Technology

Unai Emery's inconsistent Villans look to book a place in the last eight as they host the Bluebirds.

If I close my eyes, I can hear the once iconic Skype ringtone: "Da DA-da, do-do DO do." It was the sound of communication and possibility. Who knows what would happen during that video call, what I would learn, what I would say? Now, as we prepare for Skype to wind down in May of this year, I want to reflect on what it's meant to you and me.

Where would we be without Skype? I know most of you no longer use the OG video calling platform, but there was a time when Skype was so popular it became a verb: 'I'll Skype you, okay?'"

Almost 25 years ago, Skype was part of the peer-to-peer (P2P) decentralized revolution. Like the music-sharing platform Napster, Skype lets you connect directly between two systems over the internet to conduct video calls, and, like Napster, it was a bit of a sensation.

By 2005, unlikely suitor eBay bought it and then sold a majority stake to an investment group. Two years later, Microsoft paid $8.5 billion to acquire the by-then wildly popular video communication platform. I'd say it was attractive because Skype was being used by consumers and businesses, including broadcast outlets that liked to conduct Skype-based on-air interviews.

A sound like no other

By that time, I'd been using Skype for years and worried that Microsoft might ruin the service (I guess, ultimately, I was right). I'd dallied with using it to call friends and family. After all, FaceTime didn't arrive until 2009, and at the time, most people didn't own an iPhone, but they did have Windows PCs.

Dressed 50% for Skype TV https://t.co/SsyjyZl2xD pic.twitter.com/3EtlcItcM3October 29, 2020

Most of my Skype calls were with broadcast studios who appreciated Skype's remarkable network management, which usually ensured clear audio and video that nearly rivaled what they could get via satellite feeds. Naturally, they also liked it because it was cheaper than those satellite hookups and then sending out an entire film crew.

Skype was where I learned to half-dress for television: If I wasn't going to a studio and only needed to show 50% of me to the Skype camera on my PC, then it was business on top and party (or at least casual) on the bottom. I mastered this look years before I would repeat it for countless Google Meet, Cisco Webex, and even Microsoft Teams video conferences.

Building on Skype

Microsoft's interest and devotion to Skype waxed and waned over the years, but for a time, Skype was a hub of development. It was an early home for Cortana, Microsoft's first digital assistant, and was the first place where I saw real-time translation at work.

That's right. Skype was translating the spoken word in real time long before Google and Samsung brought the feature to phones.

We're getting a preview of "the next generation of Skype." Note the Cortana integration. #Build2016 pic.twitter.com/HpNfKVmvObMarch 30, 2016

If we hadn't trained on Skype, would we have been truly prepared for remote work and all those video meetings? I know so many video conferencing platforms showed up in the years before the pandemic when we were all shuttered at home, but which one showed us the way? I'd argue it was Skype.

Eventually, broadcasters and most of my Skype buddies moved away from Skype. Media companies started using Zoom and the aforementioned Cisco. Businesses adopted Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft's newer and more preferred platform, Teams, which is better integrated with the Microsoft 365 suite.

Gen Z might point to Zoom as the platform that made video conferencing cool, but aside from being free, widely available, and supporting large group video conferences, it didn't do anything that Skype hadn't done first. But digital memory is short, and I'm sure they'll tell their grandkids, who'll use brain chips to send video streams to friends and social media, that when they were kids, they used to "Zoom."

Gen Z might point to Zoom as the platform that made video conferencing cool, but aside from being free, widely available, and supporting large group video conferences, it didn't do anything that Skype hadn't done first.

In announcing the change, Microsoft included this in a blog post, "Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments, and we are honored to have been part of the journey. "

It's true: Skype, the unruly and sometimes unloved communication platform, made it possible and okay to communicate with anyone via video on a PC. It was the realization of a dream that stretched back to 1927's Metropolis and the 1960s cartoon of the future The Jetsons.

I'll miss Skype, its dial-in sound, and even the name. Maybe Microsoft will find another use for it, though I struggle to imagine what that might be.

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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 Friday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Friday, February 28 (game #1131).

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 #1132) - 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 #1132) - 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 2.

Quordle today (game #1132) - 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 #1132) - 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 #1132) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• B

• K

• S

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

Quordle today (game #1132) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1132, are…

• DENSE
• BONEY
• KITTY
• SMEAR

I missed my chance to finish on six guesses today. I was so focussed on hammering out my three starter words before contemplating the rest of the puzzle that I completely missed that I had all the letters for SMEAR.

After this I got pretty lucky with my guesses – KITTY could have been TIZZY, but I went for the more likely word.

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

Daily Sequence today (game #1132) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1132, are…

• SLAIN
• TOKEN
• MINUS
• CYCLE

Quordle answers: The past 20

• 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
• Quordle #1123, Thursday 20 February: HASTY, DRAPE, FICUS, CRAZE
• Quordle #1122, Wednesday 19 February: ABATE, TROVE, VENUE, DRAPE
• Quordle #1121, Tuesday 18 February: TAMER, SCRUB, BRICK, DRIFT
• Quordle #1120, Monday 17 February: SADLY, WAFER, LITHE, IDIOM
• Quordle #1119, Sunday 16 February: GHOUL, AFIRE, COVEN, FIERY
• Quordle #1118, Saturday 15 February: CREEP, CONDO, GRILL, FANCY
• Quordle #1117, Friday 14 February: MEDIA, ELUDE, THUMB, WIDOW
• Quordle #1116, Thursday 13 February: SCALP, DWELL, AMPLE, TRUNK
• Quordle #1115, Wednesday 12 February: SHOOK, GRADE, POLAR, SEEDY
• Quordle #1114, Tuesday 11 February: HEAVY, CIRCA, PESKY, SCION
• Quordle #1113, Monday 10 February: TWIXT, FRESH, GUISE, TABBY
• Quordle #1112, Sunday 9 February: TAPIR, SHAKE, TOKEN, SEVEN

The league leaders head to Europe-chasing Die Roten.

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 Friday puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, February 28 (game #362).

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

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Let us prey

NYT Strands today (game #363) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• CRUX
• PAIN
• HOUR
• SAND
• DATE
• DARN

NYT Strands today (game #363) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Seafaring body art

NYT Strands today (game #363) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: bottom, 5th column

Last side: top, 2nd column

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

NYT Strands today (game #363) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #363, are…

• HUMAN
• CROCODILE
• LION
• ORCA
• TYRANNOSAURUS
• SPANGRAM: APEX PREDATORS

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 2 hints

A confession – I got Predators before the Apex part and it took me three attempts to tap out TYRANNOSAURUS in the correct order. Other than that being one of the APEX PREDATORS myself, I ate up this puzzle in no time (not really).

It’s odd to think of HUMANS alongside this company. Sure, we are dangerous but without weaponry we would be defeated by all of them.

The other Apex Predators don’t spend their time watching TV or playing puzzles, they’re too busy being Apex Predators. Well, not the Tyrannosaurus so much these days.

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

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, 28 February, game #362)

• EAGLE
• SHIP
• SWALLOW
• ANCHOR
• MERMAID
• COMPASS
• SPANGRAM: SAILOR TATTOO

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and 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 Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, February 28 (game #628).

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 #629) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• PHANTOM
• TOLLBOOTH
• LADYBUG
• MIDNIGHT
• SHAMROCK
• RHINESTONE
• SUNSET
• TOOLBOX
• TOMBOY
• HORSESHOE
• FIDDLER
• DRUGSTORE
• MERRILY
• TOWBOAT
• SPACE
• PENNY

NYT Connections today (game #629) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Charms
• GREEN: Composite terms
• BLUE: Theater singalongs
• PURPLE: A profession links these movies and tunes

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 #629) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD LUCK 
• GREEN: TO-BO- COMPOUND WORDS 
• BLUE: BROADWAY MUSICALS, FAMILIARLY
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "COWBOY" IN FILM AND MUSIC 

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

NYT Connections today (game #629) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #629, are…

• YELLOW: ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD LUCK HORSESHOE, LADYBUG, PENNY, SHAMROCK
• GREEN: TO-BO- COMPOUND WORDS TOLLBOOTH, TOMBOY, TOOLBOX, TOWBOAT
• BLUE: BROADWAY MUSICALS, FAMILIARLY FIDDLER, MERRILY, PHANTOM, SUNSET
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "COWBOY" IN FILM AND MUSIC DRUGSTORE, MIDNIGHT, RHINESTONE, SPACE

• My rating: Easy
• My score: 1 mistake

A great start for me today, landing the Purple group immediately.

I’m a big Glen Campbell fan so the first thing I thought when I saw RHINESTONE in today’s grid was his classic song Rhinestone Cowboy. I love the movie MIDNIGHT Cowboy too, one of Dustin Hoffman’s finest.

I initially thought ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD LUCK was something to do with travellers and linked together HORSESHOE, SHAMROCK, TOWBOAT and PENNY before realizing the error of my ways. FIDDLER, PHANTOM and SUNSET all seemed connected to BROADWAYS MUSICALS, FAMILIARLY but MERRILY was a stab in the dark as I was unaware of Merrily We Roll Along. It looks fantastic, though.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, 28 February, game #628)

• YELLOW: BE INDECISIVE HESITATE, WAFFLE, WAVER, YO-YO
• GREEN: LUCIDITY MARBLES, MIND, SENSE, WITS
• BLUE: LOVELY PERSON ANGEL, DEAR, DOLL, PEACH
• PURPLE: COMPONENTS OF METAPHORS FOR THINGS THAT CAN'T BE
• UNDONE BELL, EGG, GENIE, TOOTHPASTE

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.

• Scientists at UChicago PME develop a new atomic-scale data storage method
• Their approach uses crystal defects to store data as ones and zeroes
• Research combines quantum science, optical storage, and radiation dosimetry

All digital systems use bits, represented as ones and zeroes, to store, compute, and manage data. Storage device size has long been restricted by the physical scale of the binary data units, but scientists at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) have come up with an intriguing solution.

Their new method for data storage manipulates atomic-scale crystal defects - microscopic gaps where atoms are missing - so they can hold an electrical charge, allowing them to be designated as “ones” and “zeroes,” much like in binary data storage.

“It’s impossible to find crystals - in nature or artificial crystals - that don’t have defects,” explained Leonardo França, the study's first author. “So what we are doing is we are taking advantage of these defects.”

Terabytes of bits in a 1mm cube

A paper detailing the breakthrough has been published in the journal Nanophotonics, as to develop the memory storage system, researchers used crystals of Yttrium oxide and added ions of praseodymium, a rare-earth element.

“When the crystal absorbs sufficient energy, it releases electrons and holes. And these charges are captured by the defects,” França said. “We can read that information. You can release the electrons, and we can read the information by optical means.”

This advancement draws on interdisciplinary research, combining principles from quantum science and optical storage. The work stems from earlier studies on radiation dosimeters - devices used to monitor radiation exposure levels in environments like hospitals and particle accelerators.

“We found a way to integrate solid-state physics applied to radiation dosimetry with a research group that works strongly in quantum, although our work is not exactly quantum,” said França.

“There is a demand for people who are doing research on quantum systems, but at the same time, there is a demand for improving the storage capacity of classical non-volatile memories. And it’s on this interface between quantum and optical data storage where our work is grounded.”

“Each memory cell is a single missing atom - a single defect,” explained Assistant Professor Tian Zhong from UChicago PME. “Now you can pack terabytes of bits within a small cube of material that’s only a millimeter in size.”

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The updates follow growing pressure on tech companies to strengthen online safety measures for minors.

If you feel depression rearing its ugly head, try these seven tactics.

We'll show you how to use these five steps to relax your mind and body before bed.

• IDC has adjusted (reduced) its PC market forecast for 2025
• Windows 10 deprecation and AI PC effects aren’t strong enough
• 2025 predicted growth is 3.7%, compound AGR for 2025-2029 is just 0.4%

Despite the apparent resurgence of the PC market in recent months, analysts are increasingly concerned about the future as global trends and geopolitical troubles continue to affect the industry.

Responding to recent tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by the US, IDC has adjusted its forecast and reduced the market growth to just 3.7%.

“Price hikes stemming from tariffs in the US combined with subdued demand are leading to a negative impact within the largest market for PCs," noted Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

PC market faces more troubles

Separately, Canalys saw the market regain some of its seasonal trends while growing 3.9% for the whole calendar 2024.

Analysts there predict AI PCs could account for up to 35% of the market in 2025 – up from 23% in the final three months of 2024.

Canalys Analyst Kieren Jessop agrees with IDC: “looming trade policy shifts in the US threaten to disrupt the market that accounts for around one in three shipped PCs and could hamper the upcoming commercial refresh cycle and dampen an already muted consumer outlook.”

Jessop added: “So far, the Trump administration has placed a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, which accounts for a significant majority of laptops shipped to the US.”

IDC is also concerned about the general consumer PC market, which grew just 2% in 2024. The company described the migration to Windows 11 as “modest” – the flagship OS only accounts for around 37% of all Windows installs (via Statcounter), compared with 60% for Windows 10.

Looking past calendar 2025, IDC is predicting annual growth rates of less than 1% up until 2029. Compound annual growth rate for 2025-2029 is predicted to average out at just 0.4%.

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The full moon will put on a show during a total lunar eclipse in March, but be prepared to stay up late. For many, it coincides with Pi Day.

Why are we still chasing the VR dream? Honestly, now. I don't get it. I've been there since the very beginning of the modern virtual hype train, since the initial announcement and launch of the Oculus Rift and HTC's Vive headset. I watched as Meta took over. I've been there, and scoffed at the countless millions invested in the field - to what end, I've still yet to understand. I've stood wincing as twin screens glare into my retinas, as my head spins and I inevitably end up motion-sick after mere minutes using awkwardly heavy lumps of lens strapped to my face. And every single time I try a new unit, I'm impressed with the improvements for 30 minutes. I then get bored and set it down, never to use the thing again.

VR is such a bizarre field that makes so little sense to me. It almost feels like a nonsensical passion project that's become so big it can't be allowed to fail. The thing is, right now, with the right hardware, you can have a pretty solid VR experience. Grab something like a Meta Quest 3, a decent PC, and virtual reality gaming is a fairly fun time, as long as you can afford it. That is, until you come crashing back to reality as you run out of titles, or the games in question just don't hold up to their traditional console and PC counterparts.

The problem lies with the uptake. It's a real catch-22 situation. In short, VR has never had that killer app, that must-play game that's really cemented it in place, unlike consoles or the conventional gaming PC has had. There's no one unique 10/10 title launched on it that anyone can remember, nor any singular app that changes the way we view VR, no massive IP that's changed the game.

The good ones

There have been some excellent outliers, sure, Half-Life: Alyx, for example, but that's about it. Maybe Beat Saber and VR Chat at a push, but it's hardly World of Warcraft, or League of Legends, or Halo, is it? There's just no IP that's blown the barn doors off and had us scuttling over to this new form of entertainment, as we've done with each iterative generation of new consoles.

Again, the issue is uptake. As game development becomes increasingly complex, requiring larger investments, bigger publishing houses and developers have to strategically decide what platform they want to create their titles for to get the greatest ROI.

Inevitably, that's going to be PC or consoles - platforms that now basically share the same fundamental architectures, allowing for cross-propagation of titles. And yes, that market is just monstrous by comparison. To give you a sense of scale, some estimates put the total VR user base in 2023 at around 171 million users (although the accuracy doesn't seem that great from the sources I've found).

By contrast, according to Statista, in 2023 there were 1.827 billion PC gamers, with (admittedly again very rough estimates) suggesting that total console gamers sat at an even larger 2.29 billion. The global gaming population (again thanks to Statista) sat at around 3.32 billion active gamers worldwide, with some overlap between platforms. In other words, VR accounts for a meager 5% of the total audience. It doesn't help that VR headsets are still a pricey investment for gamers, with even the budget-friendly Meta Quest 3s coming in at $299.99 / £289.99 / AU$499.99 for the cheapest configuration.

If you're going to invest heavily in developing a game and are looking to make your money back and then some, it doesn't make sense to create a title for VR, which is why so few good titles make it onto the platform. It's a particular problem given that the various virtual reality systems available have wildly different interaction systems, user interfaces, and graphical limitations to boot. It's not like you can easily transition a title over from console to headset. I get the counterargument to that too, "But Zak, indie developers will do it, surely?" Outside of passion projects? They've still gotta put bread on the table too, and again, it's just far more sensible to build your title for PC, grow big there, then pivot to console instead.

Mouse and keyboard? Controller? No, try this weird glove instead.

And then there's this insane obsession with how you interface with it that developers seem to have. This apparent need for motion tracking, special hand grips, gloves, and more to fully immerse yourself in these virtual worlds. Your eyes are glued to two screens, so of course you should feel submerged in your new digital world with your body as well. That's great, until you crash into a wall as you stumble across the room haphazardly, or awkwardly fumble with the controls while screaming as your ship tumbles out of the atmosphere in No Man's Sky.

Not only did we reinvent the wheel by introducing VR, but we also thought it was a smart move to introduce gimmicky controllers and interaction systems into the mix as well - something that, to this day, no one has fully settled on a design for.

Do you know what would be the best system for VR gaming? A controller. Sat down on a chair, safe from bashing your shin against a coffee table, using the headset as a more advanced screen, with IR tracking to monitor head movement, and that's it. What would that give you? A better, immersive experience in every title you could imagine, with all of the brilliance of control systems we're already used to, that are already well established, with a mass market that's bloody huge. It'd be like noise-canceling headphones for your eyes.

Instead, what we've been given is a cacophony of bad ideas merged into a device that has no one app or program to really draw you to it, because it has to deal with these asinine interfaces and systems that are underdeveloped because there simply aren't enough people on the platform to begin with. The hardware might improve, but the systems they run just won't.

There's an old design principle that I wholeheartedly believe in. One that has, in my opinion, been massively overlooked with VR, and that's KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. And it seems, apparently, that virtual reality missed the boat on that one.

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• Oscar Nuñez will reprise his beloved The Office role in Peacock's new series
• The series doesn't have a name yet
• It is believed that producers wanted to keep Nuñez's appearance a surprise, but it was leaked

The Office was an absolute masterclass of comedy, and I consider it one of my favorite shows. I'll admit, I did feel a little apprehensive when I found out it was getting a Peacock spin-off show, but then again, it can't be as bad as the disastrous Prime Video attempt at The Office, right? Anyway, my interest in the new series has been piqued because it has just been revealed that Oscar Nuñez will be reprising his role as Oscar Martinez, and I'm so excited to see that character back again.

When it comes to Oscar's return, we know that he won't be the central character, so don't expect any Michael Scott style antics, we'll be seeing someone new in that role. Sadly, if you were hoping to see the likes of Pam, Jim, and Dwight, it seems Oscar is the only one returning to the office, and he'll be joining a new line-up of actors. As we understand it, this spin-off is set in the Office universe, but it's not a direct sequel.

According to Variety, producer Greg Daniels felt he "told a complete story for most of the characters — but if there was one character he’d like to revisit and explore, it would be Oscar.

Variety added: "It’s believed that producers were hoping to keep Nuñez’s involvement a surprise, but the news first leaked Wednesday via newsletter The Insneider."

What do we know about Peacock's The Office spin-off?

Right now, we don't know much! It doesn't even have a name and is currently known as the 'Untitled Daniels/Korman Project' (referencing the two producers Greg Daniels and Michael Korman). Hopefully we'll start to see some more details over the coming months though, as I am curious about this one.

We do have a loose plot, however, which is that we'll follow the staff of a dying Midwestern newspaper whose publisher is trying to revive it with volunteer reporters. So while it's not Dunder Mifflin, we've still got the paper connection, and it's going to be set up like a documentary using the same crew who filmed The Office. So this could explain why Oscar has found himself here, whether he's working for the new company or he's simply got experience being a documentary subject.

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• Researchers find a new variant of the Vo1d botnet
• It seems to be designed to be an anonymous proxy
• At peak, it counted almost 1.6 million devices

If you are an Android TV user, take note - there is a new and dangerous botnet infecting endpoints left and right.

Cybersecurity researchers from Xlab have started tracking a new variant of the Vo1d malicious botnet which, in a span of just a couple of months, grew to roughly 1.6 million devices across 226 countries. The botnet’s size varies from day to day, and while it peaked in mid-January 2025, it currently counts around 800,000 devices, the researchers said.

The initial infection vector is unknown at the current time, but the majority of the victims are located in Brazil (25%), followed by South Africa (13.6%), Indonesia (10.5%), Argentina (5.3%), Thailand (3.4%) and China (3.1%).

Botnet for hire

A botnet can be used for many things, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, residential proxies, ad manipulation, and more. In this case, Vo1d is being used as an anonymous proxy, redirecting criminal traffic and blending it in with legitimate, consumer traffic. It comes with advanced encryption, strong infrastructure powered by DGA, and state-of-the-art obfuscation techniques.

Since the number of infected devices varies greatly from day to day, the researchers believe the criminals are “renting” devices as proxy servers.

“We speculate that the phenomenon of "rapid surges followed by sharp declines" may be attributed to Vo1d leasing its botnet infrastructure in specific regions to other groups,” they said. So, during days when Vo1d had significantly fewer bots, they probably just “gave” the devices to someone else to use.

Android TV devices infected with malware will behave unusually. They will be sluggish, they will randomly display ads, or frequently crash seemingly without cause. To clean up the device, users should check their installed apps and remove anything unfamiliar or suspicious; scan with Google Play Protect, monitor their network’s activity and ultimately, if needed, perform a factory reset.

Via BleepingComputer

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• A privacy notice is appearing on some Samsung TVs every few hours
• It doesn't seem to be possible to fully disable from the TV
• But it might be possible if you log into Samsung's website

Do you have a Samsung TV whose pop-up won't stop? You might not be the only one. Samsung owners have been emailing us and posting on forums about one particularly persistent pop-up message that keeps on popping up – but the good news is that there may be a simple solution.

The message is about Samsung's privacy policy collecting user data, and many Samsung owners will have seen it; I'm one of them – though mine never came back after the first showing. But for some users the pop-up keeps returning; one of the affected owners told us that it pops up every few hours, which tracks with what people are saying online. But no one seems to be able to find an option on the TVs to disable it.

The particular customer who contacted us also contacted Samsung support, and was told by a rep that there wasn't a fix. But other Samsung owners beg to differ.

How to fix the Samsung privacy pop-up problem

The issue doesn't appear to be affecting huge numbers of people, which is perhaps why the Samsung support rep didn't know how to get rid of it. But it's clearly affecting some people across multiple models – we're aware of the issue happening on the Samsung S90C and QN90B – in certain countries, including the US, and they've been posting to sites such as Reddit and to the Samsung community website. And it's that latter site where we might have found the solution.

One pop-up-plagued poster said they got rid of the message by logging into their Samsung account on the company's website, and clicked on the privacy updates. "That stopped the notice from appearing on my TV," they say.

If that's not working for you, there's something else to try in the short term: this post on the Samsung community site talks about how annoying the message is: "For the past 2 days, I've been getting an EXTREMELY annoying popup notification with small ding sound. This pops up about every 2 hours and disappears in 5 seconds."

Their fix wasn't ideal, but it did seem to work: by blocking internet access from the TV so that it has local network access but not wide area network access, the pop-up stops appearing. But that's only convenient if you use a streaming device such as a Chromecast or Apple TV 4K to deliver things to your TV; if you're using the built-in smart apps, then of course they need to be online.

Based the fact that this appeared on my TV and disappeared forever, it looks very much like a software update gremlin has got this message stuck on a loop rather than finding its way into the ether once shown.

We contacted Samsung, which said it was looking into the problem on our reader's behalf, but wasn't able to provide more information by the time of publication. We'll update this story with official info as we get it.

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