Technologies

Google Says Issue With ‘Alien’ YouTube Clip and Pixel Phones Addressed

People had posted complaints about a bug affecting their Pixel 7, 6 or 6A device when they tried watching a clip of the ’70s Ridley Scott film.

Google said Tuesday that it had tackled a bug that had been crashing some Pixel phones when people tried loading a 4K YouTube clip from the movie Alien.

Some Pixel users complained Monday on the Google Pixel subreddit about the peculiar bug taking down their Google Pixel 7, Pixel 6 or 6A device. Some folks said loading the clip via the official YouTube app instantly crashed their phone but that their device worked normally on reboot. Others said they ran into network connectivity issues and had to reboot their phone again. Those with older Pixel devices didn’t seem to be running into the issue.

Google said the problem has been addressed and that it’ll deploy a full fix in March.

Recent CNET testing showed that the video isn’t crashing phones. In earlier tests, CNET staffers found that Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 devices that were up to date crashed immediately when loading the YouTube video. An out-of-date Pixel 7 on build version TD1A.220804.031 and YouTube version 17.17.37 didn’t crash.

The nature of the problem, which was reported earlier by Gizmodo, isn’t exactly clear. The three-minute clip from Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien involves the protagonist Ripley communicating with Dallas, captain of the Nostromo, as he navigates through the spaceship. The clip was posted two years ago and plays fine on other devices.

Bizarre device crashes seemingly triggered by benign bits of media don’t happen all that often. The last notable instance included a «cursed» wallpaper from 2020 that would crash Samsung, Google, OnePlus, Nokia and Xiaomi phones. An investigation by YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss explained how a single pixel caused the phones to run into a boot loop error.

A text message from 2017 was able to freeze iPhones on certain older versions of iOS 10. Another random bit of crashing involved Janet Jackson’s 1989 song Rhythm Nation and how it apparently tanked certain mid-2000s laptops, according to a Microsoft developer. Usually, in these instances, software developers are quick to fix the issue in future updates.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

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 Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now 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 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: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

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 calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

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.

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. 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: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

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:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

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’ve got 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: