CHIPCONQUEST

That performance comes with some well-documented issues, though. Lemon Law Help reports that Hemi owners have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the 392 cubic inch V8 has a design flaw in its MDS, or multi-displacement system. This mechanism responds to demand on the engine by switching between four-cylinder and eight-cylinder operation. The defect causes an audible ticking noise that can be heard when starting the engine, and pieces of metal from damaged valves can circulate through the engine, damaging engine internals, cylinder walls, and camshafts. 

The suit claims that Chrysler failed to honor vehicle warranties by not replacing faulty lifters or damaged engine components. Replacing a 392 hemi engine can cost a vehicle owner about $15,000 out of pocket, and replacement engines often exhibit the same issue. Fiat Chrysler issued a STAR report — a technical service bulletin to its dealership service departments – in January 2021 reporting that “Customer complaints may include abnormal engine noise, rough idle, lack of power, [and] misfire.” Technicians were instructed to check cam lobes for damage and remove the variable valve timing system’s oil control valve to check for metal debris. If debris was found, the engine should be replaced.

Well, this is unexpected.

Along with allowing music streaming apps to link to external websites, in a surprise move, Apple has updated its developer guidelines to open the App Store to retro video game emulators (via 9to5Mac). Making the situation even more interesting, the new guidelines outline that retro console emulators can offer downloadable titles directly through their apps.

That said, for legal reasons, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to download Pokémon Red and Blue directly within whatever Game Boy emulator makes its way to iOS first (of course, you’ll still be able to find ROMs in the shadier corners of the internet). Apple’s developer guidelines clearly state that all downloadable titles must comply with “all applicable laws.”

So far, few emulators have been confirmed to be coming to Apple’s smartphone, with popular PSP emulator PPSSPP being the notable exception. This will likely change quickly in the coming weeks. Popular Android emulators like NES.emu (NES), John GBAC (Game Boy), Snes9x EX+ (SNES), DuckStation (PlayStation), and several others will very likely quickly make their way to iOS and iPadOS.

This substantial shift in App Store rules seems to be in response to an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that accuses the company of blocking game streaming apps like GeForce Now. The move is also likely related to Apple allowing third-party marketplaces on the iPhone in Europe, opening up the smartphone to emulators in that region.

It’s been possible to get emulators running on the iPhone for years, ranging from back-door apps that sneak through Apple’s App Store certification process to installing shady ‘Profiles’ on your smartphone. However, the process has never been as straightforward as downloading an app from the App Store.

It will be interesting to see how Nintendo reacts to this App Store policy change, given the company’s litigious history with emulation. The Japanese gaming giant recently sued the creators of Yuzu, a popular Switch emulator for PC and Steam Deck.

For more on smartphone emulators, check out Brad Bennett’s in-depth look at Android-based Nintendo DS emulator, Drastic.

Image credit: Nintendo (NintendoLife)

Distributed also on: Apple Via: 9to5Mac

How many times recently has a phone call hit your device and you ignore it, only to then immediately Google Search the number to see if it was important or something you should have answered? I do it daily. The process, though, for making that happen, could be so much simpler. Google appears to understand this process and may soon give us the ultimate lookup shortcut.

Spotted by Google app diver AssembleDebug in a recent Google Phone beta update (127.0.620688474), a new “Lookup” button has appeared in the Recents call log for numbers not in your contacts list that you may want to…lookup. You can see how this will look in the image below.

Should this button appear for you, it’ll arrive when you tap on an unknown number in your call history next to Add Contact, Message, and History shortcuts. By choosing Lookup, your phone will then fire up a request from an app that can handle such a task, like Google Search. The Lookup shortcut appears to copy the number with quotes around it to then perform the search.

We have no idea if or when this could rollout more broadly to you and I. We just received the March Pixel Feature Drop a few weeks ago and aren’t expecting another big update until June. Could Google slide this feature into our phones before then? They absolutely could. In fact, because this is a part of the Google Phone (“Phone by Google”) app, it’s not a Pixel-exclusive app. I actually wonder if this could hit as one of those Android Feature Drops that Google uses to showcase how great Android is as a platform for all devices.

Since this was spotted in a beta build, you may want to join the Google Phone app beta program here.

Guys, how freakin’ exciting are you while reading this?

// Piunikaweb

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

Some days are trickier than others. If you’re having a little trouble solving today’s Connections puzzle, check out our tips and hints below. And if you still can’t get it, we’ll tell you today’s answers at the very end.

How to play Connections

In Connections, you’ll be shown a grid containing 16 words — your objective is to organize these words into four sets of four by identifying the connections that link them. These sets could encompass concepts like titles of video game franchises, book series sequels, shades of red, names of chain restaurants, etc.

There are generally words that seem like they could fit multiple themes, but there’s only one 100% correct answer. You’re able to shuffle the grid of words and rearrange them to help better see the potential connections.

Each group is color-coded. The yellow group is the easiest to figure out, followed by the green, blue, and purple groups.

Pick four words and hit Submit. If you’re correct, the four words will be removed from the grid and the theme connecting them will be revealed. Guess incorrectly and it’ll count as a mistake. You only have four mistakes available until the game ends.

Hints for today’s Connections

We can help you solve today’s Connection by telling you the four themes. If you need more assistance, we’ll also give you one word from each group below.

Today’s themes

BRIEF MOMENT
DISPUTE
SLANG FOR ZERO
ACCESSORIES FOR MR. PEANUT

One-answer reveals

BRIEF MOMENT – FLASH
DISPUTE – CLASH
SLANG FOR ZERO – JACK
ACCESSORIES FOR MR. PEANUT – CANE

Today’s Connections answers

Still no luck? That’s OK. This puzzle is designed to be difficult.  If you just want to see today’s Connections answer, we’ve got you covered below:

BRIEF MOMENT – FLASH, HEARTBEAT, JIFF, WINK
DISPUTE – CLASH, SCRAP, TANGLE, TIFF
SLANG FOR ZERO – JACK, LOVE, SQUAT, ZIP
ACCESSORIES FOR MR. PEANUT – CANE, MONOCLE, SPAT, TOP HAT

Connections grids vary widely and change every day. If you couldn’t solve today’s puzzle, be sure to check back in tomorrow.

Editors’ Recommendations

This interaction turned out much better. The Jeep owner walked out of the store and at first was a bit confused when he saw her putting a rubber duck on his Jeep, but read the note and loved it. “The guy had the biggest smile and he just cracked up laughing,” she told Elmore Autauga News. That night #DuckDuckJeep was born after Parliament posted the picture on Instagram and quickly got a couple thousand followers. Many have since followed suit, and it’s taken off with the Jeep enthusiast community in the U.S. and other countries. If you want to participate in this tradition, just make sure the vehicle you’re leaving the duck on is not in fact a Wrangler Clone.

The rules involved in the rubber duck Jeep movement aren’t exactly that complicated: one simply places a rubber duck somewhere on a Jeep in order to bring a smile to the owner for whatever reason. “For me, it was an act of kindness, a healing of sorts, as well as recognition of and greeting to a fellow Jeep owner,” Parliament told Motor Trend. “But it can just be that you like their Jeep, or it’s the same Jeep you have, or maybe a classic Jeep you would like to own one day. You don’t really need a reason for Jeep ducking other than to connect, bring a smile to someone’s face, and have fun.”

We have the solution to Wordle on April 8, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Let’s start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday’s Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don’t play it daily, which was “VOILA.” So we can say that the Wordle answer today definitely isn’t that. Now, with that in mind, perhaps take another stab at it using one of these Wordle starting words and circle back if you have no luck.

Hints for today’s Wordle

Still can’t figure it out? We have today’s Wordle answer right here, below. But first, one more thing: Let’s take a look at three hints that could help you find the solution, without giving it away, so there’s no need to feel guilty about keeping your streak alive — you put in some work, after all! Or just keep scrolling for the answer.

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter B.
Today’s Wordle uses the same vowel twice.
Today’s Wordle refers to a specific group of animals or plants that have distinctive characteristics that distinguish them from other groups within the same species.

Today’s Wordle answer

No luck? Don’t sweat it — you can’t get them all! If you just want to see today’s Wordle answer to continue your streak, you can find it below.

The answer to today’s Wordle is …

BREED
Today’s Wordle definition

And here’s what it means, according to our good friend ChatGPT:

Tips for tomorrow’s Wordle

It might seem like Wordle is all luck, but there are a few good practices you can use to help get as many clues as possible in just a few guesses, making it that much more likely you can figure out the final word before you run out of tries. The most important guess is your first, and the trick is to load up on vowels (A, E, I, O, and U).

Some popular starting words people have had good luck with are “adieu,” “media,” “arise,” and “radio.” Just make sure not to pick a word with double letters, or you’re wasting precious guesses. The aim here is to try to figure out which vowels the mystery word contains, then layer in common consonants and close in from there.

Your second word, assuming that the first one gave you a good jumping-off point, should begin to lean more heavily on common consonants like R, S, and T. More good ones here we’ve seen are “stern,” “irate,” and “atone.” You never want to reuse any letters from a prior round that showed up as gray — you know they aren’t in the word.

Now that’s all solved and the definition is taken care of, and you’re armed with some tips to crush tomorrow’s Wordle, here are some games like Wordle you can try today.

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NFC, short for “near-field communication,” is a protocol that allows your phone to read information from small copper coils wrapped around a microchip. These are called NFC tags, and they fit into a stamp-sized sticker or other medium, which allows them to be adopted by everything from payment terminals to door locks. If you’ve ever tapped a fob against a reader to access your apartment building or office, you’ve likely used NFC before.

The first Android phone with NFC, the Samsung Nexus S, was released in 2010, but the technology predates it, with the first phone to feature NFC being the clunkily named Panasonic P506iC in 2004. It wasn’t until 2014 that the iPhone adopted this early 2000s technology, but better late than never. Although it’s been around for two decades in mobile phones, NFC only continues to grow its usefulness. Today, most businesses accept NFC payments, as do many mass transit systems like New York City’s Metro.

Many Android phones have an NFC reader/writer built-in, which allows the user to tap the back of the phone to another NFC-enabled device, be that a payment terminal, door lock, Bluetooth device, or a simple NFC tag.

You might think that after several months, a new device from Samsung would see a slowdown in big deals to try and move them. Friend, you would be wrong – Samsung is always running fire deals on newish products, like the Galaxy S24 series. Today’s deal on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, might be one of the best yet, as it gives bigger discounts to two of the exclusive online colors that only Samsung offers.

The deal looks like this: For those who don’t know, Samsung announces it’s new devices in a set of colors that you can find everywhere, from big box retailers to carriers. They then add a handful of “exclusive” colorways alongside those that are only available directly from Samsung. For the Galaxy S24 Ultra, those colors are Titanium Blue, Titanium Green, and Titanium Orange. At the moment, the Titanium Blue and Green models (seen below) have an extra discount on them of $150.

The Titanium Blue is the best deal of them all, as the extra $150 off can be applied to both 256GB and 512GB models. If you went Titanium Green, only the 256GB model has the extra discount.

Where this deal becomes top tier is in the trade-in values that are still pretty high this far from the S24 launch. Samsung will give you up to $750 off with trades (like a Galaxy S23 Ultra), plus they toss in the $150 off for these exclusive colors to get you $900 off. A Fold 5 can still get you $700 and a Galaxy S23+ can fetch $600 too. Those are the best from Samsung’s trade-in list.

As always, for those not familiar, Samsung’s trade-in program gives you instant discount today for the price of your trade. You simply send that trade later to confirm you had the device and all is good. So you could save $900 off today, which would mean paying just $399 for a Galaxy S24 Ultra (our review).

Samsung Link

SpaceX recently lit all 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster in a static fire test ahead of its fourth flight.

The tethered test took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and was performed without the Starship spacecraft atop the booster. The company shared a video showing the engines firing up:

Static fire of the Flight 4 Super Heavy booster pic.twitter.com/6KMgvKSmSK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2024

It also posted some dramatic images captured during the same test:

Additional views from today’s Super Heavy static fire pic.twitter.com/jSmw7UxKF8

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 6, 2024

Once SpaceX receives launch permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), SpaceX will lift the Starship into position. Fully stacked, the vehicle is known as the Starship, and with 17 million pounds of thrust at launch, the rocket is the most powerful rocket ever to fly.

Its first test flight took place in April last year but lasted only a few minutes before an anomaly prompted SpaceX engineers to blow up the rocket. Seven months later, in November, the Starship flew again. That time it managed to achieve stage separation but once again, the vehicle failed relatively early on.

After much work, the third test took place in March and was by far the Starship’s most successful flight to date, completing many of the mission’s objectives. SpaceX said the fourth flight could launch in May, subject to approval from the FAA.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said recently that for the fifth flight, he wants to attempt to land the first-stage Super Heavy booster back at Starbase in the same way that SpaceX lands its smaller Falcon 9 rocket shortly after launch, a process that paves the way for repeated use of the same components, thereby cutting costs. It could also attempt to land the Starship spacecraft in a test in 2025. At the current time, both parts of the Starship are designed to fall into water at the end of their respective flights.

Musk also said that he wants to increase the frequency of Starship tests as it seeks to prepare a modified version of the Starship spacecraft to land NASA’s Artemis III astronauts on the moon in a mission currently targeted for September 2026. Looking further ahead, the megarocket could also be used to carry the first humans to Mars.

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