Riley Testut:
Some personal news: this month marks 10 years since I first started developing Delta!
So much has changed since then — when Delta launched it didn’t even support DS! — but I couldn’t be more thankful to still be working on it after all this time 💜
The first commit includes the obligatory .gitignore for .DS_Store.
Tim Hardwick:
The popular iOS game emulator Delta has received a major update that adds online multiplayer functionality for Nintendo DS games. Version 1.7 of the app now allows players to compete against each other in classic DS titles like Mario Kart DS, Bomberman, and Animal Crossing.
Nintendo officially shut down the original DS online services back in 2014, so Delta relies on alternative Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection servers maintained by the community.
Previously:
Anniversary Delta Emulator Game iOS iOS 18 iOS App Nintendo 3DS
Zelle (via Slashdot):
When Zelle first launched, we also created a standalone Zelle-branded app for consumers whose banks or credit unions had not yet joined the network. With the strong growth of adoption by banks and credit unions, we now see just ~2% of transactions on the standalone app.
As a result of our growth, and because most people are now using Zelle in their financial institution’s mobile app or website, we are making a change to the Zelle standalone app.
This all makes sense, I suppose. I never even knew that Zelle had an app; I just use it through my bank’s app. But I find it amusing that they won’t directly say they’re shutting down the app.
- “We’re evolving how consumers send money with Zelle®”
- “we are making a change to our Zelle standalone app”
- “we will be phasing out the ability to enroll and transact within the standalone app”
So then what can you still do with it? It’s being repurposed to display “consumer education about scams and fraud and provide a list of the more than 2,200 banks and credit unions that offer Zelle.”
Financial iOS iOS 18 iOS App Payments Sunset
Microsoft (via Will Dormann, Hacker News):
We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.
Lawrence Abrams:
A previously unknown trick lets you easily bypass using a Microsoft Account in Windows 11, just as Microsoft tries to make it harder to use local accounts.
[…]
When installing Windows 11 and you reach the screen asking, “Let’s connect you to a network,” you can use the Shift+F10 keyboard combination to open a Windows command prompt.
At this prompt, type start ms-cxh:localonly and press Enter on your keyboard to open a “Microsoft account” window where you can create a new local user for the Windows 11 install.
During my recent adventure reinstalling old versions of macOS, I found that it’s now commonly recommended that Mac users have an Internet connection when installing, even if they’ve made a full installer disk. Otherwise it may not succeed. I also found that, even when using a freshly downloaded .pkg of the latest version (of that cycle), the installer would often download what seemed like gigabytes of files. I have little confidence that Mac users still have control over reinstalling archived versions of the OS onto their own hardware without Apple’s verification/meddling. This seems to also be the case when restoring an IPSW file.
Previously:
Mac macOS 15 Sequoia Windows Windows 11
Howard Oakley:
Unlike Intel Macs (including those with T2 chips), all Apple silicon Macs always start their boot process from their internal SSD, even when they are set to start up from a bootable external disk. This ensures the security and integrity of that process and prevents an attacker from starting that Mac up without credentials.
However, this is a problem if the internal SSD isn’t working properly, as happened to me.
In addition to normal requirements for a macOS installation on an external disk to be able to boot a Mac, ownership of the boot volume group on that disk is required. This is normally performed when installing macOS on that disk, as explained here, and results in the ownership of that boot volume group by an authorised user of that Mac. This is incorporated into a LocalPolicy that is saved to the internal SSD of that Mac.
[…]
To accommodate the more advanced Secure Boot of Apple silicon Macs, their internal SSDs are divided into three partitions, with an extra six volumes beyond the boot volume group.
[…]
Because restoring in DFU mode erases the whole of the internal SSD, it also blows away all saved LocalPolicy for that Mac. Following the restore process, any bootable external disk used with that Mac will need to have its ownership re-established so that a new LocalPolicy can be created for it.
Howard Oakley:
It’s a common misunderstanding that trying to change Boot Security in Startup Security Utility can help solve Apple silicon boot problems, but if anything it only complicates them. Almost the only good reason for reducing boot security of an Apple silicon bootable system is when third-party kernel extensions are required. Otherwise don’t tamper with Startup Security Utility, as it will only confuse, as we’ll see later.
[…]
One important functional difference, which remains relevant to Big Sur boot disks, is that Apple silicon Macs don’t use the paired Recovery volume as their primary Recovery system: booting an Apple silicon Mac running Big Sur into Recovery should instead use the Recovery system installed in their internal SSD, in the Apple_APFS_Recovery partition. In subsequent versions of macOS, that’s used instead for secondary or Fallback Recovery. Thus Big Sur can be a problem when it comes to Recovery, and for this reason is best avoided on Apple silicon Macs. If it’s essential to install a copy of Big Sur, then be prepared for problems with Recovery mode.
[…]
Although APFS should be backward compatible, making it relatively safe to make changes to an older version of APFS from a newer system, forward compatibility is more limited. Using older versions of Disk Utility or tools like fsck on newer versions of APFS risks errors, failure and at worst damage. The Appendix at the end of this article summarises version numbering in APFS and major changes to beware of.
Previously:
Apple File System (APFS) Backup Mac macOS 11.0 Big Sur macOS 15 Sequoia Solid-State Drive (SSD) Storage
