IRS' aging tech infrastructure is costing money and putting taxpayers at risk
Audit reveals some alarming developments at the agency
Old school articles
Old-school mainframes could see renewed life with AI integration
Mainframes performing AI queries in the cloud is too slow, so AI is coming to mainframes
Cyrix 5x86 and Cyrix 6x86: Gone But Not Forgotten
#TBT Precursor chipmaker Cyrix made personal computing accessible to millions with its affordable budget PCs, only to be killed by its best product and its inability to run a popular game.
Who manufactured the original Nintendo NES 8-bit processor?
Was it Panasonic, Texas Instruments, Ricoh or Xerox?
What Ever Happened to ICQ?
#TBT ICQ, short for "I Seek You," laid the groundwork for instant messaging clients when it debuted in November 1996. Think about how long ago that was... Windows 95 was barely a year old, Nintendo had just introduced the N64, and those with a reason to have a cell phone actually used it to talk on.
The Best Handheld Gaming Consoles
Out of the 12 best-selling gaming consoles of all time, 5 are handheld systems, and that's not including the Nintendo Switch. Handhelds have made a huge comeback and here are our favorite systems.
Intellivision: Gone But Not Forgotten
In the late 1970s, Mattel developed a gaming system called Intellivision to compete against the equally legendary Atari 2600. Both systems would leave a lasting impression on the history of console gaming.
German railway seeks IT admin to manage MS-DOS and Windows 3.11 systems
Legacy systems do have their advantages
The Motorola DynaTAC was the first commercial mobile phone released in 1983. What was its price?
The device weighed nearly two pounds and measured 10 inches tall – not including its antenna.
A PC Gaming Music Journey: From Doom to Terraria, System Shock, and More Memorable Soundtracks
#TBT A journey through memorable video game music, this second article is dedicated exclusively to PC video game soundtracks. We have our hands full given the wealth of excellent material available.
Once-Iconic Tech Products That Are Now a Fading Memory
#TBT Did you know that a floppy disk is more than just a save icon? Can you understand how a pencil and a cassette tape are related? Does the term 'VHS tracking' fill you with dread? What seemed like magic tech at the time, is now a distant memory that those under 20 can't believe was actually real.
Microsoft will let Internet Explorer's empty husk live on in Windows
Internet Explorer 11 was declared dead. Now, it's coming back as a UI zombie
What Ever Happened to Microsoft Encarta? Encyclopedia on a CD-ROM
In the 1990s, the internet was smaller, slower, and harder to search. If you wanted to learn basic facts about a topic, what would you do? You could get a physical encyclopedia. Thankfully, there was one more option.
50 Years of Video Games, Part 2: The Rise of 3D, the Gaming PC, and Online Multiplayer
From the mid-90s to the early years of the millennium, video games underwent a paradigm shift in graphics, treating us to some of the most classic titles of all time.
The ghosts in Pac-Man had unique AI traits, which one was the least predictable?
Also, don't miss our feature 50 Years of Video Games.
In old PCs, what was the function of the "Turbo" button?
A long, long time ago, desktop PCs used to have a Turbo button alongside Power and Reset.
50 Years of Video Games
For over 50 years, video games have been a significant part of popular culture. Born in the minds of creative engineers, games have grown from mere curiosities into a global industry worth billions of dollars.
Wolfenstein 3D can now run on an Intel 8088 chip from 1979
Who needs a 4090 when you have an 8088?
The Most Memorable Overclocking-Friendly CPUs
#ThrowbackThursday Enthusiasts have been pushing the limits of silicon for as long as microprocessors have existed. These are but a few of the landmark processors revered for their overclocking prowess.
Bungie to resurrect Marathon as a survival shooter
Something to look forward to: Before Halo and Destiny, the first-person shooter series Bungie was known for was Marathon. Recent reports indicate the company plans to reboot its 1990s classic, albeit in a format much different from the original trilogy and perhaps more suited to modern FPS tastes.
The last man selling floppy disks says he still receives orders from airlines
Your next flight may still be aided by a floppy disk
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is the next major FPS remaster
Something to look forward to: The old school first-person shooter Rise of the Triad was already remastered in 2013, but a new version of the game is now scheduled for 2023. It's coming back from the 1990s with improved graphics and features, a brand-new level editor, and full support for online and local multiplayer.
2016 Flagship GPU vs 2022 Budget GPU: GeForce GTX 1080 vs. Radeon RX 6600
Can today's value king, the Radeon RX 6600, hold a candle to 2016's flagship GeForce GPU, the GTX 1080? Let's find out how these two GPUs match up by testing them in 51 games and get our answer.
