TrendingNews: October 2023

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Quordle today - hints and answers for Wednesday, November 1 (game #646)

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 #646 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 #646) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* 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 #646) - 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 7.

Quordle today (game #646) - 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 1.

Quordle today (game #646) - 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 #646) - 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.

Quordle today (game #646) - hint #6 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #646) - hint #7 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• S

• H

• C

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #646) - the answers

Quordle answers for game 646 on a yellow background — (Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #646, are…

ANGST
SUITE
HIPPO
CLAMP

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Daily Sequence today (game #646) - the answers

Quordle daily sequence answers for game 646 on a yellow background — (Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #646, are…

PIVOT
ANNUL
DIVER
SHUNT

Quordle answers: The past 20

Quordle #645, Tuesday 31 October: SHIRE, SHORN, BONGO, LADEN
Quordle #644, Monday 30 October: CHESS, EASEL, GLOOM, GLEAN
Quordle #643, Sunday 29 October: AGATE, FELON, HATER, THREW
Quordle #642, Saturday 28 October: PITCH, SCALE, UNDID, THIGH
Quordle #641, Friday 27 October: UNDER, QUOTE, GROVE, JOUST
Quordle #640, Thursday 26 October: CRUMP, EATEN, SWOON, BARON
Quordle #639, Wednesday 25 October: WEEDY, BLUSH, GUILE, THING
Quordle #638, Tuesday 24 October: DREAD, RARER, STAIR, CRONY
Quordle #637, Monday 23 October: BAYOU, STUDY, QUILT, GUMMY
Quordle #636, Sunday 22 October: DOZEN, POLAR, FROST, COBRA
Quordle #635, Saturday 21 October: SNARL, RAYON, FETID, STAVE
Quordle #634, Friday 20 October: PUFFY, SOLAR, EXULT, TABBY
Quordle #633, Thursday 19 October: BUSED, TRUER, ARGUE, SINGE
Quordle #632, Wednesday 18 October: WHINY, DIODE, BROIL, TAWNY
Quordle #631, Tuesday 17 October: OCCUR, STOMP, AGING, ORBIT
Quordle #630, Monday 16 October: JAZZY, GEESE, CHURN, CACAO
Quordle #629, Sunday 15 October: FALSE, FLAME, HYPER, LURCH
Quordle #628, Saturday 14 October: RALPH, HABIT, STRIP, WISER
Quordle #627, Friday 13 October: GRILL, SEEDY, FROND, MURAL
Quordle #626, Thursday 12 October: AWFUL, STOLE, ADMIN, LIMIT

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

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.

It's played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year.

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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Google Search can help you with your math homework thanks to new update

Google is updating its search engine and Lens tool with new features to help students visualize and solve tricky math problems.

We’re not talking about basic arithmetic either. The upgraded Google Search can now tackle more complex forms of math like calculus and trigonometry. All you have to do is type in the equation or integral into the text bar at the top or take a picture of your homework with Lens. You’ll then see a series of step-by-step instructions explaining how to solve it with the answer at the bottom. Geometry is also supported with the company recommending people use Google Lens to solve those since they can have diagrams. You won’t be able to draw shapes into the search bar so uploading a photo of the equation is your best bet.

Google Search's new math tutor on mobile — (Image credit: Google)

Additionally, you can type in word problems for physics questions. Google Search will highlight the “known and unknown values” and then show you the correct formula to use for that particular equation. As an example, if you need to find out the average acceleration of a cyclist going down a hill, it’ll tell you the specific kinetic formula needed.

Google Search helping with physics — (Image credit: Google)

The math update is currently live on desktop and the mobile app. Google states you can type the phrase “math solver” in the search bar to try out their new experience on desktop. However, when we did, nothing popped up. It's possible this could be referring to future expansion, but we're not sure. Either way, feel free to directly type the math problem into the search bar. You don’t need to bring up anything else.

Advancement in science

Alongside the mathematics help, Google is rolling out interactive 3D models for certain fields of science such as physics, biology, and chemistry. The diagrams will let you zoom into an object as well as provide definitions of what you’re looking at.

At the time of this writing, the patch doesn’t appear to be widely available. We saw interactive 3D models for basic concepts like individual parts of a cell and periodic elements, but nothing for specific types of cells or molecules. You can look up a model for an oxygen atom, but not a carbon dioxide molecule for instance. What’s more, nothing had a definition. It was just the model.

We reached out to Google asking if this patch is seeing a global release or will only be available in a few countries like the United States. We’ll update this story if we hear back.

Undoubtedly, this will help students advance in their courses. But don't forget about the hardware. If you're in the market for a computer, be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best student laptops for 2023.

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It's not going well for artists in their battle against GenAI

A judge in California earlier this week dismissed some claims raised by artists in their fight against AI image-generating websites. The artists believe such sites have been using their work unlawfully.

Parts of a class action brought by Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz were dismissed by US District Judge William Orrick, including all the allegations made against DeviantArt and Midjourney, two popular text-to-image AI art generators.

However, despite some claims being dismissed and the offer for an amended complaint to be submitted, the artists' attorneys Joseph Saveri and Matthew Butterick confirmed that their “core claim” survived.

Artists claim generative AI image creators use their copyrighted work

The case goes as follows: “Plaintiffs allege that Stable Diffusion was “trained” on plaintiffs’ works of art to be able to produce Output Images “in the style” of particular artists.”

Orrick adds: “Finding that the Complaint is defective in numerous respects, I largely GRANT defendants’ motions to dismiss and defer the special motion to strike.”

The hearing on October 30 gave the plaintiffs 30 days to return with an amended complaint addressing “deficiencies” in their arguments, including that some artwork had not been registered with the Copyright Office.

TechRadar Pro asked Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt for further comment on the court case and allegations, but we did not receive any immediate responses.

Orrick also dismissed complaints that the companies in question had violated the artists’ publicity rights and competed with them unfairly. Again, the plaintiffs have been granted permission to refile within 30 days – by the end of November.

More broadly, copyright issues in an evolving AI landscape are expected to become more complex. Microsoft recently announced that it would defend users of its AI Copilot should they find themselves “challenged on copyright grounds.”

Monday, October 30, 2023

Move over Sonos Roam, Klipsch’s new portable Bluetooth speakers can rock outdoors

Klipsch is a company known for making big – refrigerator-sized, in some instances – speakers, all of them with a version of the horn-loaded driver design the company has used since producing its first models back in the 1940s. But the long-running American brand has also kept up with the audio times, producing compact wireless speakers, wireless earbuds like the Klipsch T5 True Wireless Earphones, and Dolby Atmos soundbars.

Klipsch’s latest effort addresses the best Bluetooth speakers category, with a three-model lineup offering a range of size and performance options for music fans on the move. The new portable speakers are named after cities known for their contributions to American music, and they all share extended battery life, an 1P67 dust and waterproof rating, a built-in microphone for calls, and a rugged black-clad exterior.

Other features found on the new portables include Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connections at up to a 40-foot distance and support for the Klipsch Connect app, which lets you adjust volume and bass and store custom EQ settings. The speakers also support a Klipsch Broadcast Mode that allows for more than 10 speakers, including the brand’s larger The One Plus and The Three Plus, to wirelessly link up for simultaneous multiroom playback.

Austin
At around 4 inches tall and wide by 1.75 inches deep, Austin ($99) is the smallest of the three speakers. It packs a 1.5-inch full-range driver powered by a 10-watt amp and is capable of playing up to 12 hours on a single charge. The Austin weighs only 14 ounces and comes with a clip for attaching the speaker to handlebars while biking.

Nashville
The mid-size (7 inches wide by 3 inches tall and deep) Nashville ($149) ups the level of audio immersion via dual 2.25-inch full-range drivers and adds dual passive radiators for enhanced bass. This model’s built-in battery can run a full 24 hours, according to Klipsch, and it can also charge other devices connected to its USB-C port.

Detroit
As an MC5 and Stooges fan, the Detroit ($299) is the Klipsch speaker I’m most excited about. This larger-scale model measures 13 inches wide by 4.8 inches high and 4.1 inches deep and weighs in at a hefty 5.5 pounds. The Detroit uses dual 3-inch drivers and 1 inch tweeters to kick out the jams, and it features four passive radiators for added bass output.

The Austin and Nashville are now available for pre-order at Klipsch retailers and the company’s website. The Detroit is scheduled to arrive in 2024.

Analysis: Bluetooth speakers bring music to the masses

High-performance audio remains very much alive and well, though many people now choose to listen to music using the best headphones and the best wireless speakers. Bluetooth speakers provide an even more user-friendly option via a built-in rechargeable battery and many can be touted outdoors where their weather-resistant casing allows for listening at the pool or beach.

The top pick in our best Bluetooth speakers guide, the Sonos Roam, was chosen for its compact, rugged design and powerful sound for its size. The Roam also supports Wi-Fi and can automatically integrate with a whole-house Sonos system when you return home from outdoor adventures. But at $179, the Roam is also pricey for a compact Bluetooth speaker, and its built-in battery will only run for 10 hours maximum.

The Klipsch Nashville, in contrast, can play for up to 24 hours and it has a heftier build than the Roam, which could equate to a more robust sound. And then there’s the Detroit, a model that based on specs alone looks to be a serious power-house for a portable Bluetooth speaker. Will either of these speakers displace the Sonos Roam as the best overall option in our Bluetooth speakers guide? We’ll know more about that after we get our hands on one to test, but in the meantime, the portable wireless speakers world just got a competitor with serious high-end audio pedigree.

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Instagram and Facebook get ad-free subscriptions in the EU, but they're pricey

Starting in November, Meta will offer Facebook and Instagram users in the EU, EEA, (European Economic Area,) and Switzerland the opportunity to remove all advertisements from the platforms via a new subscription plan.

There will be two different prices available at launch depending on where you purchase a plan. People will be charged €9.99 a month on desktop, while on mobile, the price tag is bumped up to €12.99 a month. The higher cost on smartphones supposedly takes into account all “the fees that Apple and Google charge” developers through their respective app stores, according to the announcement. The company goes on to say it will not collect or use information from a subscribed account for targeted ads. There is one small catch: users must be at least 18 years old. Otherwise, they can't pay for a plan.

One subscription will cover all linked profiles in a person’s Account Center until March 1, 2024. After that date, Meta will begin charging “for each additional account”. Desktop plans will see a €6 increase whereas mobile plans will jump up €8. If you do the math, you're looking at an annual cost of roughly €240 a year for an ad-free experience on a single profile.

Astronomically high price tag

The pricing deeply concerns us, because if we did our math correctly, the final cost will be astronomically high. Think about it.

Let's say you have a Facebook and Instagram account and you want an ad-free experience on both desktop and mobile. To our understanding, you'll need to buy four separate subscriptions to cover all your bases on the two devices. A subscription after March 1 is about €20. So yearly, a European user may have to pay nearly €1,000 to remove all ads across desktop and mobile – assuming they only have one of each. Remember: costs increase for every extra profile. Keep in mind these numbers aren’t exact. We are rounding up, but we’re not too far off from the actual prices.

We reached out to Meta for clarification on the pricing. The announcement's wording was a little confusing. We also asked if there are plans to extend the subscription service to other countries, namely the US and UK. This story will be updated at a later time.

Forced to comply

The company explains it's launching the service as a way “to comply with evolving European regulations”. For the past couple of years, Meta has faced a lot of scrutiny from the EU over how the conglomerate handles user data. It’s gotten to the point where the Union passed the Digital Services Act “outlawing certain manipulative advertising practices” as well as slapping Meta with a $1.3 billion fine.

Apparently, government regulators have ordered the company to give people a way to opt out of being bombarded with online ads. Meta claims the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) recognizes the subscription model as a “valid form of consent”. It is good to see the company provide a way to skip the ads permanently.
Unfortunately, it's making the whole process painful to people’s wallets.

If you are looking for a free way to surf the internet unperturbed, check out TechRadar’s list of the best ad blockers for 2023.

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Seagate confirms that 30TB hard drives are coming in early 2024 — but you probably won’t be able to use it in your PC

Hyperscalers and enterprises will finally be able to buy 30TB hard drives in “early 2024”, Dave Mosley, the CEO of Seagate has confirmed in its first quarter fiscal 2024 earnings report. If confirmed, it would be the largest hard drive ever but would still lag the largest SSD in terms of capacity; the Solidigm D5-P5336 has a 61.44TB capacity.

In a transcript obtained by the Motley Fool, Mosley confirmed that Seagate is likely to begin aggressively ramping 3TB per disk products based on HAMR technology in early calendar 2024. 3TB refers to the platter capacity and Seagate packs ten of these in a hard drive.

Furthermore, he added that these drives will delivery storage capacity beyond 30TB - meaning that Seagate plans to pack more platters per drive or use higher density platters - and will come in either CMR or SMR configurations. Mosley hinted at a 32TB drive further down during a Q&A session and that was the expected capacity Seagate announced back in June 2023 during another analyst update.

After that, the next big step will be launching 40TB hard drives based on 4TB platters, which Seagate’s CEO expects to happen “in less than two years’ time”, which would mean a pre-November 2025 announcement, perhaps to coincide with the SC25, the annual supercomputing conference. Mosley has also reaffirmed Seagate’s commitment to sticking with HDD (rather than also betting on NAND like WD is doing).

He said “Simply put, we offer customers mass data storage at less than one-fifth the cost of comparable NAND solutions on a per-bit basis. We don't foresee that value gap closing over the next decade relative to data center architectures”.

30TB drives have been in the pipeline for a while: Seagate had an announcement two years ago and confirmed select customers had already started testing the drive. Toshiba, another HDD vendor, confirmed it was working on drives of similar capacity. Other capacities that have been confirmed, after Seagate unveiled an Exos 24TB drive, include 28TB and 36TB hard disk drives. A 50TB HAMR-based product is also on Seagatee’s roadmap with a 2026 launch date in place.

Archrival Western Digital already launched a 26TB drive, the Ultrastar DC HC670, but end users can’t buy it as it is host-managed SMR (more on that in our interview with WD’s Ravi Pendekanti, SVP of HDD Product Management). It also confirmed that 28TB HDD are already in the hands of (enterprise/data center/hyperscale/nearline) customers, albeit in the testing stage.

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro Edition Unveiled as an Homage to the Samsung E700

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro Edition as a new variant of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5. The unique clamshell foldable phone draws inspiration from the SGH-E700 (Samsung E700) released in 2003. It debuted as Samsung’s first handset to feature a built-in antenna. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro has a blue colour panel and a matte finish frame.

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Quordle today - hints and answers for Monday, October 30 (game #644)

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.

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 #644 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 #644) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* 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 #644) - 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 8.

Quordle today (game #644) - 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 3.

Quordle today (game #644) - hint #4 - total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 10.

Quordle today (game #644) - 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.

Quordle today (game #644) - hint #6 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #644) - hint #7 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• C

• E

• G

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #644) - the answers

Quordle answers for game 644 on a yellow background — (Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #644, are…

CHESS
EASEL
GLOOM
GLEAN

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.