Sam Ortega

Journalist at Prism News

Hobby

Hands-on hobby reviewer and guide writer who tests gear, builds projects, and writes from direct experience.

Latest Articles

PDP Releases New Yorker Portable Kit in Twisted Cherry, Debuts YouTube Channel

PDP launched the New Yorker 4-piece in Twisted Cherry and rolled out a dedicated YouTube channel; kit ships as a compact 8x10/12x13/5x14/14x16 set aimed at portability-first players.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Releases

Chad Smith Launches Legends of 70s Course on Drumeo; Enrollment Closes March 1

Chad Smith is teaching "Legends of the '70s" on Drumeo; enrollment closes March 1 and all 24 lessons unlock March 2, with a live workshop on March 13.

Mar 2, 2026·3 min read

Releases

Hudson Music Reissues Steve Gadd’s Up Close and In Session Expanded Edition

Hudson Music has reissued Steve Gadd’s Up Close & In Session as a 112-page expanded edition with matching audio and video, pre-orders open and signed copies limited, shipping first week of March 2026.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Updates

Tandem Drums Names BR Distribution as U.K. Partner to Expand Reach

Tandem Drums named BR Distribution as a U.K. partner to expand Drops into British retail and pro audio channels, announcement published February 27, 2026.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Updates

Richmond Heights Plans Highland Road Resurfacing to Add Pickleball Courts

Richmond Heights, Ohio, will resurface courts at 27285 Highland Road for a $164,078 conversion to six pickleball courts and two tennis courts, a temporary fix Parks Director Cameron Campbell calls a "band-aid."

Mar 2, 2026·3 min read

Community

2026 Volunteers in Medicine Pickleball Classic Set for Palmetto Dunes

Players converged at Palmetto Dunes Feb 28–Mar 1 for the Volunteers in Medicine Pickleball Classic, with proceeds shared equally between BJVIM and VIMHHI to support free care.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Community

NYC Resistor Hosts Synthesizer Night Featuring Community Rigs and Vintage Gear

Synthesizer Night brought BYO rigs - “vintage analog gems to cutting‑edge modular wonders” - to NYC Resistor in Brooklyn on Friday, February 27, 2026, as a pay-what-you-wish community performance evening.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Analysis

Electric Druid surveys rare high-pass filter circuits in vintage synths

Electric Druid published a deep technical post on February 27, 2026 that catalogs the surprisingly rare dedicated high-pass circuits in classic instruments such as the Roland Jupiter 4 and the Boss DR-110.

Mar 2, 2026·3 min read

Analysis

Open Emulation Ecosystem Fuels Malicious Builds, Adware and Privacy Risks

Unofficial emulator builds can contain adware or phone home; verify the build source, checksums and outgoing connections before you install.

Mar 2, 2026·5 min read

Releases

Evercade Reveals Two New Carts and Rare Super Pocket Including Banjo-Kazooie

Evercade’s HyperMegaTech Rare Super Pocket packs 14 built‑in Rare games including an optimised Banjo‑Kazooie, costs £49.99/$69.99/€59.99, and is due in June with preorders now live.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Releases

shadPS4 publishes official Qt-based launcher repository as community packages appear

shadPS4 pushed a Qt-only launcher repo tied to commit 2183034 and signed with GPG key B5690EEEBB952194; community packagers published shadps4-qtlauncher-bin v2026.02.28 with AUR activity through 2026-03-01.

Mar 2, 2026·2 min read

Releases

Lomography unveils Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Lens for Z, E, RF

Lomography’s Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 brings three-position spherical-aberration control via a knob, f/2.0 max with f/2.0–f/16 range and six drop-in apertures for Nikon Z, Sony E and Canon RF.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

Releases

Laowa Debuts 200mm f/2 AF C-Dreamer Lens at CP+ 2026

Laowa unveiled the AF 200mm F2 C‑Dreamer at CP+ 2026 — a full‑frame 200mm f/2 autofocus prime in Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon EF mounts, weighing ~1.7 kg and priced around $1,799–$1,999.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

News

Abandoned Observatory Converted into Cozy Tiny Home as Video Goes Viral

A disused observatory has been repurposed into a cozy tiny home and is being showcased in videos on TikTok and YouTube that the Original Report says are gaining traction online.

Mar 1, 2026·2 min read

Updates

Iwilei kauhale enters Phase II as crews trench utilities, stage prefab units

Crews at Iwilei kauhale in Honolulu are trenching utilities and staging prefabricated tiny units as Phase II construction moves into visible on-site work.

Mar 1, 2026·2 min read

Releases

Clarendon-born Mystic Warrior Releases New Single Leader, Eyes International Bookings

Clarendon-born Mystic Warrior drops "Leader", a reggae-hip hop call to action, and is eyeing bookings across Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, the United States and Africa.

Mar 1, 2026·2 min read

Community

Milken Institute Adds Prostate Cancer Foundation Pro‑Am Tennis Weekend to Hamptons Dialogues

Milken Institute’s Hamptons Dialogues listed a PCF Pro‑Am Tennis Tournament weekend that took place Feb 26, 2026, tied to PCF fundraising and Milken’s published health‑and‑safety protocols.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

Updates

GWA Teases 2026 Season: Expanded World Cup, Surf‑Freestyle and FreeFly‑Slalom Focus

GWA posted a 1:11 season teaser in late February promising an expanded World Cup with an eight-stop Surf-Freestyle push and a three-event FreeFly-Slalom roster.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

Community

FOIL Opens Registration for May 2026 Tampa Conference for Foiling Supply Chain

FOIL opened registration for its Spring 2026 conference at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, May 27–28, 2026, and says it expects over 300 members; hotel block booking closes May 5, 2026.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

Releases

Beadle & Grimm Launches Faster, Purple Worm! Everybody Dies Vol. 1 Digitally

Beadle & Grimm’s launched Faster, Purple Worm! Everybody Dies, Vol. 1 — a digital anthology of 15 lethal one-shots for 4–6 level 1 characters on D&D Beyond in late February 2026.

Mar 1, 2026·3 min read

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