It’s a Christmas season of bug fixing in the KDE world as following the late November Plasma 6.0 Beta 1 they’ve shifted from feature work to fixes and with the new test release has received an influx of bug reports…
Source: Phoronix – KDE Developers Continue On Bug Fixing Spree Ahead Of Plasma 6.0
Monthly Archives: December 2023
W4 Games Raises $15M To Help Push Open-Source Video Game Development With Godot
Last year W4 Games was formed by Godot game engine developers as part of an effort to strengthen the open-source Godot ecosystem as well as work on commercial products and services, such as integrating with the proprietary game console/cloud platforms. They started out with $8.5 million dollars last year while this week announced a series A funding round of $15M…
Source: Phoronix – W4 Games Raises M To Help Push Open-Source Video Game Development With Godot
Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 9, 2023
If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 9, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier side; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 9, Wordle #903! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.
How to play Wordle
Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.
Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)
Ready for the hints? Let’s go!
Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?
We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)
Four of the letters are common; the other is medium. Nothing unusual today.
Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?
You’ll need a change in your way of thinking. A slight movement. (Maybe a keyboard key.)
Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?
No doubles today! Five different letters.
How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?
Just one.
What letter does today’s Wordle start with?
Today’s word starts with S
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
Today’s word ends with T.
What is the solution to today’s Wordle?
Ready? Today’s word is SHIFT.
How I solved today’s Wordle
I went with my usual one-two punch of ARISE and TOUCH, and by the end I knew I’d have an S, H, and T, with an I in the center spot. STIH_ doesn’t make sense, so it would likely be SHI_T. And since R was out of play, that meant SHIFT rather than SHIRT.
Wordle 903 3/6 ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
A primer on Wordle basics
The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.
Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word:
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Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
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Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)
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Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)
With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.
The best starter words for Wordle
What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:
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CRANE
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TRACE
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SLANT
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CRATE
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CARTE
Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:
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SALET
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REAST
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TRACE
-
CRATE
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SLATE
Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.
How to win at Wordle
We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.
The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.
One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.
Wordle alternatives
If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:
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Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.
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Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.
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Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.
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Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.
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Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.
Source: LifeHacker – Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 9, 2023
Today's NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 9, 2023
If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, December 9, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 9, NYT Connections #181! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.
If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.
Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!
Credit: Connections/NYT
Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?
Nothing too out of the ordinary today.
Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle
Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:
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Yellow category – Get these at the malt shop.
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Green category – And these at the hardware shop.
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Blue category – These are slippery.
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Purple category – And these are the opposite of slippery.
Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?
There’s a fill-in-the-blank for the purple category.
Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.
BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!
We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)
What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?
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A WICKET is the little wire archway you hit the ball through in croquet. There is also a WICKET in cricket, the sport that looks like bizarro world baseball. It’s from cricket we get the phrase “sticky WICKET,” meaning a difficult situation.
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To FLOAT is to stay above water, literally or metaphorically; it’s also what you call it when you drop a scoop of ice cream into a glass of root beer (a “root beer FLOAT”).
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Something very interesting can RIVET you to your seat, but that comes from the meaning of RIVET as a fastener. (Jeans, for example, famously use RIVETs to reinforce the pocket seams.)
What are the categories in today’s Connections?
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Yellow: ICE CREAM TREATS
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Green: HARDWARE FASTENERS
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Blue: COOKING OILS
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Purple: STICKY ____
DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW
Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.
What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?
The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is ICE CREAM TREATS and the words are: FLOAT, SHAKE, SPLIT, SUNDAE.
What are the green words in today’s Connections?
The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is HARDWARE FASTENERS and the words are: BOLT, NAIL, RIVET, SCREW.
What are the blue words in today’s Connections?
The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is COOKING OILS and the words are: CORN, OLIVE, PALM, PEANUT
What are the purple words in today’s Connections?
The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is STICKY ____ and the words are: FINGERS, NOTE, RICE, WICKET.
How I solved today’s Connections
I get the oils first: PALM, OLIVE, CORN, PEANUT. 🟦 Then I see the “sticky” things: FINGERS, WICKET, NOTE, and the delicious dish sticky RICE. (I’m just glad they didn’t try to put “stick” in this category, like they did last time.) 🟪
BOLT, NAIL, RIVET, and SCREW pretty clearly go together. 🟩 That leaves us with desserts: FLOAT, SHAKE, SUNDAE, and a banana SPLIT. 🟨
Connections Puzzle #181 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨
How to play Connections
I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:
First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).
Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.
You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.
How to win Connections
The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.
If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.
Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!
Source: LifeHacker – Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, December 9, 2023
Hubble back in service after gyro scare—NASA still studying reboost options
Enlarge / The Hubble Space Telescope viewed from Space Shuttle Atlantis during a servicing mission in 2009. (credit: NASA)
The Hubble Space Telescope resumed science observations on Friday after ground teams spent most of the last three weeks assessing the performance of a finicky gyroscope, NASA said.
The troublesome gyroscope is a critical part of the observatory’s pointing system. Hubble’s gyros measure how fast the spacecraft is turning, helping the telescope aim its aperture toward distant cosmic wonders.
Hubble still provides valuable scientific data for astronomers nearly 34 years since its launch aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990. Five more shuttle servicing missions repaired Hubble, upgraded its science instruments, and replaced hardware degraded from long-term use in space. Among other tasks, astronauts on the last of the shuttle repair flights in 2009 installed six new gyroscopes on Hubble.
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Source: Ars Technica – Hubble back in service after gyro scare—NASA still studying reboost options
EU agrees to landmark rules on artificial intelligence
Enlarge / EU Commissioner Thierry Breton talks to media during a press conference in June. (credit: Thierry Monasse | Getty Images)
European Union lawmakers have agreed on the terms for landmark legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, pushing ahead with enacting the world’s most restrictive regime on the development of the technology.
Thierry Breton, EU commissioner, confirmed in a post on X that a deal had been reached.
He called it a historic agreement. “The EU becomes the very first continent to set clear rules for the use of AI,” he wrote. “The AIAct is much more than a rulebook—it’s a launchpad for EU start-ups and researchers to lead the global AI race.”
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Source: Ars Technica – EU agrees to landmark rules on artificial intelligence
Revisiting the Ford Mustang Mach-E—how’s the pony EV doing 3 years later?
Enlarge / The Ford Mustang Mach-E is now in its third year of production, so it felt like a good idea to see how it’s maturing. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
When Ars first drove the then-new Ford Mustang Mach-E back in early 2021, the car was an attention magnet. Now, almost three years later, the Mustang Mach-E is a much more common sight on our roads, but so are other electric crossovers from most of Ford’s usual rivals, including the sales juggernaut that is the Tesla Model Y. We decided to book a few days with a Mustang Mach-E to see how (or if) this equine EV has matured since launch.
Originally, Ford had been working on a much more boring battery electric car until Tesla started delivering its Model 3s, at which point a hastily convened “Team Edison” set to work adding some much-needed brio to the design, rethinking Ford’s EV strategy in the process.
Giving this midsize crossover EV a Mustang name tag remains divisive—I expect a reasonable percentage of comments to this story will be people showing up to complain, “It ain’t no real Mustang.” The crossover’s name is what it is, and there are plenty of Mustang styling cues, but even with the designers’ trick of using black trim to make you ignore the bits they don’t want you to see, there’s no denying the proportions are pretty far from coupe-like.
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Source: Ars Technica – Revisiting the Ford Mustang Mach-E—how’s the pony EV doing 3 years later?
FDA approves first CRISPR therapy—here’s how it works against sickle cell
Enlarge / This digitally colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) revealed some of the comparative ultrastructural morphology between normal red blood cells (RBCs), and a sickle cell RBC (left) found in a blood specimen of an 18-year-old female patient with sickle cell anemia. (credit: CDC)
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved two gene therapies to treat sickle cell disease, one of the which is the first CRISPR/Cas9-based treatment to win regulatory approval in the US.
The announcement is a landmark in the treatment of sickle cell disease, a devastating condition in which red blood cells deform into a sickle shape and clog up blood vessels. Sickle cell disease affects around 100,000 people in the US, most commonly African Americans. It leads to anemia, vaso-occlusive events and crises (painful episodes in which small blockages starve tissue of oxygen), strokes, progressive and irreversible organ damage, decreased quality of life, and early death.
Until today, treatments have been limited. A bone marrow transplant from a genetically matched sibling can cure the condition more than 90 percent of the time, but only around 20 percent of people with the disease have such a genetically matched sibling donor. There are also multiple drugs available and supportive care, but these mainly reduce the severity of the disease. The new gene therapy treatments, on the other hand, have shown to be highly effective at preventing vaso-occlusive events and crises.
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Source: Ars Technica – FDA approves first CRISPR therapy—here’s how it works against sickle cell
Apple appears to have blocked Beeper Mini’s iMessage app in less than a week
Enlarge / Beeper Mini’s promises of “Blue bubbles” on Android seemed to have been nixed by a certain Cupertino-based firm on Friday. (credit: Beeper)
Beeper Mini, the Android app born from a reverse-engineering of Apple’s iMessage service, is currently broken, and it is unknown whether it will resume functioning.
Beeper desktop users received a message from co-founder Eric Migicovsky late on Friday afternoon, noting an “iMessage outage” and that “messages are failing to send and receive.” Reports had started piling up on Reddit around 2:30 pm Eastern. As of 5:30 pm, the app was still reporting errors in sending and receiving messages, with “Failed to lookup on sever: lookup request timed out.” Comments on Beeper’s status post on X (formerly Twitter) suggested mixed results, at best, among users.
The Verge, messaging with Migicovsky, reported that he “did not deny that Apple has successfully blocked Beeper Mini”; to TechCrunch, Migicovsky more clearly stated about an Apple cut-off: “Yes, all data indicates that.” To both outlets, Migicovsky offered the same comment, re-iterating his belief that it was in the best interests of Apple to let iPhone owners and Android users send encrypted messages to one another. (Ars reached out to Migicovsky for comment and will update this post with new information).
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Source: Ars Technica – Apple appears to have blocked Beeper Mini’s iMessage app in less than a week
The Beats Powerbeats Pro Are at Their Lowest Price Right Now
The Beats Powerbeats Pro has been considered one of the best pairs of earbuds for those who stay active and want the confidence of a secure fit. Until Sunday, Dec. 10, you can get them for their lowest price since their release after a 48% discount, currently at $129.95 (originally $249.95). Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship.
Perfect for those who like to stay active outdoors
The Beats Powerbeats Pro have been around since 2019 and have been the staple workout earbuds from Beats by Dr. Dre. They have been well-regarded for years for getting the simple things you want in workout earbuds right: a secure fit, easy operation, and good sound. The fit is highly customizable to fit most ears; they have in-canal adjustable ear tips that come in four sizes as well as well as ear hooks that grip the ear firmly to avoid falling off during intense workouts. They are sweat and water-resistant with an IPX4 rating, meaning as long as you don’t submerge them underwater or put them in your sink, they will survive.
The controls are easy as well, with the left and right side mirroring their commands. It also has a sensor detection feature that starts playing music when you put the earbuds on. You’ll get nine hours of battery life from a single charge and an additional 24 hours from the charging case. And yes, you can take calls since it has a microphone as well. Keep in mind these earbuds are not noise-cancelling, but do have the natural noise isolation that comes with a secure in-ear seal. You can read the full “excellent” PCMag review here.
Source: LifeHacker – The Beats Powerbeats Pro Are at Their Lowest Price Right Now
HP printer app is installing on PCs whether they have HP printers or not
Enlarge / The HP LaserJet M106w is one of the printer models that is mysteriously appearing for some users in Windows 10 and 11. (credit: HP)
Earlier this month, Microsoft posted a new entry in its list of known issues with fully up-to-date Windows 11 PCs: The HP Smart printer app was installing automatically on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs whether they had an HP printer installed or not, changing the names and icons of their connected printers and causing error messages.
Affected PCs will usually appear to have an HP LaserJet M101-M106 connected, so look for that model number in your list of printers (people who actually own one of those HP LaserJets presumably won’t have problems). All versions of Windows 11 are affected, plus all currently supported versions of Windows 10; Windows Server versions going back to 2012 can also be affected.
Microsoft continues to look into the issue, but in an update posted yesterday, the company stated unambiguously that HP was not to blame. The company also says that most printers should continue to work fine, and that they “will continue to use the expected drivers for printer operations.” But if your printer relies on a third-party app for additional functionality, that may be broken.
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Source: Ars Technica – HP printer app is installing on PCs whether they have HP printers or not
If The Game Awards Is All About The Devs, Then Let Them Speak
At the opening of last night’s 2023 edition of The Game Awards, host Geoff Keighley hyped the event as an evening “to recognize outstanding creative work in games in 2023.” But as the night went on, the luminaries who were being awarded for their “outstanding creative work” seemed like they weren’t given much time to…
Source: Kotaku – If The Game Awards Is All About The Devs, Then Let Them Speak
The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: 'Grand Theft Auto 6' Trailer Breaks Internet
This week’s Out-of-Touch guide features one of the most viral videos of all time, the first trailer for RockStar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6. On the opposite side of the mass-appeal spectrum: artsy musician Laurie Anderson is becoming an unlikely TikTok star, and I finally have a resource to help explain all the internet jokes I don’t understand.
Viral video of the week: GTA 6 trailer instantly breaks world record in virality
The trailer for Rockstar Games’ upcoming open-world crime simulator Grand Theft Auto VI has gone extremely viral this week, breaking the world record for most first-day views of a non-music video on YouTube in history. In only 24 hours, the trailer racked up over 90 million views. It’s day three as I post this, and the total is already over 130 million. Add to the total by clicking below.
Set in Vice City, the series’ Miami equivalent, this is the first GTA game with a female lead character. The trailer features imagery inspired by real-life viral videos shot in Florida, and it looks absolutely batshit-awesome.
As you’d probably expect, a GTA game with a Latina woman as main character has lead to tiresome claims of “wokeism” from the worst people on the internet, along with unsourced rumors that Lucia is trans.
The opinions of dummies aside, Rockstar really does have a cultural balancing act ahead of it. Much of the Grand Theft Auto series’ shock-based, “we offend everyone equally” parody was fairly passé when GTA 5 came out back in 2013, and it definitely wouldn’t fly today; not because people are too “sensitive” or whatever, but because that style of confrontational comedy is as stale as Mother-in-Law jokes and Andrew Dice Clay, especially to younger people.
Sadly, we’ll have to wait until 2025 to see how Rockstar threads the needle and determine whether the game actually lives up to the amazing first trailer.
Reddit’s meme-explainer: Peter explains the joke
Have you ever seen a meme or joke online that you just didn’t understand? Maybe something like this:
Credit: SpikedMath/Reddit
Or this:
Credit: u/Person_Named_Jermbo/Reddit
Well now there’s a subreddit that will clear up any confusion. Just visit r/PeterExplainsTheJoke and you’ll find over 300,000 people willing to break it down for you (a service fossils like us need frequently). To keep everything from getting too pedantic—explaining jokes has that problem—the style of the sub is to post comments in the voice of Peter Griffin from Family Guy, like the name says. I’m not sure why; that’s another internet joke I don’t get.
Explanations (not in the style of Peter Griffin):
Meme 1: The bartender is asking if everyone in the group would like a beer. The first two logicians each want a beer, but they don’t know what the others want, so the only logically sound answer is “I don’t know.” The third logician now knows that the other two want a beer—if they didn’t they would have answered, “no”—so they respond “yes. (everyone wants a beer.)”
Meme 2: That is a picture of a cosmic radiation. The reference is to a seemingly impossible glitch caught in a 2013 livestream of a Mario 64 speed-run by TeabagSLR. The glitch: Mario was suddenly able to jump higher than he should have, but only once. The Mario 64 speed-running community got together to try to replicate the glitch, going as far as putting up a $1,000 bounty for an explanation. They could not duplicate it, even when using the exact inputs Teabag used, leading to the theory that a stray ionizing particle from space randomly flipped a single bit on Teabag’s Nintendo 64 at exactly the right moment to benefit his speed run—an astronomically unlikely occurence that was (maybe) confirmed when pannenkoek12 figured out exactly what byte flipped when, then recreated it manually, ultimately duplicating the event.
TikTok discovers a new Christmas cliché: red trucks hauling Christmas trees
Have you ever heard a new word, and suddenly you see that word everywhere? Red pickup trucks hauling Christmas trees are like that: Once you’re aware of this cliché illustration of a cozy, home-y Christmas, you’ll see it everywhere you look from Thanksgiving to New Years.
TikToker mello_yoshi first noticed the imagery on holiday ornaments his mother gave him, showing off a total of 12 decorations with Christmas tree trucks and repeating the phrase, “a little red truck—hauling a Christmas tree!” in a delightful way. This lead to videos of others posting their own little red trucks hauling a Christmas trees, both from holiday decorations and real life, usually imitating the distinct twang of mello_yoshi. If you want to see little red trucks hauling trees, you can either visit the hashtag like 14 million other people already have, or you can just look around at your own holiday decorations. I’ll bet you find at least one.
Why is “O Superman” going viral on TikTok?
It’s fascinating when older music suddenly goes viral, whether they’re from The Mountain Goats or Fleetwood Mac. What is it about this particular tune, at this specific time, that suddenly captures the imagination of a generation of people who weren’t born when the song was released? Case-in-point: The kids are getting into 1980s experimental musician Laurie Anderson. Never particularly popular when she was current—Anderson was way too high-art for mass appeal—her iconic, enigmatic track “O Superman” is gathering steam on TikTok, connected with videos that might make you stop in your tracks as you ponder the great mysteries of existence. Anderson’s lines “Well, you don’t know me, but I know you, and I’ve got a message” is isolated and used for videos illustrating the connections we have to our ancestors, connections that the universe sometimes surprises us with, as if to say, “you know, you actually came from somewhere.” This trend is in its infancy, but I really hope it gets bigger; I can’t get enough of these strange, evocative videos, and I hope to see many more of them.
Source: LifeHacker – The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ Trailer Breaks Internet
The Best Part Of The Game Awards This Year Was The Fashion
Last year, I caused a bit of a ruckus by saying the fashion at The Game Awards was indicative of the industry’s identity crisis. I lamented the t-shirt and blazer uniform and begged the men of the industry to do better. And though I said this not long before the 2022 awards show was set to kick off, it was clear that…
Source: Kotaku – The Best Part Of The Game Awards This Year Was The Fashion
20 Places to Legally Download or Stream Movies for Free
Has Netflix cut you off with the message “This TV isn’t part of your Netflix household” since it started cracking down on password sharing? Are you tired of every streamer you subscribe to hiking prices year over year? Yes, the modern streaming landscape is starting to look a lot like cable. But that also means exploring free streaming options is more enticing than ever.
Luckily there are plenty of ways to stream other awesome shows and movies online for free. Here are 20 great sites to bookmark for when you want something new to watch. (Note that many films are available on multiple free services at once, so if your selection has too many commercial interruptions or painfully low resolution on one source, search for it on another.)
Kanopy and Hoopla
Streaming services Kanopy and Hoopla both have a large selection of high-quality movies—Kanopy even carries The Criterion Collection—but they’re only available if your local library system has a subscription, which also means you’ll need a valid library account to log in. That’s one more hoop you’ll have to jump through, but it’s worth it, considering the variety of what’s available. Check on either site to see if you can access them via your existing (free) library account.
Supported devices: Apps are available for most smart TVs and streaming boxes (including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV) as well as iOS and Android.
PBS
PBS is home to shows like PBS Newshour, Antiques Roadshow and This Old House. While many titles are restricted to paying members, some of PBS’s online selection (taken from its TV programming) is available online for free, including a series of film school shorts. Depending on the show, you may be able to view certain episodes or previews without a subscription. That’s not as great as a full, free season, but it’s enough to get by.
Supported devices: iOS. Android. Amazon Fire TV. Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, most smart TVs
Tubi
Free streaming site Tubi offers movies and TV shows from several major studios with minimal (sometimes zero) advertising. The catch is that—judging by a spot-check—desktop streaming is limited to SD resolutions. The wide range of titles—more than 50,000—covers ever viewing niche imaginable. There are several genre lists to help you browse the large catalog, and even a dedicated section covering movies “Not on Netflix.”
Supported devices: Tubi is available on desktop as well as Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.
Vudu
Paid streaming service Vudu has a free section offering an assortment of recognizable movies floating among less familiar titles. You’ll need to sign up for a free account and sit through some ads—and some movies are only available in SD, which isn’t great—but you’ll get access to more than 5,400 movies on your computer, phone or streaming device. You’ll find a lot of films from the ‘80s and ‘90s (as the rights to supply them have gotten cheaper), as well as a ton of stuff you’ve never heard of before (mostly that, to be honest). But there are some decent hidden gems.
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PlutoTV
PlutoTV is a free, ad-supported, hybrid “live” TV and on demand streaming service offering hundreds of channels you can scroll through to see “what’s on” (with channels covering a wide rage or categories and genres, including a bunch that show inly endless episodes of a single show, from CSI, to Doctor Who, to Family Ties, to Mystery Science Theater 3000) as well as a decent-sized collection of movies and shows to stream on demand. Movies are grouped by categories, including specific themes like “LGBTQ Cinema” and “Popcorn Movie Summer.” The service is owned by ViacomCBS, so a lot of the content mirrors what you’ll find on Paramount+.
Current top on demand selections include all of the Hunger Games films, the original RoboCop, the early 2000s Charlie’s Angels movies, and the Scarlet Johansson-starring adaptation of the Ghost in the Shell anime, which I have been meaning to watch—and doing so via a free streaming services that peppers its programming with ads seems like more or less what the movie deserves.
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Public Domain Torrents
If you’d rather download than stream, Public Domain Torrents is the place to go. As you’d expect, most of the films you’ll find are pretty old, but many are also stone-cold cinema classics. And, as the site’s name implies, they’re all completely free to download. Best of all, many of the films are available in versions optimized or encoded for specific mobile devices—but you can always grab the highest quality download and do the encoding yourself.
Supported devices: This one is up to you and your computer.
TopDocumentaryFilms
TopDocumentaryFilms offers lots of documentaries broken up by category, from war, global conflict and crime to health and the environment. The categorization makes the offerings fairly easy to navigate, and the site has a community of users who provide ratings for each film so you can get an idea of what you’re in for before you begin watching.
If you’d like a starting point, check out their top-100 documentary list to see what others are watching, or check the front page for their featured films. The site is more of an aggregator than a host—the content is pulled from YouTube, Vimeo and other sources—but that makes them a convenient, one-stop shop for documentary fans.
Supported devices: Access the site in your browser.
Classic Cinema Online
If the name doesn’t give it away immediately, Classic Cinema Online is ideal for classic movie buffs who love the era of black-and-white films and artistically painted movie posters. There’s even an entire section dedicated to silent films, if that’s your thing. If you’re looking for something specific, you can sort by category using the menu in the upper-right—if you’re feeling like serials, or a solid silent film. And if you prefer old-time television, check out its sister site, Classic Television Online.
Supported devices: Access the site in your browser.
PopcornFlix
With thousands of free TV shows and movies with names and titles you’ll probably recognize, PopcornFlix prides itself on the fact that none of its programs or movies are more than two clicks away. They’re all completely free to watch on your computer, as well as mobile apps or other supported devices. There are some nice hidden gems here, in addition to a grab-bag of popular (if aging) Hollywood films; one of the current “Most Popular” entries is Memory: The Origins of Alien, a feature-length doc about the creation of Ridley Scott’s horror classic.
Supported devices: Apps are available for Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and most smart TVs.
Crackle
Crackle is often overlooked when people discuss free streaming media on the web, but you can grab this service for a number of mobile devices and set-top boxes. You have to sign up for an account, but once you do, it’s easy to create a watchlist, get recommendations for new shows to stream and browse Crackle’s full library of TV shows and movies. These the films Charlie’s Angels, Black Snake Moan, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), and TV series like That Girl!, 21 Jump Street, and 3rd Rock From the Sun. That’s part of the beauty of Crackle: You’ll absolutely find movies you’ve heard of, shows you actually want to watch and more. It’s all free—as long as you’re willing to watch the occasional commercial.
Supported devices: There are apps for Apple, PC, iOS, and Android. You can also add Plex to most streaming devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV.
Plex
We’ve written a lot about Plex, which announced in December 2019 that it was launching a free, ad-supported streaming service. While it offers paid live TV streaming, there’s a bunch of free content too—but you have to watch ads to view any of its free content. Still, the convenience of being able to view free movies and TV along with anything from your (or your friends’) media servers, all in one place and on any device, is pretty great. Plus, Plex recently added content from Crackle, expanding what you can stream within the service.
Supported devices: There are apps for Apple, PC, iOS, and Android. You can also add Plex to most streaming devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV.
Vimeo
Vimeo might be a distant second to YouTube for size and popularity, but it’s still a great video-streaming service for short film and independent filmmakers. It’s also ideal for people who want the freedom and flexibility of a mobile-friendly, HD-capable upload service that has great privacy and video management controls, as well as an upbeat community of users. For those just looking for something great to watch, Vimeo’s Staff Picks is full of gems that run the gamut from dramas, to documentaries, to science fiction.
Supported devices: You can either grab the Vimeo mobile app to take your movies with you (available on iOS and Android), or stream Vimeo films directly to your TV through your Chromecast, Roku, Xbox, Amazon Fire or Apple TV.
YouTube
No list of free TV shows and movies would be complete without YouTube, and not because of the sheer volume of ripped and pirated media available there. In fact, YouTube is home to a ton of freely-published movies and TV shows, some of which are YouTube originals, and others that are available via Creative Commons licenses or shared in the public domain. YouTube also collects free-with-ads films inside its Movies section. If you need help finding something fresh, the Full Movies on YouTube subreddit lists new free movies every day. Recent finds include The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Open Your Eyes (Abre los ojos), the Spanish film later remade into Vanilla Sky.
Supported devices: YouTube is YouTube; there’s an app on basically every platform and device in existence.
The Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a repository for all sorts of things. While you probably know it for the ever-useful Wayback Machine, it’s also great for public domain films, independent media, TV broadcasts and newsreels and other media that you’re free watch—and to use and remix on your own, if you want. There are plenty of movies—organized by categories like sci-fi, horror or film noir—in addition to art films, educational videos and films, special collections that were made available to the Internet Archive for posterity, documentaries and even collections of stock footage. It’s not the most easily browsable archive, nor is it organized for mobile screens, but it’s certainly a treasure trove of interesting material.
Supported devices: This one is browser only, but you can cast to your TV with a compatible device.
Fandor
Fandor is a subscription streaming service that offers a diverse catalog of independent and international films. However, they also offer a growing library of free movies and films with ads.
Supported devices: Available on the web or in the Fandor app on iOS, Android, Chromecast, and Roku.
Freevee
Formerly IMDb TV, Freevee is a another ad-supported free streaming service with thousand of popular TV shows and movies spanning generes, including comedy, drama, suspense, and animation. Freevee also gives you access to over 150 FAST channels (free, ad-supported television in linear format, like cable television).
Supported devices: If you are an Amazon Prime member, you already have access to Freevee directly from the Prime Video app. If you are not, it has its own standalone app accessible on all Amazon Fire TV devices, iOS, and Android mobile devices, Xbox, PlayStation 5, and many smart TVs. If you don’t have one of those devices and are not an Amazon Prime member, you can still stream from your web browser from the Amazon website—completely free (but not ad free).
Shout Factory TV
Shout Factory TV is a free, ad-supported streaming service where you can catch classic and cult (very cult-y) movies and TV series, as well as some original programming. Shout Factory TV also includes FAST channels and curated live channels and events. The library goes deep in the offbeat—current selections include a documentary about a Power Rangers fan convention—so you’ll be sure to find something interesting to keep you busy.
Supported devices: Streaming online via your web browser, or download the compatible app for your device (including Apple and Android phones and tablets, as well as Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV. (You can read an in-depth review of the service from PCMag.)
The Film Detective
If you haven’t had enough classic feature films, cult classic movies, and classic TV, The Film Detective will give you hope. It’s a classic film restoration, distribution, and streaming company.
Supported devices: The service is available on web, iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, and on their own app. They also run a 24/7 linear channel you can find on multiple platforms. You can watch all their content for free with ads.
ViX
For the Hispanic (and Lusophones) audience who love their telenovelas, soccer games, news, shows, and movies, ViX offers a 24/7 plan that’s completely free (vix gratis) in Spanish and Portuguese. It also includes more than 100 TV channels available on their website.
Supported devices: Android devices, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung, and Amazon Fire. The service shows content mainly from TelevisaUnivision, but also from other third-party content providers.
Redbox
One of Netflix’s original competitors, Redbox, now offers Redbox on Demand and Redbox Free Live TV. Redbox on Demand is a free on demand streaming option that lets you watch movies and shows on your internet browser, where you’ll find a limited selection of movies with commercials. On Redbox Free Live TV, you might find some old favorites and syndicated shows on one of their dozens of channels, but it is live TV, so you won’t have much control over anything.
Supported devices: You can catch Redbox on most leading platforms and smart TVs (there’s a full list here).
Source: LifeHacker – 20 Places to Legally Download or Stream Movies for Free
Wine 9.0-rc1 Released With Upgraded VKD3D, Wine Wayland Improvements
The release process has begun for releasing Wine 9.0 as stable early next year…
Source: Phoronix – Wine 9.0-rc1 Released With Upgraded VKD3D, Wine Wayland Improvements
Apple exec departure leads to major iPhone, Apple Watch reshuffle
Enlarge / The iPhone 15 Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)
According to a report in Bloomberg, Tang Tan, vice president of Product Design, is leaving Apple, and his departure heralds a shuffle of executives heading up some of the company’s most important products.
Sometimes, you might wonder just how much a specific executive influences the grand scheme of things, but the report claims that people within Apple see Tan’s departure as “a blow,” clarifying that he “made critical decisions about Apple’s most important products.” His team reportedly had “tight control” over the look and functionality of those products.
Tan oversaw major aspects of iPhone and Apple Watch design, and he was the executive overseeing accessories and AirPods, as well. He reported to John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, who is likely a more widely known name.
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Source: Ars Technica – Apple exec departure leads to major iPhone, Apple Watch reshuffle
I’m So Ready For Square Enix To Finally Make A Good Mana RPG Again
It’s been 15 years since the last proper game in the Mana series, and that one wasn’t even any good. The Final Fantasy action-RPG spin-off’s legacy has been marked by more downs than ups, but the peaks still burn so brightly in fans’ memories that it’s hard to believe the franchise won’t one day make good on its…
Source: Kotaku – I’m So Ready For Square Enix To Finally Make A Good Mana RPG Again
Verizon fell for fake “search warrant,” gave victim’s phone data to stalker
Enlarge / A Verizon logo at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2019 on February 26, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (credit: Getty Images | David Ramos)
Verizon Wireless gave a female victim’s address and phone logs to an alleged stalker who pretended to be a police officer, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI special agent. The man, Robert Michael Glauner, was later arrested near the victim’s home and found to be carrying a knife at the time, according to the affidavit submitted in court yesterday.
Glauner allegedly traveled from New Mexico to Raleigh, North Carolina, after finding out where she lived and, before arriving, sent a threatening message that said, “if I can’t have you no one can.” He also allegedly threatened to send nude photos of the victim to her family members.
Glauner was charged yesterday with stalking and fraud “in connection with obtaining confidential phone records” in US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. We aren’t posting or linking directly to the court record because it seems to contain the victim’s home address. The incident was previously reported by 404 Media.
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Source: Ars Technica – Verizon fell for fake “search warrant,” gave victim’s phone data to stalker
This Smart Soundbar and Subwoofer Combo Is a Great Deal Right Now
The Roku Streambar and Roku Wireless Bass bundle can do a lot for your entertainment area and kick your TV to the next gear, especially if you don’t have a lot of space to spare. As I’ve covered before, getting a soundbar is one of the best and easiest ways to dramatically improve your TV’s audio. Right now, you can get a streaming device soundbar and subwoofer combo from Roku for $149.99 (originally $249.99) from Amazon, the cheapest price it’s been since its release earlier this year, according to Camelcamelcamel’s price history.
How to use the Roku Streambar and Roku Wireless Bass
I’ve been using Roku devices for years while there’s nothing revolutionary about them, the simplicity is probably what makes them so appealing to me. They are very simple and user-friendly and great for making any TV into a Smart TV. You can download all your favorite apps, cast from your computer or phone (Roku works with both iPhones and Androids) and watch your content in 4K.
The “streambar” is the streaming device and soundbar in one. In comparison to other soundbars, it’s very small (2.4 by 14.0 by 4.2 inches). It can easily fit under most TVs that have at least 2.5 inches of space below the screen, and is small enough to not be too intrusive if it needs to be placed in front. You won’t get the best and most powerful sound out of the soundbar, but it’ll be a big improvement over most TV speakers. You can read the full “excellent” review from PCMag here. However, paired with the Roku Wireless Subwoofer, you’ll get that extra kick in power that the compact soundbar lacks. Since it’s wireless, you don’t need to struggle to fit it on your TV stand. For $20 more than what the streambar normally costs, you get the subwoofer, making this a great deal for anyone looking to improve their audio and streaming system.
Here are some other soundbars to consider:
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Amazon Fire TV 2.0-channel soundbar ($99, was $120)
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Samsung S-series 3.0-channel soundbar ($150, was $250)
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Bose TV Speaker ($199, was $279)
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Samsung S-series 5.0-channel soundbar ($200, was $350)
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Bose Smart Soundbar 600 ($449, was $499)
Source: LifeHacker – This Smart Soundbar and Subwoofer Combo Is a Great Deal Right Now