Technologies

Spotify Says It’s Shutting Down Access to Site That Scraped Its Music Library

After a shadow library site claimed to have created a metadata archive of 99.6 percent of Spotify’s music, the streaming service said it’s shutting down accounts and creating safeguards to protect its data.

Spotify says it’s cutting off access to some user accounts and adding safeguards after a shadow library website claimed to have scraped 99.6% of Spotify’s metadata and audio files from the streaming service’s music library.

On Dec. 20, the website Anna’s Archive said in a blog post that it was distributing 300 terabytes worth of data for 256 million music tracks it scraped from Spotify. It has released 99.6 of the service’s music library, or 86 million music files of the most popular tracks. The blog post called it a preservation effort and said it was considering allowing the downloading of individual files in the future. The post also called for donations to Anna’s Archive.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Spotify responded, saying it’s been investigating the scraping and is taking action against Anna’s Archive. «Spotify has identified and disabled the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,» a spokesperson told CNET in an email.

«We’ve implemented new safeguards for these types of anti-copyright attacks and are actively monitoring for suspicious behavior. Since day one, we have stood with the artist community against piracy, and we are actively working with our industry partners to protect creators and defend their rights,» the spokesperson said.

In its blog post, Anna’s Archive said the torrent release of metadata was just the first step of its plans for the Spotify data it collected. It said the release of music files, in order of popularity on Spotify, was next, to be followed by additional file metadata, album art and patching files to reconstruct Spotify’s original files. «This is by far the largest music metadata database that is publicly available,» the blog post said.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 25 #752

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 25, No. 752.

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 is a fun one, but it might make you hungry. Some of the answers are difficult 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: Intermission mission.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Movie candy.

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:

ROBE, BORE, WEEDS, WEED, RENT, RIND, CORN, SCAN, SPAN, SPANS, SAND, CANE, CANT, CROSS, COIN

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:

BEER, SODA, CANDY, FRIES, WATER, POPCORN, PRETZEL

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is CONCESSIONS. To find it, start with the C that’s three letters to the right on the top row, and wind down.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 25, #548

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 25 No. 548.

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 features a fun yellow category that’s really more games-centered than sports-focused. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle 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 appear in the NYT Games app, but it does 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: Rec room staples.

Green group hint: Footwear.

Blue group hint: Same team.

Purple group hint: Hoops league.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Games played on a table.

Green group: Nike shoes.

Blue group: Giants greats.

Purple group: NBA ____.

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 games played on a table. The four answers are air hockey, foosball, pool and snooker.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Nike shoes. The four answers are Air Force 1, Blazer, Pegasus and Shox.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Giants greats. The four answers are Bonds, Mays, Ott and Posey.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA ____. The four answers are All-Star Game, Cup, Draft and Finals.

Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories

The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.

That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing.

#1: Serie A Clubs. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.

#2: WNBA MVPs. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.

#3: Premier League team nicknames. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.

#4: Homophones of NBA player names. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.

Technologies

Go iPhone-Free This Spring Sale With $400 Off a Cellular Apple Watch

This might not be the latest model, but it’s still a great smartwatch at a fantastic price during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is now officially underway, and that means that the deals are coming thick and fast. One of those deals gets you a 41mm stainless steel cellular Apple Watch Series 9 for just $299, a massive $400 off the usual asking price. You’ll need to act fast, though, because this deal will only be available for a few more hours.

This lightning deal is selling fast, so we definitely recommend ordering your new Apple Watch sooner rather than later, otherwise you really do risk missing out.

In her Apple Watch Series 9 review, Lisa Eadicicco lauded the wearable’s improved performance when using Siri as well as its «wide variety of health and fitness features.» And with the added cellular support thrown in, you can continue to use your Apple Watch even when your iPhone isn’t nearby. That alone is worth the price of admission here.

As for the rest of the package, this model comes in the 41mm case size, so it won’t take over your wrist. Prefer the larger 45mm model? No problem, that’s also available at a discount — you’ll pay just $349, but again, time is running out.

Read more: Should You Upgrade to Apple Watch Series 11? Here Are the Key Features You Get

This model also features the popular always-on display feature, so you can always see the time even when your wrist isn’t raised. That might sound like table stakes, but it’s a feature that the Apple Watch didn’t have for far too long.

SMARTWATCH DEALS OF THE WEEK

Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm, M/L Black Sport Band):

$359 (save $70)
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 (40mm, Bluetooth, Graphite Band):

$250 (save $100)
Google Pixel Watch 4 (41mm, Wi-Fi, Matte Black):

$300 (save $50)
Garmin Venu Sq 2 GPS Smartwatch (Shadow Gray):

$150 (save $100)
Fitbit Versa 4 Fitness Smartwatch (Black):

$120 (save $80)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

A great smartwatch can be a huge deal in your quest for better fitness. Whether you’re getting fit or staying that way, the Apple Watch is hard to beat, but prices can be steep for the latest models. Getting this previous-gen model gets you in the door for cheap, while still nabbing a premium stainless steel finish and cellular connectivity that you’d usually pay a lot more for.