Oracle’s $150 B Data Center Deal, Space‑Based AI Hubs, and New Dev‑Tool Trends...

Oracle disclosed in a recent securities filing that it has committed roughly $150 billion to lease data‑center space for the quarter ending November, a clear signal it is gearing up for the massive cloud contracts secured by customers like OpenAI. The scale of the lease portfolio underscores Oracle’s ambition to expand its cloud footprint and compete more aggressively with the hyperscale giants. Analysts note that such a capital‑intensive move could pressure margins but may also lock in long‑term revenue streams. The Information

A wave of enthusiasm for space data centers has erupted after Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, and Jensen Huang each highlighted the concept on social platforms. Google recently announced a prototype satellite launch slated for 2027 to test Tensor Processing Units in orbit, while startup Starcloud claims to have trained a large language model aboard a demonstration satellite equipped with an Nvidia GPU. The hype reflects growing concerns that terrestrial infrastructure may soon struggle to meet the compute appetite of next‑generation AI workloads. The Information

A recent XDA Developers deep‑dive reveals that several much‑lauded self‑hosting applications collapsed under real‑world testing, citing clunky user interfaces, excessive resource consumption, and unnecessary complexity. The author replaced the underperforming suite within a day, highlighting a broader caution for developers who chase buzz without rigorous evaluation. This episode serves as a reminder that operational simplicity often trumps feature bloat in production environments. XDA Developers

In another XDA Developers feature, six community‑crafted Vim plugins are showcased as viable alternatives to the heavyweight VS Code ecosystem. The plugins bring modern IDE capabilities—such as LSP integration, fuzzy file finding, and UI enhancements—while preserving Vim’s lightweight, highly configurable nature. For developers seeking a lean yet powerful editing experience across platforms, these extensions signal a resurgence of terminal‑centric tooling. XDA Developers

Phoronix reports that Micron’s emerging file system, FamFS, targets an upstream merge into the mainline Linux kernel by early 2026. Designed to optimize flash‑based storage with low‑latency access patterns, FamFS could become a strategic component for high‑performance cloud workloads. Early adopters are encouraged to trial the technology now, as its eventual integration may reshape storage stacks in data‑center environments. Phoronix

TechSpot highlights a stark disparity on Steam, where nearly half of the 19,000 titles released this year failed to attract meaningful attention. The platform’s open publishing model lowers entry barriers, but the resulting visibility crunch leaves indie studios struggling to stand out without substantial marketing budgets. Industry observers warn that discoverability may become the next critical bottleneck for digital distribution. TechSpot

Tom’s Hardware commemorates the 35th anniversary of id Software’s seminal side‑scroller Commander Keen, noting its pioneering engine crafted by John Carmack and John Romero. The retrospective underscores how early innovations in real‑time rendering continue to influence modern game development pipelines and engine architecture. Tom's Hardware

9To5Mac announces that X for iOS finally rolls out widgets for both the Home and Lock screens, five years after the feature was first teased. The addition aligns the platform with competing ecosystems and offers users a more customizable, glance‑able experience, marking a notable evolution in the app’s UI strategy. 9To5 Mac