Robert Tinney, the artist whose airbrushed cover paintings defined the look of pioneering computer magazine Byte, died on February 1, at the age of 78, according to a memorial posted on his official website (Source 1). Tinney's work, which spanned over a decade, gave a visual language to the abstract world of personal computing, translating concepts like artificial intelligence and networking into vivid, surrealist-influenced paintings.
Tinney served as the primary cover artist for Byte from 1975 to the late 1980s, creating more than 80 covers during his career (Source 1). His illustrations were formative for a generation of computer enthusiasts.
In other news, the Berlin Film Festival began with a political undercurrent as the competition jury, led by Wim Wenders, addressed questions about Israel and Palestine (Source 5). Wenders stated that filmmakers "have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians" (Source 5).
Meanwhile, in European politics, a pragmatic alliance between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been building, quietly redefining Europe's power balance (Source 3). A joint-policy paper drawn up by Merz and Meloni is set to be delivered to European Union partners at an informal summit on February 12, 2026, urging reforms to improve the bloc's competitiveness (Source 3).
In the United States, five months after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, a wave of lawsuits revealed how Americans were investigated, fired, and in one case, arrested for their online reactions to his death (Source 4). One notable case involves Larry Bushart, a retired police officer in Lexington, Tennessee, who posted memes mocking Republican officials' mourning over Kirk (Source 4).
Finally, a new tool called "peon-ping" was introduced, designed to provide Warcraft III Peon voice notifications for Claude Code users (Source 2). The tool alerts users when Claude Code needs attention, using voice lines like "Work, work," and "Okie dokie" (Source 2).
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