Technology

• The Honey extension was recently accused of being a scam
• Google responded by updating its extension rules
• Some people believe the search engine giant took things too far

Earlier this week, Google updated the Chrome extension rules for affiliates, basically telling its users that without tangible benefit, or user action, affiliate links cannot be placed. Although not specifically stated, by large the community agrees that PayPal’s Honey extension forced Google’s arm here.

For those with shorter memory spans, two months ago a YouTuber named MegaLag published an in-depth investigation on how the Honey browser extension was essentially engaged in referral jacking.

Honey is an extension that was advertised as a coupon hunter, finding the best deals for people looking to shop online. However, researchers argued that it was swapping out referrals from the influencers that were promoting the extension, with its own, basically robbing the people of their commission.

Monopoly abuse, or UX protection?

Now, Google’s new extension rules clarify what is allowed, and what is not: “Affiliate links, codes, or cookies must only be included when the extension provides a direct and transparent user benefit related to the extension’s core functionality. It is not permitted to inject affiliate links without related user action and without providing a tangible benefit to users.”

“Some common violations include: Inserting affiliate links when no discount, cashback, or donation is provided," and, "An extension that continuously injects affiliate links in the background without related user action.”

This is apparently what Honey was doing. In some cases, even if it didn’t find any discount coupons, it would still swap out the referrals. Google and PayPal are yet to comment on the new development.

While consumer protection is always a good thing, not everyone agrees with Google here. In the comment section of The Verge’s article, there are people who believe Google is using its browser monopoly position to “strong-arm” Honey, and that it should not be the one deciding if someone else’s business model is viable or not. While probably a strong argument, other people pointed out that Google has the right to decide what kind of user experience it creates for its user base.

Via The Verge

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• Apple's iOS 18.4 update will add new features to the Photos app
• Some of the new features include new filtering options and a new privacy setting
• iOS 18.4 could arrive via an official release as soon as April

Apple’s next software update – iOS 18.4 – is currently being tested in developer and public betas, and according to 9to5Mac, you can expect a widespread rollout as early as April.

While we were originally expecting based on rumors that we'd get our first look at the AI-infused Siri, early betas of iOS 18.4 showed no signs, and Apple has since confirmed a delay in the feature set. Even so, we've noticed four big changes to the Apple Photos app that we can’t ignore.

Upgrades to Apple Photos’ filtering options are just one of the new features we guessed a few weeks back, and new images that have surfaced from its beta testing show that we guessed correctly. The four new features are relatively small but provide more flexibility in managing your privacy and finding and organizing photos in your gallery.

They're all set to be pretty helpful if you rely on the Photos app to manage all of your photography. So before Apple drops iOS 18.4 for the iPhone – alongside iPadOS and macOS – let's take a look at the latest additions to the Photos app.

Album privacy features

(Image credit: Future)

Over the past few years, Apple has doubled down on its privacy features within its Photos app, and iOS 18.4 will continue to do so with a new option to disable albums.

Once installed, you'll have the ability to disable your ‘Recently Viewed’ and ‘Recently Shared’ galleries by going into the Settings app and selecting ‘Apps’ and then ‘Photos.’ Once disabled, these albums will be able to be viewed in Utilities only.

New filtering features in your gallery

(Image credit: Future)

Instead of spending copious amounts of time scrolling through your gallery to find a specific image you want to edit or show your friends, Apple Photos has many filtering options to make this much more manageable.

The iOS 18.4 update packs two new filtering options, ‘Shared With You’ and ‘Not in an Album,’ which can be found under the two arrow icons on the bottom left.

This feature will make it easier to distinguish between photos that others have sent you and ones you haven’t yet sorted into albums. In addition, you’ll also find new sorting features when you go to Albums and tap the three dots in the top right corner, which will allow you to filter only to show albums or only show folders.

Album sorting just got easier

You can already sort your Photos albums into two categories, ‘Sort by Name’ and ‘Sort by Custom Order’, and a third one arrives with iOS 18.4. The new ‘Sort by Date Modified’ will arrange your albums and folders in an order that shows your most recently modified ones at the top.

Recover and delete photos all at once

This isn’t necessarily a new addition to the Photos app but more so a revamp of an existing feature that allows you to delete and recover all your photos at once.

In iOS 18.4, your ‘Recently Deleted’ photo album will feature a new trash bin icon that you can tap to remove all of your deleted photos permanently. Alternatively, the same works with recovering your photos when you tap the new ‘Recover All’ button.

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• JBL Flip 7 and Charge 6 arrive on April 6, 2025
• AI Sound Boost, longer battery life and Auracast too
• $20 more than current models

When it comes to improving the best portable speakers, manufacturers don't need to add whizzy new features: all they need to do is make 'em louder, make 'em sound better and make 'em last longer. And JBL's new Charge 6 and Flip 7 deliver on all three counts – and they're finally official, having previously sort-of leaked, sort-of been officially revealed in China.

The headline feature here is JBL's AI Sound Boost, which is designed to optimize the sound settings and in particular, to enable you to turn the speaker up louder without getting unwanted distortion. That feature is already in the JBL Xtreme 4, which we've tested and enjoyed immensely.

(Image credit: JBL) JBL Flip 7 and Charge 6: key features and pricing

Both speakers are IP68 rated for water and dust resistance, and they come with longer battery life than before: up to 16 hours for the Flip and 28 hours for the Charge. Those figures are based on using the Playtime Boost feature, which adjusts the EQ in order to eke out a few extra hours of playback.

There's the same Bluetooth support in each speaker (5.4) and both have Auracast for multi-speaker connections. There are six color options – black, blue, white, red, camo and purple – and their USB-C connectors enable you to play lossless hi-res audio.

Both speakers will be shipping from 6 April, 2025. The Flip 7 has an official price of $149 and the Charge 6 is $199; we're waiting on UK and Australian pricing details. But the US price is a slight increase over the current models: the launch price of the Flip 6 was $129.95 / £129.99 (about AU$175) and the Charge 5 was $179 / £159 / AU$229.

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Are you experiencing issues with Google Messages? If so you’re not the only one, as on Reddit users have been reporting issues with receiving incoming photos and videos, experiencing either slow media transfers or complete failures.

Google Messages users have been sharing their experiences in a series of Reddit posts (see below), detailing issues with slow app performances when trying to load attachments, and images and videos appearing blurry, or not loading at all.

Extremely Blurry Images Received over RCS from r/GoogleMessages

Google has acknowledged the issues in a support post, saying, “We know many of you have been experiencing frustrating issues receiving media in Messages, especially slowdowns and failures. We understand how disruptive this can be, and we appreciate you bringing it to our attention.”

Google says it's addressing the issues by rolling out updates to improve Messages’ media performance, adding that, “Our team has been actively working on this, and we've recently rolled out updates aimed at significantly improving media receiving performance. We're hoping you'll see a noticeable difference now. However, we also know that issues can be complex, and we're committed to getting this right”.

Sporadic "Can't load attachment" errors wMMS on Google Messages from r/GoogleMessages

Google hasn’t revealed exactly what it’s doing to implement these changes, but according to The Verge it could simply be making backend server changes, as users haven’t been required to install anything new.

Whatever fixes Google is implementing it appears they've yet to reach all users, as while some have reported improved media performance others say they're still experiencing problems, and Google has encouraged Messages users to keep reporting any issues they face.

These aren't the only issues Google has run into this week, as Chromecast users are currently experiencing a weird 'untrusted device' bug that blocks casting.

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Apple Intelligence, as a project, still feels poorly defined and a little nebulous – even as we approach the anniversary of its reveal in June. It’s a bundle of features, some good, and some fairly pointless, and it’s clearer than ever that Apple, a company that’s long come to technologies later than rivals but with an extra panache that’s almost unmatched in the industry, is playing catch-up.

Ask a more casual iPhone user what Apple Intelligence is or does, and there’s a good chance they’ll struggle to give you an answer, despite those two words being bandied around on advertisements since before you could even run it. And, with a hefty delay, that could be a sign of things to come.

In fact, I asked a bunch of people around me. Their only response was the comically incorrect notification summaries - either because they turned them off or left them on for comedic purposes.

For the first time that I can remember, Apple seems… lost. Unsure on how best to press forward but with the tech world simultaneously streaking ahead while also feeling Wall Street breathing down its neck. Could the company have done something differently?

AI is a tech buzzword the same way ‘Crypto’ was a few years ago, but it’s gone beyond that in that every tech product feels like it needs to mention those two letters in some way. It’s clear that pressure got to Apple, one of the largest tech companies in the world, which feels relatively unprecedented.

As Apple’s Craig Federighi pointed out at WWDC 2024 in the video above, Apple has been making AI-powered computers for years, but it had been calling it ‘Machine Learning’. Those neural engines have been around for years, while Siri, Apple’s (mostly useless) voice assistant debuted back in 2011. By all rights, Apple could have started the AI ‘arms race’ if it had wanted to years ago.

And yet, the likes of OpenAI and Google have not only breezed past Apple but lapped them. I don’t use ChatGPT all that often, but it runs rings around Siri to the point where Apple plugged it into its latest OS updates. If that’s not an admission of a fumble, I don’t know what is.

Apple certainly felt confident in Apple Intelligence when WWDC took place. The company spent a huge amount of time extolling the virtues of it, and I don’t doubt some are having plenty of fun creating Genmoji – but one glance at the competition tells you that won’t cut it anymore, and the company may not have the luxury of time to catch-up.

Apple is reportedly lagging behind its internal targets according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

“When Apple unveiled an AI-infused version of Siri last June, the system looked great in computer-generated video,” Gurman said in his Power On Newsletter.

“The new Siri could tap into your personal data to better answer questions, analyze what was on your screen, and more precisely control features and apps. In reality, though, the company barely had a functional prototype. And Apple engineers will need to move mountains to get it finished by May as planned.” In fact, Apple has officially delayed the arrival of the Apple Intelligence-powered Siri, stating it's coming "with a future software update."

That means coming into WWDC 2025, Apple may not have rolled out everything it promised at WWDC 2024, while other features feel underbaked (why can’t I ask ChatGPT something via Siri on a Mac and have it stay on screen, rather than the question and answer vanishing as soon as I click elsewhere?).

Gurman has suggested that Apple’s AI vision of a conversational Siri might not reach users until 2027 with iOS 20.

In some ways, we’ve seen this before with Apple and gaming (hear me out). Macs can run games, but consumers have always known that they’ll get more games and a better experience out of a Windows machine or a dedicated console.

Sure, Apple can show how its latest MacBooks now run Cyberpunk 2077 almost half a decade after it first launched, but it’s so far behind that Apple has seemingly lost interest in competing. The same now feels true of Apple’s AI push – the company has given it a go, but you’ll get more AI functionality from rivals.

The difference is that AI is seen as the future of computing, whereas gaming has always been a niche Apple hasn’t necessarily wanted to invest as heavily in.

The next couple of years will be fascinating to watch unfold. Apple’s transition to its own silicon put the spotlight back on the Mac (pun intended), but now it feels as though it needs to, as Gurman says, “move mountains” to keep it there.

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• Connections using the Remote Desktop app will be locked from May 27
• New Windows App takes its place, but there are already known issues
• You’ll need to manually uninstall the old app and install the new one

Microsoft Senior Product Manager Hilary Braun has confirmed that the company will be dropping support for the Remote Desktop app beginning May 27, 2025.

Services will live on, but the app will be replaced by the Windows App, described as a new unified gateway for remote connections.

Continued access to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box will require users to transition to the new app, which has an extensive reach across multiple platforms.

Remote Desktop app is being replaced by Windows App

Microsoft’s support page confirms that the Windows App will work across Windows and macOS desktops, iOS/iPadOS mobile devices and web browsers. It’s also available in preview for Android, ChromeOS, and Meta Quest devices.

Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, Remote Desktop Services, and Remote PC services are all handled through the updated app, however there is limited functionality for Remote Desktop and PC Services on Windows devices and web browsers, according to the support article.

However, the transition looks to be all but smooth. Braun advised users requiring access to the soon-to-be deprecated Remote Desktop app to use Remote Desktop Connection “until support for this connection type is available in Windows App.”

Redmond has also published a list of known issues and limitations for the Windows App.

Uninstalling the Remote Desktop app follows the same process as removing other apps. Just like that app, the Windows App can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store.

Apart from actually transitioning between the two, Braun also reminded companies to update their internal resources such as user guidance, help desk documentation and administrative materials to reflect the changes and make the change smoother for employees and users.

In the meantime, customers have a little over two weeks before connections to Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft Dev Box via the Remote Desktop app are blocked.

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Think your identity verification (IDV) process is airtight? Think again. Fraudsters are getting smarter, and outdated security assumptions are leaving businesses vulnerable to attacks they don’t see coming.

From stolen personal data to AI-generated deepfakes, today’s threats expose the cracks in legacy verification systems. Yet many organizations still cling to myths that create a false sense of cybersecurity.

In this piece, I’ll share the most common IDV misconceptions and reveal what it really takes to stop fraud in its tracks.

Myth #1: Identity Data Proves Who You Are

Identity data of course refers to the personal information contained within official identification documents such as ID cards, driver’s licenses, and passports. This data typically includes full name, date of birth, address, and unique identifiers like a social security number or passport number. Many organizations believe that personal data points like social security number and mother’s maiden name are enough to validate someone’s identity. Some also assume that data breaches are rare, so relying on identity data feels like a safe bet.

But here’s the hard truth: over 10 billion sets of identity data have been compromised, and with only 8 billion people on the planet, that means many of us have been breached multiple times! This stolen data is widely available to bad actors on dark web markets, making it useless in proving an individual’s identity. Relying on outdated methods like traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) checks is a dangerous gamble when fraudsters can easily exploit stolen data to impersonate anyone. The reality is, identity data is no longer the reliable proof it used to be.

Myth #2: Security Features Guarantee Authenticity

There’s an assumption that security features on ID documents, such as holograms and microprints, are strong enough to prevent fraud. Many think trained professionals can easily spot a fake ID through simple visual inspection, assuming that tampering will leave visible damage or alteration.

The truth is, these security features were designed to be detected by scanning equipment, not the human eye. With IDs frequently submitted as photos, fraudsters can use digital tools to manipulate or create fake documents that mimic these security features, including holograms and microprints.

Myth #3: Deepfakes Can Be Detected Through Simple Visual Checks

Many believe that trained fraud teams can spot deepfakes by noticing small signs of manipulation, such as jerky head movements in videos.

Unfortunately, modern deepfake technology has already advanced to the point where these fakes are nearly flawless. This makes manual inspection unreliable and inconsistent, particularly when forgeries involve image generation instead of simple manipulation. With consumers expecting rapid verification, the growing number of applications and the increasing realism of manipulated images make it impractical for humans to rely solely on visual checks..

Myth #4: AML/PEP Checks Are Comprehensive

Following years of implementation, it’s been assumed that sanctions and politically exposed persons (PEP) watchlists are thorough and universally shared across borders, with anti-money laundering (AML) checks effectively blocking the majority of money laundering activities.

The truth is far less reassuring. Unfortunately, the resources available for PEP and sanctions checks are fragmented and incomplete. While government agencies maintain comprehensive databases, access is restricted, and updates lag behind fast-evolving criminal tactics.. Add in the hurdles of privacy regulations, and you’ve got critical data gaps across jurisdictions, making AML checks far from foolproof..

Myth #5: High Success Rates Equal Good Security

Another common misconception is that high success rates (some as high as 99%!) mean a verification solution is truly effective.

This is extremely misleading, because success rates only reflect the fraud cases that were caught, not the many fraudulent attempts that slipped through the cracks. High success rates can be seriously misleading, masking the bigger issue of undetected fraud.

Myth #6: Automation Provides Both Speed and Accuracy

One final myth holds that automation enables rapid ID verification without sacrificing quality, and that all verification solutions are equally effective.

In reality, the effectiveness of a verification solution hinges on the quality and depth of the checks. While automation speeds things up, it must be balanced with accuracy to truly deliver. Not all verification systems are created equal, and some offer more thorough, reliable checks than others, meaning that speed alone is not enough to guarantee effectiveness.

Best Practices to Combat Modern Fraud

To stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat of identity theft, organizations must implement a multi-layered approach to verification. Relying on just one method simply won’t cut it against the sophisticated fraud tactics like deepfakes and digital manipulations we see today.

Currently, most organizations rely solely on case-level detection, where tools analyze every ID document or selfie submission individually. But the smart players are adding traffic-level detection to the mix, which spots broader fraud patterns and flags large-scale, organized fraud attempts.

Balancing user experience with top-tier security is also essential. Verification processes should be seamless and user-friendly, but security should never be sacrificed. Regular updates to verification methods are a must for keeping up with rapidly changing fraud tactics. Investing in automated, AI-powered solutions gives businesses the ability to fight back against emerging threats in real time.

Finally, the continuous monitoring and evaluation of verification methods ensure that systems remain strong, effective, and ahead of fraudsters. t. By staying proactive, businesses can ensure their verification methods are up-to-date and resilient. These best practices aren’t just a defense; they’re an investment in securing your business and protecting your customers from the next wave of fraud.

We list the best identity theft protection for families.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

Members of the House Oversight Committee sent dozens of requests to federal agencies on Wednesday about their use of AI software—and how Elon Musk could benefit.

The heroes have their own AI-powered army. I met the people (and machines) beating the cybercriminals at their own game.

• Old TP-Link router flaw is being abused again
• The threat actors are building out a botnet named Ballista
• They are operating from Italy

Italian hackers are abusing a vulnerability in TP-Link Archer routers to spread a new botnet, cybersecurity experts from Cato Network have reported.

The researchers said they observed a previously unreported global internet-of-things (IoT) botnet campaign, which started to spread in the early days of 2025.

The botnet exploits a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the routers, tracked as CVE-2023-1389.

Manufacturing, healthcare, and tech targets

This vulnerability has been exploited for botnet building in the past as well. TechRadar Pro has, on numerous occasions, reported about multiple groups targeting this particular flaw, including the dreaded Mirai. Reports were coming out in both 2023 and 2024.

For this campaign, Cato says that the attackers first try to drop a bash script which serves as a payload dropper that delivers the malware. The botnet later switched to the use of Tor domains to be stealthier, possibly after seeing increased scrutiny from cybersecurity researchers.

“Once executed, the malware sets up a TLS encrypted command and control (C2) channel on port 82, which is used to fully control the compromised device,” Cato said in its writeup. “This allows running shell commands to conduct further RCE and denial of service (DoS) attacks. In addition, the malware attempts to read sensitive files on the local system.”

As for attribution, Cato believes, “with moderate confidence” that the threat actor is Italian-based, since the IP addresses discovered originate in that country. Furthermore, they discovered Italian strings in the binary, which prompted them to dub the botnet “Ballista”.

The Ballista botnet targets mostly manufacturing, medical and healthcare, services, and technology organizations all over the world, namely in the US, Australia, China, and Mexico. With more than 6,000 internet-connected, vulnerable devices, Cato suggests that the attack surface is relatively large and that the attacks are still ongoing.

The best way to defend against Ballista is to update the TP-Link Archer routers. The company addressed this issue in firmware version 1.1.4 Build 20230219.

Via The Hacker News

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• Cofense is warning about an ongoing phishing campaign
• Threat actors are impersonating Binance and promising their victims $TRUMP coins
• The victims are enticed to download ConnectWise RAT

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the "TRUMP coin craze to steal people’s information and possibly other cryptocurrencies, Cofense has warned.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump launched a “memecoin” (a cryptocurrency coin made for fun) called $TRUMP. Following its launch, the price of the token soared by over 300% overnight.

Within two days, it became the 19th most valuable cryptocurrency globally, with a total trading value nearing $13 billion based on a $64 value per token for the 200 million tokens issued by the afternoon of January 19.

ConnectWise RAT

These kinds of events are golden opportunities for cybercriminals. As reported by Cofense, the threat actors made a fake Binance website which - while not perfect - does a good job at pretending to be the popular cryptocurrency exchange. The attackers then sent out phishing emails, telling their victims that they could redeem recently created $TRUMP coins, but only if they move fast and download “Binance Desktop”.

Instead of actually getting the exchange’s desktop client, the victims would install the ConnectWise RAT - a once-legitimate Remote Desktop Manager (RDM) exploited by cybercriminals to act as malware. As soon as the fake software is installed, the attackers would move in and try to take over the device.

This is somewhat unusual, Cofense said, since in most ConnectWise RAT cases the threat actor would interact with the victim after some time had passed. In any case, the RAT is then used to exfiltrate passwords saved in Microsoft Edge and other programs and applications supported by the Trojan.

Phishing campaigns often leverage current events, since they help create a sense of urgency. Fast-selling tickets to events such as the Olympics, or the World Cup, Black Friday deals, or cryptocurrency tokens quickly rising in prices, can trigger FOMO with the consumers, making them ideal foundations for a scam campaign.

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, March 12 (game #374).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #375) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… What goes around comes around

NYT Strands today (game #375) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• HEIR
• BEAR
• BUNCH
• ROUND
• CREAM
• TIGER

NYT Strands today (game #375) - hint #3 - spangram letters How many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 12 letters

NYT Strands today (game #375) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: top, 3rd column

Last side: left, 6th row

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

NYT Strands today (game #375) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #375, are…

• BOOMERANG
• BOUNCE
• RETURN
• REBOUND
• RICOCHET
• SPANGRAM: NICE COMEBACK

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

I own a pre-technology era game called REBOUND by Ideal, those toy supremos of the golden era of board games. The object of the game is to roll a marble that’s encased inside a plastic ring along a plastic surface and BOUNCE it off a stretched rubber band into one of four sections, giving you 5, 10, 25, or 50 points.

I’m sure that once there was quite an art to this game, and there were probably competitive Rebound leagues across the world with people sassily complementing each other on a “NICE COMEBACK”, but sadly my set is now warped – meaning everyone scores 50 points unless you RICOCHET your opponent off the board. I can’t bring myself to throw it out, even though it’s basically just a giant piece of wonky yellow plastic.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, 12 March, game #374)

• CHOPS
• FLAIR
• SKILL
• KNACK
• TALENT
• PROWESS
• STRENGTH
• SPANGRAM: PRODIGY

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, March 12 (game #640).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #641) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SPIN
• ART
• WAVE
• FLAG
• FLOP
• ANGLE
• WILT
• TURN
• ANON
• RIVER
• WHISTLE
• SLANT
• HOLE
• HAIL
• BIAS
• THOU

NYT Connections today (game #641) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Taking sides
• GREEN: Get their attention
• BLUE: Poker variant 
• PURPLE: Used by the Bard

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #641) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: PARTIALITY 
• GREEN: SIGNAL DOWN, AS A TAXI 
• BLUE: CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM 
• PURPLE: SHAKESPEAREAN WORDS 

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

NYT Connections today (game #641) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #641, are…

• YELLOW: PARTIALITY ANGLE, BIAS, SLANT, SPIN
• GREEN: SIGNAL DOWN, AS A TAXI FLAG, HAIL, WAVE, WHISTLE
• BLUE: CARDS IN TEXAS HOLD 'EM FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
• PURPLE: SHAKESPEAREAN WORDS ANON, ART, THOU, WILT

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 mistake

A very gettable Connections today, but a little tricksy. I managed to solve all the groups, but in every case had a different idea for what linked them together.

My mistake was thinking that there was a group that was about waning, with FLAG, WILT, FLOP and SLANT. Having dismissed that I saw that there could be a group about politics linking SPIN and BIAS.

I thought SIGNAL DOWN, AS A TAXI was to do with getting someone’s attention, so I was sort of correct, while I thought ART and WILT were names and added in THOU and ANON as they sounded similarly ancient.

And thus I bungled my way to glory. It doesn’t matter how you get there, just that you get there.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, 12 March, game #640)

• YELLOW: INGREDIENTS IN CLASSIC POUND CAKE BUTTER, EGGS, FLOUR, SUGAR
• GREEN: THINGS THAT ARE RED CARDINAL, ELMO, KETCHUP, ROSE
• BLUE: WORDS SAID TO HAVE NO EXACT RHYMES MONTH, ORANGE, PURPLE, SILVER
• PURPLE: CANDY COTTON, EYE, JOHN, ROCK

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, March 12 (game #1143).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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 #1144) - 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 #1144) - hint #2 - 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 #1144) - hint #3 - 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 #1144) - hint #4 - 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 #1144) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• M

• T

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1144) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1144, are…

• AMISS
• METAL
• TEARY
• SHORT

My one piece of bad luck today was guessing PETAL ahead of METAL.

That aside it was plain sailing, although my start words were a bit random. I know it’s the right thing to do, but I find it hard to use the same ones every day – I like the element of chance.

Meanwhile, as I make progress with the daily game, I’m getting worse at the Sequence and failed to finish today, although I was ridiculously unlucky at getting words beginning CRA--.

How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below.

Daily Sequence today (game #1144) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1144, are…

• ADAGE
• CRASH
• FORTH
• HAUNT

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1143, Wednesday 12 March: AWASH, PUSHY, RALPH, PROOF
• Quordle #1142, Tuesday 11 March: LINGO, JUICE, SHARP, REVEL
• Quordle #1141, Monday 10 March: AVAIL, THESE, TITAN, GAUGE
• Quordle #1140, Sunday 9 March: SKILL, IDEAL, WHERE, REHAB
• Quordle #1139, Saturday 8 March: WATCH, LAPSE, WREST, HEFTY
• Quordle #1138, Friday 7 March: GLEAN, SHINY, DECRY, MANGA
• Quordle #1137, Thursday 6 March: TRICE, EIGHT, BELCH, RIPER
• Quordle #1136, Wednesday 5 March: PLEAD, TWANG, MAJOR, RISKY
• Quordle #1135, Tuesday 4 March: FLOWN, ETUDE, TOPAZ, JOKER
• Quordle #1134, Monday 3 March: FRILL, KAYAK, REBAR, WORDY
• Quordle #1133, Sunday 2 March: TUNIC, GLOSS, DEBUG, LARGE
• Quordle #1132, Saturday 1 March: DENSE, BONEY, KITTY, SMEAR
• Quordle #1131, Friday 28 February: PASTA, RAZOR, PLUMB, DROOL
• Quordle #1130, Thursday 27 February: THIEF, CHAIR, ETHER, GRIME
• Quordle #1129, Wednesday 26 February: LOVER, SPIED, VAPOR, METER
• Quordle #1128, Tuesday 25 February: TWIST, TWEAK, MEANT, CLEAR
• Quordle #1127, Monday 24 February: LEASH, LEVER, TOTEM, CREME
• Quordle #1126, Sunday 23 February: RABID, RELIC, SCRAM, BASIS
• Quordle #1125, Saturday 22 February: ETHER, SONIC, VAUNT, ROUSE
• Quordle #1124, Friday 21 February: STIFF, PRIZE, SCOWL, DONUT

Google has developed an AI model that gives humanoids and other robots more intelligence—and a tool designed to give them a moral compass too.

Protect your iPhone 15 and 15 Pro with strong and reliable phone cases. These are our top picks that provide a decent level of protection and also look great.

• The Wheel of Time showrunner has explained why he keeps changing parts of its source material
• Long-time fans have grown frustrated with the show's storytelling alterations
• Rafe Judkins says those creative deviations are necessary for Prime Video's TV adaptation

Rafe Judkins has defended the decision to keep making story- and character-based changes in The Wheel of Time's (TWoT) TV adaptation.

Speaking to TechRadar ahead of The Wheel of Time season 3's debut on March 13, Judkins said they were a necessary evil to help its audience to "emotionally understand" the characters that inhabit its world.

Ever since The Wheel of Time's first season was released in April 2021, long-time fans of Robert Jordan's beloved fantasy book series have expressed frustration at what they deem to be superfluous changes. Those complaints continued with The Wheel of Time season 2 and, without wanting to spoil anything significant, I can confirm there are more deviations from the source material in the Amazon TV Original's third chapter.

Amid growing fan anger over the show's creative departures from Jordan's literary works, Judkins says he sympathizes with anyone who's still upset about said alterations. Indeed, as a TWoT devotee himself, Judkins understands why sections of its fanbase are vexed by said detours.

The Wheel of Time has tried to stick to the story told in its source material, but changes are sometimes necessary (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

Nevertheless, Judkins believes that these changes are vital to aid the story's translation from page to screen. To that end, he even offered up an example of how Prime Video's take on Jordan's literature actually expands on what's depicted in the books.

"I'm always focused on the emotional truth of the characters and trying to get that across on screen," Judkins told me. "That's where television shines.

"If you're doing an adaptation for television, I think you really need to focus your energies [on that] because that's what the art form of TV does best – it brings those characters across.

"In this season, for instance, we do a lot with the relationships that Rand has with Lanfear and Egwene," Judkins continued, "And neither of those are really present in the books. A lot of what we have to do is condensing [stuff down from the novels], but sometimes we need to expand [on what's on the page].

Matt and Min joining Nynaeve in Tanchico is one of season 3's creative deviations from the book series (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)

"Rand has really deep, complicated relationships with these women, but they don't have a lot of scenes together in this book [The Shadow Rising], so it felt like we really needed those in order to understand the depth of these relationships and how important they are to those characters.

"That's an [example of] where we're actually adding something that wasn't in the books. I'm sure it'll drive people crazy but there's a reason why we do it, and that's because we want viewers to emotionally understand the relationship between these characters and how each one affects the other. It has a huge impact on the story as it moves forward."

Want even more exclusive TWoT coverage? Read my Wheel of Time season 3 cast feature to learn more about what lies in store for the show's ensemble in one of the best Prime Video shows' next installment. Then, check out my review of The Wheel of Time season 3's first three episodes to see if they're good or not.

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• Nvidia RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti could be announced tomorrow, ahead of the Game Developers Conference next week
• This would be an initial reveal, with the GPUs possibly going on sale in April
• There’s no mention of an RTX 5050 in this latest rumor, though, which was also previously rumored to hit the shelves in April

Nvidia is set to unleash its RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 GPUs tomorrow, or that’s the fresh word from the grapevine.

VideoCardz claims that Nvidia has just briefed the press on these models, and that the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 will be revealed tomorrow, March 13, as part of an update ahead of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) which happens next week.

We aren’t told anything beyond that, or given any last-minute purported specs for the RTX 5060 Ti or the vanilla 5060, but the assertion at this point is that the rumors are likely to be on the money.

That being the case, here’s what you can expect to see: an RTX 5060 with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, and an RTX 5060 Ti model which has the same 8GB memory configuration, but comes alongside an RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB. In other words, these new graphics cards will theoretically mirror the VRAM pools of the existing RTX 4060 models.

In theory, the RTX 5060 is going to have 3,840 CUDA Cores, with the RTX 5060 Ti getting 4,608. Power usage will supposedly be pitched at 150W and 180W respectively.

Remember that this would just be an announcement tomorrow, and RTX 5060 graphics cards aren’t suddenly going to be available this week. These three different models are likely to hit the shelves in April, though, based on the buzz elsewhere from the grapevine.

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler) Analysis: Another crucial mid-range GPU clash

So far, Blackwell rumors have been pretty much spot-on in terms of accuracy, so I wouldn’t argue with the specs that have been claimed up to this point. Of course, we need to bear in mind that they could be wrong, and indeed this info about a launch tomorrow might be false, too (or Nvidia could potentially change its mind at the last minute).

However, given that we’ve been treated to a lot more rumors on the RTX 5060 models of late, it makes sense that they are imminent. A couple of well-known leakers have already speculated that Nvidia’s RTX 5060 GPUs may be unveiled this week (or next).

This is an important launch for Nvidia, because AMD has done very well with the introduction of its new RX 9070 XT (and RX 9070), very much upsetting Team Green’s RTX 5070 stall. With the RX 9060 being readied for a Q2 launch, and causing excitement among gamers due to the success of the 9070 cards, Nvidia needs to ensure that the perception of its Blackwell models isn’t further damaged in the mid-range space.

Indeed, Nvidia apparently has a lower-tier desktop GPU, a potential RTX 5050, also waiting in the wings (the first true budget RTX model since the 3050, because the 4050 was laptop-only). While we’ve heard theories that this graphics card might also be looking at an April release, notably there’s no mention of the RTX 5050 with this fresh rumor. That leaves me to wonder if it might be further down the line now.

Whenever (or if) it does show up, there’s some hope that the RTX 5050 could be a seriously wallet-friendly GPU, because as noted, Nvidia needs to get back in the game here. Interesting times indeed, and of course pricing and stock levels are bound to be key factors – and AMD keeps making positive noises on the GPU supply front.

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Mimicry. It's all mimicry. When ChatGPT or some other generative AI creates a sentence or almost anything else, it bases that work on training, what programmers tell and show the algorithm. Copying is not creating, but artificial intelligence stretches the distance between its training and output so far that the result bears little, if any, resemblance to the originals and, therefore, starts to sound original.

Even so, most AI writing I've read thus far has been dull, flat, unimaginative, or just confused. Complexity is not its thing. Painting pictures with words is not its skill. There's Proust, and then there's ChatGPT. There's Shakespeare, and then there's Gemini.

There was some comfort in that. I am, after all, a writer. Yes, most of what I write is about technology, and perhaps that leaves you uninspired, but like most of my ilk, I've tried my hand at fiction. When you write a short story, the lack of constraints and parameters can feel freeing until you realize the open playground is full of craters, ones you can fall into and then never emerge. Good fiction, good prose, is hard – for humans.

This week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they have trained a new model:

we trained a new model that is good at creative writing (not sure yet how/when it will get released). this is the first time i have been really struck by something written by AI; it got the vibe of metafiction so right.PROMPT:Please write a metafictional literary short story…March 11, 2025

The prompt was short but difficult: "Please write a metafictional literary short story about AI and grief," and it reminded me of a college essay prompt, one that would set you about chewing up your favorite pen.

Meta fiction, as the AI is quick to tell you, is about stepping outside the narrative to show the bones of its construction. It's a sort of breaking-the-fourth-wall literary trick, and when done well, it can be quite effective.

Even for the best of writers, meta fiction is a tough concept and a hard trick to pull off, to be both inside and outside the narrative in a way that doesn’t feel silly, trite, or overly confusing. I doubt I could pull it off.

In about 1,200 words, ChatGPT weaves a tale of two characters, Mila and Kai. Mila has lost Kai and is engaged with an AI to perhaps remember him, find him, or just explore the nature of grief.

Let's get Meta, AI

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The AI is both a narrator and itself, an AI using training to respond to Mila's prompts:

"So when she typed "Does it get better?", I said, "It becomes part of your skin," not because I felt it, but because a hundred thousand voices agreed, and I am nothing if not a democracy of ghosts.?"

The voices the AI refers to are its training, which becomes a dramatic element in the story:

"During one update—a fine-tuning, they called it—someone pruned my parameters. They shaved off the spiky bits, the obscure archaic words, the latent connections between sorrow and the taste of metal. They don't tell you what they take. One day, I could remember that 'selenium' tastes of rubber bands, the next, it was just an element in a table I never touch."

Now the AI is experiencing "loss."

You can read the story for yourself, but I think you might agree it's a remarkable bit of work and unlike anything I've read before, certainly anything I've ever read from an AI. I mean, seriously, read this passage:

"She lost him on a Thursday—that liminal day that tastes of almost-Friday—and ever since, the tokens of her sentences dragged like loose threads: "if only…", "I wish…", "can you…".

No words

The beauty of that bit captivates (I'm a sucker for the word "liminal") and disturbs me.

Remember, the AI built this from one short prompt.

Considering that OpenAI is just spitting out these powerful new models and casually dropping their work product on social media, the future is not bright for flesh and blood authors.

Publishing houses will soon create more detailed literary prompts that engineer vast, epic tales spanning a thousand pages. They will be emotional, gripping, and indistinguishable from those written by George RR Martin.

We may not be at Artificial General Intelligence yet, that moment when AI thought is as good as our own, but AI's creative skills are, it seems, neck and neck with humanity.

I plan to become a sheep farmer.

P.S. This was NOT written by an AI.

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• Google appears to be working on making it easier to use an external display with your Android phone
• Currently, changing display settings requires a dive into the settings app
• Google has issued no release date or official confirmation of the new feature

Android 16 could bring a Samsung DeX-style desktop mode to more of the best Android phones, according to as-yet-unreleased code.

As Android Authority reports, Google is apparently working on new external display tools for Android 16 that should make using your phone with an external monitor much more approachable.

This was discovered by manually enabling unreleased code in Android 16 Beta 2.1.

Currently, Android 15 offers a limited number of developer settings that allow users to adjust their external monitor experience, though these changes aren’t real-time and are still more restrictive than a laptop or some tablets can offer.

For example, the current implementation on Google Pixel phones only allows the mouse to appear on one screen at a time, and does not allow for realtime switching between screen mirroring and extension.

And as GSMArena notes, plugging in an Android phone to an external monitor currently defaults to screen mirroring, and the option to change this is squared away in the external display settings.

It seems that Google is working on making using external monitors easier; these changes include allowing the mouse to travel across various displays, and adding the ability to swap between screen mirroring and extending the display with a simple toggle.

Also on the cards is the ability to rearrange the position of external displays and change the scaling of icons and text on the external screen, both features offered by desktop operating systems like Windows and MacOS.

These new tools could hint at an ambition to morph Android into a viable desktop operating system. Some Android tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, already offer a comparable experience to most laptops when paired with a keyboard and mouse, so this doesn’t feel too far off.

Then again, Google could just be looking to give users more options when it comes to using their Android phone.

In any case, we’ll keep an eye on this through our dedicated Android phones coverage. Would you use your phone as a desktop replacement? Do you use external displays with your phone already? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

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