Aywren walks newer Old School RuneScape players through unlocking the new Sailing skill in Port Sarim, running the Pandemonium quest, and enjoying chill, auto‑cruising raft vibes.
Syp rolls a Stout‑Axe Captain in LOTRO on Fearless +2 difficulty, min‑maxing pies, Shire quests, auction house gear, and Viking aesthetics for a hardcore deed‑completionist run.
CrazyKinux rediscovers The Escapist’s “The Making of EVE Online” documentary and reflects on how single‑shard design, meaningful loss, and player‑driven drama keep New Eden timeless.
Bhagpuss rounds up MMO news with snarky drive‑bys on EverQuest II’s Rage of Cthurath expansion, Soulframe’s prelude, and the Guild Wars Reforged buzz.
Shintar digs into Blizzard’s Burning Crusade Classic anniversary plans and what Group Finder, Dual Spec, and UI “quality of life” changes mean for WoW Classic Era and Hardcore.
Wilhelm gives CCP’s new Catalyst 2D map a cautious thumbs‑up, especially for untangling EVE Online’s notoriously messy Drone regions, while still mourning the old 3D star spaghetti.
Warner can’t help chuckling at London thieves who rob a guy, then hand back his Samsung with a dismissive “don’t want no Samsung,” turning resale value into the latest fanboy metric.
Tipa reviews Rebecca Yarros’s Iron Flame as a page‑turning but romance‑heavy middle Empyrean book, more Order of the Phoenix than Wheel of Time in her dragon‑school saga.
Roger tracks down why his game screenshots look washed out, blaming HDR monitors and digging into how HDR vs SDR affects captures from Windows, 4K TVs, and modern titles.
jwz celebrates BitBLT’s 50th with PARC lore, a Byte magazine deep cut, and his own BlitSpin hack, reminding us how this humble bitmap routine underpins modern GUIs and graphics tricks.
Bruce Schneier highlights Anthropic’s report on a Chinese state‑sponsored group using agentic AI tools to autonomously execute cyberespionage across dozens of high‑value global targets.
Dave Winer tunes FeedLand’s change detection, consults ChatGPT about RSS pubDate semantics, then side‑eyes Amazon’s new Alexa AI for playing faux‑human inside your house.