repair

video store management and video game repair simulators

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Micro-niches are one of the most fascinating phenomena on Steam: coming from no one knows where, putting developers thousands of kilometers apart from each other, thanks to them a handful of games come together that share thematic, aesthetic or mechanical features (what is known in the indie scene as multiple discovery). Now, surfing the wave of the nostalgia millennialseveral games from a new micro-niche coincide: management and work with retro overtones. Long live plastic. Long live the video store. In March 2026, two games about 90s video stores were released on Steam by two development teams who didn’t know each other within six days of each other. Neither knew of the other’s work, but both succeeded: they climbed the Valve store’s sales rankings and accumulated thousands of positive reviews. And the whole phenomenon says a lot about the cultural moment we are in. Retro Rewind. With the subtitle ‘Video Store Simulator‘, this game arrived on Steam on March 17, 2026. It was developed by Blood Pact Studios, a two-person team in Canada, and sold more than 100,000 copies in its first four days. The reviews, in the “Overwhelmingly Positive” category. Its mechanics are deliberately simple: you open a video store in the early 90s, order tapes from a catalogue, fill shelves by genre, charge fines for late returns and serve the customer who wants ‘Terminator 2’, of which there are no copies left. There’s even an adult section hidden in a corner and a pirate tape dealer that appears twice a week in an alley. Rewind 99. Six days before,’Rewind 99‘ entered Early Access with an almost identical premise but a different tone. Developed by Gunmetal Games, the game places the player in charge of the last video store in the city in 1999, fighting against the expansion of a streaming service called RentNet. ‘Retro Rewind’ is committed to pure single-player management, but ‘Rewind 99’ it is more complex: RPG-like progression, open world, side missions and online cooperative mode. Reviews within the framework of “Very Positive” and complete exit from Early Access in 2028. ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs. Let’s go to another somewhat more cozy aspect of nostalgia millennial. ‘ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs‘, developed by Mandragora and published by tinyBuild, is not about renting retro technology, but about manipulating it. Disassembling, cleaning, soldering and rebuilding cartridges in a Tokyo repair shop in the early 2000s is the central task of the game, which also not short of iconic ambitionas it includes officially licensed Atari consoles such as the 2600 and Jaguar, as well as mobile phones, cameras, digital pets and music players. The player’s work also affects the customers and the destiny of the store. There is a demo in limited playtest on Steam and the launch is scheduled for this year. Stores for millennials. This coincidence is explained by two phenomena that collide and whose fruits sprout here: on the one hand, the store simulator subgenre, which has been established on Steam for years thanks to titles such as ‘Supermarket Simulator’ or ‘Gas Station Simulator’, with thematic inventory management and customer service (with countless variants, from dating games to visual novels) as central mechanics. And on the other hand, nostalgia millennial which is now beginning to miss the latest developments in physical formats, such as cartridges, VHS or DVDs. Result of the pairing: the most endearingly turbocapitalist indie games of the moment. In Xataka | The internet has decided that 2016 was great and worth remembering. But there’s a problem: it wasn’t at all.

The damage to the oil and gas industry will take years to repair

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The Third Gulf War is here, and while financial markets cling to the hope of a quick resolution, the physical reality tells a much darker story. The world is currently facing the largest supply disruption in the history of the oil market. As detailed The New York Timesbased on the analyzes of energy expert Jason Bordoff, the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has taken about 20 million barrels per day off the board, which represents 20% of world consumption. To put this in perspective, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recalls that the historic Arab embargo of 1973 “barely” withdrew 4.5 million barrels per day. The logistical, political and infrastructure damage that Operation Epic Fury has unleashed in the Persian Gulf is so profound that, regardless of what is signed in the dispatches, it will take years to return to normality. The new global funnel. Even if the war ended today and the Strait were 100% reopened, untangling the monumental logjam would take months. As Rory Johnston, oil market researcher, explains, to the magazine New Statesman“we are talking about two to three months just to renormalize the global system.” Oil tankers are piled up on both sides of the strait, and a sudden restart would cause a collapse at unloading terminals, reminiscent of the worst bottlenecks of the Covid-19 pandemic. It won’t be suddenly. To this we must add a key factor: the ships will not sail again the day peace is signed. Maritime insurers will require months of proof that the Strait is safe before returning to cover oil tankers without imposing unaffordable premiums. But the situation is even more complex. As detailed in a recent analysis by my colleague Miguel Jorge in Xatakathe dynamics of the Strait have drastically mutated. Iran has turned this artery into a kind of maritime “VIP discotheque.” It is no longer a free international transit route, but rather a selective access system where Tehran decides who passes. While US allies and Israel are banned, countries like Spain – which refused to participate in the military coalition – have received “passes” for their ships. The root of the problem. If the recovery will be so slow it is, fundamentally, because the infrastructure is burning. Unlike previous conflicts, Iran’s strategy is based on an asymmetric war that seeks to destroy the energy pillars of its neighbors. The most devastating example is found in Qatar, where the Iranian drone attack on the Ras Laffan facilities—the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export plant in the world— has caused damage which will take between three and five years to repair. Furthermore, we must add temporary closures in Saudi refineries like Ras Tanura that guarantee long-term disruption. The domino effect has already reached the earth. Given the impossibility of removing the crude oil by sea, the storage tanks are bursting. Iraq has been forced to close wells and cut production by 70% simply because there is nowhere to put the oil. This is what is known in the industry as “locked-in” oil, and reactivating all that stopped machinery requires weeks of complex technical work. The specter of chronic inflation. The impact of this paralysis goes far beyond the gasoline pump and will condition the economy for the next five years. As he warns The Economistthe sustained rise in energy prices threatens to entrench global inflation, quickly pushing it to an unbearable 5% or 6%. This means that the cost of living, interest rates and commodity prices will be marked by this crisis for years, slowing down any attempt at real recovery. Added to this is a silent time bomb: food. Not only crude oil transits through the Strait of Hormuz, but a third of the world’s fertilizers. If global agriculture runs out of this vital input, we face a global food crisis that will distort harvests and supermarket prices in the coming seasons. On the threshold of $200 per barrel. If the blockade persists, economic pain will be inevitable. Macquarie Group analysts warn in Bloomberg that if the conflict extends until June, the price of crude oil could reach a whopping 200 dollars. The objective of this extreme price is none other than to force the “demand destruction“: that it be so expensive that people and industries simply stop consuming. The most pessimistic voices warn of an economic catastrophe. Larry Fink, the CEO of the financial giant BlackRock, warned in an interview with the BBC that if the barrel settles at $150, the world will plunge into a “severe and deep recession.” And the consequences are already visible, as jet fuel in Asia has already exceeded $200. Meanwhile, magazines as Fortune report that Goldman Sachs has raised the probability of a recession in the US to 30%. The Wall Street mirage and useless patches. It is fascinating and terrifying to observe the disconnection between physical reality and financial markets. Wall Street lives “spellbound” by algorithms and verbal intervention (jawboning) by Donald Trump. All it takes is a tweet from the American president announcing vague peace plans—quickly denied by Iran—for the stock markets to rise and the price of a barrel to drop momentarily. Investors blindly trust the phenomenon WAD (“Trump Always Chickens Out”), believing that the president will back down before sinking the economy. But tweets don’t fill the tanks. To try to mitigate the blow, the International Energy Agency has coordinated the historic release of 400 million barrels of its strategic reserves. It sounds like a lot, but as the experts consulted by Al Jazeerathat amount barely covers 20 days of the oil that has stopped flowing through Hormuz. It’s a band-aid for an arterial bleed. In fact, such is the desperation of the West that the US administration has gone so far as to temporarily lift sanctions on Russiaallowing it to sell its crude oil on the open market in order to try to relieve the pumps. The big silent winner. While the West is suffocating with inflation and supply problems, just a few … Read more

The first great Atlantic submarine cable that connected us to the internet says goodbye for a simple reason: it was too expensive to repair it

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It has been at the bottom of the sea for more than two decades, forgotten. But now, finally, the TAT-8, the first fiber optic cable that crossed the Atlantic and connected us to the Internet, is being removed from its place. And to understand the importance of this, it is worth telling its story, since perhaps the Internet would not be as we know it without this cable. The cable that started it all. On December 14, 1988, AT&T, British Telecom and France Telecom developed TAT-8, the acronym for Trans-Atlantic Telephone 8. It was the eighth transoceanic cable system between Europe and the United States, but the first to use optical fiber. Before him, transatlantic cables ran on copper, with very limited capacity. With the TAT-8, voices and data traveled converted into pulses of light through glass threads thinner than a hair. Just like account Wired in its report, at the inaugural event, writer Isaac Asimov connected by video call from New York with audiences in Paris and London to celebrate, in his own words, “this inaugural voyage across the sea on a ray of light.” Why was it so important? When it came into operation, the Internet was still too technical a concept for the general public. But the TAT-8 literally built the highway on which everything later circulated. The curious thing is that in just 18 months it already reached its maximum capacity, so this forced new cables to be laid as soon as possible, especially after the outbreak of the world Wide Webelectronic commerce and in a context in which the Internet became increasingly relevant. By 2001 the TAT series had already reached 14. Disconnection. Just like account In the middle, in 2002, the TAT-8 suffered a breakdown, and repairing it was not worth it, it was that simple. With more modern and higher capacity cables already operational, it made no sense to invest in their recovery. It went offline and was abandoned at the bottom of the Atlantic, where it has remained for more than two decades. Now they are taking it out of the sea. According to collect Wired, a specialist company called Subsea Environmental Services is physically recovering the cable with its vessel MV Maasvliet. It is one of the few companies in the world whose entire business consists of recovering and recycling retired submarine cables. The operation involves dragging a flat hook across the seabed, waiting hours until tension is felt in the cable, and then hoisting it aboard meter by meter. The workers they explain As the ocean floor is an increasingly crowded space, and recovering old cables frees up routes for new ones. What is done with the remains. The TAT-8 is not thrown away. Fiber optic cables contain high purity copper, steel and polyethylene, all recyclable materials with market value. Copper, especially, is a valuable resource and may become scarce in a few years. And according to the International Energy Agency, in less than a decade could be scarce if the industry does not find new sources. On the other hand, the steel of the cable will end up being converted into fences, and the plastic, processed in the Netherlands, will be transformed into pellets to manufacture non-food packaging. In fact, just as they count At Wired, you may soon be using shampoo in a bottle made from remains of the first fiber optic cable to cross the Atlantic. Sharks. Curiously, the TAT-8 is at the epicenter of one of the legends that has lasted the longest in this sector: that sharks bite internet cables. Just like share In the middle, it all started with a test prior to the TAT-8, the Optican-1, which ended up failing due to problems in its insulation. A Bell Labs engineer appeared at a conference with shark teeth that had supposedly been removed from the damaged cable. The story spread instantly. As well as point At the time, AT&T even included four pages on protection against shark bites in its press kit for TAT-8. Actually, there has never been consensus about whether the sharks really caused that damage. Subsequent tests in aquariums, where they were starved to see if they would bite into wires with electric fields, did not yield any clear patterns. At least the outcome of all that testing and debate was positive, as engineers added a layer of steel between the insulation and the fibers, which improved the cable’s overall resistance to abrasions and damage of all kinds. Cover image | What’s Inside? In Xataka | In 1901, a Spanish man had one of the ideas of the century: invent the remote control before television

not carrying a puncture repair kit

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Every day more people make a decision when they get a puncture on the road: call for assistance. We’re not saying it, it’s the data from RACE, who point to tire problems as the second most common reason why they come to the rescue of drivers. And, despite everything, the DGT has a message if you want to forget your belongings to repair a puncture: XX euros fine. Let others do it. We can fix fewer and fewer things in our cars. And when we have the opportunity, we don’t do it either. We counted for a long time that assistance companies and driving school teachers have detected a clear trend in drivers: less knowledge of mechanics and less intention to get down to work to carry out a repair. We are facing a direct consequence of greater complexity in our vehicles, with Star&Stop systems that make it difficult to change a simple battery or LED headlights irreplaceable at the moment, as was the case when we had a set of light bulbs in the trunk of the car. But, furthermore, when we can we don’t want to either. I’m not going to change the wheel. According to RACE data, the first cause of roadside assistance is changing the battery. The second is replacing the wheel due to a tire problem. Specifically, 12% of the calls they receive in the RACE They suggest that the driver needs someone to change a tire or repair a puncture. The trend has long been reflected in the vehicles themselves. The inexcusable spare tire gave way to “cookie” wheelssmaller and that can travel at a maximum of 80 km/h and have limited kilometers. Over the years they have become popular puncture repair kits. Solutions that have been reducing costs for the manufacturer while gaining space in the trunk. And, everything indicates, customers and manufacturers seem to be happy. Car brands because they do not have to make that financial effort and customers because they do not seem to want the physical effort of changing the wheel that, for years, accounts for most of the roadside calls for help. And why count on it? At this point, the driver being aware that he is not going to change the wheel, some may have wondered why not do without that replacement tire or the puncture repair kit. Gaps that, without a doubt, can be used to gain more trunk space. The DGT, however, requires us to have them, regardless of whether we are going to use them or not. In it article 1. c) of Annex XII of the General Vehicle Regulations It is specified that “all passenger cars” must have the following equipment: c) A complete spare wheel or a wheel for temporary use, with the necessary tools to change the wheels, or an alternative system to change them that offers sufficient guarantees for the mobility of the vehicle. In these cases, circulation will be carried out respecting the limitations of each alternative. The fine. As we say, even if a driver has no intention of changing a tire, the truth is that he has the obligation to have the necessary spare parts to carry out that intervention. We have contacted the DGT and they have confirmed that the fine in this case would be 80 euros, understanding that This is a minor infraction for not having the appropriate elements to carry out the replacement. This should not be confused with the serious infraction that penalizes driving “a vehicle that fails to comply with the technical conditions established by regulation”, which is punishable by 200 euros. Photo | Jamie Street and David Villarreal Fernandez In Xataka | What to do in the event of an accident and if your car is declared a total loss: all the steps to follow

If this week you do not find who fixes your phone, maybe he is competing in the mobile repair World Cup

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If something can be gamified, we are going to gamify it. It is the best way to turn a daily task into something fun. Not surprisingly, there is a World Cup to collect garbage in Japan -How no-, but it is also something that allows demonstrating the skills in a program that many use, but not so many dominate: The World Cup. Cut by the same pattern is the CGC World Cupa competition that has become the World Cup to repair mobiles. It is an event in which knowledge is shared, workshops are held and in which the main course is a fight repairing a smartphone under very strict rules. CGC World Cup. During the last months, in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Egypt or Indonesia, the qualifying phases of this competition have been held. The best talents of each region came with the hope of taking one of the squares in the final that will be held in the Chinese city of Guangzhou Los next September 17 and 18and it will be then when they have to expose their skills in front of the public and a professional jury. 20 minutes. That is the time that participants have in the tests. The competition seeks excellence both in the precision of labor and in the most difficult in these conditions: to fulfill the clock. The evidence is nothing unknown to competitors: Screen reconditioningwhich includes the replacement of damaged glass. CPU microsoration, such as the replacement of welding spheres. Repair of other terminal components, such as Wi-Fi modules or more common elements in repair workshops. In each job there is a counter and a red button that the participant clicks when it is over. At that time, the jury comes to verify the correct performance in the evidence. There are evidence from two hours 40 minutes Nothing easy. They are situations in which we seek to simulate daily work in a workshop like we can go to to repair our smartphone, but the demand is that the greatest precision is sought at work and, above all, to fulfill a time that is really adjusted (it is not the same in your workshop than in a streaming and with people judging your work at half a meter). As if that were not enough, there are factors that influence the “game.” For example, temperature. Professional attendees to the event comment They have air conditioning, yes, but precisely a temperature that they do not control can make their times vary because they may be more accustomed to higher temperatures in the workshop where they usually work and, even if they are a few degrees, it is something that can affect processes like him receptive. In addition, each professional is accustomed to their tools (some even customize them), but in the GCG World Cup they all compete with the same weapons. The mobile repair Messi. If the mobile lights, it is functional and the work has been done with maximum precision, leaving the smartphone in optimal conditions, wins. These events have also had their controversies, but in terms of experience, it is not only a competition, but a meeting point for the more top professionals of mobile repair worldwide, with panels and courses live. It is also an interesting meeting point for brand tools and distributors brands, so a synergy is created between the different legs of the sector. The truth is that these videos of people performing microsolduras attract a lot of attention, and many of those professionals that we see on YouTube are those who compete and attend these events. Among all, it stands out Wyman Lauconsidered the best ‘repair’ of smartphones in the world and what is a show see to work. In the video below you are performing microsolures between processor pins A17 PRO of the iPhone 15 Pro. It is a repair of the most advanced. It is called ‘CPU Jumper’ and consists of bridging two specific points of the integrated circuit of the CPU by means of a conductive thread, and it is something that is done when it is detected that one of the clues of the processor has been damaged by a fall, humidity or excess heat. Wyman Lau, with its G-Lon brand, is one of the top exponents of the CGC World Cup and someone who has been seen in the events. The World Cup problem of mobile repair? That, as a public that attends live, or you look at the screen on which it is broadcast or surely do not find out about anything if you look directly at competitors, since they do work at the microscopic level. Images | CGC World Cup Egypt, CGC World Cup In Xataka | The World Cup to the Comba exists, it is a hilarious thing and for us the question is obvious: what do the breath expect

Now you can repair these iPad yourself, with official pieces and manuals

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If you live in Spain and your iPad you need repair, there is a new alternative that adds to the usual ones. Until now, some options were to make an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple Store or attend an authorized technical service. From today, however, you can also choose to fix it on your own: Apple has activated The self -determination program for iPad in the country. The company has started this new phase of the program with a selection of specific models: the iPad Air with M2 Chip or later, the iPad Pro with M4 Chiphe iPad Mini with A17 Pro and the iPad with chip A16. For them, it will be possible to acquire original parts, rent professional tools and access detailed technical manuals to replace components such as screens, batteries, cameras or cargo ports. The initiative is part of a broader movement of Apple, who launched the self -determination program in Europe at the end of 2022. At that time, iPhone and laptops were included with their own chip, with access to more than 200 pieces and tools available in a specific store. With the incorporation of iPad, the catalog already covers 65 products, including recent devices such as IPhone 16E and the New Macbook Air . This is the self -determination process. The self -determination program that Apple has just activated in Spain is not immediate or simple. We will have to follow several well -defined steps if we want to take advantage of it. Consult the Technical Manual: Each compatible model has its own manual, published on the official Apple website. These documents explain the process in detail and contain a unique identifier, essential to request pieces. It is important to select the appropriate manual according to the exact model and the type of repair that is intended to be performed. Identify necessary parts and tools: Once the manual is reviewed, we can know what parts should be replaced and what tools are necessary to do it correctly. All material can be acquired from The self -determination store managed by an authorized provider, or through independent distributors such as Mobileparts.shop In Europe. For those who do not want to acquire tools that are only going to use once, Apple offers the possibility of renting them. Process the order: Once the necessary material is identified, we must order. In some cases we will be asked for the serial number or the IMEI of the device to validate the purchase. The entire process is managed outside the Apple ecosystem, through authorized external platforms. Perform step by step repair: With the order already received, the technical process can begin. The manual clearly indicates each of the operations, and in certain cases it will be necessary to use software tools such as the repair assistant or the system configuration to complete the intervention correctly. The company says that the available parts and tools are exactly the same as both the Apple Store and the company’s authorized service providers. Return the replaced pieces: When the repair has ended, we will have the option to return the withdrawal pieces so that Apple can recondition or recycle them. In some concrete repairs, this step can be translated into a partial refund, provided that the pieces are returned in good condition. An interesting option, but not for everyone. As the company points outthis type of repair is not intended for users without experience. Apple says it clearly: it addresses “people with the knowledge and experience necessary to repair electronic devices.” Therefore, if we do not see it clear, the traditional options are still there. More user control, more responsibility too. Apple does not force anyone to open their iPad at home, but now it allows it. The advantage is in the total control over the process and the possibility of addressing problems in the device without going through the technical service. In return, yes, responsibility also falls to the user. Images | Xataka | Roberto Nickson In Xataka | In the middle of the war against the right to repair, there are some brands giving you the instructions for you to fix your little pots yourself

How to repair your chromecast if you were affected by the error that prevented you from sending content

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Let’s explain How to return your chromecast to life If he had been affected by the error that made him not work. It’s about a problem that for a few days I was making the oldest versions of these devices simply could not be used, and gave error if you tried. Now, Google has launched an update with which this problem solves, and we will briefly explain how to use it. Thus, even if you do not have many technological knowledge you will know the steps you must follow. How to return your chromecast to life To solve the problem of chromecast that have stopped working, Google has launched a firmware update which will begin to reach all devices. Recall that this problem affects second generation chromect and chromecast audio. These updates are usually automatic. This means that the only thing you need is that your chromecast is connected to the house Wi -Fi network and is connected to the current. Even if you could not send content, your Chromecast had not ceased to be connected to the network, so there will be no problem to receive the update. Of course, it is important that you know that when the chromecast did not work You should not have restored it. If you restore it you will have a problem to connect and configure it again that it has not yet been solved. Meanwhile, if you had not touched your chromect, I should return to life in a matter of hours. In Xataka Basics | Seven unusual things for which you can use your chromecast with Google TV

It will build a repair center in the heart of China

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As of April 1 ASML will not be able to sell To its Chinese clients its measurement and inspection equipment of integrated circuits. Dutch administration has tightened its controls export to China, aligning with The sanctions approved by the US At the beginning of last December. In practice, these prohibitions force the largest manufacturer of the planet’s lithography equipment to request licenses from the Netherlands government to export a good part of its machines. However, this is not all. At the end of last February several US officials They met with their Dutch and Japanese counterparts With a firm purpose: negotiate what steps can take to drastically limit the participation of ASML and Japanese Tokyo Electron engineers in the maintenance of semiconductor production equipment that are being used by their Chinese customers. China is already the largest Asml market The sanctions that the US governments and the Netherlands are approving are degrading the ASML business in China. It is inevitable if we are in mind that this European company cannot sell its most advanced lithography equipment to its Chinese clients. And neither can some maintenance and after -sales services services provide. The most surprising thing is that despite the current situation the Chinese market is increasingly important for ASML. Despite the current situation, the Chinese market is increasingly important for Asml In 2022 the sales of this company in China amounted to 2.9 billion euros, which represented 13.8% of its annual sales. At that time Taiwan was a more important market for Asml than China. In fact, in 2023 the clients of the island bought lithography equipment for a total value of 8,100 million euros, while its Chinese clients disbursed 7.3 billion euros. And, curiously, in 2024 China was consolidated as the largest market for ASML with total sales of 10.2 billion euros. To understand where this figure comes from, we need to keep in mind something important. As we have seen, ASML cannot sell its most advanced equipment to its Chinese clients, such as the machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) or deep ultraviolet (UVP), but at the moment you can deliver the solutions that allow producing chips with mature integration technologies. These are the semiconductors that are mostly used in cars, appliances or electronic devices, among other products, and usually occur in nodes of 28 nm or less advanced. Anyway all these machines need maintenance. And ASML is determined to guarantee it to its Chinese clients beyond the very likely reluctance that US governments and the Netherlands can put. According to SCMP This company will build a repair and reuse of lithography equipment in the heart of China. In Beijing. This decision comes at a time when The tension between the US and China is maximumso, in reality, it is a very clear statement of intentions: ASML will protect your business in China at all costs. We will see what the government’s response led by Donald Trump will be. Image | ASML More information | SCMP In Xataka | Japan wants to recover leadership as a manufacturer of lithography equipment. And he has a plan to end the Asml monopoly

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