Technologies

How to Join the Diablo 4 Beta

Time to head back to Hell.

Diablo 4, the latest installment of the popular dungeon crawler, comes out in June, but players can try out some of the game in beta before its full release.

The Diablo 4 open beta and early access beta started Friday. Developer Blizzard Entertainment says the beta will focus on the early parts of the campaign covering the prologue and Act 1, which takes place in the Fractured Peaks zone. Players will be able to max their characters to level 25, but can still play the beta throughout the weekend beyond that.

When does the Diablo 4 beta start?

The early access beta started on Friday at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) and will last until Monday, March 20, at 12 p.m. PT. This weekend is only for those who received a beta code.

An open beta available to everyone will start next Friday, March 24, at 9 a.m. PT and ends on March 27 at 12 p.m. PT.

How do I get a Diablo 4 beta code?

Those interested can receive a code for the beta by preordering a copy of Diablo 4. KFC is also offering beta codes with the purchase of a Double Down.

Preorder Diablo 4

$70 at Target

What systems can I play the Diablo 4 beta on?

The beta is playable on the same systems the game will be released on: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and S.

What are the PC requirements for the Diablo 4 beta?

The minimum requirements are:

Operating system: 64-bit Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8100
Memory: 8GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 280
Storage: Solid-state drive with 45GB available space

Blizzard recommends the following specs:

Operating system: 64-bit Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K or AMD R3-1300X
Memory: 16GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 470
Storage: SSD with 45GB available space

What classes are available in the Diablo 4 beta?

The early access beta will offer the Rogue, Barbarian and Sorcerer classes. The open beta will unlock the other two classes, the Druid and Necromancer.

Will my Diablo 4 beta progress transfer over?

Beta testers in the early access weekend can carry over their progress to the open beta weekend, but no progress from the betas will transfer to the final game.

What content will be available in the Diablo 4 beta?

As well as the prologue and Act 1, a World Boss, Ashava, will be available to check out during both weekends. The boss will appear in the early access beta on March 18 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. PT on March 19. During the open beta, Ashava will appear on March 25 at the same times.

What is the story for Diablo 4?

Diablo 4 is the newest entry in the legendary dungeon-crawling action RPG. Players will fight against the horde of monsters controlled by Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, one of the Great Evils, and called the «mother» of Sanctuary, the world in which the Diablo series takes place.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 7 #706

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Feb. 7, No. 706.

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 especially tricky, as a variety of words could fit the theme. 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: Boo-o-o-o-ring

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzz… not very exciting.

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:

HIND, DATE, DRUM, MOST, CHIN, PAIN, RAIN, NOSE, TOME, TOMES

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:

DULL, DREARY, HUMDRUM, MUNDANE, TIRESOME

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is WATCHINGPAINTDRY. To find it, start with the W that’s three letters up from the bottom on the far-left row, and wind up, across and 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

Spotify Launches ‘About the Song’ Beta to Reveal Stories Behind the Music

The stories are told on swipeable cards as you listen to the song.

Did you know Chappell Roan drew inspiration for her hit song Pink Pony Club from The Pink Cadillac, the name of a hot-pink strip club in her Missouri hometown? Or that Fountains of Wayne’s song Stacy’s Mom was inspired by a confessed crush a friend had on the late co-founder Adam Schlesinger’s grandmother?

If you’re a fan of knowing juicy little tidbits about popular songs, you might find more trivia in About the Song, a new feature from streaming giant Spotify that’s kind of like the old VH1 show Pop-Up Video.

About the Song is available in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia, initially for Spotify Premium members only. It’s only on certain songs, but it will likely keep rolling out to more music. Music facts are sourced from a variety of websites and summarized by AI, and appear below the song’s lyrics when you’re playing a particular song.

«Music fans know the feeling: A song stops you in your tracks, and you immediately want to know more. What inspired it, and what’s the meaning behind it? We believe that understanding the craft and context behind a song can deepen your connection to the music you love,» Spotify wrote in a blog post.

While this version of the feature is new, it’s not the first time Spotify has featured fun facts about the music it plays. The streaming giant partnered with Genius a decade ago for Behind the Lyrics, which included themed playlists with factoids and trivia about each song. Spotify kept this up for a few years before canceling due to multiple controversies, including Paramore’s Hayley Williams blasting Genius for using inaccurate and outdated information.

Spotify soon started testing its Storyline feature, which featured fun facts about songs in a limited capacity for some users, but was never released as a central feature.

About the Song is the latest in a long string of announcements from Spotify, including a Page Match feature that lets you seamlessly switch to an audiobook from a physical book, and an AI tool that creates playlists for you. Spotify also recently announced that it’ll start selling physical books.

How to use About the Song

If you’re a Spotify Premium user, the feature should be available the next time you listen to music on the app.

Start listening to any supported song.
Scroll down past the lyrics preview box to the About the Song box.
Swipe left and right to see more facts about the song.

I tried this with a few tracks, and was pleased to learn that it doesn’t just work for the most recent hits. Spotify’s card for Metallica’s 1986 song Master of Puppets notes the song’s surge in popularity after its cameo in a 2022 episode of Stranger Things. The second card discusses the band’s album art for Master of Puppets and how it was conceptualized.

To see how far support for the feature really went, I looked up a few tracks from off the beaten path, like NoFX’s The Decline and Ice Nine Kills’ Thank God It’s Friday. Spotify supported every track I personally checked.

There does appear to be a limit to the depth of the fun facts, which makes sense since not every song has a complicated story. For those songs, Spotify defaults to trivia about the album that features the music or an AI summary of the lyrics and what they might mean.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 7, #502

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 7, No. 502.

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 batch of categories. The purple one requires you to find hidden words inside some of the grid words, but they’re not too obscure. 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: Golden Gate.

Green group hint: It’s «Shotime!»

Blue group hint: Same first name.

Purple group hint: Tweak a team name.