Technologies

Here’s How to Use Bard, Google’s New AI Chatbot

The experimental ChatGPT competitor is now available for you to test out.

Google has opened up access to Bard, the company’s new and experimental AI chatbot. You can currently join the waitlist and try out the ChatGPT competitor before it’s released to the general public.

Bard uses natural language processing and machine learning to generate responses in real time. You can ask it to write an email to customer service for getting a refund or plan your six-person vacation to Spain. However, like ChatGPT, Google’s AI technology isn’t fully there yet — responses may be inaccurate or even offensive, according to Google.

And that’s why access to Bard is currently limited, so early testers can use the chatbot, provide feedback to developers and help Google improve the AI technology. If you’re interested in getting your hands on this early version of Bard, we’ll show you how to join the waitlist right now and give you a glimpse into using the AI chatbot.

If you’re interested in AI, check out what ChatGPT is capable of and how to try Microsoft’s Bing AI.

Before we start…

To join the waitlist and use Bard for yourself, you must:

Have your own personal Google account (meaning it’s run by you and not a parent, guardian or admin)
Be 18 years of age or older
Have a supported web browser (Chrome, Chromium-based Edge, Firefox, Opera or Safari)

Also, Bard is only available in the US and UK for now.

How to join the Bard waitlist

To join the Bard waitlist, make sure you’re signed into your Google account and go to bard.google.com on your phone, tablet or computer. Next, tap or click the blue Join waitlist button, and then hit Yes, I’m in to confirm you’d like to join. You don’t need to opt in to the email updates to join the waitlist. You’ll receive an email from Google once you’ve been granted access to Bard.

Google Bard waitlist — You can use your mobile device or computer to sign up for Google Bard.

Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Using Bard

If you’ve received an email granting you access to Bard, you can either hit the blue Take it for a spin button in the email or go directly to bard.google.com. The first time you use Bard, you’ll be asked to agree to the terms and privacy policy set forth by Google.

Once you’ve followed the prompts, ask Bard anything you want. If you’re unsure what to enter into the AI chatbot, there are a number of preselected questions you can choose, such as, «Draft a packing list for my weekend fishing and camping trip.»

After typing a question, wait a few seconds for Bard to give you an answer. Depending on your question, your response may be very brief or rather long and descriptive. At the top of your response, you should see three different drafts, which are alternative answers to your question.

Google Bard on desktop — Each draft may have a different or tweaked answer.

Screenshot by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

If you don’t like the answer to your question, scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the thumbs down button, indicating a bad response. Thumbs up means you like the response. And there’s also a Google it button to check out related questions. You can use the three-dot menu button on the bottom-right to copy the response to your clipboard, to paste elsewhere. And finally, you can modify your question with the edit button in the top-right.

On the left side of the website, you’ll see a few options:

Reset chat: Clears your chat so you can ask a new question.
Bard activity: Shows you every question you’ve asked Bard. You can choose to disable this feature.
FAQ: Frequently asked questions about Bard. You’ll find information about sources, data collection, advertising and more.
Help & support: Get answers to any issues you might have. You can report an incorrect or offensive Bard response here.

Google Bard activity — You can delete individual questions or prevent Bard from collecting any of your activity.

Screenshot by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

Want more from Google? Check out Google Map’s time-traveling feature and why you may want to blur your home on Google Maps.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 12 #496

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 12 No. 496.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

If you love attending baseball games in summer, you’ll hit a home run with today’s NYT Strands puzzle. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: In the ballpark.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Play ball!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

TEER, MEER, MEET, TEEM, ROAD, STALL, TALL, BEST, PEAT, LUNH, CULT, BUMP, BILE, PEAL, METE, BULL, STUN, NUTS

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

GLOVE, HELMET, BULLPEN, PEANUTS, PITCHER, JUMBOTRON

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is STADIUM. To find it, look for the S that’s five letters down on the far left row, and wind up and over.

Technologies

This TracFone Settlement Will Pay Over $53K to Some People, but You’ll Have to Apply Soon

TracFone is paying out a sizable settlement to those affected by a data breach. Time is running out to opt in if you’re eligible.

This deep into the age of smartphones, I’d bet that a lot of you out there haven’t thought about TracFone in a while. But a good number of folks still get wireless service through it, and they ought to know about the impending settlement payments coming from the company.

TracFone is currently accepting applications for a class action lawsuit settlement after it was accused of failing to prevent a major data breach several years ago. While the total amount the company is set to pay out isn’t known, the potential payout to impacted customers could be huge, depending on the damages they suffered.

Founded nearly 30 years ago, TracFone is a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO. It’s best known for offering cheaper, prepaid and no-contract mobile phone service — catering to folks who don’t need or want contract service and who prefer to pay as they go. TracFone piggybacks off the network operated by Verizon, TracFone’s parent company since 2021. In addition to services under its own name, you might also be familiar with TracFone’s offerings under a few other popular brand names: Straight Talk Wireless, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, SafeLink Wireless, Net10 Wireless and Walmart Family Mobile.

At the time it was acquired by Verizon, the company boasted 21 million users and a presence in 90,000 retail stores, though those numbers have dwindled since then.

For everything you need to know about the TracFone settlement, keep reading. And for more settlement news, here’s everything you need to know about AT&T’s $177 million settlement.

Why was TracFone sued?

This settlement from TracFone came in response to a class action lawsuit filed against the company after a December 2021 data breach exposed the personal data of its customers. The plaintiffs in the case argued that the company failed to provide cybersecurity measures that would’ve prevented the breach

While TracFone has agreed to pay a settlement, it has not admitted to any wrongdoing in this case.

Who qualifies for the TracFone settlement?

The settlement is open to any customer of TracFone, or one of its above-mentioned brands, who resides in the US and can verify damages suffered as a result of the breach. In order to do that and get paid, you’ll need to provide materials proving the authenticity of your claims, such as receipts, bank statements, invoices, phone bills, credit reports, police reports or identity theft reports.

If you think you’re eligible for the TracFone settlement and can back it up with documentation, you can submit your claim on the official settlement website.

How long do I have to join the TracFone settlement?

Settlement applications are open through Aug. 7, so you have little less than a month to join the settlement.

How much can I get paid from the TracFone settlement?

That’s going to be dependent on the damages you suffered and can verify, but the upper limits are pretty generous.

For simpler out-of-pocket expenses, you can get up $3,250. These include costs like bank fees, mail costs, gasoline purchases, credit reports fees and insurance taken out between Nov. 15, 2021, and Aug. 7, 2025. You can also claim up to 15 hours of lost time due to the fallout of the data breach, at $30 an hour.

For «extraordinary» expenses resulting from the breach, you can claim up to $50,000 in damages. This can include things like verifiable losses caused by identity theft or loss of business opportunities. TracFone will also provide class members with identity theft insurance worth up to $1 million.

When will I get paid from the TracFone settlement?

That’s still up in the air, but you can expect it to be sometime in the fall at the earliest. In order for payments to go out, the final approval hearing, set for Sept. 16, still needs to be held. A clearer picture of the payment schedule should be available by then.

For more settlement news, find out if you’re eligible for GameStop’s Facebook privacy settlement payments.

Technologies

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Season 4’s Third Double XP Weekend Is Live Now

With Season 4 ending in three weeks, now is the perfect time to take advantage of double battle pass XP to clinch out some of the final tiers.

With less than 30 days left in Black Ops 6 Season 4, players are hustling to finish up the latest Call of Duty battle pass. Never fear — developer Treyarch has your back with another double XP weekend and three boosts for players to take advantage of. You’ll be able to speed through battle pass tiers, account levels and weapon attachment unlocks to kickstart your advancement of the newest seasonal content. This double XP weekend runs from Friday to Monday.

Anyone playing Black Ops 6 during the event period has a universal double battle pass XP, account XP and weapon XP earn rate applied to their account. If you log in now, you can hop into battle and reap the rewards of this double XP weekend right away, including the LC10 submachine gun and the FFAR 1 assault rifle.

This isn’t a Quad Feed double XP weekend, which means zombies mode players won’t be able to benefit from double GobbleGum drop rates. But the three biggest double XP boosts are active, which means your double XP tokens will be locked for the duration of the event.

Here’s everything you need to know about this double XP weekend. If you’re looking for something else to play, see our recommendations for the best game subscription services.

When does the double XP weekend start in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

It’s live. This double XP weekend kicked off on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

Not sure when the double XP weekend went live for you? Here’s when the event started in your time zone:

ET: July 11 at 1 p.m.
CT: July 11 at noon.
MT: July 11 at 11 a.m.
PT: July 11 at 10 a.m.

It’s always worth starting your game ahead of your gaming session if possible. As with every Black Ops 6 patch, the update is going to require you to download new content and restart the application.

When does the Double XP Weekend end in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6?

Some double XP «weekends» are much longer events, lasting five to seven days. That isn’t the case this time around. This double XP weekend will end on Monday. Your double XP tokens will once again unlock after this time.

Here’s when the double XP weekend will end in your time zone:

ET: July 14 at 1 p.m.
CT: July 14 at noon.
MT: July 14 at 11 a.m.
PT: July 14 at 10 a.m.

Does Call of Duty Warzone have double XP this weekend?

Call of Duty Warzone has a double XP weekend running in tandem with Black Ops 6. That means Warzone players will also be able to benefit from this boost by leveling up their account, weapons and battle passes at twice the normal speed.

New players have a chance to level up the weapons they unlock from the new and improved Warzone Armory, and returning players can continue unlocking new attachments for the suite of Black Ops 6 weaponry added to Warzone.