If your computer currently runs Windows 10 but doesn't support Windows 11, you might want to install an OS that will live past 2025, and WattOS is a great option.

I haven't used Siri once since the switch.

Apple's iOS 18.3 fixes a hefty list of 29 vulnerabilities, one of which has already been used in ... [+] attacks.Apple iPhoneUpdate, Jan. 28, 2025: This story, originally published Jan. 27, now includes more details of the fixes issued alongside iOS 18.3, as well as some expert analysis on the update.Apple has issued iOS 18.3, along with a warning to update your iPhone now. Thats because iOS 18.3 fixes a hefty list of 29 vulnerabilities, one of which has already been used in attacks.Apple doesnt give much detail about the issues fixed in iOS 18.3, because it wants to give people as much time to update as possible before attackers can get hold of the details.But the already exploited issue patched in iOS 18.3 is a flaw in CoreMedia tracked as CVE-2025-24085 that could see a malicious application able to elevate privileges.Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS before iOS 17.2, the iPhone maker said on its support page.MORE FOR YOUWhats Fixed In iOS 18.3Apples iOS 18.3 also fixes two bugs in the Kernel at the heart of the iOS operating system. Tracked as CVE-2025-24107, the first flaw could see a malicious app able to gain root privileges. Meanwhile, the second issue could allow an app to execute code with Kernel privileges.The iOS 18.3 update patches several flaws in WebKit, the engine that underpins the Safari browser. A bug in WebKit Web Inspector could lead to command injection where a malicious hacker tricks an application into executing operating system commands.Meanwhile, an issue in AirPlay tracked as CVE-2025-24137 could allow a remote attacker to cause an unexpected application termination or code execution.Another bug in Passkeys could see an adversary use an app to gain unauthorized access to Bluetooth.Apple Issues Updates For Macs Alongside iOS 18.3Alongside iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3 and iPadOS 17.7.4, Apple has issued macOS Sequoia 15.3, macOS Sonoma 14.7.3, macOS Ventura 13.7.3, watchOS 11.3, tvOS 18.3, visionOS 2.3 for its Apple Vision Pro headset and Safari 18.3, fixing many of the same issues including the already-exploited flaw.Why You Should Update To iOS 18.3 NowApple released iOS 18.3 alongside iPadOS 17.7.4, but there is no iOS 17.7.4 update yet. This could be because iOS 17 is not affected, or because Apple is no longer offering the update to newer devices, or the details arent available yet.But at least for now, the lack of available iOS 17 updates means you will be more secure if you update to iOS 18.The bug fixes in the iOS 18.3 release span a wide number of critical services, including Accessibility, AirPlay, CoreMedia, Kernel, Passkeys, Safari and Webkit, says Michael Covington, VP of strategy at security outfit Jamf.A close reading of the release notes provides some insight into the threat vectors that could potentially compromise iOS, he says. In this particular release, we saw patches that prevent locked apps from being bypassed, that block attackers on local networks from corrupting memory, that prevent multiple flavors of denial-of-service attacks and other fixes that are designed to provide a more secure web browsing experience.Covington advises users and organizations that rely on iPhones to install security updates as quickly as possible.And iOS 18.3 is no exception, he says. Staying up to date with the latest patches is one of the most effective ways to safeguard devices against attackers and ensure you stay protected.When you do upgrade to iOS 18.3, note that Apple has automatically enabled AI for iPhone 15s and above, so check your settings and disable if you want.Apples iOS 18.3 is available for the iPhone XS and later, iPad Pro 13-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd generation and later, iPad Pro 11-inch 1st generation and later, iPad Air 3rd generation and later, iPad 7th generation and later and iPad mini 5th generation and later.In my mind, upgrading to iOS 18.3 is a no-brainer. The update fixes an issue thats been exploited in real-life attacks, making it important that you update as soon as possible to keep your iPhone safe.So, what are you waiting for? Go to your iPhone Settings > Software Update and download and install iOS 18.3 now.

Updated Tuesday, Jan. 28 with details of more features that have emerged in iOS 18.3.The latest iPhone update is here (and exactly when it was predicted to land). It includes several minor changes, bug fixes and an important update to those iPhones which run Apple Intelligence. Heres all you need to know. It follows on from iOS 18.2.1, a small update released on Monday, Jan. 6. Yes, thats right, just three weeks ago. And now the release is out, new elements have emerged, minor and major, which are useful additions.Apple iPhone 16 Plus benefits from new features in iOS 18.3. 2024 Bloomberg Finance LPThese include greater versatility for Visual Intelligence, the return of a popular capability in the Calculator app and more. Full details below.Which iPhones Can Run iOS 18.3?The new version of iOS 18 is compatible with any iPhone from 2018 onwards. That means the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone Xr from 2018 and all iPhones after that, including the iPhone SE in both its second- and third-generation models.How To Get ItSoftware updates are easy! In the iPhones Settings app, click on General, then Software Update. After that, click Download and Install, and let the software work its magic. This is a biggish update, 1.14GB on my iPhone 16 Pro Max, so it might take a little time to download and install.MORE FOR YOUWhats In The ReleaseUnlike iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2, theres no big Apple Intelligence features being deployed here. The next big Apple Intelligence update will come in iOS 18.4, expected in April.In fact, one feature already live will be paused when you update to the new version. Thats because there have been problems with some specific notification summaries created by Apple Intelligence. These relate to news notifications and caused issues for news organizations. To tackle this, Apple has suspended News & Entertainment category summaries temporarily.This update also adds warnings that summarization can cause issues, and the summaries will now appear in italics. Apple Intelligence is only found on six iPhones: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.Theres also one crucial change for these phones: from now on, Apple Intelligence is turned on by default. This is important: if you dont want Apple Intelligence, youll now need to toggle it off in Settings under Apple Intelligence & Siri.The new features are increasingly useful, but some parts of them need data, if ChatGPT is invoked, so you may not want to use that. On balance, Id say its worth keeping the toggle turned to on, but the important thing is you make your own choice.Since launch its been clear that there There are smaller changes in the new releasecoming:iPhone 16 series phones have a Camera Control and the AE/AF lock toggle is renamed as Lock Focus and Exposure. If you crop content when editing a PDF, Apple will now warn users that the cropped area is not removed from the PDF (which could save some embarrassment). And Messages will add a Genmoji entry to the + button, so its easier to create your own personalized emojithis is another Apple Intelligence feature.Visual Intelligence (exclusive to iPhone 16 series models) has now expanded so that as well as adding an event to the Calendar when you point the camera at a poster or flyer, you can now identify plants and animals, too.The Calculator app allows you to repeat calculations when you tap the equal sign (so after 2 x 2 you press = and it shows 4, tap = again and the x2 calculation happens again to show, yes, thats right you math wizard, 8).Apple has added Unity Rhythm wallpaper to honor Black History month and that wallpaper is accessible to every iPhone running iOS 18.3.Finally, you can now turn off notification summaries directly from the lock screen, if youre running Apple Intelligence.

Online platforms tend to offer us a wide variety of customizable features to show off our personality. If you have a PlayStation 5, one of these features is avatars, which serve as a profile picture for others to see when looking at your profile. Since there are so many available, and many more can be earned through various means, you can probably find a way to sport an avatar from one of your favorite games so that people get to know you a bit better even at a glance. Here's how to change your PS5 avatar.Recommended VideosDifficultyEasyDuration5 minutesDigital Trends Graphic / SonyWhen you're ready to change your PS5 avatar, follow these instructions.Step 1: Click the Settings gear icon on your PS5 home screen.Step 2: Click Users and Accounts.RelatedStep 3: Click Account.Step 4: Click Profile.Step 5: Click Avatar.Step 6: Select the avatar you like from the potentially hundreds of options here, then click Ok.Editors Recommendations

High sea temperatures contributed to stormy weather in California in late 2023Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesThe surge in ocean temperatures to record-breaking levels in 2023 and 2024 is a sign that the pace of climate change has accelerated, say researchers.Global ocean temperatures hit record highs for 450 days straight in 2023 and early 2024. Although some of the extra heat can be explained by an El Nio weather pattern emerging in the Pacific Ocean, about 44 per cent of the record warmth is down to the worlds oceans absorbing heat from the sun at an accelerating rate, according to Chris Merchant at the University of Reading, UK. AdvertisementMerchant and his colleagues used satellite data to analyse ocean warming over the past four decades, concluding that the rate of warming has more than quadrupled since 1985.The team says this rapid acceleration is down to a sharp change in Earths energy imbalance (EEI), a measure of how much heat is being trapped in the atmosphere. EEI has roughly doubled since 2010, causing the oceans to soak up much more heat now than they used to.The oceans set the pace for global warming in general, says Merchant. So, as an extension, global warming as a whole, including the land, has therefore accelerated. Merchant says he is personally convinced that accelerating climate change was a major factor in the recent surge in ocean temperatures. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterBased on their analysis, Merchant and his team predict that the rate of ocean warming could continue to increase rapidly in the coming decades. If the EEI trend extrapolates into the future then we can expect as much warming in the next 20 years as we have had in the last 40 years, which is quite a marked acceleration, says Merchant.Although climate models do expect the rate of climate change to accelerate, Merchants analysis suggests real-world trends are in line with the most pessimistic model predictions. The fact that this data-driven analysis is putting us at the high end of what models might have predicted is a matter that needs to be watched, he says.However, early data suggests that EEI dropped in 2024 after a record spike in 2023. This data might suggest warming rates may not be accelerating in line with worst-case scenarios, some researchers argue.Journal reference:Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/adaa8aTopics:

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first,sign up here. Just a week in, the AI sector has already seen its first battle of wits under the new Trump administration. The clash stems from two key pieces of news: the announcement of the Stargate project, which would spend $500 billionmore than the Apollo space programon new AI data centers, and the release of a powerful new model from China. Together, they raise important questions the industry needs to answer about the extent to which the race for more data centerswith their heavy environmental tollis really necessary. A reminder about the first piece: OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and an Abu Dhabibased investment fund called MGX plan to spend up to $500 billion opening massive data centers around the US to build better AI. Much of the groundwork for this project was laid in 2024, when OpenAI increased its lobbying spending sevenfold (which we were first to report last week) and AI companies started pushing for policies that were less about controlling problems like deepfakes and misinformation, and more about securing more energy. Still, Trump received credit for it from tech leaders when he announced the effort on his second day in office. I think this will be the most important project of this era, OpenAIs Sam Altman said at the launch event, adding, We wouldnt be able to do this without you, Mr. President. Its an incredible sum, just slightly less than the inflation-adjusted cost of building the US highway system over the course of more than 30 years. However, not everyone sees Stargate as having the same public benefit. Environmental groups say it could strain local grids and further drive up the cost of energy for the rest of us, who arent guzzling it to train and deploy AI models. Previous research has also shown that data centers tend to be built in areas that use much more carbon-intensive sources of energy, like coal, than the national average. Its not clear how much, if at all, Stargate will rely on renewable energy. Even louder critics of Stargate, though, include Elon Musk. None of Musks companies are involved in the project, and he has attempted to publicly sow doubt that OpenAI and SoftBank have enough of the money needed for the plan anyway, claims that Altman disputed on X. Musks decision to publicly criticize the presidents initiative has irked people in Trumps orbit, Politico reports, but its not clear if those people have expressed that to Musk directly. On to the second piece. On the day Trump was inaugurated, a Chinese startup released an AI model that started making a whole bunch of important people in Silicon Valley very worried about their competition. (This close timing is almost certainly not an accident.) The model, called DeepSeek R1, is a reasoning model. These types of models are designed to excel at math, logic, pattern-finding, and decision-making. DeepSeek proved it could reason through complicated problems as well as one of OpenAIs reasoning models, o1and more efficiently. Whats more, DeepSeek isnt a super-secret project kept behind lock and key like OpenAIs. It was released for all to see. DeepSeek was released as the US has made outcompeting China in the AI race a top priority. This goal was a driving force behind the 2022 CHIPS Act to make more chips domestically. Its influenced the position of tech companies like OpenAI, which has embraced lending its models to national security work and has partnered with the defense-tech company Anduril to help the military take down drones. Its led to export controls that limit what types of chips Nvidia can sell to China. The success of DeepSeek signals that these efforts arent working as well as AI leaders in the US would like (though its worth noting that the impact of export controls for chips isnt felt for a few years, so the policy wouldnt be expected to have prevented a model like DeepSeek). Still, the model poses a threat to the bottom line of certain players in Big Tech. Why pay for an expensive model from OpenAI when you can get access to DeepSeek for free? Even other makers of open-source models, especially Meta, are panicking about the competition, according to The Information. The company has set up a number of war rooms to figure out how DeepSeek was made so efficient. (A couple of days after the Stargate announcement, Meta said it would increase its own capital investments by 70% to build more AI infrastructure.) What does this all mean for the Stargate project? Lets think about why OpenAI and its partners are willing to spend $500 billion on data centers to begin with. They believe that AI in its various formsnot just chatbots or generative video or even new AI agents, but also developments yet to be unveiledwill be the most lucrative tool humanity has ever built. They also believe that access to powerful chips inside massive data centers is the key to getting there. DeepSeek poked some holes in that approach. It didnt train on yet-unreleased chips that are light-years ahead. It didnt, to our knowledge, require the eye-watering amounts of computing power and energy behind the models from US companies that have made headlines. Its designers made clever decisions in the name of efficiency. In theory, it could make a project like Stargate seem less urgent and less necessary. Thus far, DeepSeek doesnt seem to have sparked such a change in approach. OpenAI researcher Noam Brown wrote on X, I have no doubt that with even more compute it would be an even more powerful model. If his logic wins out, the players with the most computing power will win, and getting it is apparently worth at least $500 billion to AIs biggest companies. But lets rememberannouncing it is the easiest part. Now read the rest of The Algorithm Deeper Learning Whats next for robots Many of the big questions about AI-how it learns, how well it works, and where it should be deployedare now applicable to robotics. In the year ahead, we will see humanoid robots being put to the test in warehouses and factories, robots learning in simulated worlds, and a rapid increase in the militarys adoption of autonomous drones, submarines, and more. Why it matters: Jensen Huang, the highly influential CEO of the chipmaker Nvidia, stated last month that the next advancement in AI will mean giving the technology a body of sorts in the physical world. This will come in the form of advanced robotics. Even with the caveat that robotics is full of futuristic promises that usually arent fulfilled by their deadlines, the marrying of AI methods with new advancements in robots means the field is changing quickly. Read more here. Bits and Bytes Leaked documents expose deep ties between Israeli army and Microsoft Since the attacks of October 7, the Israeli military has relied heavily on cloud and AI services from Microsoft and its partner OpenAI, and the tech giants staff has embedded with different units to support rollout, a joint investigation reveals. (+972 Magazine) The tech arsenal that could power Trumps immigration crackdown The effort by federal agencies to acquire powerful technology to identify and track migrants has been unfolding for years across multiple administrations. These technologies may be called upon more directly under President Trump. (The New York Times) OpenAI launches Operatoran agent that can use a computer for you Operator is a web app that can carry out simple online tasks in a browser, such as booking concert tickets or making an online grocery order. (MIT Technology Review) The second wave of AI coding is here A string of startups are racing to build models that can produce better and better software. But its not only AIs increasingly powerful ability to write code thats impressive. They claim its the shortest path to superintelligent AI. (MIT Technology Review)

The demand for cybersecurity jobs is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.Cybersecurity executives told BI that the threat landscape has changed in the wake of AI.They also explained why it's been difficult to meet demand.The launch of ChatGPT just over two years ago sparked an AI race among tech companies. The resulting easy access to the AI tools also ushered in new risks that have led to increased demand for cybersecurity talent."Every time you create something for good or for growth, some adversary is going to use that," Chris Schueler, CEO of cyber solution provider Cyderes, told BI.In short, the bad guys can access the same AI smarts and efficiencies the tools unlock.And while AI companies have safeguards in place to prevent bad actors from using tools maliciously, cybersecurity professionals have to actively work to "stay one step ahead of them," Schueler said."The bad guys are getting really good," Chris Risley, CEO of wireless threat intelligence company Bastille, told BI.As the threat landscape changes, cybersecurity jobs are in high demand as companies and governments seek to safeguard against AI-fueled cyberattacks.The number of employed information security analysts, who focus on protecting computer systems, is expected to grow 33% between 2023 and 2033, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.In conversations with Business Insider, more than half a dozen cybersecurity executives explained why demand for cybersecurity roles has grown and how the security concerns facing companies have evolved.Paul Caron, head of cybersecurity of Americas at global corporate intelligence and cybersecurity consultancy S-RM, said that attackers are using AI to "better understand behavioral analytics," such as the time someone logs into work.Danny Jenkins, the CEO, and cofounder of cybersecurity platform ThreatLocker, said that AI also opened the door to anyone with a computer being able to create malicious software."Two years ago, if you wanted to write a piece of malware, you had to be skilled enough to write malware," Jenkins, whose company has clients including Jet Blue, told BI, adding that you "no longer need to be a smart engineer."AI tools have also made it easier for traditional phishing scams to mask some of theusual red flags, like detectable spelling errorsor poorly constructed messages. It's also advanced newer attack methods for bad actors, like deepfakes, with AI-powered audio and video."All I need is one good picture of your face, and I can run a deepfake video on you within 20 minutes," Schueler said.Mike Britton, chief information officer for Abnormal Security, told BI that the evolution of the digital age has also allowed bad actors to attack from virtually anywhere around the globe."That's essentially taken a lot of my natural perimeters and protections, and it's dropped all of those walls," Britton said, adding that attackers no longer have to "beat your firewall" or "get into your building."Technology is also much more deeply integrated into everyday life than it used to be, offering would-be attackers new devices to try to compromise."The old insider threat was the disgruntled employee," Risley said. "But the new insider threat is the loyal employee with a compromised device."'It's a harder job than it was'There's a growing gap in the workforce of about 4.8 million cybersecurity jobs globally, according to a 2024 study from cybersecurity member association ISC2 a 19% year-over-year increase.As cybersecurity risks become more sophisticated, the job has also become more challenging, industry executives told BI, which has made it difficult to meet the rising demand. Cybersecurity roles take 21% longer on average to fill than other jobs in the IT field, according to data analytics firm Cyberseek."It's a harder job than it was a few years ago," Risley said. "There's just so many more protocols, so many more policies."MK Palmore,Google Cloud's office of the chief information security officer, previously told BI that many cybersecurity professionals started in IT and transitioned over. He said it can be difficult for a new candidate to get the needed hands-on experience in the field.Schueler, who's been in the industry for 25 years, said cyberattacks are "escalating at a pace" he's never seen. That's made it challenging for candidates to keep up with the skills needed. He said an employee taking just three months off could face a "pretty massive" knowledge gap upon return.The stakes are also incredibly high. DNA-testing company 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million in September to settle a lawsuit after hackers accessed the personal data of millions of its customers.Last year, a software issue caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike resulted in a global IT outage that disrupted several industries, including airlines, banks, and emergency services. While the incident wasn't the result of a bad actor gaining access to a system, it's a testament to how integrated cybersecurity systems are within the tech that powers the world.While some companies like Cyderes or S-RM offer specialized training programs, smaller firms may not be able to provide that kind of programming. Risley told BI that his company doesn't usually hire recent graduates, and looks more for "battle-hardened cyber security people."If you do happen to get a job in the field though, it may be worth holding onto. Schueler told BI the career path is here to stay and will become increasingly important as technology evolves.Plus, it tends to pay well.At the top ranks of the profession, US-based CISOs make about $565,000 annually, with some exceeding $1 million, according to an IANS Research and Artico Search report that includes data from over 755 CISOs between April and August 2024.Schueler told BI that recent grads and seasoned professionals in cybersecurity can earn above-average salaries."This industry does pay very, very well," he said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending DEI programs in the federal government.Given the spotlight on DEI, lawyers say private sector companies should asses their own policies.It's "almost certain to create a chilling effect on corporate DEI initiatives," one lawyer said.Corporate America's DEI practices are facing scrutiny like never before.And thanks to President Donald Trump's executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government, the private sector's DEI efforts have come under heightened legal risk.Trump's order encourages the private sector to end "illegal DEI discrimination and preferences." As part of that plan, the order tasks each federal agency to "identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations" of enterprises including publicly traded corporations and large nonprofits.Given the current spotlight on DEI initiatives and Trump's executive actions targeting them, employment attorneys told Business Insider that companies would be wise to assess their own diversity-related programs with legal counsel to make sure they are ironclad in the face of potential federal investigations or workplace lawsuits."The main thing that employers should be doing right now is conducting what we call either a DEI audit or a vulnerability assessment," said Michael Thomas, a California-based attorney specializing in corporate diversity practices at the law firm Jackson Lewis.Under this type of assessment, companies would work with outside counsel to review their policies and practices related to DEI and equal employment opportunity.DEI initiatives that focus on the requirements of federal equal employment opportunity laws are most likely to be legally compliant, Thomas said.Hiring quotas or preferential treatment to certain groups of people were already illegal and now pose a higher legal risk, Thomas said."The law hasn't changed," Thomas said, explaining, however, "Your scrutiny has increased, the attention has increased, and you face potential legal, reputational, and brand risk from both your majority, for lack of a better phrase, and also your underrepresented groups."Jon Solorzano, a partner at the law firm Vinson & Elkins, told BI the legal grounds involving diversity initiatives haven't really changed, "but the risks have.""DEI initiatives are not, in and of themselves, problematic," said Solorzano, who advises public and private companies on areas related to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and risk management."It's just that there is more scrutiny on the acronym and now the full force of the federal government has squarely taken aim at this concept," Solorzano said of DEI.Solorzano said that he has already spoken with numerous companies that have inquired about whether their DEI policies are compliant with the law, and what, if anything, they should do to change their practices to minimize their risks of being a target of an investigation."This executive order is almost certain to create a chilling effect on corporate DEI initiatives," said Solorzano, who added that he expects to see even more companies roll back their DEI efforts. Trump signed a flurry of executive orders after taking office. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Though, companies "need to be careful about clumsily nixing all initiatives," Solorzano said. "Pulling out of initiatives, just because it is politically disfavored at the moment, may not be the right thing for a business over the long term. But careful calibration of the risks and values of pursuing these initiatives remain critical."Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner at the law firm Farrell Fritz in New York, also called it "critical" that every organization continues to evaluate its DEI-related policies to ensure they are not "in the interest of doing something good, inadvertently crossing the line."DEI programs, which many companies have adopted in recent years, "often talked about commitment to equal opportunity" and about "educating the workforce," Camacho Moran said. "They rarely included numbers or targets for specific diversity initiatives."Those programs, however, "were not scrutinized closely by a variety of government agencies, and so some of those programs were outlined and articulated programming and opportunities that emphasized a particular minority group or particular protected class," Camacho Moran said.Attorneys told BI they now expect, due to the current political climate, employers to face an uptick of lawsuits alleging discrimination and so-called reverse discrimination.Peter Woo, also an attorney at the firm Jackson Lewis, said it is likely employers will see a rise in internal complaints from employees who are for and against DEI initiatives, which will likely translate to more lawsuits."Companies should have a heightened sense of awareness now in terms of how to approach these because of the fact there will be more inquiries, more complaints internally," Woo said.Thomas said there had been legal challenges to DEI programs since the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions, and expects those challenges to increase post Trump's executive actions taking aim at DEI initiatives.Ron Zambrano, the employment litigation chairman at the California law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, told BI he also expects to see a rise in lawsuits related to companies' DEI efforts.The potential complaints may even cite Trump's executive order targeting DEI initiatives "as a form of legitimacy," Zambrano said.Those possible lawsuits would succeed only "if they would have succeeded regardless of Trump or Trump's executive order," Zambrano said."It does happen. There is reverse discrimination. It absolutely does exist, but it's not as pervasive as just, like, well, the existence of DEI means that only minorities are going to have the advantage," said Zambrano. "That's the implication, right? That's the fear. That's the messaging."

Before the internet, if you were an avid gamer then you were very likely to be an avid reader of games magazines. From the early 1980s, the likes of Crash, Mega, PC Gamer and the Official PlayStation Magazine were your connection with the industry, providing news, reviews and interviews as well as lively letters pages that fostered a sense of community. Very rarely, however, did anyone keep hold of their magazine collections. Lacking the cultural gravitas of music or movie publications, they were mostly thrown away. While working at Future Publishing as a games journalist in the 1990s, I watched many times as hundreds of old issues of SuperPlay, Edge and GamesMaster were tipped into skips for pulping. I feel queasy just thinking about it.Because now, of course, I and thousands of other video game veterans have realised these magazines are a vital historical resource as well as a source of nostalgic joy. Surviving copies of classic mags are selling at a vast premium on eBay, and while the Internet Archive does contain patchy collections of scanned magazines, it is vulnerable to legal challenges from copyright holders.Thankfully, there are institutions taking the preservation of games magazines seriously. Last week, the Video Game History Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of games and their history, announced that from 30 January, it would be opening up its digital archive of out-of-print magazines to read and study online. So far 1,500 issues of mostly American games mags are available, as well as art books and other printed ephemera, but the organisation is busy scanning its entire collection. The digitised content will be fully tagged and searchable by word or phrase, so youll be able to easily track down the first mentions of, say, Minecraft, John Romero, or the survival horror genre.In a recent video introducing the archive, VGHF librarian Phil Salvador explained: We wanted to make something thats going to be useful and easy for anyone studying video game history, whether youre an academic writing a book or a creator making a YouTube video, or youre just a curious person.Founded by game historian Frank Cifaldi in 2017, the VGHF is part of a growing number of archives, academic institutions and museums dedicated to preserving games history. While the focus is usually on tracking down and preserving the games themselves, there is a growing understanding that magazines provide vital context. Video game magazines are often representative of peoples relationships to video games they accompany that journey, says John OShea, creative director and co-CEO of the National Videogame Museum in Sheffield, which has a growing collection of printed materials. They have a similar lineage to football and music fanzine culture, in that they provide perspectives on the players and the fans and what they were thinking at the time. They also provide insight into particular trends and narratives, what gets emphasised, what doesnt. They provide direct access to a particular historical period.Magazines then tell a sociocultural story that the games themselves cannot. Looking at these magazines now, through the lens of contemporary video game culture, its not just what is there, but what is not there, says OShea. The majority of characters featured in magazines up to the early 2010s are men. I looked at a selection of PC magazines from 2011 and there were the same number of female protagonists represented as there were panda protagonists.Games mags were often written for very specific, very dedicated demographics, and reflected the focus of the industry itself. Many adverts throughout the 90s and into the early 00s featured skimpily dressed women, even when the games were military shooters or strategy sims. Classified ads for premium rate video game tips lines were accompanied by photos of women in bikinis. Its there because that was the demographic they were aiming at teenage boys, says the museums collections officer, Ann Wain. The marketing shows who was getting the attention and why. The letters pages also tell us a lot about player culture. What topics were people discussing, what was the conversation around games. It contextualises games in a way that just playing them cant.The Video Game History Foundation in the US are digitising their archive of classic video game magazines. Photograph: VGHFBoth the VGHF and the National Videogame Museum are reliant on donations: the latter has just received an almost complete collection of PC Gamer from a collector who also kept all the cover demo discs and inserts. Its important work because often the magazine publishers themselves have patchy records on preservation. Future Publishing does have an archive at its Bath office but it is not complete, and whole collections have been lost when other companies have shut. In a post on LinkedIn last year, veteran games media publisher Stuart Dinsey recalled that when he sold Intent Media in 2013, the new owner pulped almost the entire back catalogue of its industry publications CTW and MCV.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionLooking back on video game history, its easy to imagine a smooth narrative flow, a sense of inevitability about which games or technologies would be successful and which would fail. But it wasnt usually like that: contemporary reporting reveals a mass of complications and uncertainties. Video game magazines provide a lot of resistance to that very linear idea of history, says OShea. Especially the technologically deterministic view that more powerful tech would inevitably be more interesting and successful.When you go to the VGHFs digital archive next month, look at contemporary news around the Sega Mega Drive, the original PlayStation or the Nintendo Wii there was no agreement at the time over their impending success. Games mags were on the frontline of games history. In this uncertain era for the industry, their voices, dimmed and distant though they seem, are more important than ever.