durability Archives

Winsage

January 13, 2026

CES 2026: Showcasing new Windows 11 PC innovations across the ecosystem

CES showcased significant advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) integrated into the Windows ecosystem, with various companies unveiling new products. Acer introduced the Copilot+ PCs, including the Swift 16 AI laptop with a haptic touchpad and Predator Helios Neo 16S AI gaming laptop. ASUS launched the Zenbook DUO, featuring dual OLED touchscreens, and the ROG Zephyrus Duo, a dual-screen gaming laptop. Dell refreshed its XPS brand with new laptops and monitors, while HP presented the EliteBook X G2 Series and the EliteBoard G1a Next Gen AI PC. Lenovo revealed several new Copilot+ PCs, and Samsung introduced the Galaxy Book6 series. AMD and Intel announced new processor lines, with AMD's Ryzen AI 400 Mobile Series and Intel's Core Ultra Series 3 processors. Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon X2 Plus for enhanced AI experiences in PCs.

Winsage

January 12, 2026

Windows 2000 still earning its keep running a rail ticket machine in Portugal

A ticket machine in Portugal is still running on Windows 2000 Professional, an operating system retired by Microsoft in 2010. The kiosk shows signs of wear but continues to function, highlighting the operating system's durability and reliability. Windows 2000 was originally launched as a successor to Windows NT 4.0 and was praised for its performance on modest hardware. Despite the lack of mainstream support for over two decades, it remains operational in various devices worldwide. The presence of a keyboard in the kiosk evokes nostalgia for earlier technology, and the simplicity of navigating Windows 2000 is manageable for experienced users.

AppWizard

December 30, 2025

Hot deal: Garmin inReach Messenger Satellite Communicator cheaper than ever!

Amazon is offering a limited-time deal on the Garmin inReach Messenger Handheld Satellite Communicator at a historic low price, with 11% of available units already claimed. The device connects to smartphones via the Garmin Messenger app, utilizing cellular networks or satellite communications for messaging. It includes safety features such as GPS location sharing and SOS signaling for emergencies. Additional features include check-in messages, real-time weather updates, trackback routing for navigation, an IPX7 water-resistant rating, and approximately 28 days of battery life on a single charge.

AppWizard

December 25, 2025

‘Minecraft’ Enchanting and Gear Progression: Best Enchant Order for Tools, Weapons, and Armor

The enchanting system in "Minecraft" involves three main components: the enchanting table, anvil, and grindstone. The enchanting table uses lapis lazuli and experience levels to apply enchantments, while the anvil combines enchanted items and books, and the grindstone removes enchantments for XP. Enchantments range from I to IV or V and are specific to gear types. Players typically start with the enchanting table for initial enchants and refine gear using enchanted books obtained through various means. For armor, players should prioritize Protection IV, Unbreaking III, and Mending, followed by utility enchantments. Helmets often include Protection IV, Unbreaking III, Mending, Respiration III, and Aqua Affinity, while boots focus on utility with similar core enchantments. Weapons should be tailored to roles, with swords often featuring Sharpness V, Looting III, and Unbreaking III. Bows typically include Power V and either Infinity or Mending, while tridents have Loyalty or Riptide, Impaling V, and Unbreaking III. Tools, especially pickaxes, are prioritized for resource gathering, with common setups including a Fortune III pickaxe and a Silk Touch pickaxe, both requiring Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, and Mending. General rules to avoid high anvil costs include combining books before applying them to items and managing work histories effectively. Players often upgrade gear gradually rather than aiming for perfect gear early on, and many maintain separate work and display sets of gear. Repairing with raw materials does not incur a work penalty but cannot restore enchantments, while some sub-optimal enchantments can be strategically beneficial in certain situations.

Tech Optimizer

December 13, 2025

Microsoft Introduces Postgres-Compatible Azure HorizonDB

Azure HorizonDB is a managed database service announced at the Microsoft Ignite conference, designed for enterprise workloads and compatible with Postgres. It supports up to 3072 vCores and accommodates databases up to 128TB with sub-millisecond multi-zone commit latencies. The service features AI Model Management for enhanced vector search speeds, utilizing advanced DiskANN filtering. HorizonDB's architecture focuses on upstream compatibility and disaggregated storage to improve performance, reducing commit latencies and accelerating failovers. It complements existing managed PostgreSQL solutions from Microsoft and is optimized for AI workloads. HorizonDB is currently in early preview in select regions.

AppWizard

December 10, 2025

Minecraft’s final update of the year is officially here — Mounts of Mayhem brings mounted combat to the Overworld

2025 has seen two Minecraft Live events and four significant content updates, culminating in the final update of the year titled Mounts of Mayhem. This update introduces new features such as a tiered weapon called the spear, which has extended reach and can be crafted from various materials. It includes jab and charge attacks and is designed for mounted combat. A new mount, the nautilus, has been added for underwater exploration, which can be tamed and provides the "Breath of the Nautilus" effect. Three undead mounts have been introduced: the zombie horse, camel husk, and zombie nautilus, each with unique characteristics. The update also features a new hostile mob, the parched, which spawns in deserts and fires arrows of weakness. Additional changes include mounts floating in water, the ability to upgrade diamond horse armor to netherite, and new graphics options for Minecraft: Java Edition. Mojang plans to implement smaller, more frequent updates in the future. Changelogs for both Minecraft: Java Edition 1.21.11 and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition 1.21.130 are available for review.

AppWizard

December 1, 2025

Crossbow vs Bow Minecraft: Complete Comparison Guide

In Minecraft, the bow and crossbow are two primary ranged weapons, each with unique characteristics. Bow: - Draw time: 1 second for full power - Damage: 5–10 hearts, varies with arrow type and enchantments - Ammo: Unlimited as long as arrows are in inventory - Enchantments: Power, Punch, Flame, Infinity - Strengths: Rapid fire, critical hits, Infinity enchantment - Weaknesses: Lower base damage, requires skill for maximum draw - Durability: 384 uses - Repair methods: Anvil + string, crafting a new bow, Unbreaking & Mending Crossbow: - Loading time: 1–1.25 seconds - Base damage: Higher than the bow - Ammo: Arrows and fireworks - Enchantments: Piercing, Quick Charge, Multishot, Unbreaking - Strengths: High damage per shot, special projectiles, reliable hit - Weaknesses: Slower firing, no critical hits, lower durability - Durability: 326 uses - Repair methods: Anvil + string, Unbreaking & Mending, crafting a new crossbow Comparison: - Bow has moderate damage and faster firing speed, while crossbow has high damage but is slower due to reload. - Bow can achieve critical hits; crossbow cannot. - Bow is better for rapid attacks and mobility, while crossbow excels in high-damage bursts and strategic use against armored enemies. Players often choose based on their playstyle: the bow for agility and rapid fire, and the crossbow for powerful, deliberate shots. Many players find value in using both weapons to adapt to different combat situations.

Tech Optimizer

December 1, 2025

Risks of Manual PostgreSQL Starts in Patroni Clusters: Downtime Warnings

Patroni is an open-source tool for managing PostgreSQL clusters, automating failover and replication. Manual starting of PostgreSQL services within an active Patroni cluster can lead to severe disruptions, including data integrity issues and availability risks. Patroni uses a distributed consensus system, often with etcd or Consul, to manage cluster state and leader elections. Manual interventions can confuse this process, resulting in multiple nodes believing they are the primary, which can cause conflicting writes and potential data loss. Real-world incidents have documented outages due to manual starts, such as promoting a replica node to leader status inadvertently. This disrupts Write-Ahead Logging (WAL) synchronization, leading to divergent transaction logs. Database administrators are advised to use Patroni's built-in commands for service management and implement role-based access controls to prevent unauthorized manual actions. Monitoring solutions are crucial for early detection of anomalies. Simulating failure scenarios in staging environments can help prepare teams for real incidents. Ongoing advancements aim to enhance Patroni's safeguards against manual overrides, with future iterations potentially incorporating AI-driven anomaly detection.

AppWizard

December 1, 2025

New Manor Lords update leaves players “seriously impressed” as beloved city builder drops to lowest-ever price on Steam

Manor Lords, developed by Grzegorz Styczeń under the name Slavic Magic, has released a major update, version 0.8.046, which includes over 350 fixes and numerous quality-of-life enhancements. Key changes involve resource management, with players able to protect specific resource areas and a new maintenance system based on a durability counter. Additionally, worker behavior has been refined, and the update includes balance changes, AI improvements, and nearly 150 bug fixes. The game is currently priced at .99 / £22.74, its lowest price to date.

Tech Optimizer

November 30, 2025

Netflix consolidates relational database infrastructure on Amazon Aurora, achieving up to 75% improved performance

Netflix operates a global streaming service using a distributed microservices architecture, with the Online Data Stores (ODS) team managing persistent data store solutions. The ODS team aims to enhance developer productivity and operational efficiency but faced challenges due to a fragmented relational database strategy involving multiple PostgreSQL-compatible engines, leading to operational inefficiencies and increased overhead for both infrastructure and application teams. To address these challenges, Netflix evaluated database solutions based on criteria focused on developer productivity, operational efficiency, performance reliability, and scalability. After thorough evaluation, Netflix selected Aurora PostgreSQL as the preferred database solution for relational workloads. Key reasons for choosing Aurora include its ability to handle single-Region and multi-Region workloads effectively, employing asynchronous storage-based replication for low-latency operations. Aurora's log-based write operations and shared storage architecture provide higher write throughput and lower latency. As a fully managed service, Aurora eliminates the manual operational overhead associated with self-managed databases, allowing developers to leverage existing PostgreSQL expertise with minimal code changes. Post-migration results for applications like Front50 and the Policy Engine showed significant improvements in latency and stability. Front50 experienced a 50% reduction in average latency and a 70% reduction in maximum latency. The Policy Engine noted overall latency improvements across all endpoints, with specific reductions in key functions, enhancing responsiveness and operational efficiency.