Technologies
Microsoft Is Testing Letting Copilot AI Interact With Your Whole Desktop
The new feature for Microsoft’s Copilot AI will give it greater access to the contents of your screen.

Microsoft has confirmed an upcoming expansion to its Copilot AI chatbot’s screen-sharing abilities: Soon it will be able to process your entire desktop, not just certain parts of it.
The company said Tuesday that this expansion of Copilot’s Vision capabilities has begun public testing. This update, now rolling out to the company’s Windows Insider program testers, will allow the AI chatbot to view, process and react to all aspects of a user’s desktop, where beforehand it was limited to specific apps or windows.
With this update in place, Copilot should be to process and react to multiple windows and apps at the same time. Microsoft touted the ability for it to assist with all aspects of a project you might be working on.
The Vision feature can be activated by selecting the «glasses» icon and selecting which desktop you’d like to share, and can be closed out by hitting «Stop» or «X» in the composer.
«When you share your desktop (or any specific browser or app window), Copilot can see what you see and talk to you about it in real time,» Microsoft’s blog post said. «It can help analyze content, provide insights, and answer your questions, coaching you through it aloud. Get tips on making improvements to your creative project, help with improving your resume, or guidance while navigating a new game.»
Technologies
Smart Cameras Power a Robot Umpire at MLB All-Stars for the First Time. Here’s How the Challenges Went
The auto-umpire system has debuted and is on track for regular season use, but accuracy could be an issue.
If umpires draw your ire for bad calls, you may soon have a new target: Major League Baseball used its ABS, or Automated Ball-Strike System, to call pitches at the July 15 All-Star Game for the first time. If trials this season go well, it will probably be adopted for the 2026 regular season. But challenges against the camera had an unusually high rate of success.
The ABS uses Hawk-Eye cameras, a technology increasingly common in games with high-speed objects. The cameras judge how a ball travels — in this case, over the strike zone — and are equipped to make a preliminary call.
A human umpire, along with batters and pitchers, have a couple of seconds to review the footage and challenge a call if they think the automated system was wrong. It’s a system the MLB has experimented with since 2019 and is finally ready to bring to the national stage.
This approach has caused some controversy, particularly because the Hawk-Eye cameras are programmed to see the strike zone very differently from human umpires. Instead of the standard cube shape that’s underpinned strike zone knowledge for decades, the ABS uses a two-dimensional rectangle standard that’s automatically adjusted to extend between 53.5% and 27% of the batter’s height. Batters are measured before each game.
Those worried about discrepancies now have new fuel for their worries. In the July 15 game, which the National League won in a home run derby after nine innings ended with a tie, four out of five challenges to the ABS and umpire Dan Iassogna’s combined work were successful. That’s much higher than the ABS spring training test, where teams won only around 50% of their challenges.
The MLB hasn’t revealed definitive plans on whether the ABS could replace umpires altogether, but at this time the human-based, real-time reviews from the umpire appear to be an integral part of the system.
The league did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 17, #297
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 17, No. 297.
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.
My blue group hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition is geared toward Saturday Night Live fans, but if you know your basketball, you should be fine. I think the green group is even easier than the yellow group, but that might depend on how much time you’ve spent on the water. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it 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: WKRP.
Green group hint: Ahoy!
Blue group hint: The only prescription is more cowbell.
Purple group hint: Fancy fores.
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Cincinnati teams, minus the S.
Green group: Sailing terms.
Blue group: Members of the Indiana Fever.
Purple group: «Royal» Open Championship venues.
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 Cincinnati teams, minus the S. The four answers are Bearcat, Bengal, Musketeer and Red.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is sailing terms. The four answers are hull, keel, mast and rudder.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is members of the Indiana Fever. The four answers are Boston, Clark, Howard and Mitchell.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is «Royal» Open Championship venues. The four answers are Birkdale, Liverpool, Portrush and St. George’s.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 17 #501
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 17 No. 501.
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 has some short and some long answers. Once you get the theme, though, you should be able to unscramble even the incredibly long answer. 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: Find your seat.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Enjoy the show!
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:
- NIGHT, CRATE, CRATES, WEST, HEATER, TARE, RATES, RATE, RATS, TEAT, HEAT
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:
- BOXES, LOBBY, MEZZANINE, WINGS, BALCONY, ORCHESTRA
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is THEATERS. Find it by looking for the T that is two letters down on the far left row, and wind up and across.
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