BradenWorks · Tech

Tech news that matters, minus the hype.

Fresh headlines, enterprise IT, security, scripts, and honest gear talk — from a working IT pro. No clickbait, no recycled press releases.

Monday, October 5, 2026 · v2 — gaming, hardware, script library Beta

Today in Tech

Fresh · verified this morning

Elon Musk

SpaceXAI considers overhaul of Grok/X pricing

A unified subscription with four tiers — from a free limited plan to a $100/month "Ultra," plus a new $8/month lite plan with Grok, a checkmark, and fewer ads.

Moneyweb (via Bloomberg) · Oct 1

Elon Musk

Musk teases Nvidia AI milestone at SpaceX

Musk says SpaceX is "cautiously optimistic" it can run Nvidia's VR72 AI system near 250kW average power — up to 25% above typical industry figures.

Stocktwits · Oct 2

Nvidia

64GB DGX Spark at $4,999

A cheaper 64GB version of Nvidia's desktop AI supercomputer — half the memory of the original — shipping in the U.S. October 23 through six OEM partners.

NeoTeo · Oct 2

Nvidia

Amazon's $8B Nvidia chip financing plan

Amazon is exploring moving ~$8B of Grace Blackwell chips into an investor-funded vehicle and leasing them back — AI hardware as financeable infrastructure.

Tower Post (via Reuters/FT) · Oct 3

Security

KB Kookmin Bank hit in AI-powered breach

South Korea's KB Kookmin and Shinhan banks breached within 48 hours by hackers reportedly using AI tools — 25,000+ Shinhan customers' loan records exposed.

Nation Press · Oct 2

Flock cameras

Sanders bill would ban federal Flock use

Covers all license-plate readers, lets Americans sue over violations — while Flock, under pressure, cut default data retention from 30 days to 7.

TechCrunch · Oct 2

AI & Chips

Musk · Nvidia · Apple silicon

Apple & Microsoft

Hardware · OS · AI PCs

Apple

12 new things from Apple this October

Foldable iPhone Duo launches October 23 (pre-orders Oct 16), iOS 27.1/27.2 ship, and a 512GB-RAM Mac Studio config arrives late month.

MacRumors · Sep 28

Linux

Linux 7.4 lands with first Apple M4 device trees

The kernel now knows how to find components on M4 Macs and the MacBook Neo — boots to console for now, no GPU yet, but mainline is on the way.

Pasquale Pillitteri (via Phoronix) · Oct 4

Data Centers

Power · builds · locations

Nuclear

Oracle's nuclear deal for $15B AI campus

Oracle wants 125–250 MW from Wisconsin's Point Beach nuclear plant for its "Lighthouse Campus" with OpenAI — says it could save utility customers $300M.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel · Oct 1

Security

Hacks · exploits · surveillance

Exploit

Attackers hit the vulnerability hunters

Two Zammad helpdesk zero-days (CVSS 9.4) chained to root the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure itself — researchers' emails stolen.

The Register · Oct 1

Flock cameras

11 mystery cameras watched Florida drivers

No known owner. Surfaced as DeSantis ordered Flock cameras off state highways and an officer was arrested for 382 unauthorized database lookups.

Fast Company · Oct 2

Patch now

TeamViewer issues urgent patches (all platforms)

Critical vulnerabilities in TeamViewer Full Client and Host across Windows, Linux, and macOS — including a possible access-control bypass. Update to 15.82 now.

Undercode News · Sep 30

Enterprise IT

Exchange · Azure · SCCM · deployment
Heads up, Exchange admins: Extended Security Updates for Exchange 2016/2019 end permanently October 31 — there is no Period 3. Patch now or migrate.

Exchange

Exchange Server SE SU10 V2 released

Fixes nine CVEs including CVE-2026-96940. Known issues: published calendars (.ics HTTP 500s), Korean WordBreaker deadlocks — install the SU, then run Health Checker.

Icewolf Blog · Oct 3

Azure

September Scan Cab re-released (MC1486397)

If you downloaded the September Scan Cab before 6:30 PM PDT Oct 2, re-download — new metadata covers the just-released Exchange updates.

Tophhie Cloud Blog · Oct 2

SCCM

Deploy Windows 11 26H2 via SCCM

26H2 released Sep 29. For 24H2/25H2 machines it's a tiny ~174KB enablement package, not a full reinstall.

Prajwal Desai · Oct 1

Windows Server

Microsoft deprecating major WDS features

PXE network boot and WIM/multicast imaging retire in the next Windows Server release — plan the move to modern deployment tools.

Neowin · Sep 25

Gaming

WoW: Forever · PC hardware · build-a-PC
WoW: Forever launches November 4. Beta level cap is 30, beta ends Oct 21, name reservations open Oct 27. First raids (Barrow Deeps 10-player, Hyjal Summit 20-player, Onyxia 40-player) unlock December 9.

WoW: Forever

Beta level cap raised to 30

October 1 maintenance lifted the cap from 20 to 30, opening more early-game zones for testing ahead of the November 4 launch.

MMOHuts · Oct 1

GPUs

RTX 5090 vs 4090: the real native-gaming gap

Strip away DLSS and frame generation and the 5090 is ~27–38% faster than the 4090 at native 4K/1440p — a real jump, nowhere near the "5x" marketing.

Tech Insider · Oct 3

PC gaming

Shader stutter fix rolls out to all RTX GPUs

Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery now covers every GeForce RTX card — precompiled shaders ship with the game instead of stuttering through first-launch compiles.

Tech Insider (via DirectX blog) · Oct 3

WoW: Forever

Goblin barbers are getting replaced

Player feedback won: the new Darnassus/Thunder Bluff barbershops will get city-appropriate barbers in a future beta build. Undercity's goblin stays — lore reasons.

Icy Veins · Oct 3

Build-a-PC: where the money goes in late 2026

  • GPU first, always. At native 4K the RTX 5090 leads the 4090 by ~30% — but a 4090 at falling prices is the value king for high-refresh 1440p.
  • Don't skimp the PSU. 850W Gold minimum for a 5090-class build; check the 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 connector.
  • 32GB RAM is the floor for gaming + anything else open; 64GB if you stream or run VMs.
  • NVMe Gen4 2TB hits the price/capacity sweet spot — games are 100GB+ now.
  • Price it out at Newegg and PCPartPicker (compatibility checker) before you buy anything.

Christian gaming community

  • XP Church for Gamers — Pastor Souzy's Minecraft church and WoW: Forever coverage. YouTube →
  • Deadly Dill — "Bible Study for Gamers" series and Christian gaming content. YouTube →
  • Game clean, keep Sunday sacred, and remember it's a game — more on the Gaming News page →

Hardware

Nvidia · HP · Dell

Nvidia

DGX Spark 64GB lands Oct 23 at $4,999

Half the unified memory of the original, same GB10 platform — rated for ~100B-parameter models locally. Ships through OEM partners, no Founders Edition.

ThePCEnthusiast · Oct 3

Nvidia

RTX Spark laptops arrive this month

Lenovo and Acer ship the first RTX Spark Windows PCs in October — 20-core Grace CPU, Blackwell GPU, up to 128GB unified memory, from $2,899.

Tech Insider · Oct 2

Market

Dell shipments -8.8%, HP -3.7% in Q2

Omdia: Dell's US shipments fell hardest as component allocation moved away from entry-level; both vendors grew revenue anyway on higher prices. Full-year market forecast: -10.7%.

Business Wire (Omdia) · Sep 9

Pricing

Device prices keep climbing into Q4

MCPC: budgets built on January list prices are now 15–25% short on repriced PC lines. Dell's 30-day quotes and HP's Q4 rebates (through Oct 31) are the locks to use.

MCPC · Sep 28

Script Library

Real scripts · plain-English instructions · zero telemetry
Every script here is free, safe to read before you run, and contains zero telemetry — no phone-home, no data collection, no network calls except to Microsoft's own update servers where noted. How to download: click a script link, then right-click → Save link as. For .ps1 files, right-click the saved file → Run with PowerShell (run as admin where noted). If Windows blocks it, run Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser once in PowerShell first.

PowerShell

System Cleanup

Frees disk space safely: temp files, Windows Update download cache, thumbnail cache, DNS flush — plus an optional Recycle Bin empty (it asks first). Shows space freed. Run as admin for the full pass.

Download: cleanup.ps1 · Win 10/11

PowerShell

Windows Update Helper

Lists available updates using Windows' own update agent, then installs only with your approval. Handles reboots politely (asks first). Must run as administrator.

Download: windows-update.ps1 · Win 10/11

Batch

Quick Cleanup

The five-minute version: temp folders, thumbnail cache, DNS flush, disk-space report, optional Recycle Bin empty. Double-click to run; right-click → admin for deeper cleaning.

Download: cleanup.bat · Win 10/11

Python

Disk Usage Scanner

Finds what's eating your disk: biggest folders and files, with percentages. 100% read-only — it never deletes anything. Standard library only, works on Windows/Mac/Linux.

Download: disk-usage.py · Python 3.6+

PSADT / SCCM

App Deployment Template Notes

Plain-English guide to wrapping installers with the PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit: the three phases, folder layout, a copy-paste skeleton, and the SCCM/Intune deployment checklist.

Download: psadt-sccm-notes.md · guide

GitHub

More on GitHub

New scripts land in the repo first. Everything published there follows the same rules: commented, safe, and telemetry-free.

github.com/askbraden

Downloads

Scripts · security tools · official sources only
Download only from the vendor's official site — never from a "free download" aggregator. Nothing here is a paid placement, ever. Antivirus installers are never hosted here; grab them from the vendor.

Cleanup & utility scripts

Full instructions for each script are in the Script Library above.

Antivirus & security tools

More picks and troubleshooting tools in the Toolbox below.

Where to Buy

Latest hardware · real retailers

Out now / shipping soon

  • Nvidia DGX Spark 64GB — $4,999. Ships in the U.S. October 23 through six OEM partners.
  • Googlebook laptops — at Best Buy now (Dell XPS Googlebook $999; free Pixel Buds 2a with pre-order).
  • RTX Spark systems — from Lenovo and Acer this October.
  • AMD EPYC 9006 "Venice" — 31 SKUs priced ($700–$14,904); buy through ASUS, Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Supermicro as platforms launch.
  • Surface Laptop 13 Gen 2 — ships October 13 in the U.S.
  • iPhone Duo (foldable) — pre-orders October 16, launches October 23.

Buying smart

  • Server pricing you see quoted is usually 1Ku (per-1,000-unit) — not the shelf price.
  • AI desktops: compare total memory first — it's the bottleneck, not the GPU name.
  • More buying guides land here as hardware drops. No affiliate links yet — when they appear, they'll be labeled.

Toolbox

Antivirus · troubleshooting · daily drivers
Download only from the vendor's official site — never from a "free download" aggregator. Nothing here is a paid placement, ever.

Security & antivirus

  • Bitdefender Antivirus Free — best hands-off protection; quiet, light, top lab scores. bitdefender.com
  • Avast Free Antivirus — best free overall in 2026 testing (perfect AV-TEST score on the free build). avast.com
  • Malwarebytes Free — the second-opinion scanner; best at cleaning an already-infected PC. Run it alongside your main antivirus. malwarebytes.com
  • AVG AntiVirus Free — solid everyday free protection, clean interface. avg.com
  • Microsoft Defender — already built into Windows and switched on. If you install nothing else, make sure this is on.

Troubleshooting & repair

  • More recommendations landing soon.

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