Weekend Tech News 04.12.2023
Contents show 1 Steam Cuts Off Mojave: Farewell to 32-Bit Gaming on Older Macs 2 Macbook Air Goes Fanless With Thinspace Cooling! 3 Millions Face Email Delays and Outrage This Week 4 Google Search To Help Users in India Learn English with New ‘Personalized Feedback’ Feature 5 Google’s AI Experiment To Create Music With Over 100 Instruments 6 Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 1 Introduces New Content To The Games! 7 Closing Thoughts Steam Cuts Off Mojave: Farewell to 32-Bit Gaming on Older Macs
Attention gamers on macOS Mojave! As of February 15th, 2024, Steam will officially drop support for your OS and its predecessor, High Sierra, as per the Steam support page post.
This means no more updates, security patches, or playing your favorite 32-bit titles.
This marks the end of an era for retro gaming on Macs. Those nostalgic classics that ran seamlessly on your trusty Mojave machine will be relegated to the digital graveyard.
But Steam still supports a plethora of fantastic 64-bit games on macOS.
So, back up your saved files and consider an upgrade. If your Mac is feeling its age, a new one might open up a new world of gaming possibilities.
You should also dust off your old discs and see if you can get those 32-bit gems running on alternative platforms.
Frore Systems, San Jose, California startup, has developed a solid-state active cooling chip called the AirJet Mini.
They recently equipped an M2 15-inch MacBook Air with three of these chips & achieved MacBook Pro-comparable performance during sustained heavy workloads.
The AirJet Mini is a tiny, thin chip that uses solid-state piezoelectric actuators to vibrate and push heat away from the CPU.
This contrasts traditional laptop fans, which spin & blow air with blades.
One of the benefits of solid-state cooling is that it doesn’t make any noise. Additionally, it could allow for laptops with more powerful components.
However, there are also some potential drawbacks. Solid-state cooling may be less efficient than traditional fans for cooling laptops under extreme workloads. Additionally, it can be more expensive.
Gmail users around the globe were left frustrated this week as two separate outages caused delays in email sending & receiving.
These issues, occurring on Thursday & Friday, left many users wondering if their messages were delivered.
On Friday, the problem seemed focused on sending emails, with many reporting their messages disappearing or failing to deliver.
These outages caused significant disruption, particularly for the users relying on Gmail for critical communication.
Social media platforms were flooded with complaints from users expressing their concerns and searching for answers.
Google acknowledged the issue in the work status dashboard & apologized for the inconvenience of the service. They suggested contacting Google Workspace for direct support.
Google is about to a new feature that will help users learn English.
The new feature, “Personalized Feedback,” will give users Feedback on their English-speaking skills, grammar, & vocabulary.
Personalized Feedback uses Google’s speech recognition technology to analyze a user’s spoken English.
Users can also use Personalized Feedback to practice speaking English with a virtual tutor. The virtual tutor will ask users questions and provide feedback on their responses.
The feature is currently available in beta. Google plans to roll out the feature to all users in India in the next few days.
Google has unveiled a new AI experiment called Instrument Playground, allowing users to create music inspired by over 100 instruments worldwide.
This innovative tool is powered by MusicLM, a text-to-music AI system that can generate high-fidelity music in any genre given a text description.
You can select from various instruments and add an adjective to your prompt to shape the results.
Once you’ve chosen your instrument, the AI will generate a 20-second audio clip based on your selection.
The fun doesn’t stop there! You can take control of the composition using three key elements:
You can also adjust the atmosphere from ethereal and spacious to dense and immersive.
Once you’re happy with your composition, you can download it and share it with the world.
Instrument Playground is a playful and accessible way to experience the power of AI in music creation.
Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 1 Introduces New Content To The Games!
Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 1, brings new content to the games.
So, get ready to take on some of the toughest enemies ever seen in Fortnite, like the Herald and the Scientist.
You’ll be able to build your own Lego creations in-game or explore pre-made Lego worlds. There’s even a new Lego skin that you can unlock.
The legendary Metal Gear Solid character Solid Snake is joining the Fortnite roster!
In addition to all of this, there are many other new features in Chapter 5, like new weapons, vehicles, and gameplay mechanics.
Closing Thoughts
Keep following us to stay ahead of the curve with the latest happenings in the tech world.
What the Steam Change Means for Mac Gamers
Steam’s decision to drop support for macOS Mojave and High Sierra is part of a broader industry shift away from 32-bit applications. Apple itself began phasing out 32-bit support with macOS Catalina in 2019, making this move by Steam a delayed but inevitable consequence. For gamers still on these older systems, the practical impact is immediate: no new game updates, no access to Steam’s social features, and the inability to launch many 32-bit titles that were never updated for 64-bit compatibility.
However, this doesn’t mean the end of gaming on Mac entirely. Many popular titles have already made the jump to 64-bit, and Steam continues to support macOS Catalina and later. Users who upgrade their operating system—or their hardware—will find a robust library still available. For those unwilling or unable to upgrade, alternatives like GOG.com offer DRM-free versions of older games that may still run on legacy systems, though official support is often limited.
How the AirJet Mini Cooling Technology Works
Frore Systems’ AirJet Mini represents a fundamental shift in laptop cooling. Traditional fans rely on spinning blades to move air across a heatsink, but the AirJet uses piezoelectric actuators that vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies. These vibrations create a high-velocity airflow through micro-channels within the chip itself, effectively pumping heat away from the CPU without any moving parts that can wear out or generate noise.
The technology is particularly promising for ultra-thin laptops like the MacBook Air, which have historically sacrificed sustained performance for silent, fanless designs. In Frore’s demonstration, a modified M2 MacBook Air with three AirJet Minis maintained higher clock speeds during prolonged workloads, closing the gap with the actively cooled MacBook Pro. While the AirJet Mini is not yet available in consumer products, several laptop manufacturers have expressed interest in integrating the technology into future designs.
Understanding the Gmail Outages: Causes and User Impact
The two Gmail outages this week highlight the fragility of cloud-based communication. While Google has not released detailed technical explanations, such incidents are often caused by software bugs in routing systems, overloaded servers, or configuration errors during routine maintenance. For users, the result was delayed or missing emails, with some messages taking hours to arrive or failing to send altogether.
Businesses that rely on Gmail for critical correspondence were hit hardest, as missed emails can lead to lost opportunities or broken workflows. Google’s status dashboard acknowledged the issues, but many users took to social media to vent their frustration. As a workaround, some switched to alternative email clients or used Google Workspace’s offline mode to queue messages until service was restored. This incident serves as a reminder of the importance of having backup communication channels.
Google’s Personalized Feedback: A New Tool for English Learners
Google’s new “Personalized Feedback” feature is designed to help users improve their spoken English through AI-driven analysis. By leveraging Google’s advanced speech recognition, the tool evaluates pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary in real time. Users can practice with a virtual tutor that asks questions and provides instant corrections, making it feel like a one-on-one language lesson.
The feature is currently in beta and will first roll out to users in India, where English proficiency is highly valued for education and employment. Google has not announced pricing, but it is likely to be integrated into existing Google services like Search or Assistant. For learners, this could be a game-changer, offering personalized practice without the cost of a human tutor. However, the effectiveness will depend on the accuracy of the speech recognition and the quality of the feedback provided.
Exploring Google’s Instrument Playground in Depth
Instrument Playground is more than just a novelty; it’s a glimpse into the future of AI-assisted music creation. Powered by MusicLM, Google’s text-to-music model, the tool can generate 20-second clips based on a selected instrument and an optional adjective. Users can then manipulate the composition using three key elements: tempo, mood, and complexity. The interface is designed to be intuitive, allowing even non-musicians to experiment with sound.
The underlying technology is based on a neural network trained on a vast dataset of music. MusicLM can understand descriptive prompts like “upbeat sitar” or “melancholy cello” and produce audio that matches the request. While the current output is limited to short clips, it demonstrates the potential for AI to assist in full song production. Google has not indicated whether Instrument Playground will be integrated into other products, but it’s a fascinating experiment that could inspire a new generation of creators.
Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 1: What’s New and What to Expect
Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 1 introduces a host of new content, including formidable enemies like the Herald and the Scientist. These characters bring new challenges and storylines to the game, pushing players to adapt their strategies. The season also introduces a unique Lego collaboration, allowing players to build their own creations in-game or explore pre-made Lego worlds. A special Lego skin is available, adding a playful twist to the battle royale experience.
Beyond the headline features, the season includes new weapons, map changes, and gameplay mechanics. Epic Games has a history of evolving Fortnite’s map and lore with each chapter, and Season 1 sets the stage for future updates. Players can expect regular content drops, limited-time modes, and crossover events throughout the season. For those who haven’t played in a while, now is a great time to jump back in and see what’s new.