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This wildly ambitious modpack transforms the third-person, N64 exclusive Duke Nukem: Zero Hour into a 'jank '90s FPS' for your PC
AppWizard
April 12, 2026

This wildly ambitious modpack transforms the third-person, N64 exclusive Duke Nukem: Zero Hour into a ‘jank ’90s FPS’ for your PC

A dedicated team has created a modpack called Duke Nukem: Zero Hour Overclocked, which transforms the classic Nintendo 64 game Duke Nukem: Zero Hour from a third-person experience into a first-person shooter. The modpack includes various enhancements, such as adjustments to camera and aiming behavior, remapping of movement animations, an optional crouch toggle, and viewmodel recoil effects. The project has received positive attention from industry veterans, including Scott Miller, who praised the first-person conversion. The modpack is available for download, but players need to obtain a copy of the Duke Nukem: Zero Hour N64 ROM to use it.
silver Android smartphone
AppWizard
April 11, 2026

You can finally rescue Half-Life’s guards and scientists thanks to this mod inspired by Lemmings

Half-Life: Lemmings is a mod for Half-Life: Source that allows players to rescue up to 45 non-playable characters (NPCs), such as scientists and guards, within the Black Mesa facility. The mod features custom animations for rescuing NPCs, enhanced navigation capabilities for them, and upgrades for guards who can now use shotguns, MP5s, and grenades. The mod covers gameplay from the beginning of the Unforeseen Consequences chapter to the Apprehension chapter. It is available for download on ModDB, although Half-Life: Source is not listed on the Steam store but can still be purchased for £8.50.
Database Branching in Postgres: Git-Style Workflows with Databricks Lakebase
Tech Optimizer
April 11, 2026

Database Branching in Postgres: Git-Style Workflows with Databricks Lakebase

Database branching is a modern approach that addresses the limitations of traditional database management in development workflows. Unlike conventional database copies, which require significant time and resources to duplicate data and schema, database branching allows for the creation of isolated environments that share the same underlying storage. This method utilizes a copy-on-write mechanism, enabling branches to be created in seconds regardless of database size, with storage costs tied only to the changes made. Key features of database branching include: - Branch creation time: Seconds, constant regardless of database size. - Storage cost: Proportional to changes only, not the total data size. - Isolation: Each branch has its own Postgres connection string and compute endpoint. - Automatic scaling: Idle branches can scale compute to zero, incurring costs only when active. The architecture supporting this approach separates compute from storage, allowing multiple branches to reference the same data without conflict. This design facilitates time travel capabilities, enabling branches to be created from any point in the past for instant recovery and inspection. Database branching unlocks new workflows, such as: - One branch per developer, providing isolated environments for each engineer. - One branch per pull request, automating branch creation and deletion tied to PRs. - One branch per test run, provisioning fresh databases for each CI pipeline execution. - Instant recovery from any point in time within a designated restore window. - Ephemeral environments for AI agents, allowing programmatic database provisioning. Databricks Lakebase offers this database branching capability, transforming the database from a bottleneck into a streamlined component of the development process.
"This is exactly the kind of thing driving me away from Windows": even Edge users don't want this new feature
Winsage
April 10, 2026

“This is exactly the kind of thing driving me away from Windows”: even Edge users don’t want this new feature

Recent polling data shows that Microsoft Edge users dislike the browser's automatic launch upon logging into Windows 11. Microsoft is testing a feature that would have Edge open automatically at startup, which has sparked significant discussion and frustration among users. A banner notifying select users of this change has been observed, and the behavior has been confirmed in the latest Edge Beta build. User reactions on Reddit include strong negative sentiments, with some users threatening to abandon Windows 11 if this feature is enforced. Despite the backlash, Microsoft Edge is viewed as a competent browser, though its aggressive promotion tactics may alienate potential users.
"If it's this easy, why don't more Windows apps use a PC's NPU?" — Microsoft MVP demonstrates how he added meaningful AI to an app in just 10 minutes
Winsage
April 6, 2026

“If it’s this easy, why don’t more Windows apps use a PC’s NPU?” — Microsoft MVP demonstrates how he added meaningful AI to an app in just 10 minutes

AI PCs with Neural Processing Units (NPUs) are becoming common in technology, enabling innovative applications that utilize on-device AI. Microsoft's Windows AI APIs facilitate easy integration of AI into applications, requiring only a Copilot+ PC with a capable NPU. Lance McCarthy, a Microsoft MVP, highlights tools available for developers, including Phi Silica for local language modeling, AI Text Recognition for OCR, and AI Imaging tools for image processing. McCarthy's Xkcd Viewer app exemplifies these tools, featuring AI-powered image descriptions for visually impaired users, which enhance the experience beyond simple text readouts. The modification of the app took ten minutes and significantly improved user accessibility.
Wine 11.6 is an exciting release to make modding Windows games on Linux simpler
Winsage
April 4, 2026

Wine 11.6 is an exciting release to make modding Windows games on Linux simpler

Wine version 11.6 enhances the experience of running Windows games on Linux through Proton, focusing on game modding capabilities. Key features include the revival of the Android driver, implementation of DLL load order heuristics for better mod support, improved compatibility with VBScript, and 28 bug fixes for application and game performance. The update allows Wine to prioritize DLLs provided with mods over its own versions, facilitating the use of a wider array of mods without additional tweaks. These changes are expected to be integrated into Proton for Steam users.
AWS Engineer Reports PostgreSQL Performance Halved By Linux 7.0, But A Fix May Not Be Easy
Tech Optimizer
April 4, 2026

AWS Engineer Reports PostgreSQL Performance Halved By Linux 7.0, But A Fix May Not Be Easy

An engineer from Amazon/AWS reported a significant performance regression in PostgreSQL when running on the nearly finalized Linux 7.0 kernel, with throughput dropping to about half of previous kernel versions. The regression, observed on a Graviton4 server, is attributed to increased time spent in a user-space spinlock due to changes in preemption modes in Linux 7.0. A patch to revert to PREEMPT_NONE as the default preemption model has been submitted but may not be adopted. Peter Zijlstra suggested that PostgreSQL should adapt to utilize the Restartable Sequences (RSEQ) time slice extension to mitigate the performance drop. If this adaptation is accepted, the responsibility for the performance decline may shift to PostgreSQL, potentially affecting users until the database is updated. The stable release of Linux 7.0 is expected in about two weeks, coinciding with the launch of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
Microsoft veteran says some 'broken by update' PCs were already doomed
Winsage
April 2, 2026

Microsoft veteran says some ‘broken by update’ PCs were already doomed

Many corporate customers believe that recent Microsoft updates have rendered their systems inoperable, but often the issues are not caused by the updates themselves. Instead, underlying problems, such as prior changes to drivers or group policies, become apparent after a system restart prompted by the update. The act of rebooting can trigger these hidden issues, leading to system failures. Additionally, Microsoft has faced scrutiny regarding the reliability of its updates, as administrators have expressed concerns about their stability.
Don’t blame Windows 11 updates for every problem, Microsoft veteran says
Winsage
April 2, 2026

Don’t blame Windows 11 updates for every problem, Microsoft veteran says

Corporate clients often report to Microsoft that Windows updates disrupt their systems, particularly after Patch Tuesday. A 2026 report from Omnissa indicates that Windows environments experience more application crashes and forced shutdowns than macOS. However, Raymond Chen, a Windows expert, suggests that many systems are already compromised before updates are installed. Engineers at Microsoft frequently find that issues persist even after rolling back updates, and similar failures can occur on machines that haven't received the update yet. The actual triggers for system failures often stem from changes made by IT departments prior to updates, such as new drivers or configuration modifications. These changes may not show immediate issues until a reboot occurs during Patch Tuesday, revealing existing instability. Best practices for IT admins include controlled change management, validating drivers and policies before deployment, using staged rollouts, rebooting after major changes, and maintaining logging and monitoring systems. Microsoft conducts extensive testing of updates to ensure system security and stability, and delaying updates can increase risks.
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