Technologies

Apple CEO Tim Cook allegedly threatened by possibly armed woman

In court filings, Apple says the woman, still at large, claimed on social media that Cook was the father of her children. She also sent a series of photos with a loaded handgun.

The County of Santa Clara on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against a Virginia woman who Apple says has been stalking CEO Tim Cook since at least 2020, tagging him on social media, traveling to his home and sending him photos of a loaded handgun. Apple believes she may be armed and somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, intending to return to the «Apple’s CEO’s residence or locate him otherwise in the near future,» the company wrote in a court filing.

The application for the order, which was reported earlier by the San Jose Mercury News, accused the woman of «erratic, threatening and bizarre behavior» on social media, over email and in person. At one point in October, she entered Cook’s Palo Alto, California, property before quickly being stopped by local police. The county’s order bars the woman, whose lawyer could not be located for comment at time of publication, from possessing any guns, entering any Apple office or store, or approaching any Apple employees, including Cook, or Cook’s residence.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the filings.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which stalkers have targeted powerful and wealthy tech company leaders at their homes. Many companies now pay for personal security for top executives, which in Apple’s case came to $630,630 last year for Cook, according to the company’s reports. Cook’s personal fortune is estimated to be about $1.4 billion.

The suspected harasser’s Twitter feed, which was cited in court documents, includes a picture of Cook, and claims he is her husband and father to twin children. Cook published an essay about his life as a gay man in 2014 and has been an active advocate ever since.

Between late October 2020 and early November 2020, Apple said the woman emailed Cook approximately 200 times, with «significant escalation in tone, becoming threatening and highly disturbing.» A year later, she appeared at Cook’s residence at least twice, both times on Oct. 22, when she asked his security team to allow her to speak with him and then less than a half hour later entered his property. Apple said in its declarations for the court that she drove a Porsche with Virginia license plates.

On Dec. 18, 2021, the alleged stalker sent Cook an email asking that he give her $500 million, «then I will forget and forgive all better listen to me.»

The court has set a hearing on the matter for March 29.

Technologies

Tinder Users Must Start Logging In With Their Faces, Starting Nationwide

The social app now has new US requirements including face identification to help quell longstanding problems with catfishing and more.

US Tinder users will find a new feature when they open up the dating app starting Wednesday: A mandatory Face Check on their phones will be required before they can log into their profiles.

The Face Check step will begin with a new request to record a video of your face, a more casual version of setting up Apple’s Face ID login. Tinder will then run checks comparing your face data to your current profile pics and automatically create a small face badge for your profile. We already know how it works, because Tinder has already launched the feature in Canada and California before the full US rollout.

The technology, powered by FaceTec, will keep biometric data of the user’s face in encrypted form but discard the scanning video for privacy. Tinder will be able to use the face data to detect duplicate accounts, in an effort to cut down on fake profiles and identity theft.

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Tinder’s facial recognition rollout is also made to prevent catfishing, or people pretending to be someone else on Tinder to scam or blackmail them. But that also points to a deeper problem on the rise in dating apps — a growing number of bots, many controlled by AI, are designed to glean personal information or fool users into scammy subscriptions, among other problems.

Tinder’s working against these bots on several fronts, including this Face Check push as well as ID Check, which requires a government-issued ID and other types of photo verification.

The dating app also recently released a feature in June to enable double-dating with your friends, which Tinder reports is especially popular with Gen Z users. If you’re worried about the latest hazards on Tinder, we have guide to safety practices.

A representative for Tinder did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Oct. 23

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 23.

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.

Need some help with today’s 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: Like some weather, memories and I.P.A.s
Answer: HAZY

5A clue: Statement that’s self-evidently true
Answer: AXIOM

7A clue: Civic automaker
Answer: HONDA

8A clue: What fear leads to, as Yoda told a young Anakin
Answer: ANGER

9A clue: Foxlike
Answer: SLY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Verbal «lol»
Answer: HAHA

2D clue: Brain signal transmitter
Answer: AXON

3D clue: Hits with a witty comeback
Answer: ZINGS

4D clue: Sing at the top of a mountain, maybe
Answer: YODEL

6D clue: Name of the famous «Queen of Scots»
Answer: MARY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

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 might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough 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: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

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:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

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: