world

AppWizard
October 15, 2026
Mateo Covic, a developer known for Paddle Paddle Paddle, expressed frustrations about Steam's two-hour refund window, sparking scrutiny of Valve's policy. In response, developers launched a game titled Refund This Game, a first-person platformer that challenges players to navigate Steam's refund policy. The game encourages players to complete it in under two hours to earn a refund. It is priced at a promotional rate and takes inspiration from the classic rage-inducing platformer Getting Over It. Co-developer dofhouse noted that the discussion around Steam's refund policy inspired the game. Additionally, Steam recently surpassed 43 million concurrent users, an all-time high, attributed to the popularity of titles like Wardogs and Deadlock.
AppWizard
October 15, 2026
Riot Games launched League of Legends Classic to evoke nostalgia by reverting to a version of the game prior to 2013, including an older Summoner's Rift map and faster introduction of "new" old champions. Despite this, player interest waned, leading to the mode being taken offline in January 2027, six months after its launch. Riot plans to revisit the concept as an event mode with modifications and has acknowledged mixed player responses. Former esports competitor Alex 'Xpecial' Chu noted that the idea of "classic" varies among players, suggesting that the nostalgia might not resonate as strongly as it does in other games like World of Warcraft or Runescape, which foster deeper community engagement.
Winsage
October 15, 2026
Windows 11 version 26H2 has been released, resulting in a decrease in RAM usage for many users. Reports indicate that users with 16GB or more of RAM have experienced reductions in idle memory usage, with one user noting a drop from 6.9GB to approximately 4.8GB, and another from over 10GB to about 7GB. However, users with 8GB of RAM have not reported similar improvements, leading to concerns that this update primarily benefits those with larger memory capacities. Personal tests on a laptop showed a decrease in idle memory usage from 8.5GB to 6.7GB after the update. Despite Microsoft's commitment to optimizing memory usage, the 8GB machines have not seen the same enhancements.
AppWizard
October 15, 2026
The text discusses the significance of modding communities in PC gaming, particularly highlighting total conversion mods that can transform games into new experiences. A list of notable PC mods includes: 1. Star Wars: Genesis — Starfield: Introduces 40 planets with unique content and revamped combat. 2. A Game of Thrones — Crusader Kings 2: Recreates Westeros with a detailed map and political intrigue. 3. The Lay D Denton Project — Deus Ex: Restores gender choice for the protagonist with new voice lines. 4. A Tale of Two Wastelands — Fallout: New Vegas: Merges Fallout 3 and New Vegas into a single playthrough. 5. Retro Rewind — Mario Kart Wii: Adds over 200 classic tracks to Mario Kart Wii. 6. Divide and Conquer (The Lord of the Rings) — Medieval II: Total War: Allows players to command factions from Middle-earth. 7. Long War — XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Extends gameplay with new classes and missions. 8. Fallout: London — Fallout 4: Set in post-apocalyptic London with new quests and characters. 9. Stardew Valley Expanded — Stardew Valley: Adds new locations, NPCs, and events to the game. 10. The Nameless Mod — Deus Ex: Introduces a 15-hour campaign with a new narrative. 11. Ashes 2063 — Doom 2: A standalone mod set in a post-apocalyptic world. 12. STALKER Anomaly — STALKER: Call of Pripyat: Offers a survival sandbox experience with a fresh narrative. 13. The Dark Mod (Thief) — Doom 3: An open-source platform for creating custom levels. 14. Return to Rapture — Half Life: Alyx: Merges Half-Life and BioShock with a new storyline. 15. Enderal: Forgotten Stories — The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: A standalone RPG with its own world and narrative. The selection criteria for the best mods included their transformative impact on the original game and ease of installation. Recommendations for safe mod installation include downloading from reputable sources and backing up save files. Additionally, some mods have evolved into standalone games, illustrating the potential of modding creativity.
Winsage
October 14, 2026
Z.ai's GLM model identified 23 vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system, confirmed by Microsoft's Security Response Center (MSRC). This marks a significant advancement in commercial software security, demonstrating the model's autonomous capability in independent vulnerability discovery. Since the release of GLM-5.2, Z.ai has uncovered over 4,200 vulnerabilities across about 390 open-source projects, with over a thousand categorized as critical to high severity. Z.ai has established a public Security Disclosure Ledger to track its findings through a coordinated disclosure process. The confirmation of vulnerabilities by MSRC is notable due to the rigorous nature of their vulnerability triage operations. Z.ai's GLM-5.3 achieved a score of 84.5% on CyberGym, outperforming competitors like Anthropic's Mythos 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol. Reports indicate that NIST's AI safety division has flagged GLM-5.3 due to concerns about its cyber capabilities, particularly regarding the potential for modified versions to reduce safety features. Z.ai plans to continue targeting commercial software in its efforts.
Winsage
October 14, 2026
Canada is focusing on digital sovereignty in sectors like cloud computing and telecommunications, but the operating systems for government computers have received less attention. A study suggests that adopting a national, free, and open-source operating system could save Canada millions over the next decade and reduce reliance on U.S. technology providers. Currently, Microsoft Windows dominates the Canadian desktop market with a 63.75 percent share, costing the government over 0 million annually. Trust in U.S. technology has declined among Canadians, with 60 percent feeling they can never trust Americans the same way again. Open-source alternatives like Linux exist, which could be adapted into a national operating system based on Debian, allowing Canada to inspect and modify the code. Other countries, such as China and Germany, have developed their own operating systems, achieving significant savings. Transitioning to an open-source system would involve costs estimated between million and million over two years, compared to Germany's ZenDiS initiative. The projected gross savings from switching operating systems over ten years could range from 0 million to .13 billion, benefiting various sectors by reducing licensing fees and enhancing national security.
AppWizard
October 14, 2026
The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro features a 12-inch display with a resolution of 2800 x 1840 pixels and utilizes "Nanomatte" technology to reduce glare. It is priced at 9.99 and is one of four models in the Alexa Tablet series, which includes an 8-inch version starting at .99. The tablet is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 processor and offers access to the Play Store, moving away from Amazon's previous proprietary operating system. The audio quality is satisfactory, and while the cameras are functional, they lack color accuracy. Users can customize the interface to reduce Amazon's influence, but the Alexa Plus assistant is less effective compared to Google’s Gemini assistant. The tablet is suitable for media consumption and casual use, although it competes with the iPad in terms of software and app support.
Search