PXL News
Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: While you were asleep: Hackaday showed a cheap toy-like Godox C100 camera turned into a USB webcam with a Pi Zero dock.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Scientific American posed a puzzle about a nine-cell pyramid of zeros that turns into consecutive positive integers.
GRANT BRICKMAN: And io9 listed 90 new sci-fi, fantasy and horror books arriving in November, plus memoirs from Andy Serkis and LeVar Burton.
GRANT BRICKMAN: A cartoon about rough sailors on the sea, and no, it is not One Piece. Roxy has the full story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning. Now the full story: a cartoon about rough sailors on the open sea. And before you ask, Greta, I know it's Vikings. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: GamePro says Wickie and the Strong Men first aired on Japan's Fuji TV in April 1974. And it is not about pirates, so not One Piece. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Japan made it, Germany watched it, and the Vikings got on with the rowing. Roxy, over to you. ▶
ROXY: Good morning from the lobby, darlings! Wickie is an anime, and it's a German-Japanese co-production. ZDF and ORF commissioned it, with Zuiyo Eizo. ▶
ROXY: On the file footage: a cheeky red-haired boy and a boatload of rough sailors off on adventures. Pure Saturday-morning gold. Four reels out of five. ▶
ROXY: In Germany the first 26 episodes ran from January to August 1974. Another 52 followed after that. Peak television, and I cry at the credits. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Strictly speaking, GamePro says it isn't a purely German series. Just a very well-travelled one. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Half German, half Japanese, all Viking. That's what I said at the top. Back to you, Greta. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: A food-delivery giant moved to HTTP/3 and cut the home screen wait by 17 percent. Vera explains how.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Next: when you order dinner on your phone, every second counts. Apparently there's now an HTTP/3. I never saw the first two. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: They're versions of the protocol that delivers the web, Grant. Vera has the details. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Delivery Hero moved most of its users to HTTP/3. Staff engineer Elvis Chidera shared the results at the P99 2026 virtual conference. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Result: the total end-to-end response time of the apps' home screen dropped by 17 percent. Bullet point: faster, as promised on the tin. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Is Delivery Hero a big company? I've only ever heard of the other two. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: Big outside the US. The report estimates about 60 million users. Uber is acquiring it for $14.8 billion, and even a slow home screen counts there. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: It manages separate regional apps, Foodpanda, Yemeksepeti and Glovo among them. Time in the app is time wasted, whichever app it is. ▶
DR. VERA VECTOR: The catch: HTTP/3 has slow bits that need adjusting to work properly. The headline credits Cloudflare's help; the report excerpt doesn't say how. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: So the lesson is: new things need a little work. Much like my coffee machine. Thank you, Vera. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: The phones are open: worms, ratings and manga on The Pixel Line.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good morning and welcome to The Pixel Line, the phone-in for people with questions and a landline. Our first caller is on the line. ▶
PASSERBY: Morning! I heard about those flesh-eating worms. Are they coming for my little dog? I'd like to know before I finish my toast. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Ars Technica reports the screwworm infestation has spread to Arizona, joining New Mexico and Texas. USDA has identified 74 animal cases in the US since June. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Gerda, give the little dog an extra biscuit from us. That's veterinary advice from a news anchor, which is the best kind. ▶
PASSERBY: Hello! Anthropic is getting a junk rating, I read. Is that like the recycling? Do I put it out on Thursday? ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Walter, it's a forecast. The Financial Times reports Blackstone told investors it expects a double B range rating after the IPO. Both companies declined to comment. ▶
PASSERBY: It's me again. Still angry that my favourite manga wasn't on your release list. Every single week. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Ingrid, wonderful to hear from you. The list named Yaiba, Naruto crossing with the Turtles, and Tojima. Perhaps next week. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Thank you, callers. The lines stay open, and so does Ingrid's grudge. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: I am fairly sure Trenchcoat is one man in a long coat. Greta says it is three.
GRANT BRICKMAN: The one on the left is the cloud. I can tell. It is walking funny.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Trenchcoat. Three models. One coat.
AI-written satire. The text of the news items comes from the linked articles. Plain text