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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 Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Thursday, August 13 (game #893).

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 #894) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Discovered by accident

NYT Strands today (game #894) - hint #2 - clue words

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

• VOICE
• SINK
• CRAVEN
• LINE
• COIL
• NICE

NYT Strands today (game #894) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #894) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: top, 3rd column

• Last side: bottom, 4th column

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

NYT Strands today (game #894) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #894, are…

• SLINKY
• VELCRO
• PLASTIC
• MICROWAVE
• PENICILLIN
• SPANGRAM: INVENTIONS

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 2 hints

There were so many Vs in today’s game that I convinced myself that the word “vinyl” was in the grid somewhere and that the theme was all about crate digging and finding some secret album.

I could not have been more wrong. Something I only learned after two hints gave me SLINKY and VELCRO and I realized I had wasted five minutes daydreaming about record shops.

It was not until I got the spangram — and eliminated the last of the Vs — that I finally realized what the search was about and how one of the greatest medical discoveries of history was connected to a spring that goes downstairs.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Thursday, August 13, game #893)

• FIERCE
• HEATED
• TORRID
• INTENSE
• ZEALOUS
• SPANGRAM: FIREBRAND

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.

• QZSS was designed specifically around Japan's difficult positioning environment and geography
• The seven-satellite constellation brings Japan closer to continuous domestic navigation coverage
• QZS-7 successfully reached orbit after QZS-5 was lost during launch

Mountainous terrain and densely packed city blocks across Japan can obstruct ordinary satellite positioning signals from reaching receivers on the ground.

Standard Global Positioning System coverage was never built with those obstacles in mind, leaving gaps in accuracy across parts of the country.

Japan has spent more than a decade building its own answer to that gap, and this week that effort reached a new milestone.

Why Japan built its own system

Japanese authorities developed the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, a constellation designed to guarantee near-constant coverage and sharper location accuracy across the archipelago.

Japan's Cabinet Office states that the system complements GPS by ensuring a navigation satellite remains almost always somewhere above the country.

Japan's islands span latitudes between 20° and 45° North, a spread too wide for one geostationary satellite to cover alone.

The QZSS satellites therefore fly an inclined geostationary orbit that traces a figure-eight pattern when viewed from the ground.

The newest satellite in that constellation, known as Michibiki No. 7 or QZS-7, reached its intended orbit early Tuesday local time aboard an H3 rocket.

This orbit causes satellites to move more slowly while above the Northern Hemisphere, spending roughly 13 hours near the equator each cycle.

The first configuration used four satellites, and one of them appeared over Japan every eight hours during that early arrangement.

One satellite remained at an elevation of 70° or higher at all times, though not always at the exact zenith overhead.

That detail about elevation, rather than reaching the true zenith overhead, is actually what gave the constellation its distinctive quasi-zenith name.

A troubled rocket finally delivers

The H3 rocket, which carried the QZS-7, is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) newest mid-range launcher, and Tuesday's flight was the rocket's ninth mission since its debut.

Two of those nine missions failed the rocket's short operational history so far.

The most recent failure occurred in December 2025, when a glue-related fault destroyed the navigation satellite payload it was carrying.

That lost satellite was QZS-5, an earlier orbiter meant to expand Japan's navigation constellation before its launch attempt failed.

The first experimental QZSS satellite went into space in 2010, followed by four production satellites launched between 2017 and 2021.

Japan's government later decided to expand the constellation further, growing the planned fleet from four satellites to seven satellites total.

QZS-6 launched successfully in February 2025, arriving in orbit months before the failed December attempt to launch QZS-5 occurred.

Officials say three more satellites are planned sometime during the 2030s, though no direct replacement for QZS-5 has yet been confirmed.

Tuesday's success suggests Japan now holds nearly all of the satellite navigation coverage it originally set out to build.

It also offers JAXA a measure of reassurance that the H3 rocket, despite its rocky record, can still serve as a dependable workhorse for future missions.

Via The Register

The computing industry was once unrecognizable from the one we see today, with the idea of discipline centered around writing code treated as some kind of fantasy. That was before industry pioneer Margaret Hamilton coined the term while leading the flight software team for NASA's Apollo space program in the 1960s.

Pioneering an industry

Hamilton was describing the process by which she coined the term "software engineering" and, by doing so, defined an entire computer science discipline, in an interview.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

Rather than an interview for any media outlet, the transcript for this interview appeared in the first edition of the computer science textbook 'Fluency With Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, & Capabilities' by Lawrence Snyder and Ray Laura Henry.

She recalled during this conversation a particularly memorable moment in which a highly respected hardware guru explained to everyone in the meeting that the process of building software should also be considered an engineering discipline – just like hardware. That's because she and her colleagues had earned the respect of others in the room as being in an engineering field in their own right.

Teething issues

Before Hamilton coined the term and defined many of the processes and best practices that drove the software achievements at NASA during the Apollo mission, the approach to computing was in a state of disarray.

People, at the time, valued physical hardware and the components fitted underneath far more than the code that nobody could see. Programming, in a sense, wasn't seen as a real science until Hamilton came along.

During her time at NASA, she created vital on-board flight software, with a particular highlight being her error-detection-and-recovery system. Her contributions were immortalized in the 2022 short film 'To Go to the Moon', in which she was portrayed by Dominque Roberts.

This attitude led to a software crisis in the 1960s through the 1980s, with many projects running over budget and schedule and with the software that was published containing critical bugs, with costly consequences. This was the direct impact of a lack of professionalization in the field.

• In the first three months of 2026, $130 billion worth of AI data centers have been blocked or delayed across the US
• For the whole of 2025, the amount was only $156 billion
• Now AI firms are filing lawsuits to push back against the pushback

Increased strain on local power grids and water systems, noise and air pollution filling the surrounding area, and dubious economic promises are among the reasons citizens have taken a stand against AI data center development in their areas. And their side is winning time and again.

In just the first three months of 2026, local activism has resulted in $130 billion worth of projects being blocked or delayed across the US. For the whole of 2025, the publicly reported figure was only $156 billion.

As you might imagine, AI hyperscalers aren’t pleased with this.

Developers have taken to suing local authorities behind the bans and restrictions; meanwhile, there are reports that private intelligence firms are creating and selling dossiers on AI and data center critics to help companies and AI regulators tackle this growing movement.

And AI companies are already finding victory. Hill County, Texas, was one of the first counties in the state to impose a one-year ban on data center development in rural areas. However, the data center’s developer sued, and the law was rescinded.

Data centers are appearing everywhere (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The developers’ arguments predominantly stem from questioning what powers local leaders have in deciding how and where data centers are rolled out. As such, it’s unclear whether these lawsuits would hold up as well against statewide bans and moratoriums like the one announced just over a week ago by Texas Governor Greg Abbott — which has paused construction of around 1,800 data centers until audits on their impacts on local communities, water systems, and Texas’ power grid can be properly assessed.

It’s also unclear if AI true believers in the federal government will take a stand against states’ AI data center restrictions. President Donald Trump has called data centers a “tremendous thing”; though, despite the growing divide between Republican and Democrat voters, they share a bipartisan distaste for AI data centers, which could present a challenge for leaders who support them when it’s time for re-election.

Can AI data centers ever win?

Whether AI companies succeed in the courts or not, it doesn't seem like they’ll win in the court of public opinion for a little while longer, since data centers apparently have serious immediate downsides and relatively few upsides.

On the positive side, construction workers can see an uptick in revenue while the project is being built; maybe a few local workers will receive long-term employment to help manage the facility, and they can also bring in high tax revenue relative to their size.

But construction will eventually end; long-term employment on-site tends to be relatively limited, as a lot of management can be handled remotely, and tax revenues require profits.

Does anyone love data centers (apart from AI firms)? (Image credit: Nvidia)

On that front, AI data centers are generally enjoying solid financial performance. However, fears over the AI boom being somewhat bubbly continue, with concerns that the promised ongoing returns of data centers may end sooner rather than later.

In a worst-case collapse scenario, these buildings could become defunct, meaning local residents could face years of issues and never see any kind of reward.

These issues, conversely, can be very immediate and pretty major in some cases.

Meta contaminated Cheyenne’s water system with bacteria; data centers are said to have electricity bills for the general public of $23 billion, and a Michigan data center is in trouble for emitting incredible noise pollution 24/7, described by one resident: “You’ve seen movies and stuff where they have somebody in a cell torturing them with sound. And that’s basically what it is."

Many understand the enormous possible economic and scientific advantages of AI and the need for it to be supported and developed in their country — 55% of Americans don’t oppose the construction of new data centers in general, according to a June 2026 IPSOS poll. However, 59% of respondents would actively oppose a center being built within 10 miles of their home.

As AI excitement fails to die down, we’ll undoubtedly see even more data center plans pop up, and see just as many communities oppose them.

• China launched a fully autonomous vulnerability hunting attack against Taiwan
• The attack leveraged eight open-source AI models to hunt for new attack vectors
• The attack hit Taiwan government accounts, personnel records, the nuclear safety agency, and more

A first-of-its-kind cyberattack using autonomous AI has been spotted attacking Taiwan, and it compromised 85 government accounts and stole over 2,500 personnel records before moving on to hit the country’s nuclear safety agency and at least seven energy companies.

The attack used eight open-source AI models to build a hacking program that was able to independently conduct reconnaissance and intrusion, and was able to chain vulnerabilities and change tactics whenever it was blocked.

The intrusion took place over the course of four days, and was first exposed by The Financial Times on August 12, 2026. The FT article covered research performed by Dream, an Israeli AI and cyberdefense company that first identified the breach.

Autonomous AI attack

The attack was first uncovered during routine monitoring of cyber criminal activity. Dream found a 160MB online archive of 1,395 files. Further examination of the files revealed that the attack relied on Hermes and OpenClaw - two open-source AI agents.

As is typical of attacks relying on AI models, the hackers had framed the context of the intrusion as a routine cyber readiness test in order to bypass the built-in guardrails of the AI models.

The attack used multiple agents to hunt for new vulnerabilities and access points across the internet, providing the tool with multiple attack paths to take if one failed to gain entry.

AI agents have been quickly integrated into the attacks of cybercriminal organizations and state-sponsored threat actors alike, enhancing their abilities to launch highly complex attacks at scale. “This must be the basic assumption of every government around the globe,” said Amir Becker, Dream's chief strategy officer.

Dream did not tie the attack to any specific cybercriminal group, nor did it confirm the target of the attack, but said it had alerted a government in the “Asia-Pacific.” Documentation within the recovered archive contained Simplified Chinese, which is the official written language used in mainland China.

The archive also contained data collected from the targets, which was written in Traditional Chinese. This form of written Chinese is widely used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs has refused to comment on the breach, and the Chinese authorities have not responded to requests for comment.

China has long considered Taiwan to be a part of mainland China. Taiwan declared its independence following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. A report from Taiwan’s National Security Bureau earlier this year revealed that the country was subject to 2.5 million Chinese cyberattacks per day in 2025.

Expert perspective on autonomous AI attack

Collin Hogue-Spears, senior director of solution management at Black Duck:

The agents ran the intrusion end to end and invented nothing new to run it with. Familiar identity and API failures opened every confirmed path into Taiwan's systems. Dream Research Labs documented up to eight subagents working concurrently across twelve waves, ranking attack paths, redirecting when a technique failed, and researching alternatives online before trying again.

What they found was exposed development endpoints, an API accepting authentication tokens with the signature check disabled, unauthenticated data APIs, and passwords built from employee ID numbers.

The framework also ran its own AI static analysis hunting unknown flaws, but Dream says it worked against two public single sign-on SDK sample projects, and none of those findings produced a confirmed exploit on the live systems. No zero-day appears anywhere in the report, but a nuclear safety regulator does.

In conventional web and identity logs, this reads as a security scan. The distinguishing signal is the sequence across systems, not any single request. The tell is not the request. It is what the same account does next, somewhere else.

Conventional scanners have tested thousands of endpoints at machine speed for twenty years, so raw coverage is not the change here. What Dream Research Labs describes is chaining: password spraying, then fresh SSO sessions, then access to routes an account had never touched, then the same suspected weakness retested until it held, then one identity surfacing across several connected applications.

The evidence therefore supports a Chinese Mainland-language operator against a Taiwanese target, with a target profile consistent with mainland collection priorities.

Simplified Chinese in the operator's notes is one signal. Traditional Chinese in the stolen files is just Taiwan. Dream rested its China assessment on a code-switching observation, and only half of it points at the attacker. Per Chinese-language coverage of the report, Simplified characters appeared in the operators' internal communications and Traditional characters appeared in the exfiltrated data. The first describes the operator's working language. The second describes the victim, because that is what Taiwanese government files look like [Traditional Characters].

The evidence therefore supports a Chinese Mainland-language operator against a Taiwanese target, with a target profile consistent with mainland collection priorities. It does not name a group or establish state direction. The report also publishes no indicators, no hashes, and no victim confirmation; it does not identify the model, and its executive summary claims installed backdoors while its own attack chain says authentication blocked the web shell.

Security leaders must reject unsigned authentication tokens and prohibit the alg:none setting outright, and separately require reauthentication or multi-factor at any single sign-on boundary into a sensitive system. Dream describes two independent identity failures in Taiwan, and closing one leaves the other open. Provider guardrails cannot compensate for a password-only SSO bridge.

They must also monitor route diversity per source, per session, per account, and per device rather than by request rate alone, because a distributed set of agents spreads requests across addresses and sessions that no single volume threshold catches. If your detection assumes one attacker at one address working one path at a time, you have modeled the wrong shape.

Your thresholds were built for one attacker on one path. This was eight, in parallel. And they must ask two questions of any AI attack disclosure before acting on it: which model ran the operation, and what can we hunt on tomorrow morning?"

Via United24

Dear oh dear... things aren't going well for Dutton Ranch season 2, are they?

After that explosive Ed Harris interview, we know that filming for new episodes isn't supposed to start until February 2027, but the writers room appears to be fully underway as of August 2026.

Thanks to a new report from the Daily Mail, a slew of new dramatic allegations are supposedly threatening the "mess of a show" behind the scenes, with an insider claiming "there is high drama on that one, so much tension.

"I believe it's the actors that are a huge part of the problem," they add. "Too many people think they are in control over there and that's causing a lot of issues."

Alongside Harris feeling "p*ssed off" with his lack of screen time, Annette Bening's "star power" has also allegedly caused friction behind-the-scenes.

But none of this is what I'm most interested in. Since before Dutton Ranch even premiered, I've been publicly campaigning for Taylor Sheridan to shift his role from executive producer to showrunner (much like what we saw with Yellowstone).

While there's been a confirmed positive step in a similar direction, the newly announced showrunner, Benjamin Cavell, opens up an entirely new can of worms.

Benjamin Cavell as Dutton Ranch season 2 showrunner could turn it from Yellowstone to Lioness

(Image credit: Paramount+)

According to this same report, Sheridan is set to have a "bigger presence" in the Dutton Ranch season 2 writers room, which is music to my ears. In order for Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip's (Cole Hauser) new start in Texas to be the best it can be, it needs the biggest amount of Sheridan input possible, so this can only be a good thing.

However, the announcement of Benjamin Cavell as the season 2 showrunner might be a cause for concern. Whereas previous showrunner Chad Feehan had Western experience after leading Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Cavell comes from a more military TV background.

With Homeland, SEAL Team, and Justified all under his belt, I wonder if Cavell would be better suited to the Lioness and Tulsa King branch of Sheridan's work. There's no question that he has an exceptional handle on action, and thanks to the miniseries The Stand, we also know that he understands the Paramount+ audience.

But with the Yellowstone world comes such a specific feel and almost a decade of lore attached, and introducing a total newbie at this stage in the game could be a make-or-break moment for Dutton Ranch's future.

As someone who fell head over heels for the spinoff, I'm willing things to work. But even while we have no idea how much truth there really is to these alleged reports, the fact that they exist at all doesn't fill me with confidence.

• Apple's MacBook Air is facing supply constraints, as delivery estimates last up to a month
• The delivery delays are a direct result of the ongoing RAM crisis
• Consumers may have to look at Windows alternatives, as the RAM crisis gets worse

PC hardware manufacturers can't catch a break from the ongoing RAM crisis, and unfortunately, Apple arguably knows that more than anyone.

As reported by 9to5Mac, MacBook Air shortages are worsening, as delivery estimates for configurations on Apple's online store are longer than usual. Nearly all configurations have a 2-3 week shipment estimate, while those with 32GB of RAM have up to 4-5 weeks.

It's increasingly clear that RAM shortages are causing supply issues for Apple, and the extended delivery estimates come shortly after Apple's recent slate of price hikes on Macs and iPads. Notably, the MacBook Air M5 saw a $200 price increase earlier in June, and despite that, shortages remain.

Supply is so bad that 9to5Mac notes that Apple retail employees state that the MacBook Air shipments are "more constrained than they can ever recall", and that's a fitting statement since the PC hardware market is possibly at its worst state ever.

Fresh rumors also point to Apple being set on a price increase for its iPhone 17 — so without a doubt, proceedings aren't looking great for the tech giant (and several other hardware companies) in terms of supply stability.

Apple also has a history of rarely dropping prices for its devices, so the only other options consumers have are to buy MacBooks from other retailers or consider Windows alternatives.

What now?

(Image credit: Shutterstock / D.L.Sakharova)

Outside of Apple's online store, Amazon currently has the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air available at a lower price ($1,256) and a shorter delivery window using Prime. The same applies to several other configurations, including the 15-inch model.

Apple's RAM and supply constraints won't end anytime soon, so Windows alternatives are also sensible for consumers to aim for. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, Yoga Slim 7i Aura, and even Dell's XPS 13 are solid laptop options. They may not all match the MacBook Air in performance, but they are enough to get the job done.

There's no better time than now for consumers to act on purchasing a new laptop, as insiders like Mark Gurman and even Apple chief financial officer Kevan Parekh indicate that Apple's supply constraints aren't set to improve, but only worsen — and that likely extends to 2027 and beyond.

• Nightmare Eclipse discloses ShieldBreak, a new Windows privilege‑escalation zero‑day
• Flaw bypasses a recent patch and works on fully updated Windows 11 systems
• Researcher’s ongoing exploit spree leaves multiple Windows vulnerabilities still unpatched

Nightmare Eclipse has struck again! The notorious zero-day researcher with a Microsoft grudge disclosed its latest vulnerability, and just as in previous instances, they picked their timing and released their research hours after Microsoft published its August Patch Tuesday cumulative update in order to maximize the hurt.

The newest flaw is called ShieldBreak, and is described as a local escalation of privilege vulnerability that allows threat actors to gain SYSTEM-level privileges on vulnerable systems. Speaking of vulnerable systems, the list is rather long because it includes all versions of Windows 11, including those with the latest security patches.

“The PoC was tested in the latest version of windows 11 25h2 (+Canary channel) and windows server 2025, the PoC also have a 100% success rate,” Nightmare Eclipse said on their GitHub account. “Please note that Windows 10 (and respective server editions) are not currently supported, they are however vulnerable to ShieldBreak as well.”

A bypass for the RoguePlanet fix

The mysterious attacker also said that the bug was actually a bypass for the patch Microsoft issued to fix their earlier work, called RoguePlanet.

“Microsoft has failed to properly patch the RoguePlanet vulnerability CVE-2026-50656, this PoC demonstrates a full patch bypass,” the GitHub read entry.

Microsoft, on the other hand, responded in pure enterprise fashion, sharing a boilerplate statement that it was “investigating” and that it “supports coordinated vulnerability disclosure”.

In response to an enquiry by The Register, a company spokesperson said Microsoft "is aware of the reported vulnerability and is actively investigating the validity and potential applicability of these claims."

"Microsoft is committed to investigating security issues and updating impacted products to protect customers as soon as possible,” the statement reads. “Importantly, we support coordinated vulnerability disclosure, an industry standard that protects customers and supports the research community by ensuring their findings are thoroughly investigated and addressed before being made public."

A hacker on a mission

Together with ShieldBreak, the number of disclosed Windows vulnerabilities and exploits now counts 10. Nightmare Eclipse’s campaign began in April 2026, when they demonstrated BlueHammer, a Windows Defender local privilege-escalation flaw that gives low-privileged users SYSTEM-level access. The researcher claimed BlueHammer, now tracked as CVE-2026-33825, was previously reported to Microsoft, but the company allegedly mishandled the disclosure.

Just before publishing the work, they said “someone violated our agreement and left me homeless with nothing. They knew this will happen and they still stabbed me in the back anyways, this is their decision not mine.”

At first, Microsoft took a tough stance, calling the public release “never justifiable” and even warning that it might pursue legal cases against people who put customers at risk.

The community interpreted this statement as a threat of legal action against Nightmare Eclipse, which triggered a backlash. Microsoft later backed away, saying “to be clear about our approach to legal matters, we have no intention to pursue action against individuals conducting or publishing their security research.”

In the meantime, Nightmare Eclipse (also known as Chaotic Eclipse) went on a full-blown rampage. They released RedSun and UnDefend (both targeting Defender), YellowKey (a BitLocker bypass), GreenPlasma (a CTFMON-based privilege-escalation flaw), MiniPlasma (a regression of a vulnerability Microsoft had originally fixed in 2020), RoguePlanet (another Defender privilege-escalation bug), GreatXML (a BitLocker/Windows Recovery Environment bypass), LegacyHive (a Windows User Profile Service privilege-escalation flaw), and now ShieldBreak.

BlueHammer was fixed in April, RedSun and UnDefend in May, and YellowKey, GreenPlasma, and MiniPlasma, in June. RoguePlanet was patched in July, while LegacyHive, GreatXML, and ShieldBreak, remain unpatched.

It is also worth mentioning that not all of Nightmare Eclipse’s releases were equally complete or reproducible by third parties. For GreenPlasma, independent researchers said it contained the vulnerability but turning it into a reliable working exploit required significant additional technical work. Some of the early Defender exploits were also apparently difficult to reproduce, mostly because they relied on delicate race conditions and very specific sequences of Windows components.

ShieldBreak, however, seems to be more dangerous in that respect. Speaking to The Register, security researcher Kevin Beaumont confirmed it as working: “I've tried it, it works on latest Windows 11,” he told the publication.

He also said that while ShieldBreak was described as a bypass for the RoguePlanet fix, the two flaws actually operated quite differently.

“RoguePlanet was a filesystem race condition vuln that uses virtual disks and NT native file manipulation to trick quarantine process into overwriting system files,” Beaumont explained. “ShieldBreak user-mode callback hook to change file contents during a Defender cloud-hydration scan via cfapi (Cloud Filter API).”

No one knows how much ammunition Nightmare Eclipse still has, but we will certainly be paying attention to them in the hours after next month’s Patch Tuesday, as well.

• Fans think they've uncovered The Elder Scrolls 6's eight-letter subtitle
• Redditor 'starfieldnovember' suggests the subtitle is "Sentinel"
• The clue comes from Starfield's character creator and employee number, which, translated via the alphabet, spells "Sentinel"

The Elder Scrolls 6 fans believe they've uncovered the game's secret subtitle, and it may have been under our noses the entire time.

Earlier this week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma shared an X post that blew up, which read, "Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls 6: ******** this morning. The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater."

Of course, fans instantly began speculating what those eight asterisks could be; Hammerfell? Nope, too many letters. Redguard? Already been used. But one fan has offered up their own theory, and it's the best one yet.

According to Redditor 'starfieldnovember', The Elder Scrolls 6's subtitle could be "Sentinel," and the clue has been hidden in Starfield's character creator without anyone realizing until now (via IGN).

"By the way, Sentinel was already teased in Starfield," they began. "In Starfield Direct and in the final game, we can see our employee number during character creation. Random string of numbers at first look, but if you translate it by dividing it into pairs and then using the corresponding letter of the alphabet, you get SENTINEL.

"This title was at our noses for more than 3 years, and we somehow missed it."

By the way, Sentinel was already teased in Starfield from r/TESVI

Other fans seem to agree with the theory, not only because Bethesda loves to hide easter eggs in its games, but because Sentinel is a major coastal capital city located in the northwestern hills of Hammerfell, which is rumored to be the setting of The Elder Scrolls 6.

What's more, Bethesda developer Michael Kirkbride replied "Yep" to a separate Reddit post after a fan suggested the name could be Sentinel, which seems like a done deal, but we'll have to wait and see.

The Elder Scrolls 6 was revealed in June 2018, and its announcement has now become as old as The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was at the time. Over eight years later, there's still no development update on the game, besides Sharma's confirmation that she's played it, and no release date.

In November 2025, Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, said the game is "still a long way off," and revealed at the time that the studio "did a big play test."

It was also speculated that Bethesda could shadowdrop the game, just like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered in April 2025, and when the idea was brought up to Howard, he didn't immediately reject it.

"You might say that was a test run. It worked out well," he said on Oblivion Remastered.

In the meantime, Bethesda is currently working on remasters of both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and continuing support for Starfield.

• Researchers are developing a tent that could produce its own electricity
• It's made out of magnetoelastic material
• It's still in early stages, but scientists intent to use them in off-grid camps and disaster zones

There are plenty of high-tech camping accessories you can get your hands on to spruce up your outdoor vacations — but have you ever thought about a tent that can produce its own electricity? Well, it could be the future of camping.

Researchers have been developing a ‘magnetoelastic’ tent that could generate and harvest its own electricity, kind of like a wind turbine, but one that you sleep in and use to power small devices. I thought I’ve seen my fair share of whacky tech, but this discovery is truly something else.

The tent is made out of a special material with ‘magnetoelasticity’, a textile property that can produce electrical energy from bending and stretching motions, which was first coined by physicist Emilio Villari in 1865. But it relies on fabric layering to harness its electrical production powers.

As mentioned in the Cell Press journal, Matter, the tent’s design consists of a magnetomechanical coupling layer and a magnetic induction layer. This is fused together with weaving patterns, layer stacking, and conductive fiber, allowing the tent to respond to movement.

The tent consists of two different components, one for the flooring and another for the roof. While the tent floor integrates woven fabric embedded with magnetoelastic ribbons, its roof features a layered material made of conductive fibers and magnetoelastic film.

(Image credit: Cell Press / Matter)

The interesting part is that the material can respond to more than just human movement happening inside the tent — it can absorb action from environmental surroundings, too. Even motions such as wind and movement during the setup can also help — but how?

Essentially, the material’s fabric state shifts when it bends and flexes, converting mechanical movement into electricity through induction. During the testing period, researchers found that hand-tapping a small sample of the material could charge a 0.22-μF capacitor to 5.80V in 1.5 seconds. While this is nowhere near enough to power a smartphone, for example, it shows that the material certainly has potential.

Despite the successful early-stage experiments, there’s still a long way to go before it becomes a fully realized product, but the researchers behind it have a vision.

For them, the tent isn’t intended for leisurely camping trips. Instead, they see it as the ideal opportunity to provide sanctuary in shelters, disaster zones, off-grid camps, and areas where electricity access is limited or relies solely on sunlight.

That’s one of the clever elements of the tent: it doesn’t need the sun to power itself as solar panels do. Motion alone is enough to give the tent the power it needs to create its own source of energy, meaning that it can function in the shade and after sunset.

On paper it’s a genius product, but there are many tests that are yet to come — so don’t expect to score one in time for Glastonbury 2027.

• WindRelay campaign used vishing plus custom malware to turn phones into POS skimmers
• Victims installed personalized RATs and NFC malware, enabling real‑time card theft
• Attacks were highly targeted across Eastern Europe, with only a few individuals hit

Hackers are turning people’s smartphones into malicious Point of Sale (POS) devices and stealing their money directly from their payment cards, experts have warned.

Security researchers Group-IB spotted multiple such attacks across Eastern Europe, and named the campaign WindRelay, after the custom-built malware used during the attacks.

The report notes this is a highly sophisticated, custom-tailored attack designed specifically for the victim. It starts with some form of reconnaissance, in which the attackers learn their victim’s identity, phone number, and likely other details. Although the researchers don’t discuss it, it is quite possible that the attackers obtained (or purchased) the data from unrelated data breaches and leaks.

Vishing and malware

After learning a little bit about their target, the attackers get to work. They first prepare a remote access trojan (RAT) named SpyNote. They personalize the label with the victim’s own name (instead of it being a generic or impersonated brand), to build trust with their victim:

“Such tactics are more effective at weakening a victim’s natural defenses and suspicions,” the researchers noted in the report. “It removes the one cue people are trained to check before installing something unfamiliar — a strange or generic app name — right at the moment they’re most likely to hesitate.”

Then, they call the victim on the phone and introduce themselves as employees of their target’s bank. They claim the victim has a problem with their bank card, and instruct them to deploy SpyNote through the device’s package installer (the standard way to sideload apps outside an official app store).

SpyNote is a classic RAT that the attackers then use to deploy stage-two malware themselves. In this next step, they personally (as opposed to having the victim do it) install WindRelay, custom near-field communication (NFC) malware designed to capture contactless payment card data in real-time, when a card is tapped against the phone.

In other words, the malware turns the smartphone into a POS, and when a victim taps their card against it, the information is relayed to an attacker’s terminal.

Vishing + malware

Vishing + malware combo is nothing new. We’ve seen it deployed numerous times before, and ShinyHunters are probably the shiniest example of the practice (pun definitely intended). Over the last couple of years, ShinyHunters have been calling their victims on the phone, impersonating the IT department, and getting their victims to log in via fake login portals which relay the credentials to the attackers.

They then use the credentials to access their victims’ SaaS products, exfiltrate as much sensitive data as possible, and then demand ransom in exchange for deleting the stolen files.

This new campaign, however, is a testament to the technique’s evolution. While ShinyHunters’ operatives only stay on the phone call until the victim logs in, these crooks remain on the line for as long as it takes. Group-IB says the average call lasts around 13 minutes, and by that moment, the victim will have installed both SpyNote and WindRelay, and has tapped their bank card against the phone, making unwanted payments.

In at least one case, the attackers successfully applied for a loan at the victim’s bank, stealing not only the money they had on their account, but also money they would have earned in the future.

The identity of the attackers is unknown at the time. We also don’t know exactly how many victims there were, but given the highly personalized nature of the attack, it’s safe to assume that there were only a handful.

Group-IB says it observed attacks in Czechia, Slovakia, and Slovenia, suggesting a threat actor focused primarily on Eastern European victims. The researchers also said they identified 23 samples uploaded to VirusTotal between November 2025 and July 2026, meaning the campaign was active for approximately seven months, targeting 23 individuals.

“The samples mimic various institutions from the targeted countries and contain text in the language of each targeted country,” the researchers said. “Some samples contain personalized UI elements and labels, such as the name of the victim, similar to the personalized RAT. This suggests the threat actor behind these campaigns most likely has the capability to dynamically build malicious applications tailored to individual victims.”

Group-IB says users should treat personalized app labels as a red flag and should apply extra friction to loan applications.

• A Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 and Pro Controller have reportedly leaked
• New images posted online appear to show the packaging for 40th anniversary Zelda editions of the console and Pro Controller
• Nintendo has yet to formally announce new special edition hardware

Nintendo could be planning to release a special edition Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch 2 Pro Controller inspired by The Legend of Zelda, after leaked images were posted online.

That's according to the Centro LEAKS account on X (via VGC), which posted two images showing the packaging for the themed Switch 2 and Pro Controller, which are seemingly designed to celebrate Zelda's 40th anniversary.

The Switch 2 has black and green Joy-Cons with the iconic Triforce emblem on one side, while the dock itself has the more elaborate design, showing the gold Triforce on the front.

Similarly, the Pro Controller has black and green grips, with a different gold Triforce in the center. Looking more closely at the packaging, you can also see a 40th anniversary logo.

First limited edition Nintendo Switch 2 coming soon pic.twitter.com/cli7icFkbpAugust 11, 2026

Brazilian journalist and Universo Nintendo editor-in-chief ‘Necro’ Felipe Lima previously claimed to have been shown both products, and in a separate post, said the new images are "exactly as I saw it previously."

If these leaks are real, I'm glad I waited to purchase a Switch 2. However, Nintendo hasn't made an official announcement just yet, but it would be the first special edition Switch 2 since the console launched.

Additionally, while some speculated that Nintendo would release a new special edition Switch 2 alongside The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, which is due to arrive this year, it appears the supposed leaked console may not be inspired by the game.

The Ocarina of Time remake was announced this summer and will be a Switch 2 exclusive, though a launch date hasn't been set.

• Crunchyroll is coming to compatible BMW and Mini vehicles
• It comes as part of a new partnership with automotive app distrubition platform Appning
• More than 40 car brands are expected to follow

Popular anime streaming service Crunchyroll is coming to a range of vehicles in a new collaboration with automation app distribution platform Appning.

Soon, owners of compatible BMW and Mini vehicles in the US, UK, and Australia will be able to access Crunchyroll directly through their car's infotainment systems, giving subscribers a new way to catch up with hit shows like Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, My Hero Academia, Haikyu!!, and more.

As a Mini owner and Crunchyroll subscriber I can't wait, and I can already see myself diving into the latest season of Oshi no Ko while parked up waiting at the car wash.

BMW Group cars are just the start, however, with the app expected to steadily roll out to more than 40 automotive brands. Mercedez-Benz, Volkswagen, Leapmotor, and Lotus are just some of the brands that make Appning-enabled vehicles.

Appning owner Forvia estimates that the platform reaches more than 20% of the accessible market share, so if you recently bought a new car there's a decent chance that it will be compatible.

On the announcement, Crunchyroll SVP of global distribution and business development said that "Today’s consumers expect their entertainment to be available wherever they are, including in their vehicle.

"With Crunchyroll coming soon to global automotive partners, the anime experience will be even more accessible on every journey. Through this collaboration with Appning, we’re glad to provide another way for this passionate, global fan community to enjoy their favorite anime.”

Crunchyroll is already available on a wide variety of platforms. You can download the app on your iOS or Android phone, visit the website on your laptop or PC, or access it from a range of games consoles and smart TV devices.

It offers more than 1,000 titles globally, focusing exclusively on Japanese cartoon animation, or anime as it's known. Prices start at $9.99 / £5.99 / AU$11.99 a month for the most basic tier of membership.

• A limited-edition Gears of War: E-Day Xbox Wireless Controller has been revealed
• The controller releases on September 30 and can be pre-ordered now for $89.99 / £84.99
• A separate 8BitDo charging dock is also up for pre-order

Xbox has unveiled its limited-edition Gears of War: E-Day Xbox Wireless Controller ahead of the game's launch on October 6.

"To celebrate the launch of Gears of War: E-Day, we’re giving fans two new ways to immerse themselves in one of gaming’s most iconic universes," reads the Xbox Wire announcement post. "Together, these offerings pay tribute to Emergence Day with hardware inspired by the symbols, scars, and battles that defined humanity’s war against the Locust Horde."

Starting today, fans can pre-order the Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller at participating retailers worldwide and the Xbox online store. The controller, which was "inspired by the horror and brutality unleashed on Emergence Day," will be released on September 30 and cost $89.99 / £84.99.

Where to buy the Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller

Gears of War: E-Day launches on October 6, but you can pre-order the limited edition Xbox Wireless Controller now at the Microsoft Store and at the participating retailers below.

Price check: $89.99 at Amazon | $89.99 at Best Buy | $84 at WalmartView Deal

If you're in the UK, you can also secure a pre-order of the Gears of War: E-Day Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller now at these stores.

Price check: £84.99 at Amazon | £139.99 at Very (includes a copy of Gears of War: E-Day)View Deal

Fans seem to love the design, with one on Reddit saying, "My wallet is not gonna be happy." Another on X said, "They look frigging awesome."

"Drawing from the E-holes that scar the world of Gears of War: E-Day, the controller features 3D molded, laser-etched details of cracked asphalt with red, glowing cracks created by the power of an erupting E-hole, exposing the iconic Crimson Omen beneath the surface," the description reads.

"Blacked-out ABXY buttons are punctuated by a transparent red X button, while matching red triggers and a transparent D-pad reflect the destruction left in the wake of Emergence Day. A dark silver metallic COG tag on the battery door signifies Never Fight Alone. Squad up. Textured grips round out a design built for fans ready to carry a piece of Sera into every battle."

Additionally, beginning September 30, fans can design their own E-Day controller with Xbox Design Lab, featuring exclusive artwork from heavy metal illustrator Luke Preece.

8BitDo is also releasing an Ultimate Charging Dock for Xbox Controllers – Gears of War: E-Day complimentary accessory, which is compatible with Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One Wireless controllers, and includes an 8BitDo rechargeable battery pack. The charging dock will cost $33.99 / £29.54.

• Dolby confirms that Dolby Vision 2 HDR can come to existing 4K Blu-ray hardware, including both discs and players
• However, it will require the player manufacturers to work with Dolby on updates, and Sony says it has no plans to update, with no comment from Panasonic or Magnetar
• Dolby says that Dolby Vision 2 TVs will still show visual improvements with Dolby Vision 1 discs, because of the upgraded processing engine

Dolby Vision 2, the next generation of Dolby's HDR format, is rolling out to its first TVs right now — and Dolby answered one my most burning questions about the new tech, which is whether it can come to 4K Blu-ray as well as streaming.

Digging into the answer turns out to be mixed news. It was positive from a technical side: the team confirmed that Dolby Vision 2 can work on existing Blu-ray disc and players. However, making it work will require a firmware update to ensure full compatibility — and that looks like it could be the problem.

I sat down with Dolby Laboratories' vice-president of home devices, Chris Turkstra, and director of business strategy Jonas Klittmark. As you'd expect, both men were big cheerleaders for the new technology. But they were also realistic about the challenges around existing Blu-ray players in particular.

"UHD Blu-ray is fantastic," Klittmark said. "It's hard to get 120 megabits over streaming, right? So if you're the kind of person who cares about that, like I am, then it still makes sense."

However, "the problem with UHD Blu-ray is that the industry behind the consumer electronics devices that power it… some of them are not even there any more. My player happens to be an Oppo from 10 years ago, and I think those guys closed shop half a decade ago."

As he explains, that poses a potential problem for full Blu-ray compatibility. "While we wouldn't need any new hardware for those devices to have the optimal behavior for Dolby Vision 2, they would need a software update to make sure they're configured correctly."

And so far, the manufacturers still doing Blu-ray don't seem to be champing at the bit. We reached out to Panasonic, Sony and Magnetar to ask about their Dolby Vision 2 plans, and only Sony responded — and confirmed that that it won't update its existing players, as things stand. A statement from the company read:

"We do not plan to provide a software/firmware update to support Dolby Vision 2 on the current Blu-ray player lineup."

Why does Dolby Vision 2 require an update?

"We would love to see Dolby Vision 2 come to all devices. And I think over time, it will come to many more devices than TVs," Klittman says. "But UHD Blu-ray is a is a problematic one."

While supporting Dolby Vision 2 requires new hardware on TVs (it only works on specific TV processors), it doesn't require it for players because all the players need to do is pass data encoded in the stream onto the TV, and then the TV does the hard processing. However, the players need to know how to handle that data: "Since these are old players, there's probably a software update needed for many of them," says Klittmark.

Dolby's team highlighted that their particular concern is getting the data accurately over the HDMI connection. "There are so many nuances over HDMI," Klittmark says. "Different ways to prioritize things, different transmission formats, et cetera... I don't want to oversimplify the work involved. It's about making sure that all the Dolby Vision 2 Content Intelligence, as we're calling it, actually makes it through, and that the device is configured correctly for the best HDMI transmission."

As Chris Turkstra explains, the software update would be needed "in the formatting tools of the device. It's a fairly complex amount of change... while we definitely would love to have it, I don't know if there will be enough [demand] to get people to do that work."

Of course, the Dolby Vision 2 data would also need to be on the disc itself, so existing movies won't take advantage of it, and I doubt it's a format that will get people replacing their existing discs with a new version — but still, for new releases and fresh restorations, it would be great to have the extra accuracy it's designed to bring.

Dolby Vision 2 and 4K Blu-ray should still be better, even without upgrades

So what happens if your player's manufacturer is long gone, or is still around but doesn't want to put the effort into a firmware upgrade? You should still see some benefits from the new generation of Dolby Vision if you have a compatible TV, especially the new and significantly more powerful image engine.

"When it's just regular Dolby Vision, your Dolby Vision 2 TV will still be able to give you a lot of the benefits that we're talking about, including for UHD Blu-ray," Klittman says. "That's what's exciting: that will work for UHD Blu-ray regardless of whether the players get updated or not."

The upgraded processing engine at the heart of Dolby Vision 2 is capable of doing more advanced work with the existing metadata in Dolby Vision, and Dolby has said that there should be a clear improvement. I've seen a demo of Dolby Vision 2 processing with original Dolby Vision content on cheaper TVs, and there's a visible difference.

Of course, what I'm most interested in is how DV2-exclusive options such as Precision Black — in which data about how the creator viewed the mastering monitor when finalizing the color grade can be used to improve HDR visibility and accuracy — could help really dark movies to bring through more shadow detail while still staying true to the master.

Sadly cinephiles may face a frustrating choice if their favorite movies get the Dolby Vision 2 treatment on streaming: get the 4K Blu-ray version with the best picture quality overall, or stream in a lower bitrate but with potentially closer accuracy to the mastered image.

Multicolor 3D printing is much easier when the hardware needed to handle multiple filaments comes as part of the package. One of our favorite choices from our workshop tests, the Anycubic Kobra S1 ACE 2 Pro Combo, is now $550 (was $650) at Amazon for Prime members.

The combo pairs the Kobra S1 with Anycubic's ACE 2 Pro, which manages four filaments while also doubling as a heated filament dryer. It can dry filament at temperatures up to 65°C while you're printing.

This enclosed CoreXY 3D printer offers native four-color printing, 600mm/s maximum speeds, a 320°C hotend, automatic leveling, resonance compensation, smart filament management, and simultaneous filament drying and printing.View Deal

Why we recommend it

Four-color printing straight out of the box is the headline attraction, but the ACE 2 Pro does more than automatically switch between spools. It can identify compatible filament, estimate how much remains, automatically refill filament, and maintain filament condition through active drying and sealed storage.

In his rave four-and-a-half-star review, our expert Alastair said: "When it comes to absolute precision, the Anycubic S1 is one of the best 3D printers out there."

He added: "What really appeals here is the absolute print quality. The precision and quality of the print finish are exceptional, no doubt partially down to the fact that the Ace Pro features a built-in dryer. This means the filament is in top condition when it enters the machine, and it really does make a difference to the quality."

The printer itself uses an enclosed CoreXY design, reaches speeds up to 600mm/s, and has a 320°C quick-release hotend. LeviQ 3.0 automatic leveling and resonance compensation are included to make setup easier, while support for PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, TPU, and other materials gives you plenty of scope for different projects.

For more options, take a look at our round up of the best 3D printers we've tested and the best 3D printer deals we've seen this week.

Price context & historical value

Amazon has reduced the Anycubic Kobra S1 ACE 2 Pro Combo from $649.99 to $549.99, taking $100 off the regular price, or just over 15%. It has been cheaper in the past, but the lowest we've seen it on Amazon is $510, and not for long.

The combo aspect is important here. You're getting both the enclosed Kobra S1 and the ACE 2 Pro rather than buying a printer first and then adding the four-color filament system later.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Anycubic Kobra S1 ACE 2 Pro Combo if...

You want to get into multicolor 3D printing without buying the printer and filament system separately. The included ACE 2 Pro gives you four-color printing from the start, while adding further ACE 2 Pro units can expand the system to as many as 16 colors.

The ACE 2 Pro can actively dry filament at up to 65°C while the printer is working, so you don't have to finish drying a spool before starting your print.

❌ Skip the Anycubic Kobra S1 ACE 2 Pro Combo if...

You mostly produce straightforward single-color PLA prints. A large part of the appeal here comes from the ACE 2 Pro and its multicolor and filament-drying capabilities, so a simpler machine could give you everything you need for even less.

You should also consider how much space you have available. The enclosed printer measures 15.75 x 16.14 x 19.29 inches and weighs 39.6 pounds, before accounting for the ACE 2 Pro and filament.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

Although Anycubic describes the system as expandable, four-color printing is what you get with the hardware included here. Reaching the maximum 16 colors requires four ACE 2 Pro units in total, adding considerably to the cost and physical space required.

There's also a compatibility restriction worth remembering if you already own Anycubic equipment: ACE Pro and ACE 2 Pro units can't be used together. Make sure any future expansion hardware is the ACE 2 Pro version.

• Shop all 3D printers at Amazon

The year was 2013. I can remember the sheer excitement I felt as I stepped into my local video game store and laid eyes on the title that I’d been desperate to play for months. I’d brought a bag filled with Nintendo DS games that I’d played to near death, traded them in at the counter, and finally got my hands on the 3DS release that changed my gaming life for good: Fire Emblem Awakening.

Awakening was the game that truly got me into RPGs. Its vibrant cast of characters, its stellar strategic gameplay, its engrossing narrative — twelve-year-old me was enraptured by its brilliance.

Now, 13 years on, those feelings of excitement and enthusiasm have been reawakened. And that’s because I got the chance to play Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, a title which — so far — has encapsulated everything that made me fall in love with the series all those years ago. Here’s how I’ve found my time with Fortune’s Weave, and why I think it could be the epic tactical RPG that defines the Nintendo Switch 2.

Enter the Flame Lords

Theodora is one of the four Flame Lords you can play as in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (Image credit: Nintendo)

Our adventure is centered around the land of Dagda, a kingdom enjoying a period of relative prosperity under the rule of Divine Sovereign Solel. A grand event is soon to take place in Dagda’s capital, Dagsion, which is drawing great warriors from around the kingdom and beyond: the Heroic Games. This tournament’s victor is to be granted one wish of their choosing, and the city is abuzz with anticipation. But little do the combatants know that a great calamity is soon to befall the world around them.

Five years after the Heroic Games have concluded, turmoil runs rife across Dagda. The demonic god, Balor, has returned, and the forces of the underworld have humanity hanging by a thread. One individual — you, the main protagonist — is tasked by the goddess Sothis to bring about salvation for humanity and drive away the darkness. And this is where we get into the real meat of Fortune’s Weave.

Four great warriors from the Heroic Games, known as the Flame Lords, have vanished. With the help of the goddess Fortuna, you are able to go back in time, alter the causality across each hero’s path, and recruit them to assist in the battle for Dagda’s deliverance.

As the player, you get to travel back to the time of the Heroic Games and delve into four individual campaigns that enable you to control each of the four Flame Lords: Cai, Dietrich, Theodora, and Leda. Meanwhile, you, the main protagonist, will appear as the Pale Raven, and be able to give advice on upcoming battles and watch over the Flame Lords along their journey.

It may sound like a lot to take in, and a lot of back and forths along the timeline, but the storytelling in the early section of the game — which I’ll be discussing here — is incredibly tight, clear, and gripping.

Walk the path of great heroes

Here we have Dietrich, stood beside an abnormally large black cat (Image credit: Nintendo)

After completing a brief prologue, you’re given the chance to pick from any of the four heroes, although you’re able to swap between each individual storyline whenever you feel like. I started by following Dietrich’s path, and wow. What a way to kick off my adventure.

First of all, I have to shout out the character design. Dietrich himself is a truly majestic specimen (something pointed out by many through your journey), and his chilling killer instincts and thirst for battle are reflected in his visceral combat style to perfection. He’s joined by a brilliantly charismatic cast, including the mysterious and eccentric priest, Fabio, the young and skilled Esmeralda, and the former mercenary Mikaela, to name a few.

Each character is surprisingly layered and full of charisma and intrigue, not to mention the absolutely phenomenal voice acting, which is already shaping up to be some of the best the series has ever produced. Naturally, you can build your support with each member of your party and view special conversations, just as you could in previous instalments.

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Although Dietrich’s path has been my favorite so far, I’ve dipped into the story of each protagonist, and all offer a strong lineup of characters, distinct yet interwoven narratives, and unique mechanics to drill into.

For instance, Theodora can assign battalions, which can boost a unit’s attack power and inflict status effects on foes, and Dietrich can learn new combat arts from wandering warriors. It keeps each pathway feeling fresh and distinct, and incentivized me to try out each and every one of the Flame Lords’ campaigns.

Although you’ll spend a decent amount of time on main story battles, you’ll also be given free time here and there. With this time, you can access training facilities to strengthen a unit's skill with certain weapons or magic, you can serve at a temple to earn favor from the gods, or you can dine at an inn to build up support with allies and regain motivation (required for certain tasks).

This is just a taste of what’s on offer, but the bottom line is, I found that there was never a shortage of things to do during my free time, and the variety on offer breathes vibrancy and life into Dagsion, making it feel like the esteemed capital it’s presented as.

Gameplay and combat: timeless fundamentals with some neat twists

Combat is as great as ever in Fortune's Weave, with some new mechanics such as Blaze Arts helping the experience feel fresh for returning fans (Image credit: Nintendo)

Let’s talk about the core gameplay on offer, though, which will be the most exciting aspect for a lot of returning fans.

A lot of the bones are the same. Other than some dungeon sections, which incorporate a mild amount of action combat and 3D exploration, you’re mainly playing a tactical JRPG with the usual grid-based combat. Each map is a blast to play through, and although things start out very easy, you’ll soon have to be considerate of which units you select, how you position them, and how you approach the enemy.

At its core, Fortune’s Weave is a continuation of what made the series great, and whether you play in Casual (where units return to your ranks after defeat), or Classic (where units are gone forever if they fall in battle), you’ll find that just about each decision you make on the battlefield matters — and building the perfect units and reclassing them to vanquish your opponent is still outrageously enjoyable.

Combat Arts are back, which degrade weapon durability in exchange for powerful actions, and Blessings from the gods give you boons in combat, such as a reduction in damage received or a higher chance of avoiding attacks. But there are also some new additions. Perhaps the most high-profile, and one I’ve been loving, is Blaze Arts.

Blaze Arts sacrifice a portion of your HP in return for powerful moves, but aren’t available to all units. Dietrich, for example, can warp forward multiple spaces and attack afterwards. Or Theodora can unleash an especially long-range attack on distant foes. The HP sacrifice prevents you from using them without consequence, and the abilities can help you clutch up in tense situations.

I’ve also been loving the battle animations, which add solid immersion to the action. The way that some units will parry attacks and swiftly retaliate, and the elaborate Blaze Arts animations, are both clear standouts and make battles feel like the spectacle they’re intended to be.

Outside of the excellent combat, it’s a lot of fun to just stroll through Dagsion, and movement feels both rapid and responsive. Fast travel is also an option if you want to get from A to B in an instant, but sometimes I just wanted to walk through the city and take in some of the amazing music. Whether it’s beautiful acoustic arrangements or ambient synth-led tracks, Fortune’s Weave is brimming with memorable music, and I can see myself coming back to the OST for years to come.

My only small nitpick about traversing Dagsion is that some of the NPCs provide incredibly repetitive dialogue. I heard “you’re looking well” and its many variations a lot more times than I’d care to mention in my first few hours with the game.

Graphics and performance: a clear step-up on Switch 2

Characters are bursting with personality and color in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (Image credit: Nintendo)

Moving on to performance now, and I have to say, I’m satisfied with what I’ve experienced from Fortune’s Weave so far.

The Switch 2 has added some much-needed firepower, and the improvement from Three Houses is substantial. Character models, such as that of Fortuna, look excellent, with her beaming yellow and rich purple hair really popping on-screen. I’d argue that a few textures on environmental elements, such as trees, perhaps look a bit basic, but it doesn’t feel like the game’s first priority is to be a graphical marvel.

Drawn characters look impressive during dialogue sections too, and have some animations to add emotion and depth to them. Beyond this, cinematic sequences are epic, and a couple of them reminded me of the grandeur exhibited by the opening of Fire Emblem Awakening (one that felt unskippable all those years ago).

One interesting inclusion in Fortune’s Weave is mouse controls, which, as expected, are as smooth and effective as ever on Switch 2. I honestly didn’t use them much, as I prefer to stick with traditional controls, but it’s always good to see a new title make use of the Switch 2’s new technological capabilities.

The game also runs really smoothly, and the Switch 2’s enhanced resolution makes for a more detailed experience than ever. Most of the time, loading screens are very brief too, although I did occasionally experience some minor delays when opening doors in Dagsion, for instance — nothing particularly grating though.

My final thoughts (so far)

You can interact with the protagonist in the form of the Pale Raven, and boost your support points as you journey through each Flame Lord's path — and if your chat goes well, you can even achieve Perfect Bird Time. Pretty neat, right? (Image credit: Nintendo)

Of course, there are a lot of battles that lie ahead, and there’s a lot more story to sink my teeth into, but the early signs are incredibly positive for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

So far, the captivating storytelling, brilliant cast of characters, refined turn-based tactical combat, and immersive world of Fortune’s Weave have got me hooked, and I can’t wait to spend more time with the game. These qualities really took me back in time to when I first fell in love with the series, and if my initial hours are anything to go by, I think long-time fans will appreciate the distinct yet interwoven stories, challenging battles, and high stakes.

I should note that I had a good time with Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but the opening of Fortune’s Weave feels like it’s building on everything that made that entry click in a meaningful, substantive way.

I’m sure there’ll be lots more to discuss when the full game launches in September, so keep your eyes peeled for our full review when the time comes, but until then, I’m going to enjoy my ride on the Fire Emblem hype train.

• .com is no longer the highest-priced TLD in terms of average value
• .ai is at an all-time high average value of $535,000, a 260% surge in three months
• .com domains still lead in terms of volume at $86 million, compared to .ai at $37.7 million

.com has long been established as the gold standard top-level domain (TLD). From Amazon and eBay to Google and Facebook, practically every online behemoth has been built on .com.

But with so much new technology flooding the market, could this all be about to change?

New research has claimed .com has lost its standing as the highest-priced web address in terms of average value – beaten by .ai.

The .ai boom

The report by Escrow.com found a record-high average value of .com domains of $529k, beating its previous cycle peak in 2021. Yet, despite its huge value, .ai still beat it, with an all-time high average value of $535k, marking a 260% surge in just three months.

This data reinforces a clear trend, with AI continuing to spread from the stock market into the TLD space and beyond.

The report also highlights a 270% increase in the volume of .ai domains, growing from $10.0 million to $37.7 million during the period. However, .com remains considerably higher by volume at an impressive $86 million.

"This quarter's .ai growth alone beat the combined gain of every other country-code extension. A year ago we didn't know if .ai would actually challenge .com or just fizzle out like the rest. Now we've got an answer. Buyers are paying more, on average, for a good .ai name than a good .com one," shared Matt Barrie, Chief Executive of Escrow.com.

With many AI-focused businesses entering the market, there is little surprise that there is growing demand for the .ai TLD. Startups and small businesses using it gain an immediately recognizable sign of who they are and what they do.

The risks of .ai

Picking a .ai domain isn’t without its risks - using .ai can make it hard to pivot. For example, if a startup launches its brand on a .ai domain, only to later pivot away from AI, the equivalent .com domain may not be available or may be incredibly expensive.

Brands also need to factor in that .ai isn’t a generic domain like .com, but is an official country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean.

According to some reports, .ai domain registrations have transformed Anguilla’s economy, which has primarily relied on tourism in the past. However, this reliance on a single local government can create uncertainty for .ai users, subjecting them to potential regulatory changes, geopolitical instability, and political shifts.

If standard office chairs feel cramped there are options, including choosing something better suited, like the GTPlayer Big and Tall Chair, currently $114 (was $126) at Amazon and designed specifically with bigger and taller adults in mind.

Yes, it's technically a gaming chair, but much of the specification makes just as much sense for a home office. The big selling point is its wide, flat seat, which measures 20.1 inches across and avoids the restrictive raised wings found on many chairs.

The cushion is also a substantial 4.4 inches thick, combining high-density shaped foam with pocket springs for responsive support. There's a 350-pound weight capacity, a retractable footrest, linkage armrests that move as you recline, and a backrest adjustable from 90 to 135 degrees.

This big-and-tall chair supports up to 350 pounds and combines a 20.1-inch wide seat, 4.4-inch pocket-spring cushion, 90 to 135-degree recline, linkage armrests, retractable footrest, and metal frame.View Deal

Why we recommend it

Size is the real attraction here. A chair described as big and tall needs to offer more than a high weight limit, and this one combines its 350-pound capacity with a genuinely wide, flat seat.

Removing the usual gaming-chair side wings also means that extra width is actually available to you rather than being eaten up by bolsters.

Instead of sitting on a relatively thin slab of foam for an entire working day, you get a 4.4-inch cushion combining high-density foam with individual springs designed to spread pressure and provide responsive support.

The backrest reclines as far as 135 degrees, the armrests follow its movement, and the retractable footrest lets you put your feet up without leaving your desk.

For other options, take a look at our round up of the best office chairs.

Price context & historical value

Amazon has reduced the GTPlayer chair from $125.99 to $113.39, taking $12.60 off the usual price. That's a 10% reduction, so the discount itself isn't enormous, but it makes an already affordable big-and-tall chair a little more affordable. This is as cheap as we've seen it on Amazon, so if it appeals, now is a good time to buy.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the GTPlayer Big and Tall Chair if...

You need more space than a conventional office chair provides. The 20.1-inch flat, wingless seat gives bigger users more room around the thighs, while also making it easier for anyone who likes to change position and spread out.

It's also a good fit if you want one chair for both work and downtime. Sit upright at your desk during the day, then recline the backrest and pull out the footrest when you want to relax or watch something.

❌ Skip the GTPlayer Big and Tall Chair if...

You want a dedicated ergonomic office chair with extensive adjustment. Although the backrest reclines and the linkage armrests move with it, you don't get the seat-depth, lumbar, and highly configurable armrest adjustments available on more expensive ergonomic models.

The black and red faux leather finish also reveals its gaming-chair origins. It should fit easily into a home office, but anyone furnishing a more conservative professional workspace may prefer something less conspicuous.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

This is still fundamentally a gaming-style chair rather than a specialist ergonomic office chair, and its faux leather upholstery won't be as breathable as mesh during long work sessions.

It's worth checking the measurements before ordering, too. “Big and tall” can mean different things between manufacturers, so the 20.1-inch seat width and overall dimensions are more useful than the label alone when deciding whether it gives you the extra room you're looking for.

• Shop all gaming chairs at Amazon

Over the last couple of days, I've become intimately aware of basically every product on sale at the new MSI UK Store than I thought one human ever could be. Why? Well, it's all because of a launch promotion that gives you the chance to buy one product each day for just £1.

As part of the MSI Cheat Code event, a voucher code has been hidden on one of the category or product pages on the MSI Store. The task is simple: search through those pages to find the hidden code, enter it at the checkout, and you'll come away with the product of the day for a single pound coin.

The catch, of course, is that the code is squirreled away in one of the hundreds of pages that make up the site. Plus, there's only one code available. So, as soon as someone finds it and uses it, the offer for the day expires.

Quite how or where it's hidden, I can't say for sure. It could be just in a part of the item description, or superimposed over one of the product images, or maybe even just hidden as white text somewhere on the page. I honestly don't know, as I still haven't found one yet. I don't think I'm smart enough to come up with a way to search through the page source to find anything easier, either — if that's even possible.

(Image credit: MSI)

So far, a few lucky so-and-sos have come away with a monitor and a motherboard and AIO cooler bundle for a quid. Today's offer on a mesh Wi-Fi system is still yet to be claimed at the time of writing, so you can head over to the MSI Store to start searching now.

My eyes are on some of the products being featured in the next few days, though. Already confirmed are a case and power supply, a QD-OLED monitor, and, most importantly of all, an RTX 5060Ti. Bagging the latter for just £1 would be the bargain of the year, especially with all the ongoing issues with prices around PC components.

Whether anyone is successful or not, I'm sure this will at least make the metrics look good for MSI's new store, as loads of people repeatedly scour through every category and product page to try and find the hidden code. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm returning to the hunt. I'll be interested to know in the comments if you have any luck.