Technologies

NFTs are everywhere. Here’s how to buy one from TikTok, NFL, more

NFTs are taking over sports, media, art and more. But what are they? We’ll break it down.

The world of NFTs is changing by the minute but what are they? NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, can be tied to a video highlight, a meme or a tweet. Think of them as tokens tied to an expensive digital asset. It may (or may not) be able to make you a lot of money in the future (more below). NFTs are like cryptocurrency but there are some big differences. We know, it’s complicated.

Here’s what we know. You can bid on an NFT for a pretty penny (most are expensive). But that doesn’t mean that you own the asset. These expensive tokens are so popular that Variety and the NFL are all kickstarting NFTs. And if you remember Neopets, the virtual pet space is creating NFT collectibles, too.

In short, NFTs offer a blockchain-created certificate of authenticity for a digital asset or piece of art. If this doesn’t make much sense to you, it’s OK. We’ll break down what NFTs really are, how much they cost and how you can bid on a digital asset to have an NFT of your own.

What’s an NFT?

This is the part that takes a bit of open-mindedness. An NFT is a unique digital token, with most using the Ethereum blockchain to digitally record transactions. It’s not a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum, because those are fungible — exchangeable for another Bitcoin or cash. NFTs are recorded in a digital ledger in the same way as cryptocurrency, so there’s a listing of who owns each one.

What makes an NFT unique is the digital asset tied to the token. This can be an image, video, tweet or piece of music that’s uploaded to a marketplace, which creates the NFT to be sold.

What kind of NFTs can I buy?

NFTs can be tied to any digital asset. Anything you see online can be an NFT — music, social media posts, clip art and more. Here are some of the latest nifty NFTs we found.

TikTok Moments

The latest big news in NFTs is TikTok’s new video collection called TikTok Moments. The videos will celebrate the impact that artists have on TikTok. Proceeds from the collection will go to NFT artists and creators. The first collection will start with Lil Nas X and be available starting Oct. 6 on the Etherum.

Fortune

And Fortune gave its readers a chance to get in on the NFT craze. The company sold 256 copies of the limited edition cover from the graphic artist Pplpleasr for Fortune’s August/September magazine on OpenSea. The copies sold out within five minutes starting at 1 Etherum (estimated $3,000). But the NFTs were available for resale at three times the cost.

Sorare digital trading cards

But NFTs go beyond artists and music. Recently, Sorare released its «Super Rare» Lionel Messi digital trading card that’s currently bidding at €29,992.75, equivalating to over $35,000. Sorare also announced that it raised $680 million for its next-level sports fantasy game. The funding is currently led by SoftBank.

Tiger Woods’ Autograph collectibles

And in sports, Tiger Woods is currently selling thousands of digital collectibles on Autograph on the DraftKings marketplace. The collection starts at $250. Naomi Osaka, Derek Jeter and Tonk Hawk are also releasing digital collectibles on Autograph, which is co-founded by Tom Brady.

As the hype for NFTs grows, expect more digital assets to come up for sale and bring in some big money.

Where can I buy and sell NFTs?

While you may not want to jump right in bidding six figures, there are multiple NFT marketplaces out there to check out, with Opensea being the biggest. Buyers can search for art, domain names and random collectibles to bid on without having to break the bank. And Woods’ digital collection is one of the many NFT collections available on DraftKings marketplace, including Tony Hawk, Simone Biles and other athletes.

And Christie’s recently auctioned off NFTs of featured Art Blocks art from its Post-War to Present collection, some of today’s most popular NFTs. Christie’s auctioned off Curio Cards on the Ethereum blockchain for over $1.2 million.

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On the other hand, if you want to sell an NFT of your art, you can use NFTify, the Shopify NFT store, to sell NFTs without creating your own store. You’ll also need a MetaMask account to get going. And Burberry recently announced a partnership with Mythical Games to gamify buying, selling and collecting toys as NFTs through the Blankos Block Party game. CNET’s own Chris Parker also made a step-by-step guide on how to make and sell your own NFT, in the video below.

If I have an NFT, do I own the asset?

Nope.

That’s the real kicker to understanding the whole concept. The person who buys the NFT doesn’t own the actual asset.

«NFTs challenge the idea of ownership: digital files can be reproduced infinitely and you do not (usually) buy the copyright or a license when purchasing an NFT,» said Jeffrey Thompson, associate professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

For example, the creator of the Nyan Cat meme sold an NFT of it for $590,000. The person who bought the token owns the token, but doesn’t actually own the meme. That still belongs to the creator, who held onto intellectual and creative rights.

What the owner of the token has is a record and a hash code showing ownership of the unique token associated with the particular digital asset. People might download Nyan Cat and use it on social media if they want, but they won’t own the token. This also means they can’t sell the token as the owner can.

Why are NFTs so expensive?

As with physical collectibles such as Beanie Babies, baseball cards and toys, there’s a market for NFTs. The buyers tend to be tech-savvy individuals who understand the idea of wanting to purchase digital goods and likely made a killing this past year with cryptocurrencies. Ethereum, for example, went from just over $100 last March to a current price of about $3,400. In some cases, buyers are just flexing their digital wallets to show off how much crypto they have, but for others, there’s a deeper interest.

«Specifically for art-related NFTs, there is a huge surge in demand due to their novelty and creativity of early artists,» Jason Lau, chief operating officer of crypto exchange OKCoin, said in an email. «Whether it’s a physical work with an attached NFT (think of it as a digital autograph and proof of veracity), or an entirely digital work (where the NFT is the art), this new medium is opening new ways for collectors and artists to explore their relationship with the artwork itself.»

It’s also great for the artists, says Lau. By selling digital art directly to those interested, an artist can begin monetizing work without having to try to sell it in a gallery.

What are the pitfalls of NFTs?

A drawback is the hundreds of dollars in fees required to create an NFT. If you’re making your own token on the Ethereum blockchain, you need to use some Ethereum, which as mentioned earlier is kind of pricey. Then after you make an NFT, there’s a «gas» fee that pays for the work that goes into handling the transaction and that’s also based on the price of Ethereum. Marketplaces simplify the process by handling everything for a fee when an NFT is sold.

There’s also an environmental cost. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum requires computers to handle the computations, known as «mining,» and those computer tasks require a lot of energy. An analysis from Cambridge University found that mining for Bitcoin consumed more energy than the entire country of Argentina. Ethereum is second to Bitcoin in popularity, and its power consumption is on the rise and comparable to the amount of energy used by Libya.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for the Friday, Aug. 22, Domino-Shaped Puzzle

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 22. It’s an odd one, shaped like a domino to mark the new NYT dominos game, Pips.

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

Today’s Mini Crossword is a doubled-up crossword puzzle, shaped like a domino. That must be the Times celebrating their new dominos puzzle, Pips, which I have yet to try. Need answers for today’s very unusual Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Places to store shovels and leaf blowers
Answer: SHEDS

5A clue: Coating for Babybel cheese
Answer: WAX

6A clue: «___ vs. Predator» (2004 sci-fi film)
Answer: ALIEN

8A clue: Streaming glitch
Answer: LAG

9A clue: Docking spots
Answer: PIERS

10A clue: Feature of a Southern accent
Answer: TWANG

14A clue: Sweet potato lookalike
Answer: YAM

15A clue: Top-notch, informally
Answer: PRIMO

17A clue: Greenskeeper’s roll of grass
Answer: SOD

18A clue: Campfire remnants
Answer: ASHES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Nickname for the Florida Gators football stadium, with «the»
Answer: SWAMP

2D clue: «2001: A Space Odyssey» villain
Answer: HAL

3D clue: Cast out from a country
Answer: EXILE

4D clue: «Uptown Funk» and «Downtown,» for two
Answer: SONGS

7D clue: «Can I bend your ___ for a second?»
Answer: EAR

10D clue: Like an ambitious, competitive personality
Answer: TYPEA

11D clue: Simple-to-play card game for two
Answer: WAR

12D clue: Simple-living sect
Answer: AMISH

13D clue: Shop owner’s stock
Answer: GOODS

16D clue: Barkeep on «The Simpsons»
Answer: MOE

Technologies

11 Tips for Getting Started in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

From cutscene tips to early item grabs, here’s my advice for getting started with the remake of one of my personal favorite Metal Gear games.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the best way to play one of the greatest Metal Gear games of all time. However, like most Hideo Kojima games, the Metal Gear Solid series features unique gameplay and mechanics. Whether you’re a veteran fan of the series or experiencing Snake Eater for the very first time, the new modes and gameplay tweaks will be sure to satisfy you.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when jumping into Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Pause cutscenes if you need to

Hideo Kojima’s games are known for their long cutscenes, and Snake Eater is no different. The majority of your first few hours will feature very minimal gameplay. And while the cutscenes are exciting and bizarre, you can pause them to take a break without risking skipping them entirely. Pause any cutscene by hitting the menu button and if you want to skip, you’ll see the option for that, too. It’s also worth mentioning that you can hit the same button to pause lengthy radio conversations as well.

Swap camo often

Snake Eater can be played like a run-and-gun shooter, but a stealthy approach is generally better, and utilizing your various outfits and facepaint will maximize your evasiveness. Make sure to change your appearance often to match your surroundings. And to make swapping even quicker, hold up on the D-pad to access a quick change menu.

Keep an eye on camo percentage

The game will give you a higher stealth rating the better you blend in, so make sure to watch your camo percentage. As you move around the environment, a percentage at the bottom will show you how hidden you are. The higher the number, the less likely an enemy will spot you. Bonus tip: There’s a trophy you can unlock if you bring your camouflage over 90%.

Call your team often

Throughout the game you’ll unlock more and more allies to call and chat with on the radio. These conversations can range from hints on how to proceed to how you save your game. Calling teammates often will give you bonus dialogue about events that you just witnessed or played through. They’ll even offer fun anecdotes or just chat with Snake.

Be aware of time paradoxes

Snake Eater is a prequel entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. This means that you can’t deviate too far from the main story because it would mess with events that take place in MGS 1 and 2. If you do, you can create literal Time Paradoxes resulting in game over screens and humorous lectures from your team.

One such example is killing Ocelot after meeting him for the first time. To proceed, you need to leave him unconscious on the ground — stabbing him with your knife will disrupt the canon. However, you can stab him anyway if you want a trophy.

Keep an eye out for R1 prompts in cutscenes

Snake Eater has unique cutscenes where at specific moments, you can swap camera angles to see what Snake is looking at. You’ll miss out on important visuals while the game just shows your character looking into binoculars, for example. When you see the R1 icon show up in the screen’s corner, make sure to hit it. However, do keep in mind that this game is a product of an older era and sometimes you’ll realize Snake is just staring at a woman’s chest.

You can change settings to drag bodies easier

Hiding bodies is important to keep alert levels down. You can lift and drag someone by holding down the Square button, but doing so can be kind of annoying. In the settings menu you can select to change carrying from a button hold to a simple button press. This gives you back your right thumb in order to regain camera control while dragging someone out of sight.

Use silencers, but recognize when you don’t need them

Trust me on this, stealth is your friend in this game. It’s harder to pull off, but worth it. This means silencers are quite important for avoiding gun fights and staying hidden. However, silencers can wear down and won’t last forever. To avoid overusing them, remove the silencers anytime you engage in a big gun fight or boss battle. If the enemy already knows you’re there, there’s no point wasting the silencer.

Grab the thermal goggles early

One of the most useful pieces of equipment is the thermal goggles. It allows you to see enemies through walls and will help spot bosses during big fights. They can be collected pretty early in the game too. The second time you reach the destroyed base that housed Sokolov, check in the locker in his room.

Don’t miss the early machine gun

If you’re wanting to take the loud route through the game, there’s a machine gun stashed away quite early in Snake Eater. At the first bridge you encounter, where the game has you use a beehive to scare off an enemy, the gun is located in a small cave underneath. You can reach it by crossing the bridge and then circling around the ledge to the left. You need to grab the gun the first time you get to the bridge, though. The next time the gun will be gone and you’ll only find ammo.