Daily Tech News 15 January 2026

Top Story

A sad story with a happy ending.

Riot games just acquired Hytale developer Hypixel Studios. (April 2020) (WCCFTech)

Hytale is officially dead and its studio disbanded. (June 2025)

Hytale, the long-awaited Minecraft-like MMO, is resurrected and will launch in early access soon. (November 2025)

Hytale is saved says Hypixel founder as the studio's dev costs for the next two years have already been covered by pre-orders. (January 2026)

If you're interested in that kind of game - similar to Minecraft but with RPG elements and modding support built in - it's available in early access right now on the company's website.

For $20. (Engadget)

Because, to quote the founder of Hypixel Sudios, "The game is unfinished and runs on a build from over four years ago. Charging more didn't feel right. I don't think the game is good yet."

Honestly it seems to run pretty well, though I haven't spent much time in it. And I was running on a laptop with integrated graphics, so far from high-end hardware.

Tech News

Cerebras has scored a $10 billion deal with OpenAI. (CNBC) (archive site)

Cerebras is the company that makes the wafer-scale AI CPUs, the ones with 900,000 cores on a single chip the size of a dinner plate.
SK Hynix is investing $13 billion on a new factory... (Tom's Hardware)

... To assemble HBM chips for AI servers. Not for you.
Now that the memory drought has dried up supply of DDR5 and the older DDR4 modules alike, DDR3 is next to go. (WCCFTech)

I have 96GB of DDR3 - at least - sitting in older computers. Much older. Built between 2011 and 2015.
AI is a 400-year confidence trick. (Tom Renner)

I don't think you could generate music videos on a 17th century mechanical calculator, though.
The Minisforum MS-S1 Max is the best Ryzen AI Max mini PC yet. (Serve the Home)

It certainly has the best complement of I/O: Dual 40GBps USB4 ports, dual 80GBps USB4 ports, dual 10Gb Ethernet, one HDMI, five regular USB ports, and three M.2 slots, and a PCIe slot (though just half height, single slot).

And it's 15% faster than the Framework Desktop apparently thanks to better cooling, because the two systems use the exact same CPU.
Digg is back. (Tech Crunch)

Reddit ate Digg's lunch years ago after a the latter pushed out an extremely unpopular UI update. Now the founder has bought back the company and is trying again, It's a clean design and runs quickly, at least. And Reddit is a toxic swamp these days.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: But not after 8, because it's a school night.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 04:01 AM (Ia/+0)

2 G'day Skip.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 15, 2026 04:03 AM (BLOW1)

3 Dailytimewaster yesterday had a 1978 picture of Debby Harry being goofy

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 04:05 AM (Ia/+0)

4 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:05 AM (Ti0Hb)

5 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at January 15, 2026 04:06 AM (sAmhv)

6 Top ten?

Posted by: Publius Redux at January 15, 2026 04:08 AM (Gu66x)

7 Hey - I know it's last thread, but Re: Pittsburgh Police Scanner: Filius Redux used to live in Shadyside near South Aiken which is the subject of the last scanner report - He would often attest to the craziness of the neighborhood, mostly ganja induced. It's near his alma mater. Pittsburgh can be a pretty crazy town. He never complained of any ghostly visits through.

Posted by: Publius Redux at January 15, 2026 04:13 AM (Gu66x)

8 G'morning, all!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 15, 2026 04:23 AM (iMotb)

9 Congrats to SpaceX for their emergency medical event astronaut delivery back to earth.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:25 AM (Ti0Hb)

10 The tp-Link Deco X60 mesh system I installed last month was consistently developing instabilities, particularly with the Amazon Echo devices dropping off line.

So yesterday they sent me a Beta firmware update, and it seems to have done the trick.

So far, everything seems to be rock solid.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 15, 2026 04:25 AM (iMotb)

11 I've been using my new Think E16 G3 for about a month+ now. The integrated WiFi adapter is awful. I have to move closer to the router to connect before I can go back to my more distant desk and continue working from there.

Full updated Windows and Lenovo drivers. Never had such a bad experience before. And the strange thing is I'm not sure it was like this for the first week or 2.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:36 AM (Ti0Hb)

12 9 Congrats to SpaceX for their emergency medical event astronaut delivery back to earth.
Posted by: Biden's Dog

And the launch of two new (unmanned) lunar landers. Busy day.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 15, 2026 04:37 AM (BLOW1)

13 No less than 81 GOP enemies of the US:

https://tinyurl.com/s8e5rmae

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:53 AM (Ti0Hb)

14 Yesterday's Verizon failure - any connection to DEI?

https://tinyurl.com/3dyx5v4a

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:59 AM (Ti0Hb)

15 Anybody got a snow shovel I can borrow?

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at January 15, 2026 05:06 AM (BSdIE)

16 I have to get moving but not overly motivated

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:06 AM (Ia/+0)

17 Now they are calling for the possibility of snow on Sunday morning.

This distresses me greatly.

Nobody here owns a snow shovel.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 15, 2026 05:08 AM (iMotb)

18 For winter starting out with cold and light snow, been in 40s and 50s lately here

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:11 AM (Ia/+0)

19 And it's 15% faster than the Framework Desktop apparently thanks to better cooling, because the two systems use the exact same CPU.

Yeah, from what I've seen of the Framework Desktop it only has a large, finned, heatsink above the CPU and a regular 120mm fan on top of that.

MinisForum is using two blower-style laptop fans, a large heatsink with fins, and several heat pipes, along with a fan for the PSU, so it's definitely got the edge there.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:12 AM (6ydKt)

20 Nobody here owns a snow shovel.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at January 15, 2026 05:08 AM (iMotb)

We just wait a a few days to a week for the snow to melt, usually.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:12 AM (6ydKt)

21
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at January 15, 2026 05:13 AM (tljrc)

22 Anybody got a snow shovel I can borrow?

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at January 15, 2026 05:06 AM (BSdIE)
-

Another one asking to get shot by ICE!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:14 AM (Ti0Hb)

23 If you're wondering how Cerebras manages to get a wafer-scale CPU without worrying about too many defects, they've explained it on their site, which does a great job of doing that:

100x Defect Tolerance: How Cerebras Solved the Yield Problem

To summarize, Cerebras resolved the wafer scale manufacturing challenge by designing a small fault-tolerant core in combination with a fault tolerant on-chip fabric. While total chip area increased by ~50x compared to conventional GPUs, we reduced individual core size by ~100x. As a result, defects are far less damaging to the WSE than conventional multi-core processors. The third generation WSE engine achieves 93% silicon utilization – the highest among leading AI accelerators – demonstrating that wafer-scale computing is not just possible, but commercially viable at scale.

https://tinyurl.com/2buyy5p4
(Cerebras.ai)

Those chips probably cost around $16,000 per wafer from TSMC's 5nm process.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:18 AM (6ydKt)

24 My snow blower is still in back of garage with lawn tractor in front

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:18 AM (Ia/+0)

25 Best way to make sure it doesn't snow is get it in front, start it up to try it

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:19 AM (Ia/+0)

26 w00t

Posted by: m at January 15, 2026 05:21 AM (SSiCQ)

27 >>>Hytale is saved says Hypixel founder

HyPIXel: Relative of yours, PIXy?

Posted by: m at January 15, 2026 05:22 AM (SSiCQ)

28 The reason Schickard and Pascal built their mechanical calculators some four centuries ago is because doing maths is hard, and mistakes can be expensive. Pascal’s father was a tax collector, and young Blaise wanted to lessen the stress of his hard-working dad’s profession.

Yeah, I know whenever I hear the words "tax collector" I always associate that with "hard working".

Back then they only "worked hard" because their salaries we're based on taking a percentage of the collections.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:26 AM (6ydKt)

29 I'm off
Back in a bit

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:29 AM (Ia/+0)

30 11 I've been using my new Think E16 G3 for about a month+ now. The integrated WiFi adapter is awful. I have to move closer to the router to connect before I can go back to my more distant desk and continue working from there.

Full updated Windows and Lenovo drivers. Never had such a bad experience before. And the strange thing is I'm not sure it was like this for the first week or 2.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 04:36 AM (Ti0Hb)

Lenovo uses RealTek wifi cards in their laptops a lot.
They do not have the best reputation for reliability.

You can probably replace that card in the laptop, and people who do usually go with the latest Intel 'Killer' series Wifi for better reception and performance.

They run around $50 or $60 here in the States.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:31 AM (6ydKt)

31 Good morning! I don't miss shoveling snow or driving in snow. I do miss having 4 seasons. In Cowtown, the seasons are hot, really hot, and temperate interspersed with 1-2 week intervals of cool and really ^&#@! cold with ice.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at January 15, 2026 05:40 AM (3Ope8)

32 “ I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies.”

2 Samuel 22:4

Posted by: Marcus T at January 15, 2026 05:41 AM (IYMzU)

33 Good morning! I don't miss shoveling snow or driving in snow. I do miss having 4 seasons. In Cowtown...

CrotchetyOldJarhead at January 15, 2026 05:40 AM (3Ope

-

Moogadishu?

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:42 AM (Ti0Hb)

34 Russian private jet inbound from Moscow to Tehran.

Hmmm.

Posted by: Marcus T at January 15, 2026 05:44 AM (IYMzU)

35 There are many things I wish were AI. Like this thing, for example:

https://tinyurl.com/mfhwwrh2

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:46 AM (Ti0Hb)

36 Russian private jet BD-700, following a larger Boeing 777 into Tehran. Somebody leaving?

Posted by: Marcus T at January 15, 2026 05:47 AM (IYMzU)

37 Russian private jet inbound from Moscow to Tehran.

Hmmm.

Posted by: Marcus T at January 15, 2026 05:44 AM (IYMzU)

Tech people running AA assets in Iran? Didn't seem to work too well in Venezuela.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at January 15, 2026 05:47 AM (dK+Kv)

38 Evening and morning to ever'body on this Thor's Day!

"Cerebras" -- a breast supporter for chess-playing masterminds?

And "Call Me" remains one of the most exciting pop songs of the 1980s.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 05:47 AM (wzUl9)

39 35 There are many things I wish were AI. Like this thing, for example:

https://tinyurl.com/mfhwwrh2

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:46 AM (Ti0Hb)

I'm trying to imagine getting up at 3 a.m. to put all of that on to be in class at 9 a.m.

It's like a freaky clown-pimp-doll.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:49 AM (6ydKt)

40 Call Me
The Original Blondie and PMJ
https://youtu.be/KLmqgI4QfHc

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at January 15, 2026 05:49 AM (HTCU3)

41 "Cerebras" -- a breast supporter for chess-playing masterminds?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 05:47 AM (wzUl9)
-

Or for Apple's iconic digital assistant.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:49 AM (Ti0Hb)

42 'Tis 51 F. now (the local CBS outlet predicted 45). Temps may not get much above that today; a low of 36 tonight; but up to 68 on Friday pm. If I want a fourth workout session this week, I should either go now, or wait until tomorrow afternoon.

To be decided. Right now, coffee.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 05:49 AM (wzUl9)

43 There are many things I wish were AI. Like this thing, for example:

https://tinyurl.com/mfhwwrh2

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at January 15, 2026 05:46 AM (Ti0Hb)

Black dude in white face? Reee.

Posted by: No One Ever at January 15, 2026 05:50 AM (dK+Kv)

44 Hey - I know it's last thread, but Re: Pittsburgh Police Scanner: Filius Redux used to live in Shadyside near South Aiken which is the subject of the last scanner report - He would often attest to the craziness of the neighborhood, mostly ganja induced. It's near his alma mater. Pittsburgh can be a pretty crazy town. He never complained of any ghostly visits through.
Posted by: Publius Redux at January 15, 2026

***
I liked what I saw on my two visits to Pittsburgh. Not that I got to see all of the town. But how can you hate a place that has a neighborhood called "Squirrel Hill"?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 05:52 AM (wzUl9)

45
24 My snow blower is still in back of garage with lawn tractor in front
Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:18 AM (Ia/+0)

25 Best way to make sure it doesn't snow is get it in front, start it up to try it
Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 05:19 AM (Ia/+0)

heh

Posted by: m at January 15, 2026 05:52 AM (SSiCQ)

46 Either Putin is doing great in the war or not. Or he is making a lot of money selling NG to Europe during their cold spell. Europe is so hung up on green power that they forgot it can get mighty cold in the winter. Can't you just make the wind mills spin faster?

Posted by: Colin at January 15, 2026 05:54 AM (wlQdF)

47 @13

>>No less than 81 GOP enemies of the US:

They vote against it because they are getting money from it.

You don't vote against your bank account.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 15, 2026 05:55 AM (XV/Pl)

48 Tulips and daffodils have emerged. Dollar weed is running amok. Last summer's leaves on the oak trees are beginning to fall and the stock show starts this weekend but there's no crappy/freezing/icy weather in the long term forecast... Looking like an early spring here .

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at January 15, 2026 05:56 AM (3Ope8)

49 "AI is a 400-year confidence trick."

Good article. I think I'll bookmark this for reference and potentially sending to anyone in my circle of friends who seems a little too "all in" on AI, though I doubt I'm going to need to haul this out. I've been pessimistic on AI for a while telling people that there is no "I" in "AI".

I like to mention instances where lawyers that relied on LLMs to generate case briefs. They then submitted those briefs to the court hearing the case they were working on. The problem? The briefs cite other cases that never happened. Judges who would look up those citations realized that the brief was full of bullshit.

Judges really don't like being bullshitted by lawyers. Threats of disbarment were made, lawyers were made to promise to either NOT use LLMs, or if they did, to carefully check everything that was spit out by an LLM before submitting a brief to the court, or face the court's wrath.

Personally, I think a few of those judges should have gone with the nuclear option right away rather than letting these weasels off the hook with only a stern warning.

If I can get people to question whether "AI" is really "all that", I've done my part.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at January 15, 2026 05:58 AM (O7YUW)

50 @46

>>Either Putin is doing great in the war or not.

We really don't know what's going on in the war, but from what I can observe, Putin's got everything he wants and doesn't see the need to change course.

I believe that's one of the major reason for the action in Venezuela. Take an ally off the board, flood the market with oil and drive down the price, that will definataley hurt Putin.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 15, 2026 05:59 AM (XV/Pl)

51 Hardware Unboxed on YouTube (some of Pixy's fellow Ozies) are reporting that Nvidia has killed off the RTX 5070 Ti, their second most affordable 16GB model after the 5060 Ti 16GB which is also probably at 'end of life".

They just released these a year ago and they really didn't hit the market until last spring.

https://youtu.be/yteN21aJEvE

Posted by: SpeakingOf at January 15, 2026 05:59 AM (6ydKt)

52 I'm back

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 06:03 AM (i+wP0)

53 This conversation about AI gets boring, AI is a tool, that's it.

It can do some wonderous things, it can also produce shitty things.

I use multiple on a daily basis to get work done for both Program Management and programming tasks.

So far the results have been nothing short than stellar.

AI is not going anywhere and it's only going to become more pervasive.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 15, 2026 06:04 AM (XV/Pl)

54 Judges really don't like being bullshitted by lawyers.

Pfffft, speak for yourself
Signed FICA Judges

Posted by: Skip at January 15, 2026 06:07 AM (i+wP0)

55 @35/Biden's dog:

Back in the 80's I could guarantee the general response would be, "Holy shit boys, the circus just rolled into town" (and that's just how the mockery would start...)

Now? Too much of our world is clown-world. These chucklefucks are just let walk around to sow their insanity in the minds of others.

Make Asylums Great Again.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at January 15, 2026 06:08 AM (O7YUW)

56 "Honestly it seems to run pretty well, though I haven't spent much time in it. And I was running on a laptop with integrated graphics, so far from high-end hardware."

Would this be the PC sitting on your desk at the upper middle corner with the Miori Celesta plushie sitting on it?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at January 15, 2026 06:09 AM (HTCU3)

57 I have to feed the furry thugs soon. Bit by bit I have been trying to work their breakfast and dinner each a half hour later to 5:30, so Stirling won't bother me at 4 am every day . . . but it's tough, and somehow I doubt it will work anyway.

He let me sleep until 4:30 today and didn't kick me jumping across the bed, so there's that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 06:10 AM (wzUl9)

58 If we are going to have a cold weekend, I should wash the car today or tomorrow. Maybe go out for breakfast on Sat., and visit the pipe shop in the 'burbs for a mid-morning pipe smoke and chat with the cigar smokers. (Even there, pipe smokers are thin on the ground.) I could drop Miss Linda off at the big mall and let her browse for an hour or more without dragging me along.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at January 15, 2026 06:15 AM (wzUl9)

59 My nephew's daughter at the ripe old age of 26, a lawyer who is getting lots of court room experience. It was that or being a corporate lawyer, but she likes excitement. He husband has a job with a construction company as a estimator and has been offered a job higher up in the company. When I was that age, I was still struggling with finding a job. Some have all the luck, and some don't. me....

Posted by: Colin at January 15, 2026 06:16 AM (wlQdF)

60 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at January 15, 2026 06:23 AM (bQ4nt)

61 "I use multiple on a daily basis to get work done for both Program Management and programming tasks.

So far the results have been nothing short than stellar. "

So, those portions of your job could have been replaced with a predictive macro processor.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at January 15, 2026 06:26 AM (6IFyK)

62 51 Hardware Unboxed on YouTube (some of Pixy's fellow Ozies) are reporting that Nvidia has killed off the RTX 5070 Ti, their second most affordable 16GB model after the 5060 Ti 16GB which is also probably at 'end of life".

They just released these a year ago and they really didn't hit the market until last spring.

One step backward, and then two more steps backward.

Now Nvidia has basically cancelled its entire midrange lineup and made its high-end cards unaffordable, all that is left is for AMD to drop the ball somehow and for Intel cards to spontaneously sublimate from store shelves.

This was what was behind those stories out of Germany and Japan about retailers having orders for Nvidia cards abruptly cancelled.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 15, 2026 06:29 AM (BLOW1)

63 @61

>>So, those portions of your job could have been replaced with a predictive macro processor.

Hardly, it allows for more production, quicker responses, better results and better outcomes, and ultimately, increased client satisfaction.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 15, 2026 06:29 AM (dUiJm)

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