound barrier as a comparatively modern accomplishment, but on a smaller scale, cattle herders have been breaking it for centuries: the cracking sound of the tip of a bullwhip snapping comes from a small-scale sonic boom. Reliably getting a crack out of a whip takes skill and practice, though, which is why [Craig Turner] built a whip-cracking machine.
The first step was to build the whip itself, which was surprisingly complicated. Bullwhips taper down toward the end of the whip. As the whip uncurls during a crack, momentum passes down the whip; since the whip becomes continually narrower and lighter, conservation of momentum means that different stretches of the whip must move progressively faster. To get this effect, [Craig] joined together a series of increasingly thin and light ropes. The heavy end of the whip terminated in an eyelet connected to a length of elastic shock cord. Stretching the whip back on the shock cord and releasing it whipped it around, resulting in a fairly reliable crack.
For greater convenience, [Craig] built this into a launcher mechanism, with the elastic cord wrapped around the end of the launcher, an electrical-conduit guide for the whip, and a spring-loaded trigger mechanism to release it. This worked even better than expected, getting a reliable crack every time. The tip of the whip could slice leaves, tear open aluminium cans, put out candle flames, knock the cap off a bottle without tipping it over, and reliably hit small targets on the first shot.
As [Craig] mentioned, this setup would make it much easier to study the cracking effect with a schlieren imaging setup.
[Andy Huot] has a fantastic-looking infinity mirror digital clock that really raises the bar. It uses high quality components, smart use of RGB LED animations, and a clever “stacked diffuser” vertical design to the 7-segment display elements that really enhances the infinity mirror effect. It needs to be seen in action, so check it out.
The end result is expressly portal-like, with the smooth animations of the LEDs really playing into the effect. The size helps, too. It’s 24 inches in diameter, giving it considerable presence.
The stacked diffuser design for each display element really enhances the effect.
A basic infinity mirror design consists of lit elements sandwiched between a reflective back surface and a partially-reflective, partially-transmissive top cover. That same basic principle is used here, but with great care given to ensure nothing so much as a fingerprint spoils the illusion. For example, the top cover is a disk of acrylic with a 90% reflective film affixed to the inside surface. That’s easy enough to DIY with some car tint, but [Andy] found that for the very best results it was worth having high-quality film professionally applied.
We like the use of 3D-printed custom jigs for soldering the segments of RGB LED strips, and holding the pre-measured wires in place with some putty is a great way to keep them in place while working. In case you’re wondering, the mirrored acrylic making up the back wall has holes in it for mounting each segment’s LED strip in a holder, and running the wires to the rear.
The video (embedded below) documents every step of the assembly, and it’s a serious build. While the design files for the 3D-printed parts are not free, there’s certainly enough detail for an enterprising hacker to replicate the design in their own way.
The Seattle-based video game developer behind the award-winning virtual reality adventure Moss has closed its doors.
The announcement was made via Polyarc Games’ LinkedIn page on Friday afternoon. No specific reason was offered for the studio’s closure.
“After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end,” wrote an unnamed Polyarc representative. “Thank you to everyone at Polyarc. Our work is now finished.”
Twenty-nine employees will be dismissed due to the studio’s closure, including co-founders Chris Alderson, Danny Bulla, and CEO Tam Armstrong. Polyarc has posted a list of contact information and profiles for all affected employees, in an attempt to help them line up their next positions.
Polyarc’s first and best-known release was 2018’s Moss, where players helped guide a young mouse named Quill through a fantasy world on a journey to save her uncle. It was followed by 2022’s Moss: Book II, a direct sequel that continued Quill’s story, and the 2025 strategy spin-off Glassbreakers.
Polyarc’s most recent release was this year’s Moss: The Forgotten Relic for PC and console, which collected both Moss games into a single non-VR experience.
Armstrong, Bulla, and Alderson founded Polyarc as a startup in 2015. All three were former employees of Bungie in Bellevue, where they’d all worked in different capacities on Bungie’s online shooter Destiny.
Polyarc’s closure comes almost six months after its announcement in March that it’d had to significantly reduce the size of the company, and almost eight months after a wave of layoffs at Meta that forced a major reduction at Bellevue, Wash.-based VR studio Camouflaj (Republique, Batman: Arkham Shadow).
As noted in January, Meta is perhaps the largest current player in the virtual reality sector, largely off the ubiquity of its standalone Quest headsets. When Meta decided to deemphasize its VR efforts in January, reportedly in favor of wearable computing and AI research, it touched off a negative ripple effect throughout the virtual reality field.
There is a chance that Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame may serve as an effective bailout for the VR sector by reigniting consumer interest, but at time of writing, the Frame has no release date. It’s apparently imminent, as suggested by a big leak in August, but there’s nothing definite. If the Steam Machine’s release in June was any indication, however, we can assume the Steam Frame will launch without warning on some random Tuesday morning in the next two months.
With CISA 2015 set to expire in September 2026, Congress has an opportunity to extend the statute beyond cyber to cover AI-related threats and mitigations.
Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream has refused to negotiate further with hackers who last week stole 4,000 bitcoins from its Liquid network.
Writing on X Friday, Blockstream said that the hackers still had time to return the funds before the company would work with law enforcement.
White-hat hackers on Sunday withdrew about $320 million from the federation wallet that backs Liquid, a sidechain by Blockstream. After negotiating with Blockstream, they returned most of the funds but kept 598.5 coins worth over $46 million — demanding it as ransom.
“Blockstream will not pay a ransom for the return of stolen funds,” the post read. “Taking assets without authorization and withholding their return is a crime, not responsible disclosure. It is not white-hat activity. It is theft.”
To those responsible for the theft of bitcoin from the Liquid Network:
Blockstream will not pay a ransom for the return of stolen funds. Taking assets without authorization and withholding their return is a crime, not responsible disclosure. It is not white-hat activity. It is…
It added: “We will work with law enforcement, exchanges, service providers, forensic specialists, and other relevant parties to trace and recover the assets and identify those responsible.”
“We will not pay for the return of stolen property. We will not abandon our users. The Bitcoin community will not stop pursuing the funds.”
Liquid, or L-BTC, is a layer-2 created by Blockstream that allows users to fast move assets backed 1:1 with bitcoin. One of the assets, LBTC, is a token backed by bitcoin that allows for quick settlement — a bit like the Lightning Network.
Hackers were able to get the funds by exploiting an inflation bug on the Liquid sidechain to create over 4,000 LBTC that did not exist before and cash them out for real, on-chain bitcoins.
The hackers then had an exchange with Blockstream via messages written into Bitcoin blocks.
In one message, the white hats wrote: “Please fix the bug first. The chain is under risk at latest commit right now. Make sure every node is patched. Then we will transfer the money back safely after confirming the fix.”
In the latest message, the hackers slammed Blocksteam as “delusional, greedy, and arrogant,” and threatened to reveal all of Blockstream’s encrypted messages in the exchange unless the company allowed thieves to keep 10% of the bitcoins.
“You SHALL pay 10% using your own money as bug bounty or you will cause all your holders a 15% loss for your irresponsibility and stinginess,” the message read.
The Bitcoin community is still reeling after hackers in July were able to steal over 1,800 bitcoins worth close to $140 million from Coldcard wallet holders.
Users of the popular hardware wallet, created by Coinkite, were targeted because the product’s manufacturer did not use a true random number generator, allowing hackers to essentially guess investor seedphrases.
Tan wants smaller, American open-weight AI labs to use the same kind of training techniques on American frontier AI labs, giving the U.S. a more robust set of open-weight options that aren’t Chinese.
Trump dismisses AI extinction warnings and says beating China is the priority as researchers and lawmakers call for stronger safeguards on advanced systems.
Trump dismisses AI extinction warnings and says beating China is the priority as researchers and lawmakers call for stronger safeguards on advanced systems.