Citing "overwhelming demand", the company apologized for disappointing fans who had missed out and said it would let them know about restock options "at a later day".
"Due to overwhelming demand, all our products from this collection have sold out. We understand this is disappointing to many who were looking to our official email and social media channels for guidance on how and when to purchase.
The statement is not enough to assuage the disappointment for some, however, not least because dozens of the free promo cards some purchasers received are already on eBay, asking hundreds of dollars for what was a pro bono item.
"This is complete utter bullsh*t," said one particularly irate fan. "I spent 36 hours and ended up with a bunch of error codes and it telling me to remove the item. I can't f*cking stand the way this has went.
"Three different times… I had an item in my cart…
"Yesterday, the Sunflora canvas got lucky on refreshing, this morning the Eevee figure from a link on Twitter, then the moment the store opened up today. I tried like 5 times to get the pins in my cart, it refused. I ended up trying for the journal. After I start to fill out shipping information it loads me to the cart and says I need to remove OOS items to finish. I do that, go back to the store just to find nothing.
Brook Trafton – who realized his "childhood dream" when he discovered the rare card earlier this year – parted with his prized collectable after what he'd thought was a standard meet and greet with Post Malone turned into an "unexpected" sale.
After hiring a lawyer and a public relations firm, Trafton was contacted by representatives of Post Malone who said he wanted to meet him and see the card for himself.
"He's like: 'Yes, I will take this card'. It was so magical. I'm not going to lie. I cried a little bit. I cried a lot."
As for what's so special about this particular card? Hailing from Magic: The Gathering's Lord of the Rings set, the "One Ring" card is completely one-of-a-kind, making it one of the game's rarest finds, particularly as it was discovered in perfect mint condition, too.
Samsung has devised a new kind of memory that adopts a low-power compression attached memory module (LPCAMM) form factor to replace the RAM currently found in the best laptops and PCs.
LPDDR and SODIMM RAM are the prevailing form factors in today’s computers. While the former is compact, it’s fixed the the motherboard, meaning replacing it can be difficult. The latter, meanwhile, normally fitted into laptops, can be detached easily, but they have other limitations in terms of performance.
Samsung’s LPCAMM memory, by contrast, is a staggering 60% smaller than SODIMM-based memory. It also boosts performance by up to 50% and power efficiency by up to 70%, the company claims.
Could LPCAMM be a game changer for servers?
With power efficiency and sustainability especially becoming a concern among device manufacturers, Samsung is hoping its LPCAMM form factor can be a solution to both issues. It’s a good thing, then that it’s completed system verification via Intel.
Given it’s so much more power efficient than conventional memory, such as LPDDR5 RAM, and it can swapped in/out with ease, Samsung is hoping this technology can entice the industry to adopt it on a widespread basis in the coming years.
The firm is also hoping its power-saving features make it a great choice for servers and IT infrastructure more broadly.
LPDDR RAM has power-saving features, which work to improve the total cost of operation for data center operators, but using this kind of RAM can lead to other difficulties. Replacing it, for example, means ripping out the entire motherboard if improving the DRAM specification.
Given its modular nature, LPCAMM may be a solid alternative for data center operators who want to cut down on energy consumption and easily replace the components that power their servers.
Samsung will test LPCAMM in next-generation systems with its customers this year, with the hope to commercialize the technology next year.
The launch of the iPhone 15 not only means we have some shiny new smartphones to look at – see our iPhone 15 review for details – it also means the iPhone 16 rumors and leaks can start up in earnest.
On the topic of the 2024 iPhone range, the usually reliable MacRumors has obtained some information about the weights and dimensions of the iPhone 16, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
The headline news would seem to be that the more expensive Pro models are getting a bump in terms of screen size: the iPhone 16 Pro display will apparently measure 6.3 inches corner to corner, compared with 6.1 inches for the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max display is tipped to measure 6.9 inches, up from 6.7 inches on this year's model.
Next year's Pro and Pro Max are going to be a little wider, taller, and heavier as a result, according to the information obtained by MacRumors. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to stick with the same Grade 5 Titanium material used in the 2023 Pro and Pro Max.
More models
When it comes to the iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus, it sounds as though there won't be too much change in terms of dimensions. The phones will be ever so slightly heavier than their predecessors though, by two grams in each case.
MacRumors also suggests that the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are in line for a redesigned camera bump, with a vertical alignment for the lenses reminiscent of the design we saw back with the iPhone 12.
The same report mentions a potential new Capture button on all models of the iPhone 16, which is something that has been mentioned before. Other iPhone 16 rumors have pointed towards a very decent set of camera upgrades as well.
It's not the first time that we've heard about super-sized versions of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, but MacRumors is keen to emphasize that this information is "remarkably early" in the development of the phones, and that the designs are "far from being finalized" – so bear that in mind.
If you thought using a longer password is better for your security than a short one, then you may want to think again.
New research from Specops Software has found that even passwords 15 characters long make it into the top ten of the most common password lengths to be compromised (placing eighth). The most compromised length was eight characters, accounting for 212.5 million out four billion in the company's Breached Password Protection Database.
Specops surmises that this is the most common since eight characters is the default length for Active Directory passwords. As expected, as the character length increases, the share of compromised passwords decreases.
Time to crack
This led Darren James, Senior Product Manager at Specops Software, to conclude, "longer passwords are better... however, it’s important to understand that equipping users with strong, lengthy passwords isn’t a foolproof way to avoid compromised credentials."
He added, "attackers can still find workarounds – and user behavior can undo a good password policy."
When it comes to the actual content of the passwords themselves, it is again not much of a surprise that topping the list for eight character phrases is "password". For 15 characters, the phrase 'Sym_newhire' appears as the second and third most commonly compromised passwords - "Sym_newhireOEIE" and "Sym_newhireOAIE".
It is essential for business to have strong passwords, as Specops also cites figures from Verizon that claim that a massive 86% of all attacks begin by making use of stolen credentials.
Increasing length can safeguard against brute force cracking. Specops calculates that to crack an eight character password, even those that contain numbers and both upper and lower case characters, can take a mere five minutes. On the other hand, a 15 character password can take up to 37 million years to crack.
However, the report warns that this "shouldn't give organizations a false sense of security, as this is only part of the password security battle." For instance, it won't matter if the credentials are stolen via phishing attacks.
Using one of the best business password manager solutions can help to secure your passwords further, as they often come with dark web monitoring features that notify users if any of stored credentials have been leaked in a known data breach.
Looking further ahead, though, the whole discussion may be academic, since passkeys, the new passwordless technology that is taking hold, mean there are no credentials that can be cracked or even phished. Some identity management solutions and business password managers are giving enterprise this capability already.
All the focus has been on FSR 3 launching yesterday (finally), but AMD has also implemented a separate Fluid Motion Frame feature at a driver level, which aims to boost frame rates considerably using frame generation tech.
What’s the difference between these technologies? We’ll come back to that in a moment, but the key thing to know about AMD’s Fluid Motion Frame (AFMF) tech is that as it’s a driver capability, it can be applied to games without the developer having to incorporate support (as is necessary with FSR 3).
What does it do? AFMF literally sticks in extra frames (engages in frame generation) for the game to increase the frames per second (fps) count. The result is an artificially smoother experience for the frame rate.
As VideoCardz reports, there are some initial catches. Firstly, AFMF is still in beta, only having been released in AMD’s Adrenalin preview driver, and it officially supports 12 games right now (including Starfield – check out the full list below).
A Plague Tale – Requiem
Borderlands 3
Control
Dead Space
Deep Rock Galactic
Dying Light 2
Far Cry
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Hitman 3
Hogwarts Legacy
Horizon Zero Dawn
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
Red Dead Redemption 2
Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Starfield
The Last of Us Part 1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
As well as those caveats, also bear in mind this feature is only available for AMD’s current-gen (RX 7000 family) graphics cards.
Analysis: An exciting new world of smoother gaming – with some catches
So, where is the line drawn between FSR 3 and AFMF? Well, the latter is frame generation on the driver side, and an advanced form of that is included in FSR 3 (along with its upscaling chops and so forth).
You can basically think of it as FSR 3 gets fancy frame generation (which is also in Nvidia DLSS 3, of course) plus more besides, whereas AFMF provides a dumbed-down version of it – but with the considerable plus point that it’s available with a lot wider support.
It’ll be applicable to a whole host of games, then, but AFMF won’t be nearly as good as FSR 3 and its frame generation quality (of course, or FSR 3 would be rather redundant). The other thing to remember is that AFMF will of course be exclusive to AMD Radeon GPUs as it’s in the Adrenalin driver, and as mentioned, it’s RDNA 3 graphics cards-only to kick off.
Eventually, we may see it come to more of the GPUs on our list of AMD’s best graphics cards, and we can certainly hope that the RX 6000 family will be catered for.
While a dozen games are officially supported as mentioned, as AMD makes clear, you can enable AFMF for any DX11 or DX12 game using the per-app settings in the Adrenalin software.
With this still being the early stages of AFMF, though, the results are likely to be unpredictable.
AMD throws in a bunch of caveats for those who will be experimenting with AFMF, and that includes the fact that: “AFMF can introduce additional latency in games and is recommended to be combined with AMD Radeon Anti-Lag/Anti-Lag+ for the optimal experience.”
Team Red adds that: “As AFMF may introduce additional latency in games, AFMF may not offer the optimal experience in fast-paced competitive titles.”
Right now, you’ll need to play full-screen to use AFMF as well, with no HDR, and V-Sync disabled, and ideally, FreeSync is recommended for the best experience with this frame rate generation tech, too.
The tech launches show no sign of slowing down as we head into October, with this week serving up another generous round of tech treats to help us wash down last week's helpings of Microsoft Copilot, Amazon's Alexa AI and iOS 17.
This time, it was Meta's turn to take to the stage at Meta Connect, where it made the unsurprising full announcement of the Meta Quest 3, alongside some big AI news. You can read about both of those below, alongside our verdict on DJI's new Mini 4 Pro drone (spoiler: it's great).
In between all of that, we were sorely tempted to pre-order a new Raspberry Pi 5 so that it can sit on our shelf collecting dust again, and we also found time to celebrate Google's 25th birthday. So if you were too busy this week living in actual reality rather than virtual reality, let us fill you in on all the tech news you missed...
7. Google turned 25 – and we celebrated in style
(Image credit: Google)
Okay, most birthday celebrations include party hats, candles and awkwardly fighting co-workers for a slice of cake. But for Google's 25th birthday this week, we decided to honor it in the only way we know how – by writing a series of features delving into the big G's biggest successes, mistakes and exciting future projects.
6. The Raspberry Pi 5 arrived to power your DIY projects
(Image credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Partial to a DIY coding project? The Raspberry Pi has always been a great board for the hobbyist tinkerer – and now a powerful fifth version has just been launched with a new CPU and more.
Okay, there may be some issues with availability despite pre-orders kicking off ahead of an October launch, but it looks like the Pi 5 will be worth waiting for. The main boost is a quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 CPU running at 2.4GHz, and a major upgrade from the Pi 4's 1.8GHz chip.
But you also get a new VideoCore VII GPU for a boost in graphical performance, Bluetooth 5.0 and two HDMI outputs (alongside a pair of USB 3.0 ports) that let you hook up it up to two 4K displays (at 60Hz, with HDR support). Not bad at all for the $60 / £60 / AU$125 (4GB version) and $80 / £79 / AU$95 (8GB) price tags.
Well, we didn’t expect Dune, one of 2021’s best movies, to take an Ornithopter-based trip to Netflix, but that’s exactly what’s happening very, very soon.
That’s right, one of the best Max movies is joining the world’s best streaming service on October 1, meaning more of us can stream Denis Villeneuve’s epic film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal book whenever we want. You can find out if it’s worth watching by reading our Dunereview first.
This week we saw the first iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro phones delivered to their new owners – and while most were excited to receive their new pocket companions, some discovered a few small issues with the first batch of Apple's new phones.
Apple responded to a couple of the issues, namely an iOS bug that made the phones freeze when directly transferring data from another iPhone, plus an issue with fingerprint smudges on the Pro models' new titanium finish. An iOS update (17.0.2) sorted out the former, while Apple updated its support page for cleaning the iPhone 15 series.
Yet anecdotal evidence suggests other small niggles are persisting for some, including the odd manufacturing defect and, later in the week, reports of overheating incidents. We haven't discovered any of these issues during testing and there's no suggestion that they're widespread, but it's something we'll be keeping an eye on (and asking Apple about) in the week ahead.
3. Meta revealed its new AI assistants for WhatsApp and more
(Image credit: Meta)
Meta's quietly been making significant strides in the world of artificial intelligence –and at this week's Meta Connect event, it revealed a bunch of AI-powered tools that are coming to the likes of WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger.
The most useful is arguably a new AI image generation and editing feature for Instagram, which will soon help you apply effects like a watercolor filter or convert it to black and white. But Meta is also baking a lineup of 28 AI characters into its three messaging ups, making them more like a 'social' version of ChatGPT.
These characters are inspired by celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Mr. Beast, Paris Hilton, and Snoop Dogg. You'll be able to have direct conversations with these 'personas' and even inquire about Paris Hilton's favorite lip gloss. As you chat with these characters, their profile images dynamically animate, adding an engaging visual element that's often lacking in conversations with typical AI chatbots.
2. The DJI Mini 4 Pro landed and became our favorite small drone
(Image credit: DJI)
If you're looking to get into aerial photography and videography, then the DJI Mini 3 Pro has long been our recommendation for beginners – and this week it was succeeded by (you guessed it) the Mini 4 Pro.
Okay, not a lot has changed on the camera front, with the Mini 4 Pro offering the same 24mm f/1.7 camera as before – it has a 1/1.3in sensor for shooting 48MP photos and 4K video.
But what has been upgraded is the drone's obstacle-sensing, which is now omnidirectional for safer flying, plus the inclusion of Ocusync 4.0 connectivity and waypoints (for pre-determining a route for your drone to fly through). Not a major upgrade, then, but the Mini 4 Pro still does enough to inherit the crown of being the best drone for most people.
1. The Meta Quest 3 became the best VR headset you can buy
(Image credit: Meta)
Alongside its new AI personalities, Meta finally unveiled the Meta Quest 3 – and based on our experiences with it so far (which you can read more about in our hands-on Meta Quest 3 review) it’s the best VR headset you can buy.
Thanks to its Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, the Meta Quest 3 boasts a 2.5x better graphical performance than the Quest 2, plus it has full-color mixed reality that’s higher quality than what we’ve seen from its rivals – even the Meta Quest Pro. Best of all, the Quest 3 is a reasonable price at just $499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.99 for the 128GB version.
Sure it could have higher RAM, and eye-tracking would have been appreciated, but we don’t think you’ll find a finer VR headset for this price.
Your workplace Microsoft Teams calls may never be the same again after the company announced its latest upgrade.
The new "immersive spaces" feature will look to take your Teams video conferencing to a whole new dimension - allowing users to "transform their meetings into a 3D experience," the company says.
This means that instead of your typical blurred background, or even slightly more-exciting virtual backdrop, your Microsoft Teams call can now take place in any kind of 3D location or setting you choose (so long as Microsoft has built it).
Microsoft Teams immersive spaces
The news was revealed in an incredibly brief post on the company's official Microsoft 365 roadmap.
"With just one click, you can connect with your team in a pre-built immersive space right from the view menu in Teams meetings," the company added, without revealing exactly what kinds of space would be available, or how users might go about adding or requesting new additions.
The post says that an initial preview of immersive space will be available in October 2023, so users won't have too long to wait for a first glimpse of the new spaces. Microsoft says it is then expecting to issue a full release in January 2024, when the new feature will be available to Windows desktop users only to begin with.
Built using its new Microsoft Mesh development platform, immersive spaces were first hinted at by Microsoft back in May 2023.
Accessed either through a PC or a VR headset, the experiences will apparently be able to span across large virtual locations, giving the opportunity to move between different rooms or spaces in order to communicate with different teams or individuals, and spatial audio will mean that users can engage in individual chats or larger discussion with multiple conversations seamlessly.
The new platform could therefore be used to boost a single team's communication, or be the backbone of a virtual conference or company event.
The launch is the latest in a series of additions and upgrades to Microsoft Teams in recent months as the company looks to keep the platform intuitive and engaging for users everywhere.
It also launched Microsoft Teams virtual avatars in May 2023, offering users the chance to substitute themselves for an animated alter-ego that offer more customization options, but also spices up the look and feel of Microsoft Teams calls.
Minecraft Dungeons has amassed 25 million players since its launch in 2020, which Mojang was happy to praise in a blog post. But, despite its large player base, it has been confirmed that no further content for the game is planned.
According to the team, “It was the love of our players that made it [Minecraft Dungeons] grow and thrive, allowing us to continue the adventure and venture further into the Nether, the End, and eventually the mysterious Tower. It exceeded our wildest dreams, and it makes us both proud and grateful for having had the pleasure of building a game together with a community like this one.”
Mojang has confirmed that the update that rolled out in November 2022, 1.17, will be the final update Minecraft Dungeons receives. The game will no longer receive new content or features, and the team has “moved onto new projects that continue to explore experiences in the Minecraft universe.”
The post continues: “We do intend to continue bringing new experiences to the Minecraft universe and give our team the freedom to keep exploring the types of games they're passionate about – just as they did with Dungeons!” No details on any current projects were shared.
Following the confirmation of the final update, Mojang has also stated that players shouldn’t feel as though their adventures within the game are done, and there are still plenty of experiences to embark on within the game, led mainly by the community itself.
With Minecraft Live taking place on October 15, 2023, there’s a lot to look forward to regarding the future of Minecraft. Although the door closing on Dungeons is bittersweet, it might make way for a new and exciting addition to the Minecraft universe - so it is worth keeping an eye on.
The NYT Connections answers for today (September 29), along with our hints as to the categories, will help you solve today's puzzle, which looks set to be a fairly tricky one.
You get four mistakes in NYT Connections and must work out each group, one at a time. They all have different difficulties too, meaning you can slowly whittle away the options of each puzzle, making things steadily easier for yourself. It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks.
While the core puzzles that feature in Connections can be easy on some days, others can be very tricky indeed. That’s where we come in, as we've included some Connections hints and clues for today’s puzzle below. If you really can’t work things out, don’t fret, as you’ll find the answer in this article as well. Keep reading for today’s Connections hints and answers.
NYT Connections hints for September 29 (#110)
Here's some NYT Connections hints for September 29. We’ll start off by giving you the groups in escalating difficulty so that you can start piecing things together.
Very important - Yellow group
Recycling categories - Green group
Hudsons - Blue group
What "beat" may mean - Purple group
NYT Connections answers for September 29 (#110)
If you still can’t work out today’s Connections solution, you’ll find the answers below:
What "beat" may mean - Tempo, Tired, Defeat, Assignment
(Image credit: NYT)
Today’s Connections puzzle is not too challenging, and there are a few categories you should be able to tick off the board right away. There aren't any curveballs to slip you up, it's just a case of figuring out the rather ambiguous categories like "what "beat" may mean" and the "Hudsons". Generally, you shouldn't struggle too much though.
How to play NYT Connections
To play NYT Connections, you ultimately need to find groups of four items that share something in common. Select these four items and press ‘Submit’ to see if you’re correct. You have four mistakes, and need to find the groups before you’ve used all of them up. Here are some category examples:
Fish: Bass, Flounder, Salmon Trout
Fire _: Ant, Drill, Island, Opal
Categories will always be more specific than things like the number of letters in the words, or broader links like names and verbs. Finally, each group is assigned a color, indicating its difficulty. From least difficult to most difficult, the colors go Yellow, Green, Blue, and then Purple. Try to guess the groups before you run out of mistakes!
(Image credit: The New York Times)
What time does NYT Connections reset?
The daily NYT Connections puzzle will reset at midnight local time. Recently this has been happening just a few minutes past 12 AM, but by the time you wake up, there will be a new puzzle ready to go. If you want to stay up and catch it though, no one’s going to judge you.
That’s the NYT Connections answers for September 29. For more word game fun, be sure to take a look at ourbest Wordle starting words. We'll be covering the answers each day, so check back in if you need more help solving a puzzle.
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Chinese state-sponsored threat actors are once again attacking Cisco routers to target private sector giants in Japan and the US, experts ...
Chinese hackers are targeting Cisco routers - so patch now
Chinese state-sponsored threat actors are once again attacking Cisco routers to target private sector giants in Japan and the US, experts have warned.
The warning was issued by Japanese and American law enforcement and cybersecurity agencies: the FBI, NSA, CISA, NISC (Japanese cybersecurity agency), and NPA (Japanese police), with organizations using Cisco tech advised to use the newest router models, apply the latest patches immediately, and keep a close eye on incoming and outgoing network traffic.
In the alert, the organizations said that a group known as BlackTech (also known elsewhere as Palmerworm, Circuit Panda, and Radio Panda) was targeting organizations in government, industrial, technology, media, electronics, telecommunication, and defense industries.
Flaws, or no flaws?
The attackers are reportedly using a backdoor in Cisco routers used by international subsidiaries to gain an initial foothold on the corporate network, and then work their way towards endpoints located in the headquarters. All of this is made possible by custom-built malware, with the apparent end goal of stealing sensitive data from these firms.
On the other hand, Cisco argues that the threat actor isn’t using any flaws in its products. In a recently published advisory, it said that there was no indication of BlackTech abusing a flaw, or stolen certificates, to sign the malware. The company also stressed that for the attack to work, the firmware on the devices needs to be downgraded, which is only something that works on legacy products, and not newer endpoint devices.
Cisco routers are a popular solution among organizations, which makes them a major target, as well.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Russian state-sponsored threat actors were using custom malware against old, unpatched Cisco IOS routers. APT28 (also known as Fancy Bear) was observed deploying custom-built malware known as Jaguar Tooth against organizations in the West. The malware is capable of stealing sensitive data passing through the router and allows threat actors unauthenticated backdoor access to the device.
Google has released an urgent security update addressing yet another security flaw in its Chrome browser.
"Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2023-5217 exists in the wild," the company revealed in a security advisory released alongside the release notes for Google Chrome 117.0.5938.132.
This flaw could have allowed criminals to sneakily install spyware on victims without them realizing.
Google Chrome security update
The news is the fifth exploit for zero-day vulnerabilities in Google Chrome detected since the start of the year, showing that the browser remains a popular target for hackers and cybercriminals.
The CVE Program, which tracks publicly disclosed cybersecurity vulnerabilities, notes that the newly-reported issue, classified as CVE-2023-5217, is caused by a heap buffer overflow weakness in the VP8 encoding of the open source libvpx video codec library, which can cause effects from a simple browser crash to the ability for hackers to carry out arbitrary code execution and subvert any other security service.
"Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix," Google's security advisory added. "We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven't yet fixed."
The update is available now for Google Chrome users on Windows, Mac, and Linux users, who can download it in the Stable Desktop channel.
The NYT Connections answers for today (September 28), along with our hints as to the categories, will help you solve today's puzzle, which looks set to be a fairly tricky one.
You get four mistakes in NYT Connections and must work out each group, one at a time. They all have different difficulties too, meaning you can slowly whittle away the options of each puzzle, making things steadily easier for yourself. It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks.
While the core puzzles that feature in Connections can be easy on some days, others can be very tricky indeed. That’s where we come in, as we've included some Connections hints and clues for today’s puzzle below. If you really can’t work things out, don’t fret, as you’ll find the answer in this article as well. Keep reading for today’s Connections hints and answers.
NYT Connections hints for September 28 (#109)
Here's some NYT Connections hints for September 28. We’ll start off by giving you the groups in escalating difficulty so that you can start piecing things together.
Reflect Light - Yellow group
Ways to Gather Food - Green group
Rap Subgenres - Blue group
Light __ - Purple group
NYT Connections answers for September 28 (#109)
If you still can’t work out today’s Connections solution, you’ll find the answers below:
Reflect Light - Glitter, Gleam, Flash, Sparkle
Ways to Gather Food - Fish, Forage, Trap, Hunt
Rap Subgenres - Bounce, Drill, Grime, Crunk
Light __ - Beer, Bulb, Rail, Year
(Image credit: The New York Times)
Today’s Connections puzzle is a little harder than yesterday's puzzle. Unless you know your rap genres, you're likely to get mixed up, with certain words like 'Bounce' easily applied to other categories. Still, if you manage to start with the ways to gather food, you'll make things a lot easier on yourself.
How to play NYT Connections
To play NYT Connections, you ultimately need to find groups of four items that share something in common. Select these four items and press ‘Submit’ to see if you’re correct. You have four mistakes, and need to find the groups before you’ve used all of them up. Here are some category examples:
Fish: Bass, Flounder, Salmon Trout
Fire _: Ant, Drill, Island, Opal
Categories will always be more specific than things like the number of letters in the words, or broader links like names and verbs. Finally, each group is assigned a color, indicating its difficulty. From least difficult to most difficult, the colors go Yellow, Green, Blue, and then Purple. Try to guess the groups before you run out of mistakes!
(Image credit: The New York Times)
What time does NYT Connections reset?
The daily NYT Connections puzzle will reset at midnight local time. Recently this has been happening just a few minutes past 12 AM, but by the time you wake up, there will be a new puzzle ready to go. If you want to stay up and catch it though, no one’s going to judge you.
That’s the NYT Connections answers for September 28. For more word game fun, be sure to take a look at ourbest Wordle starting words. We'll be covering the answers each day, so check back in if you need more help solving a puzzle.
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Update: Finally, 148 days after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike, the long-running and bitter dispute is over. Taking to...
The Hollywood writers strike has ended – here's what it means for Netflix, Disney Plus, and more
Update: Finally, 148 days after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike, the long-running and bitter dispute is over.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on the evening of Tuesday, September 26, the WGA announced that its negotiating committee, WGA West Council, and WGA East Board voted unanimously to recommend the agreement to its members.
That means the strike is effectively over, with an end date and time set for 12:01am PT on Wednesday, September 27, which has now passed. However, union members will need to also agree to the deal for it to officially take effect. Members will be able to cast their votes in a ballot between October 2 and October 9. Given the unanimous vote between the WGA's three main parties, though, we'd be surprised if union members vote against the proposals.
The WGA reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. Today, our Negotiating Committee, WGAW Board, and WGAE Council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. The strike ends at 12:01 am. Check out our deal at https://t.co/c0ULMXhPL7. #WGAStrong pic.twitter.com/7z8kw9xI1pSeptember 27, 2023
See more
Confirming the deal's new and vastly improved terms in a statement at wgacontract.com, the WGA revealed that, as per the September 25 reports, the deal will run for three years. The new contract will end on May 1, 2026, meaning the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will actually need to renegotiate the terms of the contract in two-and-a-half years time.
Based on a summary of the terms in the new deal, it appears the WGA have successfully negotiated a terrific contract, too. There are a lot of concessions that the AMPTP and world's biggest entertainment studios made in order to bring the five-month strike to an end, and you can read the majority of them via the link at the start of this paragraph. We've also outlined the most important points below, though, to show how the new deal affects the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Max, and more:
Annual pay increases – 5% once the deal goes through, 4% on May 2, 2024, and 3% on May 2, 2025
Protection against Artificial Intelligence – AI tools cannot write or rewrite an individual's works, AI-generated material will not be recognized as 'source material', and writers can use AI to help pen scripts as long as hiring company agrees
Feature films on streaming platforms – For projects made with a budget equivalent to $30m or above, the initial compensation for a story and teleplay is $100,000. Writers will also earn a 26% increase in residual pay, plus a 76% increase on foreign streaming residuals for movies and TV shows
Streaming data transparency – The WGA will be given official albeit confidential viewership data by streaming companies, including the total number of hours watched domestically and internationally
Viewership-based streaming bonuses – Union members will earn extra residuals for High-Budget Subscription Video on Demand (HBSVOD) series and movies based on how often they're in their first 90 days on a platform. Projects airing on HBSVOD services will net a bonus of $9,031 for 30-minute episodes, $16,415 for a 60-minute episodes, or $40,500 for a films over $30 million in budget
Improvements to writers' rooms – Members working in a room with at least two other writers will be paid premium rates for up to 19 weeks. Staff writers must also be paid script fees for any scripts they produce
Original story follows.
After 146 days of bitter exchanges and tense negotiations, 2023's historic writers strike might finally be coming to an end.
Now, it appears that one of those unions has won its battle against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the entertainment industry's biggest studios. According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR) and Variety, the WGA and AMPTP have "tentatively" agreed a new deal, with the former hailing the fresh terms as "exceptional" for its members.
In a statement posted on the WGA's X (formerly Twitter) account, it confirmed that an agreement had been struck between the two parties. However, the deal still has some way to go before it's official and WGA members can get back to work.
The WGA and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement. This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who stood with us for over 146 days. More details coming after contract language is finalized. #WGAStrike pic.twitter.com/GBg2wZBwGBSeptember 25, 2023
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As THR and Variety report, the WGA's negotiating committee will be asked to vote on the terms set out by the new arrangement. If approved, the WGA West's board and WGA East's council will run a fine-tooth comb over the deal to see if it meets their demands.
If they too sign off on it – a decision is expected on Tuesday (September 26) – union members will have the chance to vote for or against the proposals. Should the deal pass with WGA members, the strike will end on an as-yet-determined date. Until then, writers have been asked to suspend all strike action, including picketing in front of studios.
The new deal could mark a major shift in the streaming landscape. For one, its reported three-year length allows the WGA to renegotiate the terms of the contract before the decade ends. That means the WGA will have a stronger hand if any significant industry changes, especially to the ever-changing streaming landscape, occur between now and then.
Throughout the near five-month strike the WGA has also demanded major changes to how its writers are compensated by the world's best streaming services. With a provisional deal now in place, it appears that union members might get a pay increase – and not just in the flat rates they receive from penning the best Netflix shows and best Prime Video movies among others.
It's plausible that writers may also finally get compensation through residual checks – essentially, extra money in their pocket each time a movie or TV show is re-run and/or syndicated on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney Plus.
The WGA has been on strike for the longest period in its history(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Another big sticking point during the protracted talks was the potential threat posed to writers by artificial intelligence (AI). The WGA argued that Prime Video, Max, and other streaming giants could replace those who pen the scripts for their movies and TV shows with AI tools like ChatGPT. Unsurprisingly, using such technology could put WGA members out of work, although right now it's unclear how effective AI-powered language models would be at writing good scripts. It remains to be seen whether Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and other leading studios backed down over this particular issue, and, if they did, to what degree.
Then there are the growing calls for greater transparency over viewing figures in the streaming sector. To its credit, Netflix has been posting weekly updates about its best-performing movies and TV shows for over a year via its Netflix Top 10 website. Admittedly, it doesn't tell the whole story about how successful certain projects have been – for one, Netflix doesn't provide a breakdown on how many audience members watched a TV show from start to finish. In an era where others are extremely reluctant to reveal official viewership data, though, Netflix should be applauded for being more open than its streaming rivals.
We did it. We have a tentative deal.Over the coming days, we'll discuss and vote on it, together, as a democratic union. But today, I want to thank every single WGA member, and every fellow worker who stood with us in solidarity. You made this possible. Thank you. #WGAStrong pic.twitter.com/KfzVKoPMPzSeptember 25, 2023
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Again, the AMPTP, and the studios it represents, have been hesitant to bow to this demand. But – and it's a big but – if they've also backtracked on this issue, we could see a massive shift in how streaming data is presented.
For example, Prime Video and Apple TV Plus have never publicly disclosed how well any of their original productions have performed. The best data we've received from Amazon's flagship streamer is along the lines of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power becoming the most-watched Prime Video original TV show of all time. Meanwhile, Apple has never revealed viewing figures for the best Apple TV Plus shows or movies, such as Foundation or the 2022 Best Picture Oscar winner CODA.
If the new deal includes anything about greater viewership transparency in the industry, it'll give writers – not just studios – a better understanding of how well their shows or films have performed. Even better, if that data has to be made public, viewers will also see which productions did or didn't do so well, and why streamers like Hulu and Paramount Plus have unceremoniously canceled them.
We'll learn more about some of the most important points of the deal in the coming days, which should shine a light on how ground-breaking this deal could be. Stick with TechRadar for more updates when we have them – and here's hoping the SAG-AFTRA strike is now remedied as quickly as possible, so that we can get back to what we all enjoy most: watching a whole hold of fantastic new movies and TV shows.
The NYT Connections answers for today (September 27), along with our hints as to the categories, will help you solve today's puzzle, which looks set to be a fairly tricky one.
You get four mistakes in NYT Connections and must work out each group, one at a time. They all have different difficulties too, meaning you can slowly whittle away the options of each puzzle, making things steadily easier for yourself. It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks.
While the core puzzles that feature in Connections can be easy on some days, others can be very tricky indeed. That’s where we come in, as we've included some Connections hints and clues for today’s puzzle below. If you really can’t work things out, don’t fret, as you’ll find the answer in this article as well. Keep reading for today’s Connections hints and answers.
NYT Connections hints for September 27 (#108)
Here's some NYT Connections hints for September 27. We’ll start off by giving you the groups in escalating difficulty so that you can start piecing things together.
Produce by Trees - Yellow group
Candy Store Treats - Green group
Target of a Scheme - Blue group
Things With Eye (s) - Purple group
NYT Connections answers for September 27 (#108)
If you still can’t work out today’s Connections solution, you’ll find the answers below:
Produce by Trees - Pollen, Sap, Acorn, Cone
Candy Store Treats - Gum, Chocolate, Lollipop, Licorice
Target of a Scheme - Mark, Sucker, Fool, Chump
Things With Eye (s) - Face, Hurricane, Needle, Potato
(Image credit: The New York Times)
Today’s Connections puzzle isn't as challenging as yesterday's puzzle, and fortunately, the categories are pretty easy to slowly chip away at. There aren't any obvious slip-ups to be made, but the harder categories may require a little more thinking in order to make the connection.
How to play NYT Connections
To play NYT Connections, you ultimately need to find groups of four items that share something in common. Select these four items and press ‘Submit’ to see if you’re correct. You have four mistakes, and need to find the groups before you’ve used all of them up. Here are some category examples:
Fish: Bass, Flounder, Salmon Trout
Fire _: Ant, Drill, Island, Opal
Categories will always be more specific than things like the number of letters in the words, or broader links like names and verbs. Finally, each group is assigned a color, indicating its difficulty. From least difficult to most difficult, the colors go Yellow, Green, Blue, and then Purple. Try to guess the groups before you run out of mistakes!
(Image credit: The New York Times)
What time does NYT Connections reset?
The daily NYT Connections puzzle will reset at midnight local time. Recently this has been happening just a few minutes past 12 AM, but by the time you wake up, there will be a new puzzle ready to go. If you want to stay up and catch it though, no one’s going to judge you.
That’s the NYT Connections answers for September 27. For more word game fun, be sure to take a look at ourbest Wordle starting words. We'll be covering the answers each day, so check back in if you need more help solving a puzzle.
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Despite Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still having months until launch, it's been revealed that an initial draft of its impending sequel has...
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 already has a "tentative first draft"
Despite Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still having months until launch, it's been revealed that an initial draft of its impending sequel has already been written.
Producer Yoshinori Kitase made it clear at the 2023 Tokyo Game Show that a "tentative first draft" has been composed for Final Fantasy 7 Remake's third installment.
"I guess you could say that between myself, [director] Tetsuya Nomura, and [writer] Mr. Nojima, we have a tentative first draft for the scenario, and it's in a finished state, so things have gotten started," said Kitase. "That said, although we've gotten some work done, there will still be parts we create by combining players' responses and reactions and going over that feedback. So after the release of Part 2 - Rebirth - it's possible that the things we're coming up with for Part 3 - the concept, etc. - will change."
This translation of the statement was helpfully offered by the Shinra Archeology Department - a fan-run Twitter account dedicated to Final Fantasy 7.
Kitase says that he, Nomura, and Nojima have got Part 3's scenario in a first draft form right now. They’ll have to factor in the reaction from players after FFVII Rebirth releases, which may cause changes. So he urges people to play and react to Rebirth! (Samsung@TGS 9/24) pic.twitter.com/VtVR9pS9o5September 24, 2023
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Given that the first installment of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy already deviated from the established story of the 1997 original, it follows that the state of the third entry in the series would be subject to change. It also seems likely that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthwill see further changes to the story of the game, too.
It's no secret that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth switched up the formula of its original incarnation. The addition of the Arbiters of Fate - the ghostly protectors of the game's established timeline - as well as Cloud and friends' commitment to fight against these sinister specters, speaks to a willingness by the developers to depart from established canon and blaze their own trail. It appears that, with part three, developer Square Enix is sticking to its guns, at least insofar as it's willing to countenance diverging from the story of the original.
That said, we do not yet know what weight will be given to "players' responses and reactions" one Rebirth releases. For now, it seems like any potential changes to Kitase's plans for the trilogy will depend on how the second installment is received once it is released on February 29 next year.
Looking for something to play while waiting for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? Our lists of thebest RPGsand thebest JRPGshave plenty to offer.
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It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. Quordle is t...
Quordle today - hints and answers for Tuesday, September 26 (game #610)
It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off.
Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I'm still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it's fun, but also difficult.
What's more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently.
But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you'll probably need some for this game too.
I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #610 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #610) - hint #1 - Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #610) - hint #2 - total vowels
What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?
• The total number of vowels across today's Quordle answers is 6.
Quordle today (game #610) - hint #3 - repeated letters
Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.
Quordle today (game #610) - hint #4 - total letters
How many different letters are used in Quordle today?
• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 14.
Quordle today (game #610) - hint #5 - uncommon letters
Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?
• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.
Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar.
As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you're competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.
The website also includes a practice mode - which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! - and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements - specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.
Oh, and it's difficult. Really difficult.
What are the Quordle rules?
The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.
1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.
2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow.
3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…
4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two.
5. Answers are never plural.
6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.
7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle's dictionary. You can't guess ABCDE, for instance.
8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle's Hard mode.
9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.
10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.
What is a good Quordle strategy?
Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can't blindly throw letters at it and expect to win - you'll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.
That's the case in Wordle too, of course, but it's even more important in Quordle.
There are two key things to remember.
1. Use several starting words
Firstly, you won't want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words.
The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.
For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options - you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe - but something like that should do the trick.
If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!
2. Narrow things down
Secondly, if you're faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options - for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH - you'll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options.
In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It's risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it's the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure - you simply don't have enough guesses.
In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.
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