January 2024 - Page 123 of 159 - CouRRier News Today

Fortinet has released a security update to address a vulnerability in FortiOS and FortiProxy software. A cyber threat actor could exploit this vulnerability to take control of an affected system.

CISA encourages users and administrators to review the FG-IR-23-315 FortiOS & FortiProxy – Improper authorization for HA requests security bulletin and apply necessary updates.

Microsoft has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system.

CISA encourages users and administrators to review Microsoft’s January Security Update Guide and apply the necessary updates.

CES hasn’t even officially started yet, and yet the news and announcements are rolling in in full force. While roughly 4,000 exhibitors big and small are all trying to make themselves heard this week, some key stories have broken through the noise so far. Here’s what’s on our radar:

Apple’s Vision Pro is officially available to preorder

Credit: Apple

Apple doesn’t even show up to CES, and yet, they know how to make a splash during CES. The company revealed on Monday that Vision Pro will be available to purchase starting Feb. 2, but you can preorder it Jan. 19.

LG’s Transparent OLED TV

Credit: LG Electronics

One of the showstoppers from today’s event was LG’s transparent OLED TV, appropriately named OLED T. This TV can be used like any other when you want to watch shows and movies, but has a “curtain” that rises away to reveal a transparent display.

It’s a neat concept: You could place the OLED T in front of a window, for example, so that during the day you can see right through it to take in your view, and at night, you can switch it back into OLED mode.

LG announces a smart robot hub

Credit: Product image courtesy of LG

Another great announcement from LG concerns its “AI Agent,” which is, at its core, a cute robot. This little robot is actually an interactive smart hub, able to analyze your house to adjust smart devices accordingly. That said, it wasn’t the only AI robot unveiled today …

Samsung unveils Ballie

Credit: Samsung Newsroom/YouTube

Ballie, first revealed at CES 2020, is back. Samsung has a new design for its AI smart hub robot, which looks a little like a tennis ball on wheels. It’s quite charming, to be honest, and it has a projector. Well played, Samsung.

ASUS’ “extreme gaming” processors

Credit: AMD

ASUS has new desktop processors and GPUs to show off this week. First up, the Ryzen 7 8700G, which comes with eight cores, 16 threads, 24MB of Cache, and integrated Radeon 780M graphics. Next, the mid-grade Ryzen 5 8600G has six cores, 12 threads, 22MB of Cache and integrated Radeon 760M graphics. Speaking of graphics, the new AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT offers 1080p gaming at under $350.

Nvidia’s “Super” graphics cards

Credit: Nvidia/YouTube

Nvidia has some powerful GPUs for anyone who has found graphics card prices to be astronomical lately. Nvidia’s RTX 4070 Super is coming Jan. 17 for just $599. Nvidia also has some more power for your penny in the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4070 Ti Super: These cards will be here towards the end of January for $999 and $799, respectively. You can learn more about these cards from our write up here.

Audio developments at CES

Credit: Samsung

While everyone and their mother is talking about AI this week, one area that’s getting a lot of attention is audio. Samsung has a picture frame that is actually a speaker; Mirai made a curved speaker to make dialogue easier to hear; Anker unveiled the first open-ear earbuds with waterproofing; Soundblade has a speaker that fits under your monitor; and Mymanu has earbuds with offline translation, just to name a few.

That’s just a taste of the news thus far, and only a fraction of what’s to come. Stayed tuned for all things CES this week!

H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe offers step-by-step guidance on tax credits and deductions, and it comes paired with an eLearning course that breaks down the basics of tax prep and finding deductions. Together, they’re on sale for $39.99 right now (reg $299).

The software includes five free federal e-files, unlimited federal preparation, and audit support, along with free in-person assistance in case of an audit. Users also get access to a large database of articles, FAQs, and tax preparation tips, along with the ability to import last year’s tax return data from TurboTax. The accompanying 2023 Tax Preparation & Deduction Bundle comes with 15 courses and covers a range of topics, including taxes for small businesses, tax credits for families, and using QuickBooks. All courses are available for life.

You can get the H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe and the tax prep eLearning course on sale together for $39.99 right now, though prices can change at any time.

Just nine games in, Ja Morant’s season is over.

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for January 9, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is probably medium difficulty, although I used all six of my guesses getting there, so most of you will probably beat me. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 9, Wordle #934! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

All five letters are common ones today!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

I’m thinking of makeup…or maybe a cruise ship.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope!

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels today.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with L.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is LINER.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE got some yellows, TOUCH got nothing, so I considered the _I_ER family. I decided to guess FIVER, since the V would tell me if I might be looking at a word like RIVER or DIVER. No hits there, so I was left with possibilities like BIKER, MINER, PIPER, and WIDER. I went with PANDA next to rule out some of those consonants, and got the N. We’re down to MINER or LINER, so I guessed the one and then (phew!) the other.

Wordle 934 6/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word:

Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)
Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

CRANE
TRACE
SLANT
CRATE
CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

SALET
REAST
TRACE
CRATE
SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another
Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.
Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.
Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.
Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.
Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, January 9, 2024, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for January 9, NYT Connections #212! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game.

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

Credit: The New York Times

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Yes, one category hinges on a famous chef’s advice. Check out our interview with said chef if you don’t mind a great read and a little spoiler.

There are also a few fictional characters represented on today’s board.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

Yellow category – Time to clean up around here!
Green category – Add some flavor.
Blue category – Ah-choo!
Purple category – They can solve a mystery.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

Nothing too tricky today!

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

You might DUST with a MOP or a SPONGE, but DUST is in a different category (as a noun) today.
ACID might bring alien blood to mind, or corrosive liquids like ACID rain. But milder ACIDs are present in our everyday life, such as the lemon juice we might squeeze onto a plate of veggies to brighten the flavor.
PEPPER is not a reference to chili PEPPERs, or Dr. PEPPER. It’s the black sprinkly stuff you put on food. As a further hint, the other items in its category are not food related.
A MONK can be a religious figure or a type of parakeet. Adrian MONK is also a TV detective.

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

Yellow: CLEANING SUPPLIES
Green: ELEMENTS OF COOKING, PER SAMIN NOSRAT
Blue: THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SNEEZE
Purple: TITULAR FICTIONAL DETECTIVES

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is CLEANING SUPPLIES and the words are: BROOM, MOP, RAG, SPONGE.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is ELEMENTS OF COOKING, PER SAMIN NOSRAT and the words are: SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SNEEZE and the words are: DUST, PEPPER, POLLEN, SMOKE.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is TITULAR FICTIONAL DETECTIVES and the words are: MAGNUM, MONK, SHAFT, TRACY.

How I solved today’s Connections

I wanted SPONGE bath and DUST bath to have two more partners, but it was not to be. I noticed SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT, though! 🟩

Next I looked at MAGNUM. That can only be a gun, a condom, or a P. I. Wait–if it’s a detective, that also explains MONK and SHAFT. Who else? Are we going as far back as Dick TRACY? Apparently we are. 🟪

I got the cleaning supplies next, 🟨 and then the things that make us sneeze. 🟦

Connections 
Puzzle #212
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

Most of us probably have some sort of financial resolution to spend less, and save more. But the idea of “cutting back on spending” can be abstract and hard to achieve. It’s like saying you want to “learn how to cook” without ever picking out a recipe or buying the necessary ingredients. Instead, try starting small with one specific, attainable goal to give a whirl this year: A “no-spend” weekend.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: Go 48 hours without handing over any cash or swiping any card. A no-spend weekend can be a great way to reset your finances, avoid impulse purchases, and appreciate what you already have. With some planning and self-control, you can go an entire weekend without spending any money. Here are some tips to make your no-spend weekend a success.

Plan ahead

Giving yourself time to prepare is key. Make a list of everything you’ll need for the weekend—food, entertainment, gas, etc.—and purchase necessary items ahead of time. Meal prep and stock up on groceries on Friday so you don’t need to go to the store. You don’t need to be a great cook to make good, cheap food.

Don’t go overboard, of course, or else you risk spending more money than you would have over the course of the weekend anyways. Your goal here is make sure you have everything you need—and nothing you don’t. This weekend is about removing the temptation to buy impulsively or throw money at an extra round of drinks you don’t really need.

Find free activities

Look up free events happening locally, like outdoor concerts, museum days or hiking trails. Search online event calendars and local blogs. You can have fun experiences without spending.

Leave cash at home

Carry only what you absolutely need for the weekend. If you have extra cash in your wallet, you’re more likely to make exceptions and spend “just a little.” Leave it at home so it’s not burning a hole in your pocket.

Stay away from temptation

Don’t torture yourself by hanging around places you like to spend money, like your favorite store or café. The temptation to spend “just a few bucks” could be too great. Find activities in areas without too many shops and restaurants. And if you planned well, grocery shopping on Sunday can wait.

If you find yourself reaching for your wallet, consider taking a beat and making an argument for it. I don’t just mean in your head: Physically write down a convincing argument for why you need this thing during your no-spend weekend. Otherwise, push it off to Monday. You may find that your urge to buy the thing has worn off anyway.

Be transparent about your budget

There are two main perks to letting those around you know that you’re sticking to a budget. First off, good friends will respect your boundaries and be less likely to pressure you into spending more than you’re comfortable with.

Secondly, you’ll be more likely to hold yourself accountable. Rather than feeling the pressure to spend, you’ll feel pressure to save. The key here is to be casual, but firm. You don’t want others to feel like you’re complaining, asking for help, or passing judgment on their spending habits.

Reward yourself (a little) afterward

When you make it through the weekend without spending, treat yourself a little. For any sort of restriction to really work, you need to be flexible and gentle with yourself, too. Otherwise, you risk financial bingeing—overspending or avoiding budgets altogether. Forming a healthy relationship with money means indulging thoughtfully. Ask yourself, “How do I expect this purchase will make me feel? What do I want it to make me feel? What feelings am I trying to avoid by buying it?”

If nothing else, a no-spend (or barely-spend) weekend is all about becoming a more conscientious spender. But with smart preparation and avoiding temptations, you can absolutely go 48 hours without spending money.

Tyrese Haliburton had a towel over his head as he was carried off the court Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.