Technologies

Google to require vaccinations as Silicon Valley rethinks return-to-office policies

Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Netflix are also updating their COVID-19 protocols.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday told employees the company will require vaccinations for employees working on the company’s campuses, a move that comes as the highly contagious delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads across the world. The policy will begin in the US and expand to other regions over the next few months.

Pichai also delayed the company’s mandatory return to office to Oct. 18, pushing back the date from an earlier goal of September.

«Getting vaccinated is one of the most important ways to keep ourselves and our communities healthy in the months ahead,» Pichai wrote in an email to employees. «I know that many of you continue to deal with very challenging circumstances related to the pandemic.»

Pichai said the policy will be implemented according to local conditions, and he would share guidance and exceptions for people who can’t get vaccinated due to medical or other protected reasons.

The announcement comes as regions around the world have seen coronavirus cases surge due to the delta variant. In California, Google’s home state, some counties have mandated masks again for people gathering indoors.

Google isn’t alone in re-evaluating its return-to-work protocols because of the latest wave of the pandemic. Apple said last week that it would also postpone its date for returning to the office by a month. More than half of Apple’s stores will require customers and employees to wear masks, regardless of vaccination status, starting on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

Facebook also said on Wednesday that it would require workers on its US campuses be vaccinated. Netflix will require vaccinations for casts of its US productions, Deadline reported. Twitter said it’s closing the company’s opened offices in New York and San Francisco and pausing future office re-openings. The company said that the office closures are temporary but they don’t have a new timeline for reopening. «We’re continuing to closely monitor local conditions and make necessary changes that prioritize the health and safety of our Tweeps,» a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.

Uber on Thursday also pushed its global return to office date back to Oct. 25, a delay from its original goal of September. In an internal note to employees, which an Uber representative shared with CNET, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added that «local circumstances will continue to dictate when it makes sense to bring employees back in a given city,» and that some offices will remain open for employees to come into voluntarily, if local health guidelines allow. Uber will also require employees be fully vaccinated to come into the office, beginning in the US before expanding to other countries. In addition, all Uber employees around the world must now wear masks if they’re in the office.

Google’s return-to-office policies have caused major tension among the tech giant’s employees, who have complained the rules are applied unevenly. Earlier this month, CNET reported that Urs Hölzle, one of Google’s most senior and longest tenured executives, told employees he’d be working remotely from New Zealand. The announcement rankled lower-level workers who called the relocation «hypocritical» because they said he had in the past been unsupportive or remote work.

CNET’s Queenie Wong and Abrar Al-Heeti contributed to this report.

Technologies

GIGABYTE’s X870E AERO X3D Wood Boasts Elegant Design and Power to Match

You usually choose between aesthetics and specs. The new X870E AERO proves you can have the organic look of wood without sacrificing high-end features.

When we think of a PC, we often still picture a beige box or a giant gray tower. With its chic and unique exterior, GIGABYTE’s X870E Aero X3D Wood stands out from the crowd. Combining power and performance with an elegant design that prominently features natural textures, including wood and leather, this is more than a motherboard; it’s a statement piece.

Specs include a top-of-the-line integrated graphics processor, GIGABYTE’s X3D Turbo Mode 2.0 and a comprehensive thermal design, not to mention all the ports that a DIYer could ask for.

Zain-inspired elegant design

It only takes one look at the X870E AERO X3D Wood to know aesthetics were taken seriously. With natural textures like wood and leather, GIGABYTE leans into the Zain aesthetic of embracing imperfections as seen in the natural-looking grain of the wood details. This motherboard’s sleek looks also match its performance.

Graphics for gaming

GIGABYTE’s X870E AERO X3D Wood packs all the power of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 for ultra-fast gaming and eye-popping visuals. Whether you need all that juice to load enormous open world maps or rip through super-fast refresh rates for esports, RX 9070 on X870E AERO X3D Wood has you covered.

Keeping it cool

Of course, all that power requires an equally robust cooling system, and the X870E AERO X3D Wood is up to the task. The motherboard features a full-metal thermal design that enables next-level heat dissipation. Combine this with its vents, one-piece heatsink design and a quiet yet powerful Smart Fan 6 and your system will be running cool and efficiently for hours on end.

Opt for Turbo Mode

GIGABYTE’s X870E AERO X3D Wood features X3D Turbo Mode 2.0, delivering a brand-new performance experience for your gaming rig. Whether in Gaming Mode or Creator Mode (or switching easily between the two), you’ll get optimal performance enhanced by AI. The built-in model sets processor parameters in real time so you’ll always know you’re getting the most out of your system.

With its elegant design, incredible graphics capability, innovative cooling tech and AI-enhanced Turbo Mode 2.0, GIGABYTE’s X870E AERO X3D Wood is the essential motherboard for your next-generation gaming PC. Plus, with its all-around connectivity, you can be sure you’ll get unparalleled performance out of all of your peripherals today and into the future.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 24 #751

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 24, No. 751.

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.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is pretty difficult. The theme threw me off for quite a while. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: Get over it … or get through it.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Elements of a certain kind of race.

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:

SLAT, STALL, STALE, BRAD, CODE, CALL, RICE, DICE

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:

HOOP, WALL, FENCE, HURDLE, TUNNEL, BARRICADE

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is OBSTACLECOURSE. To find it, start with the O that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 24, #1017

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 24 #1017.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. If you want to solve it, it helps to know what «heteronym» means. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think Gru and the Minions.

Green group hint: Dearly beloved.

Blue group hint: Vroom-vroom.

Purple group hint: You can say them several ways.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Despicable.

Green group: Features of a wedding.

Blue group: Kinds of trucks.

Purple group: Heteronyms.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is despicable. The four answers are base, low, mean and vile.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is features of a wedding. The four answers are cake, kiss, ring and vow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of trucks. The four answers are dump, fire, food and tow.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is heteronyms. The four answers are bow, row, sow and wind. (Heteronyms are words that can be pronounced more than one way, with different meanings for each pronunciation.)