Month: June 2024
The biggest trailers of the week: June 23rd to June 29th
Willem Dafoe in Nosferatu. | Screenshot: YouTube
I’m stuck in a weird spot when it comes to movies and TV, these days. On one hand, the constant churn of remakes, reboots, franchise movies, and sequels often feels like it comes at the expense of original storytelling. But on the other, I am unabashedly looking forward to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, I’m really enjoying The Acolyte, and I’m sorry, but I’m the reason Nintendo just keeps remaking games, and I will continue to be. (Also, I feel I must apologize to my friends and family in advance for my absence when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is released.)
Thankfully, the trailers that showed up this week look as promising as any of the best of those.
Deadpool & Wolverine
It’s another Deadpool & Wolverine trailer; what am I going to do, not watch it five times and then tell you about it? This one almost doesn’t have anything we haven’t had before. Almost, that is, until it reveals that Tyler Mane will reprise his role as Sabretooth from the first X-Men film. We’ve got just under a month to go before the movie’s July 26th release.
Batman: The Caped Crusader
Things were looking dicey for Batman: Caped Crusader after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the show’s move to Amazon Studios. But it finally got a release date (August 1st), and now, a trailer full of every bit of the dark, 1940s-era art deco style that creator Bruce Timm’s 1990s series was dripping with.
Actor Hamish Linklater’s Batman voice was shown off in a teaser earlier this month, clearly nodding at the late Kevin Conroy’s portrayal of the character. In it, he listed the show’s stellar cast, which includes Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, John DiMaggio, Minnie Driver, and Mckenna Grace.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu’s first teaser trailer offers only a dim look at the vampire known as Count Orlok, once played by Max Schreck in the 1922 silent horror film the movie is remaking. But it does a great job setting the mood for the grim remake of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, itself an unofficial retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Starring Willem Dafoe, Lily Rose-Depp, and Bill Skarsgård, the Robert Eggers movie is due to hit theaters, merrily, on December 25th.
Heretic
It feels like Hugh Grant’s been having a moment lately. His turn as the Mr. Reed, a man who traps two young Mormon missionaries come to spread the gospel to him, seems just as compellingly off-brand as his portrayals of Lofty the Oompa Loompa in Wonka and the con artist Forge Fitzwilliam in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Heretic also bucks the retread trend of the other trailers from this week by being its own story. It’s written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the team behind A Quiet Place.
Willem Dafoe in Nosferatu. | Screenshot: YouTube
I’m stuck in a weird spot when it comes to movies and TV, these days. On one hand, the constant churn of remakes, reboots, franchise movies, and sequels often feels like it comes at the expense of original storytelling. But on the other, I am unabashedly looking forward to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, I’m really enjoying The Acolyte, and I’m sorry, but I’m the reason Nintendo just keeps remaking games, and I will continue to be. (Also, I feel I must apologize to my friends and family in advance for my absence when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is released.)
Thankfully, the trailers that showed up this week look as promising as any of the best of those.
Deadpool & Wolverine
It’s another Deadpool & Wolverine trailer; what am I going to do, not watch it five times and then tell you about it? This one almost doesn’t have anything we haven’t had before. Almost, that is, until it reveals that Tyler Mane will reprise his role as Sabretooth from the first X-Men film. We’ve got just under a month to go before the movie’s July 26th release.
Batman: The Caped Crusader
Things were looking dicey for Batman: Caped Crusader after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the show’s move to Amazon Studios. But it finally got a release date (August 1st), and now, a trailer full of every bit of the dark, 1940s-era art deco style that creator Bruce Timm’s 1990s series was dripping with.
Actor Hamish Linklater’s Batman voice was shown off in a teaser earlier this month, clearly nodding at the late Kevin Conroy’s portrayal of the character. In it, he listed the show’s stellar cast, which includes Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, John DiMaggio, Minnie Driver, and Mckenna Grace.
Nosferatu
Nosferatu’s first teaser trailer offers only a dim look at the vampire known as Count Orlok, once played by Max Schreck in the 1922 silent horror film the movie is remaking. But it does a great job setting the mood for the grim remake of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, itself an unofficial retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Starring Willem Dafoe, Lily Rose-Depp, and Bill Skarsgård, the Robert Eggers movie is due to hit theaters, merrily, on December 25th.
Heretic
It feels like Hugh Grant’s been having a moment lately. His turn as the Mr. Reed, a man who traps two young Mormon missionaries come to spread the gospel to him, seems just as compellingly off-brand as his portrayals of Lofty the Oompa Loompa in Wonka and the con artist Forge Fitzwilliam in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Heretic also bucks the retread trend of the other trailers from this week by being its own story. It’s written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the team behind A Quiet Place.
NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Sunday, June 30 (game #385)
Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here’s all you need to know to solve today’s game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.
And so the weekend comes to an end with a really difficult Connections puzzle. Or is it? Well, I certainly struggled, but maybe you won’t. If you do, there are hints below.
What should you do once you’ve finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I’ve also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.
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 #385) – today’s words
(Image credit: New York Times)
Today’s NYT Connections words are…
ASHELECTRICSAWJETGASCHESTNUTFILTERGUMEBONYMAXIMWOODHEATERPUMPCHERRYCHARCOALADAGE
NYT Connections today (game #385) – hint #1 – group hints
What are some clues for today’s NYT Connections groups?
Yellow: A saying from the pastGreen: Fire up the barbecueBlue: Woody typesPurple: No bubbles without these
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 #385) – hint #2 – group answers
What are the answers for today’s NYT Connections groups?
YELLOW: OLD SAYINGGREEN: GRILL FUEL SOURCESBLUE: TREESPURPLE: HOT TUB COMPONENTS
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #385) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Connections, game #385, are…
YELLOW: OLD SAYING ADAGE, CHESTNUT, MAXIM, SAWGREEN: GRILL FUEL SOURCES CHARCOAL, ELECTRIC, GAS, WOODBLUE: TREES ASH, CHERRY, EBONY, GUMPURPLE: HOT TUB COMPONENTS FILTER, HEATER, JET, PUMP
My rating: HardMy score: 3 mistakes
Woah! This was a tough one. A really tough one. I made three mistakes in solving it, and frankly it was a lot harder than the ones I failed last week. The problem here (for me at least) was that so many of the possible answers could have gone together. That’s always (or often) a factor in Connections, of course, but today the problem was particularly pronounced.
For instance, I guessed trees first, putting CHERRY, ASH, CHESTNUT and GUM together. No dice. So I tried heat sources, with WOOD, ELECTRIC, GAS and HEATER. But wrong again. And then I thought maybe there was something about hair color: CHESTNUT, EBONY, ASH, CHERRY. But that was incorrect too.
After many minutes of deliberation, I put the ‘Hot tub components’ group together and solved what was supposedly the most difficult of the four. Then revisited the fuel-related answers and worked out that charcoal finished that group.
Next, I focused on ADAGE and MAXIM, which I could see must go together and which didn’t fit elsewhere so easily. I thought maybe SAW might be connected, then realized that ‘old chestnut’ also fit, and solved the yellow group. And that left the blue trees group for me to solve by default; my missing answer earlier had been EBONY, which I knew was a type of wood so I don’t know why I didn’t think of it at the time.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 29 June, game #384)
BLUE: PLACED DOWN LAID, PLACED, PUT, SATGREEN: CONNECT COUPLE, TIE, UNITE, WEDYELLOW: HOMOPHONES TO, TOO, TUE, TWOPURPLE: ___FLOWER MAY, SUN, WALL, WILD
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.
Quordle today – hints and answers for Sunday, June 30 (game #888)
Looking for Quordle clues? We can help. Plus get the answers to Quordle today and past solutions.
Quordle is having one of its ultra-tricky runs, and today’s continues that theme. You might well need some help to complete it; read on if so.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.
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 #888) – 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 #888) – 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 3.
Quordle today (game #888) – 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.
Quordle today (game #888) – hint #4 – 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 #888) – hint #5 – starting letters (2)
What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?
• A
• H
• N
• K
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #888) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle, game #888, are…
ALIBIHYENANERVEKNOWN
The past few Quordles have been really difficult, and today’s is no exception. KNOWN is one of those annoying words that is really common but has such an unusual structure that it can remain out of mind until it’s too late, the silent K and repeated N combining to disguise the word itself. HYENA is worse still, with every letter out of place. Add in the repeated Es in NERVE and Is in ALIBI and you have all the ingredients for a troublesome Quordle.
On the plus side, I completed the Daily Sequence in what may be my lowest score yet, thanks in no small part to STARE, one of my three start words, turning up as the fourth answer.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Daily Sequence today (game #888) – the answers
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)
The answers to today’s Quordle Daily Sequence, game #888, are…
INTROSTEINSNOWYSTARE
Quordle answers: The past 20
Quordle #887, Saturday 29 June: BASIL, PLAID, REMIT, SHEIK Quordle #886, Friday 28 June: SCENE, PRIMO, MOGUL, OPIUMQuordle #885, Thursday 27 June: MAXIM, DOWNY, ROUSE, ATOLLQuordle #884, Wednesday 26 June: NORTH, LEVER, SERUM, SLATEQuordle #883, Tuesday 25 June: APPLY, FUNKY, SWORE, TWEAK Quordle #882, Monday 24 June: ANGER, SILKY, HURRY, ANODEQuordle #881, Sunday 23 June: SPIED, DIZZY, ABUSE, POPPYQuordle #880, Saturday 22 June: GROIN, STOVE, SHRUB, HARSHQuordle #879, Friday 21 June: INDEX, CLUED, ORBIT, LOSERQuordle #878, Thursday 20 June: DELVE, BEZEL, MAMMA, AZUREQuordle #877, Wednesday 19 June: CELLO, PRIVY, HUMOR, PAPERQuordle #876, Tuesday 18 June: ABYSS, OCTET, BEEFY, PUPALQuordle #875, Monday 17 June: AWAIT, SHADY, SWEET, DRAPEQuordle #874, Sunday 16 June: URBAN, MOIST, SPOOL, BELIEQuordle #873, Saturday 15 June: LOGIC, SOOTY, WAGON, BRIDEQuordle #872, Friday 14 June: MERIT, RASPY, THOSE, WATERQuordle #871, Thursday 13 June: NORTH, MOUND, PEACE, RETRYQuordle #870, Wednesday 12 June: QUILT, PARTY, SPARK, SINCEQuordle #869, Tuesday 11 June: CLANK, GONER, LIEGE, TIARAQuordle #868, Monday 10 June: ANGST, SUAVE, MAYBE, PLUMP
NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, June 30 (game #119)
Looking for NYT Strands answers and hints? Here’s all you need to know to solve today’s game, including the spangram.
And so the weekend comes to a close with a Strands puzzle that might cause you a few more problems than some recent instalments. If that’s the case, you might find my hints to be useful.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.
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 #119) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… Cut and color
NYT Strands today (game #119) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
PENTSHEETSEEMSWEETSWEEPWELT
NYT Strands today (game #119) – hint #3 – spangram
What is a hint for today’s spangram?
• Rock stars
NYT Strands today (game #119) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
• First: left, 4th row
• Last: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #119) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #119, are…
SAPPHIREEMERALDTOPAZGARNETAMETHYSTSPANGRAM: JEWELTONES
My rating: ModerateMy score: Perfect
I’ve never heard the term JEWEL TONES before, which made this Strands puzzle a rather difficult one to solve even once I had the concept worked out, which was relatively early on in the game.
The fact that I’ve never heard of GARNET, either, and didn’t know how to spell AMETHYST also made things a lot tougher than they might otherwise have been. As a result of all that, this was rather a mixed game for me – the likes of EMERALD and RUBY were obvious and easy, some of the others less so. Still, I got there in the end, and without using any hints either. I’ll take that any day.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Saturday 29 June, game #118)
COMETASTEROIDPLANETGALAXYMOONSATELLITESPANGRAM: OUTERPSACE
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable and 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.
Could We Lower The Carbon Footprint of Data Centers By Launching Them Into Space?
The Wall Street Journal reports that a European initiative studying the feasibility data centers in space “has found that the project could be economically viable” — while reducing the data center’s carbon footprint.
And they add that according to coordinator Thales Alenia Space, the project “could also generate a return on investment of several billion euros between now and 2050.”
The study — dubbed Ascend, short for Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty — was funded by the European Union and sought to compare the environmental impacts of space-based and Earth-based data centers, the company said. Moving forward, the company plans to consolidate and optimize its results. Space data centers would be powered by solar energy outside the Earth’s atmosphere, aiming to contribute to the European Union’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the project coordinator said… Space data centers wouldn’t require water to cool them, the company said.
The 16-month study came to a “very encouraging” conclusion, project manager Damien Dumestier told CNBC. With some caveats…
The facilities that the study explored launching into space would orbit at an altitude of around 1,400 kilometers (869.9 miles) — about three times the altitude of the International Space Station. Dumestier explained that ASCEND would aim to deploy 13 space data center building blocks with a total capacity of 10 megawatts in 2036, in order to achieve the starting point for cloud service commercialization… The study found that, in order to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, a new type of launcher that is 10 times less emissive would need to be developed. ArianeGroup, one of the 12 companies participating in the study, is working to speed up the development of such reusable and eco-friendly launchers. The target is to have the first eco-launcher ready by 2035 and then to allow for 15 years of deployment in order to have the huge capacity required to make the project feasible, said Dumestier…
Michael Winterson, managing director of the European Data Centre Association, acknowledges that a space data center would benefit from increased efficiency from solar power without the interruption of weather patterns — but the center would require significant amounts of rocket fuel to keep it in orbit. Winterson estimates that even a small 1 megawatt center in low earth orbit would need around 280,000 kilograms of rocket fuel per year at a cost of around $140 million in 2030 — a calculation based on a significant decrease in launch costs, which has yet to take place. “There will be specialist services that will be suited to this idea, but it will in no way be a market replacement,” said Winterson. “Applications that might be well served would be very specific, such as military/surveillance, broadcasting, telecommunications and financial trading services. All other services would not competitively run from space,” he added in emailed comments.
[Merima Dzanic, head of strategy and operations at the Danish Data Center Industry Association] also signaled some skepticism around security risks, noting, “Space is being increasingly politicised and weaponized amongst the different countries. So obviously, there is a security implications on what type of data you send out there.”
Its not the only study looking at the potential of orbital data centers, notes CNBC. “Microsoft, which has previously trialed the use of a subsea data center that was positioned 117 feet deep on the seafloor, is collaborating with companies such as Loft Orbital to explore the challenges in executing AI and computing in space.”
The article also points out that the total global electricity consumption from data centers could exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026. “That’s roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of Japan, according to the International Energy Agency.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a European initiative studying the feasibility data centers in space “has found that the project could be economically viable” — while reducing the data center’s carbon footprint.
And they add that according to coordinator Thales Alenia Space, the project “could also generate a return on investment of several billion euros between now and 2050.”
The study — dubbed Ascend, short for Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data sovereignty — was funded by the European Union and sought to compare the environmental impacts of space-based and Earth-based data centers, the company said. Moving forward, the company plans to consolidate and optimize its results. Space data centers would be powered by solar energy outside the Earth’s atmosphere, aiming to contribute to the European Union’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, the project coordinator said… Space data centers wouldn’t require water to cool them, the company said.
The 16-month study came to a “very encouraging” conclusion, project manager Damien Dumestier told CNBC. With some caveats…
The facilities that the study explored launching into space would orbit at an altitude of around 1,400 kilometers (869.9 miles) — about three times the altitude of the International Space Station. Dumestier explained that ASCEND would aim to deploy 13 space data center building blocks with a total capacity of 10 megawatts in 2036, in order to achieve the starting point for cloud service commercialization… The study found that, in order to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, a new type of launcher that is 10 times less emissive would need to be developed. ArianeGroup, one of the 12 companies participating in the study, is working to speed up the development of such reusable and eco-friendly launchers. The target is to have the first eco-launcher ready by 2035 and then to allow for 15 years of deployment in order to have the huge capacity required to make the project feasible, said Dumestier…
Michael Winterson, managing director of the European Data Centre Association, acknowledges that a space data center would benefit from increased efficiency from solar power without the interruption of weather patterns — but the center would require significant amounts of rocket fuel to keep it in orbit. Winterson estimates that even a small 1 megawatt center in low earth orbit would need around 280,000 kilograms of rocket fuel per year at a cost of around $140 million in 2030 — a calculation based on a significant decrease in launch costs, which has yet to take place. “There will be specialist services that will be suited to this idea, but it will in no way be a market replacement,” said Winterson. “Applications that might be well served would be very specific, such as military/surveillance, broadcasting, telecommunications and financial trading services. All other services would not competitively run from space,” he added in emailed comments.
[Merima Dzanic, head of strategy and operations at the Danish Data Center Industry Association] also signaled some skepticism around security risks, noting, “Space is being increasingly politicised and weaponized amongst the different countries. So obviously, there is a security implications on what type of data you send out there.”
Its not the only study looking at the potential of orbital data centers, notes CNBC. “Microsoft, which has previously trialed the use of a subsea data center that was positioned 117 feet deep on the seafloor, is collaborating with companies such as Loft Orbital to explore the challenges in executing AI and computing in space.”
The article also points out that the total global electricity consumption from data centers could exceed 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2026. “That’s roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of Japan, according to the International Energy Agency.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Closing the Stanford Internet Observatory will edge the US towards the end of democracy | John Naughton
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