OpenAI has finally relented and updated ChatGPT’s data controls that let you disable model training while keeping chat history intact. We were the first to report that there is actually a way to opt out of ChatGPT model training while retaining chat history but it’s hidden under OpenAI’s documentation and the company doesn’t promote it. And today, OpenAI has officially introduced a one-stop data control setting to adjust your privacy settings within ChatGPT.
You can now go to ChatGPT’s Settings -> Data controls and turn off “Improve the model for everyone”. This is available to both free and paid ChatGPT Plus users. Earlier, OpenAI had clubbed chat history and model training under one toggle. If you wished to disable model training on your conversations, you had to disable your chat history as well, which was counter-intuitive.
Chat history is a basic yet essential feature and it should not be tied to model training at all. OpenAI was, in a sense, punishing users for choosing privacy. It was taking away a key feature if you prevented OpenAI from using your chats for its model training.
Many users are not even aware that their private conversations are used for improving and training AI models. In fact, OpenAI and Google, both use human reviewers to annotate and process conversations for model training. That’s why AI companies ask users to not share personal details while chatting with AI chatbots.
Since model training is enabled by default on ChatGPT, I would strongly recommend users to disable it. In case, you want to have a private conversation with ChatGPT, you can now choose “Temporary chat” from the drop-down menu. It won’t appear in chat history and nothing will be stored.
Finally, if you have any questions or privacy concerns about AI services, let us know in the comment section below. We will clarify all your doubts and help you out.
As the world embraces the internet with open arms, the digitalization of everything around us is to be expected. Over half of an individual’s personal information is mostly stored in smartphones, saving them from the hassle of managing and storing physical documents, which saves time and has environmental benefits. One of the things we have transformed into fully digital entities is documents. Scanning and storing documents using a smartphone is easier than ever, and if you recently bought a brand-new Android phone, here’s how to scan documents on Android.
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Your phone may already have a document scanner, depending on the manufacturer of the device. Manufacturers like Samsung, OnePlus, and Nothing come with document scanners in their camera applications. Google Pixels and others need to rely on Google Drive’s, Files App’s Scan feature, and while the built-in scanners are great, they lack the flexibility or features of a third-party app like Adobe Scan.
Scan Documents Using Files By Google App
Most Android phones come with Google’s Files app or Google Drive preinstalled, and it’s possible to scan documents using their built-in document scanners. While the Files app lets you save it in your storage in the Scanned Folder, the Drive app prompts you to upload it to the cloud storage. Since most of us will probably end up saving our documents, here’s how to use it in the Files by Google app.
Install the Files by Google app from the Play Store if you don’t have it already.
Launch the app and tap on the Scan button at the bottom right.
Move to a well-lit environment and line up the document below your smartphone’s camera.
If it’s in Auto capture mode, the UI will search for the ends, take the image, align the edges, and make the perspective flat.
If Auto capture doesn’t work, wait until the blue outline aligns well with the document and press the Shutter button.
You can continue taking pictures if your document has multiple pages and save it as a PDF by tapping Done.
The document scanner in Google Drive and Files by Google allows you to Crop, Filter, Clean, and Retake pictures of the documents. It also lets you drag and drop to rearrange the pages of your documents. The Clean feature is especially helpful in clearing out smudges or bad inks from the pages.
One of the best apps I recommend for scanning documents on Android is Adobe Scan. It’s fairly simple and easy to use and is one of the most comprehensive scanner apps on the Google Play Store. Besides, it also uploads your PDFs to Adobe Cloud so you can download them later.
Point your phone’s camera toward a document and Adobe Scan should automatically look for the document and save it.
At this point, you can either tap on Save PDF to save the scanned document on your phone. Or, you continue scanning more pages by tapping on Keep scanning instead.
One of the big highlights of Adobe Scan is its comprehensive list of features that are baked in. From different filters to markup, resize, crop, and cleanup features, the app has you covered.
Manufacturers have been leveraging AI in many apps and one app where it’s used predominantly is in Camera.
Your smartphone camera can recognize you and surrounding things. Hence, when you point it to a document, most camera apps prompt you to use their built-in document scanner (if they have one) to save the document. Sure, the built-in ones might not be as comprehensive as the aforementioned apps, but they might be sufficient for use once in a blue moon.
What are some of the ways you scan your documents using your phone? Let us know in the comments below.
The indie superhit Manor Lords is all about getting the approval of your citizens and ensuring your small medieval village becomes a grand city. To do that, the game has a lot of systems in place. While some are as simple as building something, others involve ensuring your citizens are happy. While increasing your approval rating is vital, it can be difficult to know how to do so. Well, if you’re struggling too then keep reading as I show you how to increase your approval rating in Manor Lords quickly. So, with that, let’s begin!
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What Is the Approval Rating in Manor Lords
Hover over the Thumbs symbol to check your approval rating.
As you would expect, Manor Lords is full of settlements with people. Whenever a new family moves into the Burgages, it comes with certain wants and needs. These are denoted by an Approval Rating, mentioned on the top-center bar. Fulfilling these will ensure their level of satisfaction goes up and, with it, your approval rating.
The higher your Approval Rating in Manor Lords, the better chances you have to rule your citizens peacefully and rally them for war against other lords. The rating closely ties to your population’s approval.
If you have over 50% approval, at least one family will move into your village every month. If you have over 75% approval, at least two families will move into your settlement every month. Conversely, having a low Approval Rating of 25% will ensure families leave!
Unfortunately, increasing your approval rating in Manor Lords is easier said than done. While sometimes the game will outright tell you what a family wants, other times, you must figure it out by yourself. Here are the best ways to increase your approval rating in Manor Lords:
Ensure a wider variety of food: If your townspeople only sell one kind of food, villagers will get tired of it. As such, diversify the choices of food in the market. The best way to do this is by upgrading a Burgage with a back-plot to start farming or petting hens. This will allow them to produce carrots and cabbage, sell eggs, etc. This will directly increase the approval rating of a town.
Build and level up a Church: The Church is one of the mid-game structures. You can build it after you set up your essentials and you have some families living in Burgages. Setting one up increases your overall approval rating in the region. You will need 5 Timber, 20 Planks, and 10 Stone to begin.
Have more clothing options: Once you start collecting animal hides, set up a tannery to process the hides into leather. The Tannery will set up a shop in the market and start selling clothes. Just like food, approval rating will increase when villagers have more variety.
Ensure you have a Tavern: Medieval times were all about drinking Ale and enjoying life after work. Manor Lords has tied that into the approval rating. If you set up a Tavern and get it running, you’ll make the villagers happy, increasing their approval rating. However, to run the Tavern, you need to farm Barley and process that at a brewery into Ale.
Tax smarter, not harder: Just like in real life, your citizens will show dissent if you tax the citizens harshly. If you tax them too much, they’ll start leaving your village. If you tax them lightly, your treasury will look empty. As such, find the right balance for taxation in-game.
That is how you can increase your approval rating in Manor Lords. I agree that it might seem daunting and can even freak you out. However, once you get the ball rolling, you’ll be home with a 100% approval rating. Let us know about your Manor Lords experience in the comments below. Thankfully, it’s also easy to begin with the game with our Manor Lords starting guide.
Should I build lots of Burgages to get population growth for approval rating?
No. Only build Burgages when you have sufficient resources available to sustain your village. If you see that the produced resources are higher than the village needs, start building more Burgages to invite outsiders to come and live. If there are more burgages, but the produced resource is low, that will contribute to a loss of approval rating. Furthermore, if you have a low approval rating, no one will immigrate. Hence, that is a waste of resources.
The Hot Corners on a Mac is one of the most productive macOS features. That said, some people may not find them that useful. Since Hot Corners are super sensitive and quick, it’s common for you to trigger them accidentally. I completely understand how annoying it is if those actions are triggered unknowingly, especially if you’re in the middle of something really important. Imagine locking your Mac’s screen every now & then, when you’re working on a deadline. If you find this feature annoying and burdensome rather than productive and useful, you can disable Hot Corners on your Mac. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to do so. Let me show you how to turn off Hot Corners on a Mac.
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Method 1: Disable Hot Corners from System Settings
If you wish to turn off Hot Corners on your Mac, the first way to do so is to assign a “No action” function to each corner you want to disable. This will ensure that your Mac doesn’t trigger any screen action when you move the pointer into any of the corners. Here’s how to do it.
Open the System Settings on your Mac. You can open it from the Dock or click on the Apple menu -> System Settings.
Now, choose Desktop & Dock from the left sidebar.
Next up, Scroll down to the bottom and click on Hot Corners.
You’ll see a small window where you can set up the functions.
Click on each of the four Hot Corners sub-menu and choose “-“ (a small minus icon). This is an indication of No Action.
This will disable all Hot Corners on your Mac.
Once you’ve made the changes, click on the Done button to save them.
Method 2: Disable Hot Corners via Terminal
If you are hands-on with command lines, you can also permanently disable Hot Corners on Mac using the Terminal. Each Hot Corner can be disabled with a specific command. We’ve mentioned everything below:
First, open the Terminal on your Mac. You can do this by going to Launchpad -> Others -> Terminal.
Copy-paste the below command line in the Terminal and hit Return. To deactivate more than one Hot Corner, make sure to hit “Return” after each command.
Once you’re done, write the following command and then hit the Return key at the last.
killall Dock
You can also choose to disable two of the Hot Corners while keeping the other two active. Or, you can disable all of them at once. All of this is up to you.
If I’m using Hot Corners on a Mac, I make sure to set up the bottom-left and bottom-right while disabling the top two ones. Since I often access the top Menu bar and Notification Center on my Mac, there are chances that I might accidentally trigger the top two Hot Corners, when I don’t even need to perform an action.
How to Avoid Activating Hot Corner on a Mac Accidentally?
Rather than deactivating Hot Corners on your Mac altogether, you can also go for an alternative that makes sure you don’t activate them unintentionally. All you have to do is assign a Modifier key to every action when you set up Hot Corners on your Mac. When you do this, the Hot Corner won’t be activated unless you press certain keys on your Mac keyboard. Certainly, this will prevent those accidental triggers. Here’s how to do this:
On your Mac, go to System Settings -> Desktop & Dock -> Hot Corners.
Now, select any of the four corners and you’ll see a drop-down menu.
To assign a modifier key, press and hold the Command, Shift, Option, or Control keys, or a combination of these keys, while you’re in the pop-up menus.
While holding that key, select an action.
Once you’ve done this, that particular Hot Corner won’t be triggered until the two conditions are met. Let’s assume you’ve assigned a Lock Screen action with a Command key to the Top-Left corner. In this case, the Lock Screen won’t trigger until you move the Mac pointer to the top-left corner while holding the Command key. This will surely lower the chances of unwanted triggers.
That’s how easy it is to turn off Hot Corners on a Mac. You can choose to disable this feature completely or tweak a few settings to avoid accidental triggers. Well, it all depends on you and your preferences.
Where are Hot Corner settings on a Mac?
The Hot Corner settings are hidden deep inside the System Settings on the Mac. To access these, open System Settings -> Desktop & Dock -> Hot Corners.
Pokemon GO packs a lot of items that help users evolve their special Pokemon. One such item is a Dragon Scale, an ultra-rare special item. Any Poke player worth their salt will tell you just how frustrating it can get to get a Dragon Scale. However, not everything is lost, as there are methods to obtain this item in Pokemon GO. So keep reading as I tell you just what it is and how to get it.
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What Is the Pokemon GO Dragon Scale?
Image Courtesy: Serebii.net/Nintendo
The Dragon Scale in Pokemon GO is an item used for one specific purpose. It is used to evolve a special Pokemon. More specifically, you can use the dragon scale to evolve Seadra into its Johto form Kingdra. There is no other usage of this item, and no other Pokemon can use the Dragon Scale in Pokemon GO. As such, if you somehow have caught yourself a Kanto Seadra, you should look out for this item during your daily Pokemon GO hunts.
How to Get a Dragon Scale in Pokemon GO
Judiciously spin the Pokestops every day for a week.
Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. Dragon Scales are an extremely rare item in Pokemon GO. You only have around a 1% chance of getting it from your daily journey. However, if you are up for the challenge and adamant about it, the only tried and tested method is from Pokestops.
Pokemon GO rewards daily players. One such system is the “First Pokestop of the Day.” Players spin a Pokestop at least once every day. If you maintain a streak, you even get higher rewards. In such cases, the game drops a guaranteed special item. If your luck is with you, you’ll get the Dragon Scale as a special item drop in Pokemon GO.
Unfortunately, this is one of the only ways to get yourself a Dragon Scale. While you can sometimes get it as a research task reward, the chances for that are slim. Hence, you keep grinding to get that Pokestop streak and pray that the RNG works in your favor.
To use a Dragon Scale in Pokemon GO, you’ll first need a Horsea evolved into a Seadra. If you have a Horsea, ensure you have 25 candies to evolve it into Seadra. However, if you have a Seadra, ensure you have 100 Horsea candies.
With the Horsea candy in your possession, simply press the Evolve button on your Seadra’s page to evolve it into a Kingdra. There’s no reason to hoard the scale unless you plan to evolve multiple Seadras. So make sure to use it as soon as possible.
That is how you get yourself a Dragon Scale in Pokemon GO. I wish this item had more usage and evolution paths like the game. But, for now, only one Pokemon uses it. I hope Niantic adds more options sometime in the future to spice it up!
Have you managed to get yourself a Dragon Scale? Tell us in the comments below.
The ever-awaited Xbox Games Showcase is returning for its yearly screening of upcoming projects. This should be a bigger one, as this is the first Xbox Showcase after Microsoft’s successful acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, the publisher of Call of Duty. As such, a [REDACTED] direct will take place after the main Xbox showcase, similar to the Starfield Direct from 2023. And I think we all know what game will be showcased at the direct.
First, let’s look at the important details for the upcoming showcase. As per Xbox’s official announcement on the Xbox Wire, the Xbox Showcase will take place on June 9, 2024, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET.
Fans and gamers can watch the show on the official Xbox YouTube channel or any other partner YouTube, such as IGN or Gamespot. The show will feature Xbox Studios, Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, and other Partner Studios games.
There will be a [REDACTED] Direct right after the main show. The company has kept the details of that showcase concealed. However, many sources have already confirmed that the showcase is a Call of Duty Direct, which will deep-dive into the franchise’s next installment. The showcase will take place right after the Xbox Showcase wraps up, so there is no exact time.
I don’t have a huge wishlist for games I want to see in this showcase. However, we might get some release dates for games like Avowed, Indiana Jones, etc. We might also get a brand-new look at the rumored Gears sequel everyone has teased.
Are you excited for the upcoming showcase? Let us know in the comments below!
There is no doubt that we are living in the AI age, with chatbots and single-use AI hardware being launched left and right. In the coming years, AI is only going to encompass every facet of our lives. AI companies are relentlessly collecting data, both public and personal, to train and improve their models. However, in this process, we are giving away our personal information which may put our privacy at risk. So, I looked into the privacy policies of popular AI chatbots and services and have recommended the best ways that you as a user can protect your privacy.
How Popular AI Chatbots Handle Your Data
Google Gemini (Formerly Bard)
To begin with, Google’s Gemini stores all your activity data by default. It doesn’t seek the user’s express consent before storing the data. Google says all your interactions and activities on Gemini are stored for up to 18 months. In addition, your Gemini chats are processed by human reviewers who read and annotate the conversation to improve Google’s AI model. The Gemini Apps Privacy Hub page reads:
To help with quality and improve our products (such as generative machine-learning models that power Gemini Apps), human reviewers read, annotate, and process your Gemini Apps conversations.
Google further asks users to not share anything confidentialor personal that they don’t want the reviewers to see or Google to use. On the Gemini homepage, a dialog appears informing the user about this. Apart from conversations, your location details, IP address, device type, and home/ work address from your Google account are also stored as part of Gemini Apps activity.
Data Retention Policy
That said, Google says that your data is anonymized by disassociating your Google account from conversations to protect your privacy. Google also offers the option to turn off Gemini Apps Activity and lets you delete all your Gemini-related data. However, things get a bit murky here.
Once your conversations have been evaluated or annotated by human reviewers, they do not get deleted even if you delete all your past Gemini data. Google keeps the data for three years. The page reads:
Conversations that have been reviewed or annotated by human reviewers (and related data like your language, device type, location info, or feedback) are not deleted when you delete your Gemini Apps activity because they are kept separately and are not connected to your Google Account. Instead, they are retained for up to three years.
In addition, even when your Gemini Apps Activity is turned off, Google stores your conversation for 72 hours (three days) to “provide the service and process any feedback“.
As for uploaded images, Google says textual information interpreted from an image is stored, and not the image itself. However, goes on to say, “At this time [emphasis added], we don’t use the actual images you upload or their pixels to improve our machine-learning technologies”.
In the future, Google might use uploaded images to improve its model so you should be cautious and refrain from uploading personal photos on Gemini.
If you have enabled the Google Workspace extension in Gemini, then your personal data accessed from apps like Gmail, Google Drive, and Docs, don’t go through human reviewers. These personal data are not used by Google to train its AI model. However, the data is stored until the “time period needed to provide and maintain Gemini Apps services“.
If you use other extensions such as Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google Maps, and YouTube, the associated conversations are reviewed by humans so keep that in mind.
OpenAI ChatGPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is by far the most popular AI chatbot used by users. Similar to Gemini, ChatGPT also saves all your conversations by default. But unlike Gemini, it only informs the user not to share sensitive information for the first time after a new user signs up.
There is no static banner on the homepage informing the user that your data could be used for reviewing conversations or to train the model.
Nevertheless, coming to what kind of personal data ChatGPT collects from users, it stores your conversations, images, files, and content from Dall-E for model training and improving performance. Besides that, OpenAI also collects IP addresses, usage data, device information, geolocation data, etc. This applies to both free ChatGPT users and paid ChatGPT Plus users.
OpenAI says content from business plans like ChatGPT Team, ChatGPT Enterprise, and API Platform are not used to train and improve its models.
OpenAI does let you disable chat history and training in ChatGPT from Settings -> Data controls. However, the setting to disable chat history and training does not sync with other browsers and devices where you are using ChatGPT with the same account. Thus, to disable history and training, you need to open the settings and disable it on every device where you use ChatGPT.
Once you have disabled chat history, new chats won’t appear in the sidebar and they won’t be used for model training. However, OpenAI will retain chats for 30 days to monitor for abuse, and in that period, it won’t be used for model training.
As for whether human reviewers are used by OpenAI to view conversations, OpenAI says:
“A limited number of authorized OpenAI personnel, as well as trusted service providers that are subject to confidentiality and security obligations, may access user content only as needed for these reasons: (1) investigating abuse or a security incident; (2) to provide support to you if you reach out to us with questions about your account; (3) to handle legal matters; or (4) to improve model performance (unless you have opted out). Access to content is subject to technical access controls and limited only to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis. Additionally, we monitor and log all access to user content and authorized personnel must undergo security and privacy training prior to accessing any user content.”
So yes, just like Google, OpenAI also employs human reviewers to view conversations and train/improve their models, by default. OpenAI doesn’t disclose this information on ChatGPT’s homepage which seems like a lack of transparency on OpenAI’s part.
You have the option to opt out and ask OpenAI to stop training on your content while keeping the Chat history feature intact. However, OpenAI doesn’t offer access to this privacy portal under the Settings page. It’s buried deep under OpenAI’s documentation which regular users can’t find very easily. At least, on the transparency point, Google does a better job than OpenAI.
Of all the services, I found the privacy policy of Microsoft Copilot to be the most convoluted. It doesn’t lay bare the specifics of what personal data is collected and how those data are handled by Microsoft.
On the Microsoft Copilot FAQ page, it says that you can disable personalization aka chat history. However, there is no such setting on the Copilot page. There is an option to clear all your Copilot activity history from the Microsoft account page, but that’s all.
The only good thing about Copilot is that it doesn’t personalize your interaction if it deems the prompt sensitive. And it also doesn’t save the conversation if the information seems to be private.
If you are a Copilot Pro user, Microsoft uses data from Office apps to deliver new AI experiences. If you want to disable it, disable Connected Experience from any one of the Office apps. Head over to Account -> Manage Settings under Account Privacy and turn off Connected Experiences.
Remini is one of the most popular AI photo enhancers out there with millions of users. However, its privacy policy is quite dicey and users should be mindful before uploading their personal photos on such apps.
Its data retention policy says that personal data processed is kept for 2 to 10 years by the company, which is quite long. While images, videos, and audio recordings are deleted from its server after 15 days, processed facial data are sensitive in nature and are kept for many years. In addition, all your data can be handed over to third-party vendors or corporations in case of a merger or acquisition.
Similarly, Runway, a popular AI tool that deals with images and videos, retains data forup to three years. Lensa, a popular AI photo editor, also doesn’t delete your data until you delete your Lensa account. You have to email the company to delete your account.
There are many such AI tools and services that store personal data, particularly processed data from images and videos, for long years. If you want to avoid such services, look for AI image tools that can be run locally. There are apps like SuperImage (visit) and Upscayl (visit) that allow you to enhance photos locally.
Data Sharing with Third-parties
As far as data sharing is concerned with third parties, Google doesn’t mention whether human reviewers who process conversations are part of Google’s in-house team or third-party vendors. Generally, the industry norm is to outsource these kinds of work to third-party vendors.
On the other hand, OpenAI says, “We share content with a select group of trusted service providers that help us provide our services. We share the minimum amount of content we need in order to accomplish this purpose and our service providers are subject to strict confidentiality and security obligations.”
OpenAI explicitly mentions that its in-house reviewers along with trusted third-party service providers view and process content, although the data is de-identified. In addition, the company does not sell data to third parties and conversations are not used for marketing purposes.
In this regard, Google also says that conversations are not used to show ads. However, if this changes in the future, Google will clearly communicate the change to users.
Risks of Personal Data in Training Dataset
There are numerous risks associated with personal data making its way into the training dataset. First of all, it violates the privacy of individuals who may not have expressly given consent to train models on their personal information. This can be particularly invasive if the service provider is not communicating the privacy policy to the user transparently.
Apart from that, the most common risk is data breach of confidential data. Last year, Samsung banned its employees from using ChatGPT as the chatbot was leaking sensitive data about the company. Despite the fact that the data is anonymized, there are various prompting techniques to force the AI model to reveal sensitive information.
Finally, data poisoning is also a legitimate risk. Researchers say that attackers may add malicious data into conversations which may skew the model output. It can also add harmful biases which may compromise the security of AI models. Founding team member of OpenAI, Andrej Karpathy has explained data poisoning in extensive detail here.
Is There Any Opt-out Mechanism?
While major service providers like Google and OpenAI provide users a way to opt out of model training, in the process, they also disable chat history. It seems like companies are punishing users for choosing privacy over functionality.
Companies can very well offer the chat history which can help users find important conversations from the past, while not being part of the training dataset.
OpenAI, in fact, lets users opt out of model training, but it doesn’t advertise the feature prominently, and it’s nowhere to be found on ChatGPT’s settings page. You have to head to its privacy portal and ask OpenAI to stop training on your content while keeping your chat history intact.
Google doesn’t offer any such option which is disappointing. Privacy should not come at the cost of losing helpful functionality.
What are the Alternatives?
Coming to alternatives and ways to minimize your data footprint, well, first of all, you have the option to disable chat history. On ChatGPT, you can keep chat history and opt out of model training via its privacy portal page.
Apart from that, if you are serious about your privacy, you can run LLMs (large language models) on your computer locally. Many open-source models out there run on Windows, macOS, and Linux, even on mid-range computers. We have a dedicated in-depth guide on how to run an LLM locally on your computer.
Overall, in today’s AI race where companies are looking to scrape data from every corner of the internet and even generate synthetic data, it’s upon us to safeguard our personal data. I would strongly recommend users not feed or upload personal data on AI services to preserve their privacy. And AI companies should not discount valuable functionalities for choosing privacy. Both can co-exist.
Hey Strands fam! So, May’s not exactly off to a great start, for the Strands today was annoyingly hard to decipher. Rounds like this make me want to ditch these virtual brainteasers and get back to playing some actual board games. Anyway, to make it slightly easier for you though, I have listed some hints and all the answers for the May 1 NYT Strands. Let’s take a look!
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What is the Theme for Today’s NYT Strands?
As revealed by the New York Times, the theme for today’s Strands is “A token of our appreciation”.
Spangram Hint for Today’s Strands
Spoiler Warning #1
Even though we try our best to be subtle, the hints below might partially spoil the experience. You’ve been warned.
Every Strands game has that one Spangram that you need to decipher and today’s was no exception. The hint for today’s Spangram is – “A business board game”.
Theme Words Hints for Today’s Strands
If you have figured out the Spangram from the above hint, figuring out the theme words will be easy. However, I don’t want to ruin it for you. Instead, here are three theme word hints that may help you:
Hint #1: To fix wrinkly clothes, you need to ____
Hint #2: Titanic was a ____
Spoiler Warning #2
The next sections reveal the answers for today’s NYT Strands. So, I’d recommend not scrolling further if you are still solving the puzzle. However, if you are stuck, I suggest scrolling a wee bit to see the Spangram answer.
Spangram Answer for NYT Strands on May 1
The Spangram for today’s NYT Strands puzzle is MONOPOLY, and it runs from top to bottom on the letters grid.
Apart from the Spangram, you need to find 6 theme words in today’s puzzle. However, if you are having a tough time getting through the Strands, check out some tips and tricks in my guide on how to play NYT Strands.
Anyway, with that being said, let’s go to the next section. However, proceed only if you are ready to check out the theme words.
List of Theme Words for NYT Strands on May 1
If you have scrolled this far, you are probably ready to see the answers. So, let’s take a look at today’s theme words in Strands:
IRON
SHIP
RACECAR
THIMBLE
WHEELBARROW
PENGUIN
I was absolutely clueless about the round today, and randomly finding IRON and SHIP still couldn’t connect the dots for me. Then I came across RACECAR and that didn’t make it any easier either. While aggressively scratching the head, I fond PENGUIN as well in the top right. Again, no idea what’s happening.
Then, I found THIMBLE and right beside it, I found MONOPOLY as the Spangram for the day, which finally cleared things out for me. These were Monopoly tokens that the theme was talking about. Well, that’s what not playing board games for a while does to you. From the remaining grids, I found WHEELBARROW and that was it for today.
The good thing is that I got lucky and didn’t have to use any hints. What about you? Did you have to use any hints or was it easy enough for you? Let me know in the comments down below!
I’ll be honest when I say that I again had lots of help with the NYT Connections puzzle today. If you also need help, then keep reading. So, with that, let’s begin breaking down all the hints, categories, and answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for May 1.
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Hint for Today’s Connections Themes
Let’s begin with some quick hints for today’s Connections themes. Check them out and see if you can guess any.
Yellow Category – Do you like Denim?
Green Category – (X,Y,Z)
Blue Category – What’s your favorite Internet browser?
Purple Category – While my guitar gently weeps
Additional Hint: I just love Jeans, don’t you?
We wish we could go into more detail here, but these hints are the best we can share. They are all related to the categories for the puzzle, so think hard before you scroll down below to see the exact category names. We also think you don’t need an additional hint for today. However, if you still can’t find them and need more help, maybe these tricks to solve NYT Connections will help.
Spoiler Warning #1
While this section included hints for the categories, the next section names them directly. Only proceed if ready.
Today’s Connections Category Names
If you still can’t figure out the NYT Connections category names, keep reading for more help.
Yellow – FEATURES ON A PAIR OF JEANS
Green – OBJECTS IN 0-, 1-, 2- AND 3- DIMENSIONAL SPACE
Blue – WEB BROWSER MENUS
Purple – MEMBER OF A ’60s BAND
We hope you can guess the words under each category now. However, If you still cannot and need more help, keep reading.
Spoiler Warning #2
The next section includes the answer for today’s puzzle; you will see all the answers in their categories. This is your last chance to solve it yourself.
Connections Answer for May 1
Are you still stuck with the puzzle? In that case, the answers to today’s Connections are:
FEATURES ON A PAIR OF JEANS – Button, Fly, Pocket, Rivet
OBJECTS IN 0-, 1-, 2- AND 3- DIMENSIONAL SPACE – Line, Plane, Point, Solid
WEB BROWSER MENUS – File, History, View, Window
MEMBER OF A ’60s BAND – Animal, Door, Kink, Supreme
The NYT Connections puzzle today made me go through all kinds of hoops. I began by solving the Yellow category, and as someone who absolutely loves Levi’s, I had no problem with getting it. The Green category came next; honestly, I am way too stupid for this. So I passed my laptop to my coworkers, who got it for me.
They actually went one step further by also getting the Purple category. While I do read the Rolling Stone from time to time, I had no idea about these bands. So they did.
With that done, I moved on to the Blue category, which only had four words left. I got them all together with the NYT Connections puzzle for May 1.
NYT Connections Past Answers
We hope the answers above helped you solve the NYT Connections puzzle for today. However, if you stumbled here by accident, there’s a chance you might be looking for answers to previous puzzles.
Well, for such times and more, we have you covered. Feel free to go through our directory to NYT Connections for the last three days for all the help you need.
Hulu is one of the relatively newer OTT platforms and is growing at a rapid rate now posing as competition for some of the major streaming services out there. Hulu’s catalog is receiving an update in content and it brings in a large number of movies and shows with the May update. Here are all the new movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in May 2024.
New Movies and TV Shows on Hulu in May 2024
May 1
Image Courtesy: IMDb
White House Down is one of the most iconic movies by Channing Tatum. This movie revolves around a hostage situation in the White House where the primary hostage is The President of The United States. However, John Cale, played by Channing Tatum is in the White House with his daughter and now, it all comes down to him to save the president as well as his daughter.
Pokemon Ultra Legends: Complete Season 22
The Beach (2000)
Walk The Line (2005)
The Wedding Ringer (2015)
White Chicks (2004)
White House Down (2013)
13 Going On 30 (2004)
300 (2007)
Big (1988)
Big Daddy (1999)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
The Bounty Hunter (2010)
Cast Away (2000)
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Come See The Paradise (1990)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015)
The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016)
Elvis (2022)
Life Below Zero: First Alaskans: Complete Season 3
Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021)
Naruto Shippuden: Complete Season 8 (Dubbed)
Shardlake: Complete Season 1
Pokemon Sun & Moon: Complete Season 20
Pokemon Ultra Adventures: Complete Season 21
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Free State of Jones (2016)
Good Boys (2019)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The King’s Man (2021)
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)
Love, Gilda (2018)
The Mask (1994)
Meet the Spartans (2008)
Mr. Turner (2014)
Money Monster (2016)
My Name Is Khan (2010)
The Negotiator (1998)
Rushmore (1999)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Rundown (2003)
School For Scoundrels (2006)
Sideways (2004)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
Night School (2018)
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Once (2007)
Once Upon a Time in America, 1984
May 2
The Contestant: Documentary Premiere
The Proof Is Out There: Complete Season 3
Bad Reputation (2018)
Mad Money (2008)
Jeopardy! Masters: Season 2 Premiere
Customer Wars: Complete Season 2
May 3
Image Courtesy: IMDb
The final movie from the Die Hard franchise was “A Good Day to Die Hard” This movie once again brings in New York City cop John McClane played by Bruce Willis who arrives in Moscow to track down his son, Jack (Jai Courtney) who he thinks is a criminal. However, things take a turn when he gets to know that Jack is working undercover to protect a Russian government whistleblower named Komarov and now it is up to the father and son, to make sure that Kamarov stays safe.
Prom Dates (2024)
Welcome to Wrexham: Season 3 Premiere
Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)
The Flood (2023)
3 Days in Malay (2023)
May 4
12 Hour Shift (2020)
May 5
Bad Boys for Life (2020)
May 6
Reminiscence (2021)
May 7
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (Special Premiere)
May 8
In Limbo: Complete Season 1
Bloodshot (2020)
May 9
The Mother/Daughter Experiment: Celebrity Edition: Complete Season 1
Stove Tots: Complete Season 1
Black Twitter: A People’s History: Complete Docuseries
Kings of BBQ: Complete Season 1
Witness to Murder: Digital Evidence: Complete Season 1
May 10
Past Lies: Complete Season 1
Biosphere (2022)
Wanted Man (2024)
Eileen (2023)
May 12
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
May 14
The Killing Kind: Complete Season 1
May 15
Uncle Samsik: Complete Season 1
Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Seasons 5, 12 and 13
Extreme Homes: Complete Season 4
Flea Market Flip: Complete Season 1
Unusual Suspects: Complete Seasons 6 and 8
Worst Cooks in America: Complete Season 16 and 24
Tanked: Complete Season 1
My Strange Addiction: Complete Season 6
Naked and Afraid: Complete Seasons 12, 14 and 15
NASA’s Unexplained Files: Complete Season 4
Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta: Complete Season 8
Say Yes to the Nest: Complete Season 1
Torn from the Headlines: New York Post Reports: Complete Season 1
1000-lb Sisters: Complete Season 4
I Am Not Your Negro (2016)
My Scientology Movie (2015)
Man vs. Wild: Complete Season 5
My 600-lb Life: Complete Season 6
My 600-lb Life: Complete Season 7
May 16
Royal Rules of Ohio: Season 1 Premiere
Women on Death Row: Complete Season 1
Paddington (2015)
Living Smaller: Complete Season 1
May 17
Birth/Rebirth (2023)
He Went That Way (2023)
The Sweet East (2023)
May 22
Chief Detective 1958: Complete Season 1
May 23
The Kardashians: Season 5 Premiere
The Ape Star (2021)
The Seeding (2023)
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars Season 2 Premiere
May 24
Ferrari (2023)
Sentinel (2024)
May 27
Fantasy Island (2020)
May 28
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted: Complete Season 4
May 29
Camden: Complete Season 1
Beat Shazam: Season 7 Premiere
The Quiz With Balls: Complete Season 1
Lainey Wilson: Bell Bottom Country: Doc-Style Special Premiere
Among all the movies and shows arriving on Hulu this month, there are three movies for which I am super excited. First off, Die Hard has been an absolute favorite of mine for as long as I can remember, and now since the whole franchise is making its way to Hulu, I am rewatching the whole series. Other than that the biopic of Evis Persley titled Elvis and White House Down is on my watchlist.
