Tequila Works, the Spanish developer that created games like Rime and Gylt and published games like The Sexy Brutale, is auctioning off its intellectual property (via VGC). The studio filed for insolvency in 2024 after "prolonged market conditions" made it financially-difficult to stay above water. The games and IP rights available to bid on at auction site Escrapalia include Tequila Works' first game Deadlight, Rime and its horror adventure game Gylt. The company is also auctioning off in-development projects, including "The Ancient Mariner," "Dungeon Tour" and "Brawler Crawler."  Prior to it filing for insolvency and Tequila Works' founders stepping down, the studio released Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, one of the games on the short-lived Riot Forge publishing label. Riot announced it was shutting down Riot Forge in January 2024. The label published League of Legends spin-off games in variety of different genres, including turn-based RPG Ruined King, 2D action RPGThe Mageseeker, and more. Back in 2022, Tencent acquired a controlling stake in Tequila Works, a connection that made sense given the Chinese company also owns Riot. Contraction across the games industry, the failure of Riot Forge games to connect with a larger audience and Tequila Work's Gylt starting life as a Google Stadia-exclusive all likely contributed to the studio's current position.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-rights-for-tequila-workss-games-are-up-for-auction-after-insolvency-filing-193627934.html?src=rss

IBM has announced its latest mainframe, the z17, which finally brings Big Blue into the AI age.

The White House says President Trump believes Apple can make a U.S. iPhone, but there are many reasons why analysts say that's likely not possible.

Attending the Masters for the first time was a new experience for Thomas Abraham, and it wasn’t just about the golf. The 16-year-old from Houston had the rare opportunity to use a public telephone for the first time. “It was kind of cool,” said Abraham, who phoned a friend while attending the Masters Par 3 competition on Wednesday with his father, Sid. “I’ve never used one before. I figured it out. If I had to use one of those (rotary) phones I probably would’ve had to ask my dad.” Augusta National requires its patrons to leave their cellphones and other electronic devices behind. In place of those security blankets, there are several public telephone banks of those throwback devices from days gone by. They are a foreign sight for many in the younger generation who’ve never seen a phone with an attached cord. Abraham is not unlike most teenagers — or adults, for that matter — who are very much attached to the world through their cellphones. At some point, chances are, patrons check for their phone — patting their pockets, reaching for the clip on their belts, wherever it usually is. And when they can’t find it, well… “It’s kind of panic mode,” Abraham said. “We were at 18th (hole) and I went to reach in my pocket and it wasn’t there. Then I remembered it’s in the car.” He wasn’t alone. “I’ve checked my pockets for my phone no less than 10 times today,” said Ryan O’Connor from Little Rock, Arkansas. “I was sitting in the bleachers on the 16th green and someone dropped a water bottle and it made a loud noise and I instinctively reached for my phone. Not there.” The line at the public phone bank can stretch up to 10 people deep at the height of the Masters. And while they provide an outlet for those looking to touch base with the world outside of Augusta National’s gates, there are some issues that come with them. Like, remembering phone numbers. Bill Kehoe, 50, from Raleigh, North Carolina came prepared. As he approached the public phones, Kehoe whipped out a sheet of paper with a handful of names and numbers written on them with a black Sharpie. He picked up the receiver on the phone, punched in the number “1” to start the call and then looked down at the paper and entered the remaining numbers to complete the free call. “I can’t even remember my own phone number, let alone anyone else’s number,” Kehoe joked. “They’re all saved in my phone.” One of the calls he made was to his 14-year-old son Connor, who was on a school fieldtrip to Washington. D.C. Connor had asked his dad to call at a prearranged time while he was on a bus, and his 8th grade classmates were shocked when his caller ID popped popped up as “Augusta National Golf Club.” “You could hear all of the kids like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool!,” Kehoe said with a laugh. “But then they all started asking for merchandise so I had to hang up.” The reasons patrons disrupt their round of watching professional golf to make a call. One person was calling to hear about the day’s dramatic movement in the stock market. Another said he was checking in with work. And several others were simply touching base with family or loved ones. Tyler Johnson and his wife Lauren called home to Roswell, Georgia to check on their 5-year-old son, who is staying with his grandparents, “just to make sure there’s no blood,” Tyler said with a laugh. As mom and dad alternated talking to their son, they took pictures of each other talking on the odd-looking black public phone. “I think the last time I used one of these was 1999, before Y2K, I think,” Tyler joked. While not having a cellphone is an inconvenience for some, others have come to relish the liberating feeling of being disconnected from the world for a little while. Fletcher Lord from Little Rock texted his wife after he arrived at the course around 6 a.m. and reminded her not to expect to hear from him all day. He then set out to enjoy a few refreshments on a sunny, 70-degree day amid the serene backdrop of blooming azaleas and tall pines. “Once you get over the anxiety of not having your phone, it’s a very freeing feeling because it forces you to just be here in the moment,” Lord said. O’Connor agreed. He phoned one of his old friends from high school just to see if he’d pick up. He did. “He didn’t recognize the number obviously, but when he saw Augusta National pop up he said I better pick this one up,” O’Connor said. Then it was off to enjoy the day. “Is not having a phone a pain?” O’Connor said. “No, I think it’s actually good for me. Those emails will be there when I get back home.” —Steve Reed, AP sports writer

For about a decade, Bose and JBL have dominated the portable Bluetooth speaker market, targeting slightly different submarkets. Bose is the go-to for indoor audiophiles, while JBL's rugged offerings are well-suited to beaches and barbecues.A Michigan-based startup called Lodge has done JBL one better. Lodge's weatherproof Solar Speaker 4 is designed to be outside—and stay there. As the name suggests, it doesn't need to be plugged in to recharge; instead it's covered in 180 square inches of shatter-proof solar panels that draw juice from the sun. The 10.5"H x 7"W x 6"D speaker weighs 7.5 pounds. Its Bluetooth range is 100 feet. To cover larger outdoor areas and approximate stereo or surround sound, you can pair multiple units; you just have to designate one as the "main" speaker—that's the one you need to keep the source within 100 feet of—and the others can be placed 30 to 70 feet away, depending on obstructions. To keep the speakers off of the ground, Lodge offers a $25 stake with a circular metal plate on top. You pound the thing into the ground, then the speaker attaches to the plate magnetically. The speakers themselves run $400 a pop ($50 less than JBL's Boombox 3, which lacks solar charging), or $700 for a pair. The company says every hour of direct sunlight provides 2-3 hours of playback time, and that the battery can store 22 hours' worth of juice. And yes, if you're beset by cloudy weather, you can haul the thing over to an outlet and charge it the old-fashioned way.As for audio quality, you'll have to dive into reviews written by your chosen tribe. A ZDNet writer called it "simply the best-sounding speaker I have ever tested" while others complained that the treble is "sizzly" and the bass is "boomy." The product's strongest appeal is undoubtedly that you've got, essentially, infinite battery life.

Spotify officially discontinued their first and only hardware product – the Car Thing in December 2024, leaving us entering 2025 with a palpable car media player-shaped void in our hearts. But here’s a question – what if we just had other companies make Car Things instead of Spotify? This new ChatGPT AI feature allowed us to imagine what the Car Thing would look like if it was built by other iconic audio-related brands, both old and new. Prepare to go on an absolute feels trip as we look at the Car Thing from brands as old and iconic as Sony Ericsson’s Walkman and VLC to fairly new kids on the block like Tidal and Audible. The format is simple – a car-mounted player that lets you, either through touch or through button control, play media on a streaming service of your choice. More analogue systems like the Walkman and the VLC player obviously have local storage playback, while others like YouTube and Audible tap into internet playback. Designer: Sarang Sheth This started purely as a nostalgia exercise, inspired by the retro gadgets series from last week. However, it later blossomed into a more rounded ‘what if’ experiment as the idea of a hardware player made more and more sense for most audio streaming giants today. We start with Sony Ericsson Walkman and VLC, absolute behemoths of the media space in the 2000s. VLC had two features – firstly, the ability to handle literally every file format on the planet, and secondly, the fact it was free. VLC Media Player could be found on every laptop and desktop on the planet, which is why making a VLC car media player made sense too. Simple interface – a nice volume knob, and controls that mirrored the skeuomorphic ones seen on the player. While VLC reigned supreme on desktop, Walkman was the go-to for every non-iPod user on the planet. It was the iPhone before the iPhone was the iPhone. Sure, Nokia had some wild phones back in the day, but nothing beat the cultural impact of Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones. The car media player mirrors the same cult impact, with a black body and bright orange accents like that gorgeous radial-brushed knob. Finally, the Sony Ericsson logo makes its way at the bottom too, just giving everyone absolute feels! Sure, Sony had to butt heads with the iPod, which is why we looked at the Car Thing from an iPod lens too, with an iTunes player instead of the newfangled Apple Music. Everything about this player feels classic, from the design to the color finish to the gorgeous jog-wheel on the side that’s highly reminiscent of the iPod. Anyone who grew up in the 90s and 2000s will gush over this beauty. The next player really needs no branding – the red play button on the bottom is branding enough. This one was a bit tough, because we deliberately didn’t want to include video players in this series – but the thing is a LOT of people use YouTube to listen to podcasts too (I’m an ardent TWiT.tv and Waveform Podcast listener), so we decided to go ahead with a YouTube-esque Car Thing. The screen gets priority here, so we moved the volume knob to the side, and the buttons on the bottom let you do everything from quickly control playback to even toggle video quality settings just in case you’re driving through an area with bad reception. For me, the first ever truly addictive audio-only platform was Soundcloud. It was THE place for indie music, mixes, playlists, etc. I was quite the EDM lover and artists would upload their remixes, livesets, and entire albums directly onto the Soundcloud website. That’s why this one definitely deserved a player. The screen’s much more narrow, because the only thing that matters is the track itself, and of course you’ve got all the tactile buttons you need to control music playback on your car ride. Let’s just say I also asked ChatGPT to help me manifest my DJ career with a nice Levels remix! Obviously, you can’t have online audio media today without having podcasts and audiobooks, which is why we took two popular players in this area and gave them their own hardware devices. Most people listen to podcasts or books while commuting, so this made a world of sense The Pocket Casts service gets its own hardware unit, with all the interface controls you need to listen to your favorite pod episode. Similarly, if you’re a book person, this Audible Car Thing is perfect for you, helping you get through your book collection while you’re stuck in traffic! They’re all conceptual, but I’d like to think that these devices do have on-board storage too, so you can listen to your favorite audio pieces even without an internet connection. Finally, the last in this list is a bonafide Spotify competitor. Run by Jay-Z and a bunch of other Hollywood music execs, Tidal is touted as the world’s go-to for hi-fi music. You don’t stream MP3s here, you stream high-definition audio – which I assume some people definitely pay for. For the folks subscribed to Tidal (I honestly don’t know who you are), this car player is for you, bringing hi-fi audio to your presumably hi-fi car sound system. The design and interface seem very slick with the black-on-black design palette… and given that it’s Tidal, I had to put Beyonce on the Now Playing section… I guess I’ll thank her too, just in case. Which Car Thing is your favorite? Would you like to see more? Hit us up on Instagram and let us know!The post If Sony Walkman, YouTube, Audible, and Apple made Car Things, this is how they’d look first appeared on Yanko Design.

Its beautiful OLED screen makes it one of the best laptops for digital artists, too.

Under the Trump administration, federal authorities are declining to charge crypto firms with a range of offenses, raising questions about which rules apply—and who will enforce them.

Macworld We just found the coolest USB-C charger for your gear and while it may not come from Apple, it sure fits the company’s retro vibe of white and see-through plastic. The Sharge 65W charger is down to $36 at Amazon, a 28 percent discount and one of the best prices you’re going to find. The design of this thing is stunning. Instead of the regular solid black or white charger for which you’d need your own cable, this one brings a transparent element and a two-in-one model. Other than its retro charm, the best thing about this charger is that it comes with a retractable cable. After plugging it in, you can extend exactly as much as the 2.3-foot of cable you need. The 65W charging output makes this model perfect for fast-charging iPhones, iPads, and even the MacBook Air, which will go from 0 percent to 50 percent in about half an hour. So snag this fun Sharge 65W USB-C charger for $35.90 at Amazon and bring some retro fun to your desk. Get the coolest charger for $14 offBuy now at Amazon

This month’s Patch Tuesday release is large (126 patches), broad and unfortunately very dynamic, with several re-releases, missing files and broken patches affecting both the Windows and Office platforms.  Reports of an exploited Windows vulnerability (CVE-2025-29824) lead to a “Patch Now” recommendation for Windows — and the Office updates will require immediate testing and some time to ensure all patches are present and correct. Fortunately, SQL Server updates affect only the SQL Server Management Studio application. Both the browser and development tool patches can be deployed on a standard release schedule.  To help, the Readiness team crafted this useful infographic detailing the risks associated with each of the updates for this cycle. (And here’s a look at the last six months of Patch Tuesday releases.) Known issues  This Patch Tuesday release includes many updates addressing issues (aka problems) created by the March patch update. In addition to our standard Windows known issues, we also have Microsoft Office issues to address, including: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Outlook might stop responding after you install the KB5002700 security update for Office 2016. This issue is fixed in the update for Office 2016 (KB5002623). Citrix (System Guard Runtime Monitor Broker Service) The Windows Event Viewer might display an error related to SgrmBroker.exe on devices that installed Windows updates released Jan. 14, 2025 or later. Microsoft has not published a fix yet, though there are several registry keys that can be added to the target system to mitigate the issue. Microsoft Active Directory: Audit Logon/Logoff events in the local policy of the Active Directory Group Policy might not show as enabled — even if they are enabled and working. Microsoft is working on a resolution; mitigating actions can be found in this Microsoft bulletin (KB5055519). Windows Hello. Microsoft has reported what is described as an edge case: “After installing this update and performing a Push button reset or Reset this PC from Settings > System > Recovery and selecting Keep my Files and Local install, some users might be unable to login to their Windows services using Windows Hello facial recognition or PIN.” Microsoft advises that systems with Secure Launch or DRTM enabled prior to this update, or those with these features disabled, are not affected. Major revisions and mitigations This is a huge week for delayed patches (Windows 10) and real changes to Microsoft updates that require additional attention. The following Microsoft CVE entries have documentation updates only: CVE-2025-21204 : Windows Process Activation Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability CVE-2025-26647 : Windows Kerberos Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability CVE-2025-27740: Active Directory Certificate Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability The following two updates have documented mitigations that might help with their deployments: CVE-2025-26647: Windows Kerberos Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Microsoft is concerned that non-valid input validation in Windows Kerberos could allow an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network. While no specific mitigations have been offered, Microsoft recommended you follow the Update, Monitor and Act methodology for all Kerberos implementations. CVE-2025-21197: Windows NTFS Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This is Microsoft’s second attempt in addressing this file system vulnerability. Unfortunately, there may be unexpected app compatibility issues with this latest change. You can find more information on the potential impact and how to enable/disable it here: KB5058189. These updates may require attention as they relate to failed installs and missing files: CVE-2025-27745: Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-27747: Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-27748: Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-27749: Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-27752: Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-29791: Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-29792: Microsoft Office Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability CVE-2025-29793: Microsoft SharePoint Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-29794: Microsoft SharePoint Remote Code Execution Vulnerability CVE-2025-29820: Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability That is indeed a lot of patches to review; the Readiness team recommends reading the latest patch guidance for them here: KB5002700.  Windows lifecycle and enforcement updates Microsoft did not publish any enforcement updates for April, but the following Microsoft products are nearing their end-of-service life cycles: Windows 11 Enterprise (Home, Education and IoT) Version 22H2 reaches end of support on Oct. 14, 2025. Windows Server Annual Channel, Version 23H2 reaches end of service on Oct. 24, 2025 For those who were expecting the Microsoft virtualization technology App-V to expire last April, this now aging technology has had its servicing and support extended to April 2026. Microsoft has promised not to deprecate the App-V sequencer (like ever), which makes me smile. The team at Readiness has analyzed the latest Patch Tuesday updates and provides detailed, actionable testing guidancevbased on a large application portfolio and a comprehensive analysis of the patches and their potential impact on Windows and app deployments. This month’s release brings broad, but non-disruptive, changes across the Windows platform. While there are no functional changes reported, this update cycle touches critical components across security, networking, media, and core system services.  Here’s what enterprise IT teams and testers need to look out for. Security and authentication Several updates target core identity and authentication components, particularly lsasrv.dll, ci.dll, and skci.dll. These underpin scenarios involving Windows Hello, PIN logins, and certificate services. Even though labeled low risk, these areas are foundational and demand extra care in testing: Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC): Validate AppID tagging and policy updates post-reboot. LSASS (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service): Test authentication across AAD, AD, and workgroups. Use tools like runas.exe and confirm no regressions in NTLM, Kerberos, or certificate-based flows. BitLocker and VBS Security: Windows Hello and VPN connections should work uninterrupted. Reboot testing is essential to catch potential bootloader integrity issues. Networking and remote access This release includes updates to multiple RRAS-related DLLs (ipmontr.dll, ipsnap.dll, mprapi.dll), netbt.sys, and tcpip.sys, all of which underpin Windows’ networking stack. RRAS and Netsh: Validate remote configuration and scripting scenarios. Commands like netsh interface and MMC snap-ins must execute without issues. NetBIOS Controls: Non-admin users in the Network Configuration Operators group should only affect allowed scopes. Test firewall rules and registry protection. HTTP.sys and Web Services: Host internal web services and simulate browser-based traffic to confirm consistent response behavior under load. Remote desktop and virtualization Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support remains a high-impact area and will require validation with the following testing recommendations: Remote Desktop Gateway (RDGW): Confirm cross-user connections, session persistence (reconnects, logins), and stability across Windows Server editions. Virtualization with VHDs: Validate NTFS volume mount/dismount from VHDs. Create, attach, and manipulate VHD-based virtual disks with file I/O operations. Media, graphics and UI Multimedia and UI components received several under-the-hood updates. These don’t add features, but any instability here can affect the user experience. Graphics Stack: Run screen-sharing and capture scenarios. WinUI apps using animation shadows should behave consistently. Media Foundation: Playback tests on Blu-ray content with subtitles are needed. Check for regressions in rendering. Gaming Tools: Use the Game Bar (Win+G) to test screenshots and recordings during gameplay on Windows 11. Microsoft recommends that you install several (at least three) games to fully test out this graphics stack change. We never had it so good. File system and storage This month’s patches affect how Windows file systems respond to directory change notifications and mount events. Be sure to: Simulate NTFS events: Monitor file creation/deletion in Explorer-style interfaces. Reboot & Remount: Mount VHDs, perform file operations, then reboot to ensure persistence and data integrity. Given the large number of security-related changes to Windows this month, the Readiness team recommends the following general testing (in addition to the earlier recommendations) using both system and user-based accounts: Basic authentication scenarios using passwords, PIN, and biometrics in a workgroup, AD and AAD environment Digital rights management applications (third-party and Microsoft) SMB and IIS access that requires certificate-based authentication. Line-of-business applications that rely on HTTPS to ensure they’re still accessible.  When working through these scenarios, look for memory leaks and processor spikes in the kernel. Each month, we break down the update cycle into product families (as defined by Microsoft) with the following basic groupings:  Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge)  Microsoft Windows (both desktop and server)  Microsoft Office Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server  Microsoft Developer Tools (Visual Studio and .NET) Adobe (if you get this far)  Browsers We have more patches for the Microsoft browser (Edge) platform than usual this month — none are rated critical for April as all 13 (nine of them related to Chromium) are tagged as important. All of these low-profile changes can be added to your standard release calendar. Microsoft Windows This is a big month for Windows updates, as Microsoft published six critical updates and 85 patches rated important. The critical patches cover the following feature groups within the Microsoft Windows platform: Windows Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Windows TCP/IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Windows Remote Desktop Services Windows Hyper-V  Unfortunately, there are reports of exploits of a core system component vulnerability (CVE-2025-29824) that requires a “Patch Now” recommendation. Microsoft Office The real focus of this month’s deployments should be Office, with five critical (CVE-2025-27745, CVE-2025-27748, CVE-2025-27749, CVE-2025-27752 and CVE-2025-29791) patches. In addition to these, there are another 16 updates rated important by Microsoft. Unfortunately, there have been reports of missing files, downloading issues and broken updates. The Readiness team suggests that testing start immediately, with staged patch deployments (noting that further changes might arrive over the coming days). Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server We get one update (CVE-2025-29803) that affects the SQL Server platform. This patch updates Microsoft’s SQL Server Management Studio (and Visual Studio), not SQL Server itself. So, the server team gets a reprieve. Add this patch to your standard developer release schedule. Developer tools Microsoft released five patches (CVE-2025-29803, CVE-2025-29802, CVE-2025-29804, CVE-2025-20570, CVE-2025-26682) all affecting Microsoft Visual Studio and ASP.NET Core. As application-level changes, these patches can be deployed with your standard developer release schedule. Adobe (and third-party updates) We are back on track again, with no Microsoft updates for Adobe products. That said, Microsoft published nine Chromium updates, all of which are included in the Browser section above.