Technologies

Your New Switch 2 Needs Careful Handling. Here’s What to Be Wary About

As people get their hands on new Switch 2 consoles, a few are running into issues before they start playing.

The months of anticipation for the Nintendo Switch 2 ended this week as the first buyers brought their consoles home and prepared to play games. But not everyone has had a seamless experience.

As reported by IGN, some Switch 2 boxes bought at a GameStop store in Staten Island, New York had store receipts stapled to them — and those staples poked through and damaged the devices’ screens. Several posted on social media to show the effects of the stapling. Some have expressed surprise that the screen is so close to the top of the packaging for the Switch 2.

The screen, by the way, includes a preinstalled protective film that owners are urged not to remove. The «anti-scattering adhesive film» is meant to keep glass from going everywhere in the event that the Switch 2 screen breaks.

Meanwhile, be careful how you unbox your Switch 2. CNET’s Faith Chihil says it’s not immediately clear which side of the packaging is the front, so don’t rush and accidentally open it the wrong way: «It’s possible you may, in the heat of victory, open the box upside down, causing the contents to nearly spill out all over the floor (or, in my case, the backseat of the car).»

Those gamers who found staple damage on their Switch 2 screens didn’t have to suffer for long. GameStop says it offered console replacements and, in an X post, noted, «Staplers have been confiscated.» The post included a video clip from the 1999 movie Office Space featuring red Swingline stapler lover Milton.

Fine, but how do those cartridges taste?

Once the switch is (safely) unboxed and ready to play, gamers may be wondering how durable the hardware will be. There’s no need to run a torture test. JerryRigEverything on YouTube already did it for you.

In the 11-minute video, the YouTuber does a scratch test on the build-in plastic screen protector, which is vulnerable to marks from metal. He recommends an additional screen protector to avoid those permanent marks.

He also taste-tests the tiny cartridge for Mario Kart World, which is yucky by design. Nintendo coats cartridges with denatonium benzoate to make them bitter and to keep kids from eating them. The rest of the video is an ASMR nightmare of knife scratching and scary console bending. The good news is the Joy Con magnet-attached controllers get JerryRigEverything’s approval for their durability, and the console as a whole, he concludes, is a big improvement over the original Switch.

If all this talk about the Switch 2 makes you want one, but you haven’t yet put your money down, be sure to check out CNET’s Switch 2 stock tracker.

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:

AZALEA, HEMLOCK, FOXGLOVE, OLEANDER, BELLADONNA

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is POISONOUS. To find it, look for the P that is the first letter on the far left of the top row, and wind down and across.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 23, #395

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 395.

Looking for the most recent regular 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 and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has one of those crazy purple categories, where you wonder if anyone saw the connection, or if people just put that grouping together because only those four words were left. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

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

Yellow group hint: Fan noise.

Green group hint: Strategies for hoops.

Blue group hint: Minor league.

Purple group hint: Look for a connection to hoops.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Sounds from the crowd.

Green group: Basketball offenses.

Blue group: Triple-A baseball teams.

Purple group: Ends with a basketball stat.

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

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is sounds from the crowd. The four answers are boo, cheer, clap and whistle.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball offenses. The four answers are motion, pick and roll, Princeton and triangle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is triple-A baseball teams. The four answers are Aces, Jumbo Shrimp, Sounds and Storm Chasers.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with a basketball stat. The four answers are afoul, bassist, counterpoint and sunblock.

Technologies

Amazon’s Delivery Drivers Will Soon Wear AI Smart Glasses to Work

The goal is to streamline the delivery process while keeping drivers safe.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it is developing new AI-powered smart glasses to simplify the delivery experience for its drivers. CNET smart glasses expert Scott Stein mentioned this wearable rollout last month, and now the plan is in its final testing stages.

The goal is to simplify package delivery by reducing the need for drivers to look at their phones, the label on the package they’re delivering and their surroundings to find the correct address.

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A heads-up display will activate as soon as the driver parks, pointing out potential hazards and tasks that must be completed. From there, drivers can locate and scan packages, follow turn-by-turn directions and snap a photograph to prove delivery completion without needing to take out their phone.

The company is testing the glasses in select North American markets.

Watch: See our Instagram post with a video showing the glasses

A representative for Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

To fight battery drain, the glasses pair with a controller attached to the employee’s delivery vest, allowing them to replace depleted batteries and access operational controls. The glasses will support an employee’s eyeglass prescription. An emergency button will be within reach to ensure the driver’s safety.

Amazon is already planning future versions of the glasses, which will feature «real-time defect detection,» notifying the driver if a package was delivered to the incorrect address. They plan to add features to the glasses to detect if pets are in the yard and adjust to low light.