events Archives

Winsage

May 11, 2025

moricons.dll, A Remnant Of Windows 3.1 Lives On To This Day

Microsoft often conceals legacy features during software upgrades, exemplified by the Disk Cleanup utility, which may not appear in drive properties but can still be found through search. The moricons.dll file, a 12KB library of icons, was created to manage an increasing number of program icons beyond the capacity of progman.exe. This file has persisted through the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit systems, representing a piece of digital history.

AppWizard

May 10, 2025

Celebrate Star Wars being good again with up to 85% off EA’s Jedi and Battlefront games until May 15

This year's Star Wars Day has generated excitement among fans and gamers, partly due to the success of the Andor TV series and the announcement of Star Wars Zero Company from Bit Reactor. EA is offering discounts of up to 85% on its Star Wars games on Steam, including Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for .99 (£5.24) and Jedi Survivor for .99 (£11.99). The 2015 reboot of Star Wars: Battlefront is available for .99, while Battlefront 2 is priced at .99 (£6.99). Star Wars: Squadrons is also on sale for .99 (£5.24). These offers will be available until May 15. Future Star Wars gaming projects include Zero Company, a third Jedi game from Respawn, and ongoing developments for Star Wars Eclipse and the KOTOR Remake.

AppWizard

May 10, 2025

‘Thunderbolts*’ Crossing $100M Today, Eyes $30M+ 2nd Frame; ‘Minecraft’ Clicks $401M; ‘Sinners’ Shooting Past $200M; ‘Clown In The Cornfield’ $600K Previews

Disney and Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts is outperforming Shang-Chi’s second weekend, having earned .3 million on Friday and projected to reach approximately million over the weekend, reflecting a 53% decline from its opening week. By Sunday, it is expected to surpass 0 million in total earnings. In comparison, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings achieved .7 million during its post-Labor Day frame in 2021, marking a 54% drop. This weekend's overall box office performance is anticipated to match the same period last year, which recorded .1 million, significantly bolstered by the debut of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which opened with .4 million. Warner Bros’ Sinners continues to perform well, bringing in .6 million in its fourth weekend, comparable to The Sixth Sense (.5 million) and exceeding It (.2 million) in their fourth frames. The weekend box office breakdown includes: - Thunderbolts (Disney) - 4,330 theaters, Friday .3M, 3-day M (-53%), Total 0.3M/Wk 2 - Sinners (Warner Bros) - 3,502 theaters, Friday .6M, 3-day .3M (-39%), Total .3M/Wk 4 - A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros) - 3,468 theaters, Friday .7M, 3-day M (-48%), Total M/Wk 6 - Accountant 2 (Amazon) - 3,402 theaters, Friday .58M, 3-day .8M (-39%), Total .6M/Wk 3 - Clown in a Cornfield (IFC) - 2,277 theaters, Friday .4M, 3-day .5M/Wk 1 - Shadow Force (Lionsgate) - 2,170 theaters, Friday .0M, 3-day .7M/Wk 1 - Fight or Flight (Vertical) - 2,153 theaters, Friday .5M, 3-day .5M/Wk 1 Thunderbolts is expected to dominate the weekend box office with an estimated million, reflecting a decline of 60% or less from its debut. Sinners is expected to cross the million threshold today, with a robust fourth weekend forecasted between million and million. Clown in the Cornfield is projected to earn around .5 million, while Shadow Force is eyeing a weekend total of million to million. Fight or Flight is set at .5 million. Briarcliff Entertainment's Juliet & Romeo is projected to earn around million.

AppWizard

May 8, 2025

Mojang has just killed support for Minecraft VR, an underrated but very flawed VR experience

Mojang has announced the discontinuation of VR support for Minecraft, with plans to cease support by March 2025 and a suspension of VR functionality that occurred in May. The transition away from VR has received mixed reactions, as the experience was often described as temperamental and underwhelming. Alternatives like Vivecraft, a fan-supported mod, allow players to enjoy Minecraft in VR on PCs, but come with challenges such as requiring additional setup and coordination among friends. The decision to discontinue support likely stems from Minecraft's evolving nature, which complicates development and leads to the obsolescence of older versions.

Tech Optimizer

May 8, 2025

The Search Stack That Nearly Broke Us — Until We Did This

The initial architecture for the finlight.me real-time financial news API utilized Postgres full-text search, which was effective for early needs but faced limitations as article volume increased. Key challenges included performance degradation due to the inability to combine GIN indexes with regular B-Tree indexes, leading to slow query performance, especially with complex user queries and pagination. The decision was made to transition to OpenSearch for its optimized search capabilities while retaining Postgres as the source of truth for data integrity. Testing with OpenSearch revealed the need for production-grade resources, which led to a successful deployment that improved search response times significantly. The current architecture separates ingestion, storage, and retrieval responsibilities, with Postgres managing data storage and OpenSearch handling user-facing search queries. Regular snapshotting and thoughtful index management ensure resilience and scalability.

Winsage

May 8, 2025

6 reasons I want Microsoft Plus back, even though I never had it growing up

Microsoft's evolution of Windows has included various enhancements and features over the years, originally exemplified by the Microsoft Plus! add-on package. Key features that could be included in a modern add-on pack are: - Ad-Free Experience: An option to eliminate advertisements from the Windows experience, addressing user frustration with prompts for subscriptions like Microsoft 365 or Game Pass. - Engaging Games: The potential to reintroduce classic games or develop new titles that provide a more engaging gaming experience without microtransactions and ads. - Dynamic Desktop Themes: The ability to create dynamic themes with animated wallpapers and custom frames, allowing for more personalized desktop experiences. - DVD Playback and Codec Support: Inclusion of DVD playback functionality and enhanced codec support for modern formats like H.265 and AV1, along with a transcoding tool for media conversion. - Enhanced Video Editing: Development of a robust, native video editing application similar to Windows Live Movie Maker, with advanced features and support for 4K exports.

Winsage

May 7, 2025

Windows 10 support is ending — but End of 10 wants you to switch to Linux

Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025, meaning users will no longer receive feature updates or security patches. A grassroots movement called "End of 10" is advocating for users to switch to Linux instead of upgrading to Windows 11, which has stringent hardware requirements that many older PCs do not meet. The movement highlights the benefits of Linux, such as operating without ads or telemetry, reducing e-waste, and being a free, open-source alternative. There are 240 million PCs that may not be able to upgrade to Windows 11. The End of 10 movement provides resources and support for users interested in transitioning to Linux, with a directory of shops and tech collectives primarily located in Germany.

AppWizard

May 7, 2025

Jack Black’s Minecraft Song Hits Billboard 100: Shortest Track Ever to Chart!

The Minecraft Movie has become a major success, breaking box office records and is on track to be the highest-grossing video game adaptation ever. The song "Steve's Lava Chicken," performed by Jack Black, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart at No. 78 on May 3, 2025, making it the shortest song to ever appear on the chart. It also reached No. 10 on the Hot Rock Songs Chart and debuted at No. 21 on the UK official chart. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures are hosting special Block Party Edition screenings of the film on May 2, encouraging audience engagement through singing and interaction.

AppWizard

May 7, 2025

NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation Is Coming Soon to MechWarrior 5: Clans and New World: Aeternum

NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation has been introduced to enhance the visual experience in several games, including MechWarrior 5: Clans, New World: Aeternum, and Spirit of the North 2. MechWarrior 5: Clans, a spin-off set in the MechWarrior universe, will receive an update with the Ghost Bear: Flash Storm DLC, supporting NVIDIA DLSS 4 for improved frame rates on GeForce RTX 50 Series graphics cards. New World: Aeternum will launch Season 8 - Season of the Divide, featuring new maps and events, and will integrate NVIDIA DLSS 4 for enhanced visuals and performance. Spirit of the North 2 will support NVIDIA DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation from its launch in two days. Other titles adopting DLSS technology include Bodycam, which has been updated to support DLSS Super Resolution with plans for Frame Generation, and Lost Skies, which launched on Steam Early Access with DLSS Super Resolution. Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree and Necrophosis also feature DLSS Super Resolution support.

AppWizard

May 7, 2025

Another messaging app used by the White House is in hot water

Former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has come under scrutiny for using TeleMessage, an app that has recently experienced a security breach resulting in the theft of sensitive data, including direct messages and group chats. High-ranking officials from the Trump administration, including Waltz, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, were reported to have used the app. A photograph captured Waltz during a Cabinet meeting appearing to use TeleMessage to access Signal messages, raising concerns due to his previous controversy involving a chat room on Signal that included a journalist. The security vulnerabilities of TeleMessage have been criticized, particularly as it lacks the robust encryption features of Signal. The app was initially marketed as a solution for preserving messages for government record-keeping, but its reliability has been questioned.