Victoria Fox's Blog, page 209

I went kayaking — and ended up in a shocking jellyfish ‘soup’

A man set out for what he thought was going to be a regular day of kayaking — but was met with a giant gaggle of jellyfish instead.

Chris Denehy is a sea kayak tour guide and runs his own company, Clearwater Paddling, outside of the Isle of Barra in Outer Hebrides, an island off of the west coast of Scotland.

He said it was his 15-year-old daughter that first noticed the stinging animal when he took out a group this week, according to Southwest News Service.

“I was leading a group exploring the cliffs and caves on the west coast of Barra when my 15-year-old daughter Ellie spotted the compass jellyfish in a rocky gully,” Denehy told SWNS. “They were in a steep-sided rocky inlet on Grean Head.”

“I jokingly said it was like ‘kayaking in jellyfish soup gently stirred by a kayak paddle,’” he continued.

The jellyfish can be seen in a huge cluster on top of each other, hanging out by the rocks.

The kind of jellyfish he spotted are called compass jellyfish. Chris Denehy / SWNS

The kind of jellyfish that Denehy and his kayaking group spotted in the Scottish waters are called compass jellyfish, because the brown markings on them make them look like a compass, per Wildlife Trusts.

However, although they may look quite mesmerizing, you don’t want to be stung by one of them.

These jellyfish give a “nasty” sting, according to the Wildlife Trusts, and they can sometimes leave their tentacle behind after they’ve stung something, meaning that it can continue to zap you with it, even though the part is no longer connected to their body.

They urge anyone who comes in contact with the creatures not to touch them.

Even still, Denehy said that being able to see all of these compass jellyfish up close was a “totally exceptional” experience.

Denehy explained that it was actually his 15-year-old daughter who spotted the jellyfish first. Chris Denehy / SWNS

“I jokingly said it was like ‘kayaking in jellyfish soup gently stirred by a kayak paddle,’” he told SWNS. Chris Denehy / SWNS

“Over the last 25 years I have seen large groups of jellyfish over the summer months when we are out kayaking, but this was totally exceptional and fascinating to have such a close-up encounter,” he told SWNS.

“But not perhaps the best place to capsize out of a kayak,” he added.

Typically, these sea creatures are found in the south and west coasts of the UK, according to Cornish Rock Tors, in the months of May through October.

They tend to appear in large populations if there has been a warm winter climate, Cornish Rock Tors reported.

And, although these jellyfish may not be found over on our side of the pond too often, the Tri-state area has had its own share of problems with the creatures this summer.

Last month, clinging jellyfish from the Pacific Ocean were found in New Jersey waters.

Those kinds of jellyfish are found in shallow waters, and are extremely small, meaning that they can sometimes be hard to spot.

“They’re kind of insidious because when you get stung, it’s not bad immediately, but four or five hours later the extreme pain starts to kick in,” Paul Bologna, a marine biologist at Montclair State University, told The Post.

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Glamour Bulgaria cover model uses AI to create Barbie-inspired photoshoot

She’s a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world — kind of.

A model used artificial intelligence to create, for the first time ever, an entire magazine cover shoot — in just 20 minutes.

Lisa Opie, 32, a former Miss Virgin Islands from Miami, appears on the August cover of Glamour Bulgaria looking like a futuristic Barbie, just the look she was going for. 

“My team and I were kind of putting together the storyboard, and we wanted to do a futuristic Barbie theme, because, first of all, Barbie is, like, my lifestyle and it’s who I am. And with the ‘Barbie’ movie coming out, it was perfect,” she told The Post Wednesday.

While working with her stylist, Joey Rolon, the two discovered an image of a pink Barbie wearing a breastplate, and Opie knew she wanted it for the cover.

But as they searched for the perfect item, they discovered the image had been AI-generated by a woman named Fran H, who goes by @ai_fashion_photos on Instagram. 

Model Lisa Opie, 32, who appears on the August cover of Glamour Bulgaria, used AI to create, for the first time ever, an entire magazine cover shoot — in just 20 minutes.Getty Images for Vizcaya Swimwear

Opie and her team decided to reach out to Fran in hopes of having her create images using the Japanese American’s face for the Glamour cover shoot.

“So I just sent her a DM, and I was like, ‘Hey, I love your futuristic Barbie AI images. Is there any way you could incorporate my face into a possible magazine cover?’” Opie recalled.

“I didn’t say what it was for, but she was, like, ‘Sure, let’s chat.’ So that’s how it all started.” 

Opie told The Post Wednesday, “My team and I were kind of putting together the storyboard, and we wanted to do a futuristic Barbie theme. And with the ‘Barbie’ movie coming out, it was perfect.”GLAMOUR

After sending in dozens of “mugshots” of her face from every angle, the former beauty pageant winner sat down with her team and Fran while the artist created around 50 images for the cover shoot in roughly 20 minutes.

Although some turned out a little wonky, with misshapen fingers and the like, others turned out better than Opie could have imagined. 

“It was super, super easy, and it was really fun, because sometimes it would generate things that you wouldn’t even think of, but you like it better than what your original idea was,” she told The Post.

While working with her stylist, Joey Rolon, the two discovered an image of a pink Barbie wearing a breastplate, and Opie knew she wanted it for the cover. GLAMOUR

“It was really fun, and I loved it so much.” 

One real image of Opie does appear in the magazine, showing the model posed in a pink flower top with “afro-style” hair, allowing readers to see what she actually looks like.

Opie admits she enjoys the typical “princess treatment” on set, but is ultimately excited about the sustainability AI photoshoots can bring.

Opie and Rolon discovered the image had been AI-generated by a woman named Fran H, who goes by @ai_fashion_photos on Instagram.GLAMOUR

Not only did it save her tons of time, but the shoot was zero waste.

Instead of trying on various outfits for the shoot, as was originally planned, the model and business owner simply threw on a pink outfit for her “mugshots” so the AI generator would pick up on the color, making it easier to create the perfect doll-like image and significantly cutting back on the waste of a typical photo shoot. 

“I do have a business in fashion, and I know how much waste goes into productions and fashion shows and photo shoots,” the swimwear brand owner said.

Opie and her team decided to reach out to Fran in hopes of having her create images using the Japanese American’s face for the Glamour cover shoot.GLAMOUR

“Even just the backdrops, creating a set, flying everybody out [creates environmental waste]. So I think it’ll be a really good way to help the environment with absolutely zero waste going into production.”

The fashion world is known for being one of the biggest contributors to global waste, attributing more than 90 million tons of textile waste per year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

The average American alone throws out around 80 pounds of clothing per year, resulting in a garbage truck full of textiles per second being dumped into the country’s landfills. 

After sending in dozens of “mugshots” of her face from every angle, the former beauty pageant winner sat down with her team and Fran while the artist created around 50 images for the cover shoot in roughly 20 minutes.GLAMOUR

Although most of fashion’s waste comes through manufacturing, 85% of all textiles are still thrown out, and the amount of waste produced is estimated to increase 60% by 2030, which would create around 150 million tons of garbage per year, according to Fashion Revolution, the world’s largest fashion activism movement. 

Despite the positives of her AI-generated shoot, Opie was still “a little bit” worried about the project. 

“They did edit the photos a little bit, just to enhance them, make them look a little bit more like me,” she said.

One real image of Opie does appear in the magazine, showing the model posed in a pink flower top with “afro-style” hair, allowing readers to see what she actually looks like.GLAMOUR

“Fran had to go through all of these pictures and find the best ones, and sometimes they were a little bit off. So what you’re seeing in Glamour is like the best of the best.” 

She had her team by her side to retouch the images and creatively direct the project to pick the best outfits and looks for the shoot.

In addition, they didn’t have to worry about the normal photo shoot protocols, like fittings and finding the perfect outfit. 

“You’re putting together these looks for a shoot. You’re just like, ‘OK, I like this, I like this. I don’t know how this would fit my body. Is it gonna work? Do we have to clip it in the back?’ We have to do fittings, we have to find the right pieces, but with AI, you just give it a prompt … and then it would just generate multiple images for you to choose from.” 

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“So, it was, like, whatever you’re thinking in your mind when you’re putting together a vision board for a photo shoot was already created for you, and you just pick a look that you like, and it was already done.” 

Although Opie is an avid user of AI generators in her own businesses and believes it can “enhance” operations, she’s not blind to the pitfalls of the growing field.

Just this week alone, she knows two people who had AI-generated fake nudes leaked and acknowledged the field is the “wild, wild West.” 

“Legally, they might have to focus on legislation to just keep it under control, because there is a gray area there. But I think that people do need to be protected because AI is such a wild, wild West right now, and we don’t know what’s going to happen in that aspect.”

Although she hasn’t had her own AI-mishap just yet, she said she knows it can happen and would feel “violated” if she found herself in a similar situation. 

“I’ve had pictures of me in a swimsuit that aren’t that flattering circulated and things like that on the wrong site, so it’s part of my life. I’m OK, like, I can adapt to that. But at the same time, if it’s something a little bit more, I would definitely feel violated.”

She’s also aware that using AI in business could also negatively impact jobs, essentially cutting out the need for photographers and set designers and more in the fashion world.

She used her own stylist on set and thinks it’s important to continue to in order to protect jobs.

And she does believe AI needs some regulations, especially regarding nudity. 

“I love what it can do, but at the same time we have to be really, really careful.” 

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It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 16 Brings In The Characters We’ve Been Waiting For

Of all the many incredible supporting characters on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” none are quite like the McPoyles. Led by patriarch Pappy McPoyle (Guillermo Del Toro), they are a massive clan of weirdos who practice incest, drink an obscene amount of milk, and generally act like deviants in every possible way. The two who interact with the gang most often are brothers Liam (Jimmi Simpson) and Ryan (Nate Mooney). The duo are absolutely hilarious, and over the years have done everything from holding the gang hostage with rubber guns to buying and running a movie rental store because they think business will be booming. They’re also in love/lust with one another and their sister Margaret (Thesy Surface), and they’re just about the weirdest human beings on the planet. If anyone can out-do the gang at being totally unhinged, it’s these boys. 

The ladies are pretty demented in their own right, though, and with Artemis, Gail, and the Waitress involved, they can create some serious chaos. They did a real number on the airplane in “The Gang Beats Boggs: Ladies Reboot” in season 13 by getting everyone high on ayahuasca and more, so watching them in action against the guys of the gang is a real treat here. 

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I tried iOS 17 and its most fun-filled features

I’ve been running Apple’s iOS 17 Public Beta for a little while and aside from admirable stability, the other word that comes to mind is…fun.

There are a collection of updates in the Public Beta, which Apple dropped on Wednesday (July 12) that transform the platform in entertaining and useful ways, and I’ve tried them all.

I know, everyone is talking about the Contact Posters. They’re fine and certainly easy enough to create, but since some people won’t feel comfortable putting their face on display for every call (that’s just one option, obviously) maybe it’s not an entirely fun feature. The ones I selected spark, in me at least, a little bit of joy.

Now bear with me, because not every feature named is a laugh-riot. 

StandBy

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Some of the iOS 17 StandBy screen options. (Image credit: Future)

Why Apple didn’t introduce this feature ages ago is beyond me, but iOS 17 finally has a StandBy mode that transforms your iPhone into a bedroom alarm clock, one that you can now read with one groggy eye open before rolling over and going back to sleep.

The feature will work on all iPhones that support iOS 17 (back to iPhone 8) but StandBy isn’t entirely useful without an Always On display, which you can only find in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

For my initial tests, though, I loaded up an iPhone 14 with iOS 17 and that connected it to an Apple MagSafe charger. After that, I just turned the phone sideways and leaned it against something. The screen almost instantly turned into a wide-screen clock. I swiped through a few selections including one that showed the clock on one side and my schedule on the other. I could reach out and swipe through to see, Reminders, the Weather, and other widgets. There are quite a few display options, including a classic full-screen clock and one that shows your photos behind the time. 

With the iPhone 14 Pro Max I used for my second set of tests, the Always On screen will stay on all night. Other phones will take a tap on the screen. Plus, if you invest in Belkin’s new Belkin Boost Charge Pro 2-in-1 Wireless charge stand with MagSafe ($99.95/£109.95), you won’t have to worry about propping up the phone.

I know, this all sounds useful to you, but it somehow makes the iPhone a little more fun for me.

This iOS17 Standby mode is pretty sweet. Must be on a charger to work. pic.twitter.com/wVTVcUQOoKJuly 12, 2023

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Stickers

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iOS 17 Stickers are easy to create from any photo but take on a whole new dimension when you create them with Live Photos. (Image credit: Future)

iOS 17’s Stickers are obviously fun but I’m not sure you realize just how much fun they can be when combined with Live Photos…and Messages.

As you may recall, stickers are things you create on your iPhone and then use across the platform. They typically come from photos using Apple’s brilliant lift-subject-from-background feature, which was initially introduced in iOS 16. To access that you open Photos, open an image, and then hold your finger down on the main subject of an image. It does not have to be a person.

When you do that the subject will lift and you can drag and drop it anywhere. I prefer, though, to drop it and wait for the Copy/Add Sticker/Share menu to appear. If you select Sticker, iOS 17 lets you add it to the menu of stickers that you can then use in other Apple apps like Messenger. 

Creating a sticker instead of using Copy adds a potential bit of fun to your stickers especially if you’re using a Live Photo. I took a photo of me waving and then made a sticker that shows me waving enthusiastically. Now I can message that sticker to my wife any time she wants. On her end, she sees this tiny looping image.

Fun, right?

Reactions

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I wish I could say that these reactions were easy to trigger. (Image credit: Future)

I’m not a big FaceTime guy, probably because we use Google Meet at work, and most companies I talk to use WebEx or Zoom. FaceTime is not a business tool. It is though for friends and families and, if I think about it, the person I FaceTime with the most is my wife, and I think she’ll appreciate the iOS 17 FaceTime enhancements.

Reactions are what they sound like: in-call, graphical reactions you can launch during the call using a series of gestures.

You can send love by making a heart symbol with your hands and the red hearts will literally appear to come from within your cupped hands and float outward toward the screen.

For multi-colored balloons, I made a peace sign, and, for an oddly Facebook-like thumbs-up graphic, I made two thumbs up.

I did struggle a bit to get any of these working and my wife was not as impressed as I’d hoped.

Even so, I put this feature firmly in the fun column.

Less ‘Hey’ Siri

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After you choose the setting, Siri just needs a little training. (Image credit: Future)

All these “Heys” before our voice assistants listen to us have always made them seem so formal. I don’t do that every time I want to speak to my wife, kids, or friends. Okay, maybe I just say “hey,” without their names. Still, “hey” plus the name is a lot.

Being able to use Siri without the preamble is nice. It was easy to set up, I just had to enable Listen for “Siri” or “Hey Siri” in iOS 17 settings and then train Siri to respond to phrases both with and without “hey.”

Once I did that I found that Siri would immediately respond to the sound of its name. It makes Siri even more personal and, yes, fun.

If you want to join in the fun and are ready to put your best iPhone on the public beta path, you can download iOS 17 Public Beta here.

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Amazon Prime Day Ring Doorbell deals 2023: last chance for a new ringer

With Amazon’s mega-sale officially winding down in the US, there’s a small window of time to go shopping for the best Prime Day Ring Doorbell deals. Unfortunately for UK readers, there are no residual deals.

Whether you’re upgrading from your current smart doorbell or dipping your toes into these fantastic entryway gadgets, Prime Day deals feature some of the best discounts you’ll see throughout the entire year.

If you’re new to Amazon’s seasonal sale madness, it’s important to know that you need to be an Amazon Prime member to benefit from the deals. If you don’t want to be signed up all year long, you can always sign up for a 30-day Amazon Prime free trial – just remember to cancel the membership after you’ve secured the goods!

Amazon Prime Day Ring Doorbell deals: US

Ring Door View cam: was £119.99 now £79.99 at Amazon
This battery-powered, no-frills device doesn’t need to be driller or affixed to the wall in a permanent or damaging way, making it perfect for renters. While it’s an older model, its 1080p resolution still holds, and it’s got a trick up its sleeve; it’s peephole-friendly thanks to the glass lens located at the top of the Ring Door View.

When will the Amazon Prime Day Ring Doorbell deals be available?

This year’s Prime Day deals are now live, and will continue through to July 12 at 11:59 pm. However, there are also often runover deals that last through to the end of the week, especially on Amazon’s own products, so keep an eye on this page if you want to get a jump start on your savings.

Do I need to be an Amazon Prime member to get these deals?

Yes; Prime Day is an exclusive event for Amazon Prime members, and while some non-Prime deals will happen over the course of the week, that’s unlikely to be the case for Amazon devices like the Ring Doorbell.

Today’s best Ring Video Doorbell 3, Anker Eufy 2K Video Doorbell and Arlo Video Doorbell deals

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Elon Musk launches xAI startup to, naturally, understand the universe

Billionaire Elon Musk is entering the world of AI – again – as he officially reveals his latest tech business venture,  xAI, which aims to “understand the true nature of the universe.”

Details on what exactly xAI will bring to the industry are unknown at this time. The official website is pretty vague, but we won’t have to wait long to learn more. The company is planning to hold a Twitter Spaces chat this Friday, July 14 where people can join and ask the team questions (hopefully, no one rage quits this time). 

However, there are several clues on the official website indicating the future product or service could be related to generative AI in some way. Looking at the website’s description, the team is stacked with former engineers from major tech companies like Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, as well as Tesla. The work of these experts has led to “some of the largest breakthroughs” and learning techniques in AI. This research has even led to the development of notable LLMs (large language models) like GPT-4.

Fighting misinformation

You may be wondering, “Why is Musk doing this?”

Well, it appears Elon Musk ultimately wants to make his own generative AI with a potentially large emphasis on safety. Since the ChatGPT launch back in November 2022, Musk has been a vocal critic of it and the developer, OpenAI, as well as other similar systems. It’s to the point where, back in late March 2023, Musk, alongside other tech figures, cosigned a letter asking all AI labs across the world to pause training AI models “for at least six months”. The letter urged developers to slow down and implement “safety protocols” to curb misinformation

It is true chatbots do sometimes generate false information. Developers of these systems are trying to figure out a way to combat hallucinations. 

And we believe that is what Elon Musk is getting at with xAI. He wants a chatbot that doesn’t falsify responses. Musk is even bringing in Dan Hendrycks, the director of the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit organization that recently published an open letter asking tech leaders to mitigate the “risk of extinction from AI.” Yes, they are talking about literal human extinction as if this is a Terminator movie.

Analysis: Who does this benefit?

What’s in all this for you? Honestly, we don’t know. Sure, you can argue Musk’s potential xAI chatbot could be better than ChatGPT or Google Bard because it has special technology to ensure it doesn’t lie. If this were in the hands of anyone else, we would sincerely believe that. But, under Musk’s reign, Twitter has, among other questionable actions, complied with government censorship demands and banned the ElonJet account for posting publicly available data. 

Is factual information really a major concern for the controversial CEO? Musk’s actions say otherwise. It’s questionable if such an AI chatbot will even provide truthful answers. Perhaps they’ll just be Elon Musk’s version of the truth.

Co-founder Greg Yang states the company aims to develop a “theory of everything” enabling “everyone to understand our mathematical universe.” So if you need help with your Philosophy 101 homework, you have the xAI chatbot. 

All jokes aside, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the Twitter Spaces chat on July 14. A generative AI that provides 100 percent accurate information is something the world needs right now. Misinformation is a major problem afflicting many aspects of the world. We just wonder if Elon Musk is the right person to develop it.

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Quordle today – hints and answers for Thursday, July 13 (game #535)

It’s time for your daily dose of Quordle hints, plus the answers for both the main game and the Daily Sequence spin off. 

Quordle is the only one of the many Wordle clones that I’m still playing now, around 18 months after the daily-word-game craze hit the internet, and with good reason: it’s good fun, but also difficult.

What’s more, its makers (now the online dictionary Merriam-Webster) are also keeping it fresh in the form of a new variant called the Daily Sequence, which sees you complete four puzzles consecutively, rather than concurrently. 

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you’ll probably need some for this game too. 

I’m a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who’s been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #535 and the answers to the main game and Daily Sequence. 

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

Your Quordle expert[image error]Your Quordle expertMarc McLarenUK Editor in Chief

Marc is TechRadar’s UK Editor in Chief and has been playing Wordle and Quordle for more than a year. He’s authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom’s Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in every position. His Wordle streak recently reached the 500 mark and he’ll be inconsolable if he loses it. Yes, he takes it all too seriously. 

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #1 – VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #2 – total vowelsWhat is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

• The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 8.

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #3 – repeated lettersDo any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #4 – total lettersHow many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 13.

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #5 – uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• Yes. One of Q, Z, X or J appears among today’s Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #6 – starting letters (1)Do any of today’s Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

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

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

Quordle today (game #535) – hint #7 – starting letters (2)What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?

• B

• Q

• S

• P

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

Today’s best Get Better At Wordle deals

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Quordle today (game #535) – the answers

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(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today’s Quordle, game #535, are…

BASTEQUERYSNAILPEARL

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

Daily Sequence today (game #535) – the answers

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(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today’s Quordle Daily Sequence, game #535, are…

LEANTMAYOROUTERBRAVEQuordle answers: The past 20Quordle #534, Wednesday 12 July: VOICE, MANGA, FROTH, BLOATQuordle #533, Tuesday 11 July: MODEL, AISLE, LIMBO, TULLEQuordle #532, Monday 10 July: FILET, DULLY, IRATE, NOSEYQuordle #531, Sunday 9 July: AXION, OFFER, DREAD, SADLYQuordle #530, Saturday 8 July: BAGEL, SPITE, MAYBE, RADIOQuordle #529, Friday 7 July: CLOUT, SMEAR, GAILY, ANGRYQuordle #528, Thursday 6 July: HUNCH, LEFTY, ABBEY, RECURQuordle #527, Wednesday 5 July: HILLY, ALERT, SHEET, VODKAQuordle #526, Tuesday 4 July: GUMMY, SQUAT, SUSHI, GAUDYQuordle #525, Monday 3 July: DRUID, ENACT, APART, HEFTYQuordle #524, Sunday 2 July: AMISS, SHOWY, LURCH, SAUCYQuordle #523, Saturday 1 July: KNEAD, DALLY, AMAZE, IDEALQuordle #522, Friday 30 June: WOMAN, BAGEL, SUPER, ARISEQuordle #521, Thursday 29 June: ISSUE, MOUNT, OVOID, SANERQuordle #520, Wednesday 28 June: CEDAR, RUMBA, WIDOW, TITHEQuordle #519, Tuesday 27 June: STRAW, APPLY, MAGMA, CLUEDQuordle #518, Monday 26 June: SCARE, RIGHT, IRATE, ORBITQuordle #517, Sunday 25 June: GAUNT, SLANG, ROUSE, UNITEQuordle #516, Saturday 24 June: BILGE, LEAPT, GLOAT, PLEATQuordle #515, Friday 23 June: FIELD, BRINE, BEGUN, PITCHQuordle FAQs: Everything you need to knowWhat is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

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

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode – which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! – and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements – specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it’s difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle’s Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can’t blindly throw letters at it and expect to win – you’ll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That’s the case in Wordle too, of course, but it’s even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won’t want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options – you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe – but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you’re faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options – for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH – you’ll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It’s risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it’s the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure – you simply don’t have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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Stephen King’s It Was Once Adapted As A 52-Episode TV Series – In India

“Woh” transposes the action of King’s novel from Derry to Panchgani, a small town near the west coast of India. The town is being haunted by an ancient evil that takes the form of a circus clown. The clown, called Woh, is played by celebrated actor Lilliput from the popular mythology-based TV series “Vikram Vetaal,” which he also wrote. Just like in King’s novel, Woh is stalking a core group of seven young characters — although in this version, they are teenagers. Also like King’s novel, they defeat the evil but swear to reunite as adults, should it ever return. Naturally, the evil returns. 

The Hindi word “woh” translates as “it,” but is also a gender-neutral term, so the title could also be “he” or “she.”

Episodes of “Woh” can be found online, and it’s streaming on the Indian streaming service Movies and TV, although the service is only available in India. Resourceful internet denizens can likely find the series online by other means, but there are no subtitled editions currently available in North America. One will have to speak Hindi to understand. 

As Woh, Lilliput may be just as terrifying as Tim Curry. Because of the show’s low budget, Woh was not realized using elaborate special effects or makeup prosthetics. This meant that Woh looked like a real person, albeit one that could mysteriously appear and vanish at will. His spite and hate of the children of Panchgani felt more like the desperate rancor of a psychotic person than the dark natural impulses of a killer monster. Lilliput’s grounded qualities make Woh that much more terrifying. He appears in people’s homes, by the side of the road, always unexpectedly, shaking a plastic noisemaker and happy to terrify children and adults alike. 

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Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners Cuts 20 Percent of Staff

Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has cut some 20 percent of its workforce, as the company resizes amid a new multiyear deal with Universal. Those leaving the 90- to 100-employee company include staff in marketing, international and post-production.

Under Amblin’s new deal with Universal, the studio will co-finance the company’s movies. Previously, Amblin would find its own financing for movies and then give Universal the chance to distribute those films for a fee. 

Spielberg last directed the Oscar-nominated The Fabelmans, which Universal released. He hasn’t yet announced his next directing project.

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The company has in the works an adaption of the novel Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, to be directed by Chloe Zhao, and has closed a deal for the rights to the 2024 novel Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart. Amblin also has a deal with Netflix.

In announcing the new pact with the studio, Spielberg said in a statement, “Universal is my ancestral studio home, and this next chapter in our longstanding partnership will provide Amblin with the creative flexibility and autonomy that I know will allow us to succeed together in the future. I’m eternally grateful to our entire team at Amblin for their work and dedication over the years, and also thankful to Donna [Langley] and everyone at Universal for their commitment and partnership, as we all look forward to our next adventure together.”

Added Langley, chairman and chief content officer, NBCUniversal Studio Group: “We’re excited to evolve our partnership with Steven and cement our creative legacy together that has resulted in so many iconic Universal films over the last half-century. Steven and the team at Amblin have been outstanding partners and we look forward to this next chapter.”  

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‘Millennial gray’ and the other ‘cold, dreary’ home color trends they favor detested by TikTok

Critics are having a field gray dunking on millennials yet again — this time for favoring “cold, dreary” color schemes in their homes.

TikTok users have dubbed the dark, monochromatic home decor trend “millennial gray” as a dig at the group of adults generally born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s.

The once-popular furnishing movement is now catching the ire of Gen Zers, who seem to overwhelmingly favor bright, colorful and maximalist decor.

One TikTok user complained that millennial gray has seeped so deeply into most homes and apartments that they were finding the color scheme in every rental unit they viewed.

“What the f–k? What the f–k? What the f–k is this world? What have they done to us?” user earthboundrituals posted in a video.

The neutral toned-trend gained traction over the past decade in what House Digest theorizes was a direct response to the maximalist, Tuscan-inspired home decor style that preceded it.

Millennial gray represented the opposite of the loud and overbearing 2000s trends and represented a cooler, sleeker style of a new generation, according to the outlet.

But home designer Loren Kreiss posted that the trend had never been fashionable and was on its way out.

The neutral toned-trend gained traction over the past decade in what House Digest theorizes was a direct response to the maximalist, Tuscan-inspired home decor style that preceded it.Getty Images

In a video, he claimed the color can negatively impact moods and attitudes.

“Millenial Gray is finally being recognized as the cold, dreary it’s always been and it makes perfect sense why,” Kreiss said.

“Can you think of anything you love in nature that’s gray? The color gray conjures up images of prisons, pigeons, rain clouds and reptiles. Doesn’t sound very warm and inviting, does it?”

The designer encouraged millennials to ditch the color in favor of lighter, taupe shades that illicit feelings of comfort instead.

One user said it began with her green couch.TikTok / @lyssieloolooWhich was changed by adding multiple pillows.TikTok / @lyssieloolooShe got rid of the television in the corner.TikTok / @lyssieloolooThe user added different colors even though she once feared nonmatching colors.TikTok / @lyssielooloo

If TikTok is any indicator, plenty of millennials are heeding the advice.

User lyssielooloo said that switching the monotone scheme of her home for new colors was the “best decision” she had ever made.

She said she first swapped out her light gray couch for a green sectional, paving the way for the introduction of a non-matching red carpet, a random assortment of pillows and varying pillow shapes and textures.

Ruble only noticed she was a part of the trend when she saw her baby’s furniture.TikTok / @nikkirubleNikki Ruble wrote she didn’t realize how deeply she had “fallen victim” to millennial gray.TikTok / @nikkiruble

Another TikTokker, DJ, said making the switch from gray to a swath of colors was a “solid choice”

“Why was I so afraid of color? Don’t be afraid to mix and match & just fully express yourself,” she wrote.

“RIP — here lies millennial gray & the insecurity to be yourself.”

Other millennials, however, admit they’ve given in to the trend, but don’t seem to show any signs of changing.TikTok / @nikkiruble

Other millennials, however, admit they’ve given in to the trend, but don’t seem to show any signs of changing.

Nikki Ruble showed off her gray baby chair, backpack coffee mug, towels and more, writing that she didn’t even realize how deeply she had “fallen victim” to millennial gray until the hashtag started trending on TikTok.

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