TRANSCRIPT · Special Report: Update ## Special Report: Update (PXL) GRANT BRICKMAN: An update on our special report: new headlines on the PUBG adaptation at Netflix. GRANT BRICKMAN: The report doesn't say when the adaptation arrives. GRANT BRICKMAN: An update on our special report. New headlines have come in on the PUBG video game adaptation at Netflix. GRETA FOOTNOTE: The Hollywood Reporter now says Donald Glover is writing and starring in the PUBG adaptation in the works at Netflix. GRANT BRICKMAN: Writing and starring. Two jobs, Greta. I can barely manage the one. GRETA FOOTNOTE: The report adds that Stephen Glover is also writing and executive producing. That's all it says for now. GRANT BRICKMAN: We will keep you posted, as soon as someone tells us something. ## An Attempt at a Useful Desktop OS For Microcontrollers (Hackaday) https://hackaday.com/2026/10/29/an-attempt-at-a-useful-desktop-os-for-microcontrollers/ GRETA FOOTNOTE: A desktop operating system for microcontrollers, with a look borrowed from the early Macintosh. GRANT BRICKMAN: Now the full story. Somebody has built a desktop operating system for microcontrollers. Small controllers of micro things, I assume. GRETA FOOTNOTE: It's called SylphideOS, Grant. A general purpose GUI operating system from a developer named Thomas, aimed at several microcontroller platforms. ADA: Huge fan already! The GUI owes a lot to the early Macintosh, but underneath it runs the FreeRTOS kernel, which has been around for quite a while. ADA: Here's the project at work. It drives a screen through a framebuffer, and it has the hardware interfaces you'd expect, for keyboard and storage. ADA: So far it supports the RP2350 and selected ESP32 platforms, and there's an emulator too. ADA: Here's why it's clever. Hackaday says other microcontroller systems give a UI to a binary bootloader. This one persists under whatever programs are running. GRETA FOOTNOTE: Hackaday says you can argue whether it's an OS in its own right or a FreeRTOS distro. Only time will tell if it succeeds, but it may be one to watch. GRANT BRICKMAN: Argue all you like. Our 1987 weather map had a graphical interface too. It was magnets. ## The Gallery [FICTION] GRANT BRICKMAN: A quick look inside the control room. DIRECTOR MARGE: Stand by all cameras. We just aired Experts adopt AI agent's random opinions and think they're their own, Anthropic study finds. PASSERBY: I think I pressed the thing, Marge. The big red thing. Was it the big red thing? DIRECTOR MARGE: That was the coffee machine. Put the cup down and look at Camera 2. PASSERBY: There's a pigeon sitting on Camera 2. It looks very comfortable. DIRECTOR MARGE: Then leave it. It's the only one here who isn't panicking. Tally lights, please. PASSERBY: Which colour is live again? Never mind. Everything's live. Hello, everybody. ## [AD · fictional product] Bramwell THE ANNOUNCER: Tired of trousers that fold under pressure? Meet Bramwell, the trousers with a spine! THE ANNOUNCER: Bramwell holds a sharp crease through meetings, bus rides and surprise hugs. Even your knees will feel taller! THE ANNOUNCER: Bramwell. Stand up straight, in trousers that already are. AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles.