Month: July 2023
Samsung Sees 95% Drop In Profits For a Second Consecutive Quarter
For the second consecutive quarter, Samsung reported a 95% decline in year-over-year profits. “It appears Samsung brought in a profit of 0.67 trillion ($523.5 million) Korean won (KRW), which is a drop in the bucket to the 14.12 trillion KRW ($11.06 billion) it made last year,” reports Android Authority. From the report: Samsung attributes this loss in profit to the decline in smartphone shipments due to “high interest rates and inflation.” As a report from Counterpoint Research suggests, the US smartphone market fell by 24% year-on-year in Q2 2023. Samsung, in particular, saw a 37% yearly decline in shipments, giving it 23% of the total US market. Something else that doesn’t seem to bode well is the fact that Samsung believes the boost that came from the launch of the Galaxy S23 series has faded.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The manufacturer highlights the launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. It also believes that the smartphone market will make a return: “For the second half of 2023, the overall smartphone market is expected to return to year-on-year growth, especially in the premium market.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
For the second consecutive quarter, Samsung reported a 95% decline in year-over-year profits. “It appears Samsung brought in a profit of 0.67 trillion ($523.5 million) Korean won (KRW), which is a drop in the bucket to the 14.12 trillion KRW ($11.06 billion) it made last year,” reports Android Authority. From the report: Samsung attributes this loss in profit to the decline in smartphone shipments due to “high interest rates and inflation.” As a report from Counterpoint Research suggests, the US smartphone market fell by 24% year-on-year in Q2 2023. Samsung, in particular, saw a 37% yearly decline in shipments, giving it 23% of the total US market. Something else that doesn’t seem to bode well is the fact that Samsung believes the boost that came from the launch of the Galaxy S23 series has faded.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The manufacturer highlights the launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5. It also believes that the smartphone market will make a return: “For the second half of 2023, the overall smartphone market is expected to return to year-on-year growth, especially in the premium market.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Reddit calls for “a few new mods” after axing, polarizing some of its best
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Quordle today – hints and answers for Saturday, July 29 (game #551)
Looking for Quordle clues? We can help. Plus get the answers to Quordle today and past solutions.
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 #551 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.
Quordle today (game #551) – 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 #551) – hint #2 – total vowels
What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?
• The total number of vowels across today’s Quordle answers is 10.
Quordle today (game #551) – hint #3 – 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 #551) – hint #4 – total letters
How many different letters are used in Quordle today?
• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 11.
Quordle today (game #551) – hint #5 – uncommon letters
Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?
• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.
Quordle today (game #551) – 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 2.
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 #551) – hint #7 – starting letters (2)
What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?
• V
• A
• A
• L
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #551) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle, game #551, are…
VALUEALONGALIVELEAST
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Daily Sequence today (game #551) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle Daily Sequence, game #551, are…
AWAITWHICHWHOLEMAPLE
Quordle answers: The past 20
Quordle #550, Friday 28 July: TOTEM, BASAL, PULSE, COUCHQuordle #549, Thursday 27 July: EVADE, SPICE, FLOAT, ALIGNQuordle #548, Wednesday 26 July: INDEX, TAKER, CURVE, PEACHQuordle #547, Tuesday 25 July: HAIRY, ROWDY, QUARK, LIMITQuordle #546, Monday 24 July: STUFF, HIPPO, LIVER, BLINKQuordle #545, Sunday 23 July: ENTRY, GIDDY, STAMP, VOMITQuordle #544, Saturday 22 July: BEFIT, JIFFY, ARENA, TOUCHQuordle #543, Friday 21 July: ROUND, TEPID, LIVER, IRATEQuordle #542, Thursday 20 July: ENTER, TRULY, USUAL, CIVILQuordle #541, Wednesday 19 July: WORST, KAYAK, HENCE, ZEBRAQuordle #540, Tuesday 18 July: DEBUT, HOARD, SILLY, UPPERQuordle #539, Monday 17 July: LUPUS, ALIVE, SALLY, ABLEDQuordle #538, Sunday 16 July: STEAM, SALTY, SLOOP, TRUSSQuordle #537, Saturday 15 July: CYCLE, FALSE, FRILL, HEAVYQuordle #536, Friday 14 July: LIBEL, CABLE, WREAK, SCOPEQuordle #535, Thursday 13 July: BASTE, QUERY, SNAIL, PEARLQuordle #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, SADLY
Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know
What 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.
‘Quordle’ today: Here are the answers and hints for July 29
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you’ve come to the right place for hints. There aren’t just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you’ll get what you need. What is Quordle?Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.Is Quordle harder than Wordle?Yes, though not diabolically so.Where did Quordle come from?Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer’s creation was covered in The Guardian six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running. How is Quordle pronounced?“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like “curdle.”Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?Yes and no.Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can’t afford to waste guesses unless you’re eliminating as many letters as possible at all times. Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn’t the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it’s a normal part of the player’s strategic toolset.Is there a way to get the answer faster?In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.If strategy isn’t helping, and you’re still stumped, here are some hints:Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?No.Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?No.What do today’s Quordle words start with?V, A, A, and L.What are the answers for today’s Quordle?Are you sure you want to know?There’s still time to turn back.OK, you asked for it. The answers are:VALUEALONGALIVELEAST
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you’ve come to the right place for hints. There aren’t just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you’ll get what you need.
What is Quordle?
Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.
Is Quordle harder than Wordle?
Yes, though not diabolically so.
Where did Quordle come from?
Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer’s creation was covered in The Guardian six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running.
How is Quordle pronounced?
“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like “curdle.”
Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?
Yes and no.
Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.
After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.
What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?
Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can’t afford to waste guesses unless you’re eliminating as many letters as possible at all times.
Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn’t the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it’s a normal part of the player’s strategic toolset.
Is there a way to get the answer faster?
In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:
Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”
Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.
If strategy isn’t helping, and you’re still stumped, here are some hints:
Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?
No.
Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?
No.
What do today’s Quordle words start with?
V, A, A, and L.
What are the answers for today’s Quordle?
Are you sure you want to know?
There’s still time to turn back.
OK, you asked for it. The answers are:
VALUE
ALONG
ALIVE
LEAST
When it comes to keeping the fizz in your champagne, bottle size matters
A 3-liter jeroboam can age for as long as 132 years before going flat.
A large part of the pleasure of imbibing a glass of champagne comes from its effervescence: all those bubbles rising from the glass and ticking the nose and palate. If there’s no fizz, there’s no fun—and also less flavor and aromas to savor. A recent paper published in the journal ACS Omega found that the size of the champagne bottle is a key factor in determining when the wine inside will go flat.
As we’ve reported previously, champagne’s effervescence arises from the nucleation of bubbles on the glass walls. Once they detach from their nucleation sites, the bubbles grow as they rise to the liquid surface, where they burst. This typically occurs within a couple of milliseconds, and the distinctive crackling sound is emitted when the bubbles rupture. The bubbles even “ring” at specific resonant frequencies, depending on their size, so it’s possible to “hear” the size distribution of bubbles as they rise to the surface in a glass of champagne.
Prior studies have shown that when the bubbles in champagne burst, they produce droplets that release aromatic compounds believed to enhance the flavor. Larger bubbles enhance the release of aerosols into the air above the glass—bubbles on the order of 1.7 mm across at the surface. French physicist Gerard Liger-Belair of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne is one of the foremost scientists studying many different aspects of champagne and has now turned his attention to exploring how long champagne can age in the bottle before the carbonation dissipates to the point where those all-important bubbles can no longer form.
Sweeping and controversial children’s digital privacy bills head to full Senate
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