Pokémon Center UK orders disrupted after CEVA Logistics cyberattack on July 30 2026
Customer names, addresses, emails, and order details likely exposed, but accounts and payments safe
Around a dozen organizations confirmed affected; no group has claimed responsibility yet
Customers who recently ordered their favorite Pikachu toy from Pokémon Center might have to do it all over again, since the company suffered a third-party cyberattack which disrupted its operations.
The official store for Pokémon merchandise in the UK has reached out to its customers via email to warn them about a recent cyberattack and its consequences.
According toBleepingComputer, which has seen a copy of the email, the company told its customers they had to “cancel your recent order due to an unforeseen fulfilment issue”.
CEVA Logistics
The company’s website is also showing a notification saying the company is “currently experiencing delays affecting some orders for our UK customers.”
“These orders may take longer than usual to process, dispatch, and deliver. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.”
The company said the attack struck its logistics provider, CEVA Logistics.
"CEVA Logistics, the vendor Pokémon Center utilizes to ship products from PokemonCenter.com for customers in the United Kingdom and Germany, has informed us that unfortunately they were a victim of a cyber attack commencing on 30 July, 2026."
Last week, one of the biggest shipping and logistics companies in the world disclosed an incident that forced it to shut down parts of its IT infrastructure and affected eight warehouses. At the time, a handful of its customers reported being affected by the breach, including Dutch retailers Bol and De Bijenkorf, and PC gaming powerhouse Valve.
Pokémon Center said the data most likely exposed in this incident includes people’s full names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and details about what they previously ordered on the site. User accounts are apparently safe, and so are payment details.
So far, around a dozen organizations are confirmed as having been affected. No threat actors have claimed responsibility yet.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/4TNxY9Q
via
Firefox’s iOS app comes with a new built-in ad blocker
It stops all kinds of ads, but there are some exceptions
The move could convince me to finally switch from Safari
I’ve been a loyal Firefox user for 20 years now, but that’s only been true for the desktop app. Despite Firefox being one of the best web browsers around, I’ve resolutely stuck with Safari on my iPhone — but a new Firefox feature could finally convince me to make the switch on mobile.
In a support document, Firefox developer Mozilla explains that its browser now comes with an “experimental” ad blocker that is based on the EasyList filter, allowing Firefox to “block many ads before they load.”
The ad blocker puts a stop to a variety of advertising types. That includes third-party advertising networks, ad-related trackers, third-party ads served on websites, and more intrusive formats such as pop-ups and overlays.
The feature is being rolled out gradually and is disabled by default, but you can enable it by opening Firefox, tapping the '…' button, then selecting Settings. From there, go to Browsing and enable the toggle next to Ad Blocker. Alternatively, you can enable it by opening the app menu when browsing a web page.
It’s worth noting that there are a couple of exceptions to what the feature blocks. For one thing, it won’t stop sponsored content on the Firefox Home or New Tab pages, nor will it block search engine ads, as these are both sources of income for Mozilla.
As well as that, Mozilla warns that some ads might slip through the net because “some websites serve ads in ways that are not covered by the current filter list".
Finally making the switch
(Image credit: Mozilla)
Although Safai on iOS can block website pop-ups, it doesn’t have a built-in ad blocker and requires you to use a third-party extension if you want to shut down annoying ads. With Firefox gaining this functionality natively, Mozilla has given its browser a leg up over the competition — and has given me a strong reason to switch.
And since I’m a strong believer in user privacy — its robust privacy stance is one reason why I’ve stuck with Firefox for so long — this is exactly the type of feature that appeals to me. Given how invasive ads and trackers are, blocking them is a priority for me.
I’ve long stuck with Safari due to inertia. I have a lot of tabs open on Apple’s browser and don’t want to lose most of them. But with my beloved Firefox adding a built-in ad blocker on iOS, tab hoarding feels like a bad reason to stick with Safari.
Now could be the time to finally kick that inertia and make the switch. If you hate website ads and want to look out for your privacy, Firefox just gave you a great reason to give it a try.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/FNjd4lw
via
GPU price hikes are coming later this year, PC Partner Group warns
The parent company of Zotac notes that entry-level GPUs will suffer 'more severe shortages'
A manufacturer of gaming monitors, KTC, has also warned on price hikes
PC gamers should be aware that there are further signs that GPUs could get more expensive, and gaming monitors too, so you might want to consider buying now rather than waiting.
First off, the gloomy GPU news which comes from PC Partner Group (PC PG), an Asian graphics card giant based in Singapore and the parent company of Zotac, Inno3D, and Manli.
VideoCardz reports that PC PG just published its latest fiscal results that came with a warning on GPU pricing as part of the trends and conditions which are likely to affect the company's finances in the upcoming year.
PC PG notes that "graphics memory costs are expected to rise further, leading to a substantial increase in VGA Card costs in the second half of the year." VGA Card simply refers to discrete PC graphics cards, and although it's a well outdated term now, it's one still used behind the scenes in the industry.
PC PG says that shipments of GPUs "declined substantially" in the first half of this year, and that they're likely to drop further in the second half of 2026. The firm writes that: "Beyond the price increases, entry-level VGA Cards are expected to face even more severe shortages, which may further drive ASP [the 'average selling price'] upward in the second half of 2026."
The company also highlights that other PC components, including system RAM and CPUs, are taking longer to get hold of.
VideoCardz also noticed that monitor pricing could be on an upward trajectory, too, as manufacturer KTC has issued a notice of a likely 'product price adjustment' in the future.
KTC observes that the "production cost of monitors has increased significantly" and that it can no longer absorb those pressures, therefore: "KTC's monitor product line may see a price increase in the future."
While that's just a 'may' rather than a 'will' or a certainty, it sounds like there's a high likelihood of it happening. Particularly because KTC advises: "For users with a clear need to purchase a device [monitor] in the near future, the current pricing window offers excellent value for money, and we recommend planning your purchase time accordingly."
And at the end of its statement, KTC talks about price adjustments being a "necessary measure", so it sounds pretty much like they're coming no matter what.
Analysis: is anything immune to the component crisis?
(Image credit: Alastair Jennings)
This isn't the only warning on monitor price increases, as AOC recently said that the rising cost of components for its products will mean price hikes starting from this month. Is this the start of a growing trend? The bigger monitor producers will, of course, have more financial wherewithal to weather component rises, but it may only be so long before even those firms start to jack up prices.
The way things are going, I wouldn't bet against it, and this latest news has people on social media asking what isn't immune to the RAM crisis – and what might we expect to see hit next?
How about pricier PC cases, one Redditor jokes: "Wouldn't you enjoy a simple case costing like $300?"
The crisis does feel rather relentless at this point, but the clearest worry is now GPUs. PC Gamer is tracking graphics card prices on a weekly basis, and there have been some clear cost increases coming through in the last few weeks, which suggests that PC PG's prediction is on the money here. And there are multiple other rumors of late warning that graphics cards are set for considerable price hikes. For me, this noise is becoming too consistent to ignore.
As I recently advised, if you need a graphics card upgrade, or think you will in the next year or two, I believe now is the right time to get in and buy. It's particularly notable that according to this latest rumor, entry-level GPUs are mentioned as apparently coming under more pressure, meaning that mainstream buyers are going to be suffering.
The effects of pricier video RAM, and other pressures besides, are no longer going to be mostly about high-end (or 16GB) cards becoming ridiculously expensive, and we could see some unfortunate hikes with lower-end GPUs.
An Incogni survey has found people are becoming more frustrated with the internet
Users cite AI slop and data leaks as the main reasons for stress and anxiety when using the internet
Many users want to spend less time online, and are deleting social media profiles and messaging
For years, personal data collection for advertising, tracking, and service improvement was thought to be the fair price to pay to access the world wide web. But now, many people believe that using the internet will lead to their data being leaked or exposed.
A new Incogni survey found more than half of internet users believe their personal data will inevitably be exposed, with 63% stating that this fear causes anxiety when using the internet.
But beyond this, internet users now fear they can no longer tell what is real content uploaded by a human and what is AI generated, not only eroding trust in the internet, but also making people not want to use the internet at all. Almost half of internet users are less sure of what is real on the internet.
Inevitable data exposure
You’ve likely been prompted thousands of times to accept or reject cookies, or review a privacy policy before using a website. Every cookie you accept will collect data on your browsing habits and behavior on sites in order to display personalized adverts that you are more likely to click. Cookies also help keep you logged in and store your information on websites.
While this helps make many websites across the web free to use for those accessing them, sometimes your data is sold to advertisers or third-parties where it is stored insecurely, and can be stolen or leaked.
Among the 1,000 internet users surveyed, the fear of data exposure was strongest among the Millennials and Gen X generations. 56% of Gen X and 55% of Millennials believed that their data would at some point be breached or exposed, showing just how normal data breaches and exposure have become online.
Just 11% of those surveyed believed there was little likelihood of their data being breached.
(Image credit: Incogni)
AI is making the internet less real
AI content creation has exploded in recent years. Social media sites are full of AI ‘creators’ whose pages either share AI generated content or scrape the internet for content that users are likely to interact with, and share it through their own pages. These profiles require little human input, but can share content at an industrial scale and reap huge rewards from advertisers.
If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you may have seen videos from AI creators all sharing the same captions. “Tonight, V stepped into the crowd..” or “Japan is transforming footsteps into electricity.” These captions use keywords to abuse Instagram’s algorithm on popular topics to drive engagement, regardless of whether the content actually has anything to do with the caption.
But they’re also making it harder to know what is real on the internet.
(Image credit: Incogni)
48% of those surveyed said that they are less sure of what’s real, with 40% also stating that the lack of accountability for deepfake creators was a bother.
Additionally, 27% said that AI generated content made them want to spend less time online, with 16% also saying that navigating an internet full of low quality AI content made them feel more tired or fatigued. Just 8% of respondents said that AI generated content improved their online experience.
There are some positive attitudes to AI content online. 12% said that AI-generated content made information more accessible, with slightly less (11%) saying that they were excited about the creative possibilities AI offers.
Time to go offline?
Attitudes to how long people spend online are also changing. Over half (51%) of Gen Z internet users believe they spend too much time on consuming content on the internet, with 43% of Millennials and 42% of Gen X respondents having a likeminded view.
Whether it’s responding to emails, navigating networking platforms, finding new furniture, or looking for where to go to eat - the internet is now a life requirement for most people. And every time you access another website in work or your personal life, there is more data that could be leaked.
(Image credit: Incogni)
The ultimate effect of this is that people are being driven away from using the internet. 58% of respondents said that they had deleted a social media account or messaging app because of stress, anxiety, or privacy concerns.
“It seems that the costs of engaging with these platforms are starting to outweigh any perceived or actual benefits,” the Incogni survey said.
Or time to pay for privacy?
Incogni also asked if users would be willing to pay for an internet where tracking and algorithms did not exist. 30% of respondents said they would, but this largely relied on income. Those with a higher income were more likely to pay for this ‘private’ internet, while those with a lower income were less likely.
For many internet users, privacy shouldn’t be a luxury, but a guarantee. There is a level of trust involved when sharing personal data with advertisers, and the expectation is that the data won’t be leaked or stolen. Unfortunately, the opinions show that this is far from what's expected.
(Image credit: Incogni)
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/mQV7e4c
via
Disney and Epic Games have been promising a ‘persistent, open and interoperable’ universe since February 2024, when Disney took a $1.5 billion equity stake in Epic Games, and Bob Iger called it the company's biggest foray into games ever. Two and a half years and a handful of Fortnite islands later, we're finally getting something that behaves like what was actually promised: a Disney park experience that connects, mechanically, to Fortnite itself.
Most of what's arrived since that 2024 announcement has been a slow drip of standalone content rather than anything tied to the parks. Disneyland Game Rush launched in November 2025 as a Creative island celebrating Disneyland's 70th anniversary, dropping players into mini games modeled on Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion — fun, but built entirely inside Fortnite, with nothing connecting back to an actual park visit. A Percy Jackson: Siege of Monsters island followed that December, timed to the Disney+ show's second season.
On the parks side, Imagineering has been running its own parallel experiments with a lot of the same underlying tech. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom now uses Unreal Engine to power real-time scoring.
It's proven to be a divisive addition among park fans. Still, it's also more proof that the line between "ride system" and "game engine" has been blurring inside Imagineering for a while now, well before Fortnite entered the picture.
What none of those individual pieces actually did was talk to each other. That changes now, though, as Disney and Epic have unveiled Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run | Fortnite. It's not the most original name, but it essentially combines Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run — the ride inside Galaxy's Edge at both Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, FL, and Disneyland Park in Anaheim, CA — with a new Fortnite island called Smugglers Gambit. And it's the first time riding a physical attraction produces something you bring into Fortnite — not just a shared theme, but an unlockable reward tied to a specific action you took inside the park.
(Image credit: Disney Parks)
According to Julia Humphreys, VP of Production at Disney Digital Entertainment, who walked me through the thinking in an exclusive interview, that's exactly the point. "Smugglers Gambit is definitely a first step and not a finish line," Humphreys told me.
"With this foundational experience we wanted to prove out something that we've believed for a long time: that a story doesn't have to end when you leave the park, and it doesn't have to start over from zero when you pick up a controller." Progress, discoveries, and relationships with characters, she said, are meant to actually carry over between the ride and the game rather than resetting every time a guest switches from one to the other.
Starting August 16, 2026, guests entering Galaxy's Edge can accept Hondo's mission through the Disneyland or Disney World’s My Disney Experience app, then ride Smugglers Run as usual. Finish it, and you'll get word — in the app or by email — that Hondo's waiting on the Smugglers Gambit island in Fortnite with, fittingly, "your cut of the profits." If you link an Epic Games account to your MyDisney equivalent, the reward will automatically unlock. If you can’t link or choose not to, they'll email you a redeemable code. It's free with park admission, and Fortnite is, of course, still free to play.
I haven't gone hands-on with Smugglers Gambit myself, but between the screenshots Disney shared and my conversation with Humphreys, the game puts players in the role of a smuggler working the Outer Rim. Environment art shows a hazy, sun-bleached Mersa Veta Station, freighters docked along exposed gangways with towering scrap-metal walkers looming in the fog, and ships like the Quadjumper parked in dim, blue-lit hangars. Quests run across a location called Ord Ryla, and combat screenshots show players in flooded, fire-lit corridors, consistent with the co-op missions, class and leveling system, and run-ins with pirates, Imperial remnants, and hostile wildlife Disney has described.
Graphically, it's a noticeable step down from the ride's own visual bar — but that tracks with what you'd expect from a Star Wars experience running in Fortnite rather than on Imagineering's custom multi-GPU hardware. Whether the Falcon itself shows up as a flyable or interactive ship in Smugglers Gambit remains to be seen.
Disney/Epic GamesDisney/Epic GamesDisney/Epic GamesDisney/Epic Games
The technical connection between the two experiences is where my own time on Smugglers Run at Disney World comes back into play. Back in June, I covered Imagineering's overhaul of the ride, including the engineer role that lets guests pick between three different planets and steers the whole mission depending on how they play — powered, Imagineering confirmed, by a heavily customized, multi-GPU build of Unreal Engine 5.
Smugglers Gambit, on the other hand, was built in UEFN — Unreal Editor for Fortnite, Epic's own related but distinct toolset that sits on top of the same underlying engine. That shared foundation, Humphreys said, meant the teams "didn't have to start from a blank page": ships, characters, and environment objects originally modeled for the physical ride were translated directly into the Fortnite experience rather than rebuilt from scratch.
Getting the two sides to actually talk to each other wasn't simple. Humphreys described it as "a team effort across Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Digital Entertainment, and so many other teams across Disney, Lucasfilm, and Epic Games" — everything from new physical signage in the park queues to the backend account-linking infrastructure to the Fortnite ecosystem work needed to make the in-game rewards possible.
It's also a bet backed by real numbers. This new experience builds on the Star Wars IP Toolkit, the creator toolset that powered a wave of Star Wars content in Fortnite this past May, shortly before The Mandalorian and Grogu hit the big screen. Disney says it pulled in close to 8 million players in its first 72 hours — not a small feat.
This new experience feels like the start of something we've been promised and have been waiting to see for a while. Will it drive more people to the parks just to unlock the Fortnite tie-in? My guess is that the impact will be minimal — the broader investment in parks and the kind of full-ride retheming Imagineering did with the Falcon itself make a far more compelling case for a visit than a Fortnite reward does.
The real impact is this: the experience you have flying the Falcon with Mando and Grogu over Endor or Coruscant can now carry beyond your time at the park. And that spreads the Star Wars story — your story — farther.
That's a long wait for a promise this specific — but Humphreys sounded like she'd have waited even longer. "As someone who loves both theme parks and games, this is the start of a collaboration I've wanted to see for years," she said. "It's very much the opening chapter with Epic Games, and I can't wait for people to experience where this relationship goes next."
Taken together, this is a cool first step — not because any single piece of it is groundbreaking on its own, but because it's the first time Disney has actually wired the reward loop between a park and Fortnite, instead of just theming a Fortnite island around a park. The ride itself is genuinely better than it was even a few months ago; my June story covered how the three-planet, choose-your-own-adventure overhaul already made Smugglers Run more replayable. Now that same ride experience feeds into a Fortnite island that, if it delivers at scale, could become a real destination on its own — one where Hondo is voiced by the same actor as on the ride, for what it's worth.
The redemption structure is a nice touch, too: finish the mission, and you get a Fortnite reward of an exclusive outfit for taking the ride. I'd expect Disney and Epic to keep tuning that loop over time, the same way Imagineering has kept iterating on the ride itself; more skins, more unlocks, deeper crossover content wouldn't be a heavy lift if this lands with players.
What I'm more curious about is where the "connected" half of this idea goes next. If riding the Falcon can unlock something in Fortnite, there's no obvious reason Disney stops at Star Wars. A Toy Story Mania tie-in wouldn't be a stretch, and we’ve already seen a version of WEB-Slingers in Fortnite, so why not give that attraction a similar tie-in?
Now that the plumbing between a ride and a persistent game world actually works, the list of places Disney could point it next gets long fast.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Gaming News https://ift.tt/SF59mbk
via TECHNICAL SAFEER
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, August 14 (game #1160).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1161) - today's words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today's NYT Connections words are…
GRINCH
BEANSTALK
STAGE
LANYARD
HIGHTAIL
LEG
SOUNDTRACK
HOTFOOT
BEAT
STRETCH
FRIED
CHAMOMILE
SPENT
EYESHADOW
PHASE
WORN OUT
NYT Connections today (game #1161) - hint #1 - group hints
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: Shattered
GREEN: A part of something bigger
BLUE: Imperial segments
PURPLE: Creepy segments
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1161) - hint #2 - group answers
What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: EXHAUSTED
GREEN: SEGMENT
BLUE: ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH
PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1161) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Connections, game #1161, are…
YELLOW: EXHAUSTED BEAT, FRIED, SPENT, WORN OUT
GREEN: SEGMENT LEG, PHASE, STAGE, STRETCH
BLUE: ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH CHAMOMILE, GRINCH, HOTFOOT, LANYARD
PURPLE: ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY BEANSTALK, EYESHADOW, HIGHTAIL, SOUNDTRACK
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
I was thrilled when I spotted the words ENDING IN UNITS OF LENGTH straight off the bat, but then disappointed when it turned out to be blue instead of purple.
The hardest group of the day honor went to another set of words where the ending was significant, in this case ENDING IN SYNONYMS FOR FOLLOW SECRETLY.
I missed the purple group completely and I think it's because I had already connected one ENDING group and assumed there would not be another. I really should know better, as this is classic Connections trickery.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Friday, August 14, 2026, game #1160)
YELLOW: BLACK-AND-YELLOW: BUMBLEBEE, CAUTION TAPE, CHARLIE BROWN, WOLVERINE
GREEN: PLACES WHERE EVERYONE THINKS THE SAME WAYS: BUBBLE, ECHO CHAMBER, HIVEMIND, SILO
BLUE: COMIC BOOK ARTIST'S TOOLS: BRISTOL BOARD, DIP PEN, INDIA INK, STRAIGHTEDGE
PURPLE: TRIANGLE LOGOS: BASS ALE, CITGO, DELTA AIRLINES, GOOGLE DRIVE
What is NYT Connections?
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Gaming News https://ift.tt/FxhIVzy
via TECHNICAL SAFEER
A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Friday, August 14 (game #1663).
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #1664) — hint #1 — Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #1664) — hint #2 — repeated letters
Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.
Quordle today (game #1664) — hint #3 — uncommon letters
Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?
• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.
What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?
• R
• M
• M
• L
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #1664) — the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today's Quordle, game #1664, are…
RIDER
MOLDY
MEALY
LYMPH
Another day featuring a word without vowels.
I already had the Y here, so it was simply a case of finding the P to make up LYMPH.
Y was the hero letter of the day featuring in the trickiest word but also helping out at the end of two others — MOLDY and MEALY — making for an easier game than usual.
Daily Sequence today (game #1664) — the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1664, are…
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, August 14 (game #894).
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 #895) - hint #1 - today's theme
What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?
• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Sacred space
NYT Strands today (game #895) - hint #2 - clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
BASE
PULP
CLAN
SELL
CHIP
NYT Strands today (game #895) - hint #3 - spangram letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 8 letters
NYT Strands today (game #895) - hint #4 - spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?
• First side: left, 5th row
• Last side: right, 5th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #895) - the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today's Strands, game #895, are…
PULPIT
BIBLE
ALTAR
HYMNAL
CANDLES
LECTERN
SPANGRAM: INCHURCH
My rating: Easy
My score: Perfect
Some days the theme puzzles me, but today was one of those where you get it immediately and spot the spangram first.
After this it was just a case of finding the various churchy things — of which there are legions.
My favorite thing you see INCHURCH was not included: stained glass windows. I love them and think they should be everywhere — schools, supermarkets, police stations, stadiums — not just picturing the life and times of saints but also the incredible wonders of the secular world.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Friday, August 14, game #894)
SLINKY
VELCRO
PLASTIC
MICROWAVE
PENICILLIN
SPANGRAM: INVENTIONS
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.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/Lx0MN8O
via
A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Thursday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Thursday, August 13 (game #1662).
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #1663) — hint #1 — Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #1663) — hint #2 — repeated letters
Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.
Quordle today (game #1663) — hint #3 — uncommon letters
Do 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.
What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?
• S
• M
• S
• G
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #1663) — the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today's Quordle, game #1663, are…
SEIZE
MYRRH
SANER
GLOAT
I really messed up today’s game and lost my win streak in the process.
Instead of playing tactically and getting MYRRH sooner (I spotted too late that without vowels there was only one possibility) I persisted in trying to get a word with too many options and ran out of guesses.
Daily Sequence today (game #1663) — the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1663, are…
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 theme
What 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 letters
How many letters are in today's spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #894) - hint #4 - spangram position
What 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.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/FLVgUKA
via
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?"
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.
from Latest from TechRadar US in Computing News https://ift.tt/ziI7DcX
via
A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, August 12 (game #1661).
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #1 — Vowels
How many different vowels are in Quordle today?
• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.
* 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 #1662) — hint #2 — repeated letters
Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?
• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.
Quordle today (game #1662) — hint #3 — uncommon letters
Do 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.
