Technology

connmap connmap is an X11 desktop widget that shows location of your current network peers on a world map. (Works on Wayland as well!) Installation Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/h2337/connmap –depth 1, install the dependencies (see below), run make install, then run the resulting executable ./connmap.elf. If you want to run it without attaching it to the terminal then add ampersand at the end of the command: ./connmal.elf &. You can also add it to your i3wm config to run at startup (make sure it is in the PATH): exec –no-startup-id connmap.elf Dependencies Build dependencies: xlib, libxext, libxfixes, libcairo2 Installation dependencies: unzip Runtime dependencies: iproute2 Installation for Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S –needed iproute2 libx11 libxext libxfixes cairo unzip Installation for Ubuntu: sudo apt install iproute2 libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libcairo2-dev unzip Config Installation will create ~/.config/connmap/connmaprc. Default connmaprc looks like this: location_x 20 location_y 500 map_width 1000 black false update_interval 1 location_x/location_y specifies the initial widget location in your desktop (you can later drag/drop the widget with mouse if you are not using a desktop environment that treats mouse drag as multi-select). map_width specifies the custom pixel width of the map. Height is automatically calculated as width/2. Examples: map_width 500 creates a 500×250px map map_width 1000 creates a 1000×500px map map_width 1500 creates a 1500×750px map map_width 2000 creates a 2000×1000px map Setting black to true will draw map outline in black instead of white. update_interval is seconds the application will sleep for before fetching the updated list of network connections. Limitations Tested only with i3wm, might not work as expected in other DE/WM. Only IPv4 is supported. Read More

Have you ever had a magical experience with software? I have. The magic of Merlin With just 5 simple questions, you can almost identify any bird in North America. These questions are easy: location, time of year, size, color, and what the bird was doing. The Merlin app uses your answers to narrow down candidate birds to just a few options. From there, it’s easy to pick the right bird from the shortlist – no need to mess with a camera to catch a bird mid-flight or deal with unreliable AI features. But then the shocking, magical thing happened – they did introduce an AI-powered “Sound ID” feature, and it was awesome. It was not dodgy in the slightest; I’m no expert, but I’ve never seen Merlin’s Sound ID produce an obviously-wrong identification like I had with so many other AI-powered nature tools.  I thought they might have some crazy technical advancements, but I was wrong. They built that quality through good old-fashioned sweat equity. From their blog post: Merlin is not the first to use deep convolutional neural networks to identify birds by their sounds. […] Previous bird sound ID models have typically been trained using data with a coarser level of temporal resolution. For instance, a model might hear a 30 second recording of a White-breasted Nuthatch, but not be told when the nuthatch is singing in the recording. This can lead to problems: if other species are singing in the same recording, the model will erroneously call all species in the recording a White-breasted Nuthatch, leading to false predictions.  Merlin’s Sound ID tool is trained using audio data which includes the precise moments in time when each bird is vocalizing. The process of generating this data is labor intensive, because it requires sound ID experts to listen to each audio file carefully. As a result of these efforts, the model has the opportunity to learn a more accurate representation of which sounds correspond to which species (and which sounds are ambient noises). We built a custom annotation tool that allows sound ID experts to listen to Macaulay Library recordings and annotate the precise moments when different bird species are vocalizing. Benjamin Hoffman and Grant Van Horn for the Macaulay Library: Behind the Scenes of Sound ID in Merlin My emphasis added in bold above – the magic wasn’t just advanced number-crunching by the latest NVIDIA GPUs or some genius new algorithm. It was created by expert birders who spent hours listening and drawing boxes on top of spectrograms.  What an unreasonable amount of work! And what a beautiful outcome!  Teller? I hardly know her! It reminds me of a story I saw about Penn and Teller, the famous magician duo. Allen Pike tells the story better than I could: Years ago, Teller performed a magic trick. First, he’d have you pick a card. He would attempt to produce the card, but fail, indicating the card may have travelled elsewhere. He’d then lead you on a short walk to a nearby park, and then be inspired to dig a hole. Buried there, beneath undisturbed grass, was a box. When opened, the box would, somehow, contain the card you’d chosen. An impossible trick. To create this magical moment, he had to do something you wouldn’t expect: he’d gone out into the park and buried a number of boxes, corresponding to potential cards one might choose. Then, he waited months – until the grass had grown over. Only then could he perform the trick. Deducing what card you’ve picked is a well-known sleight. But performing a trick where your card is seamlessly buried requires so much advance preparation that it seems impossible. Allen Pike: An Unreasonable Amount of Time The beauty is that anyone could have done this. No individual step is insane – a bit of memorization, a bit of digging and burying. But we’ve all got other responsibilities, priorities, and other what-have-yous. No reasonable person would plan so many months ahead with this tedium. But regardless, one person did. Teller describes the underlying principle like so: “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” Allen Pike: An Unreasonable Amount of Time And if you look at it from the other direction, that means that you – yes, you personally 🫵 – have the opportunity to produce magical experiences without any “secret sauce” beyond your willingness to put in the work. But it might not come easily. Progress Everyone who writes code goes through this emotional journey. It’s an uphill battle figuring out the basics. Finally, you get the hang of it. You’re capable of doing anything you want, and that feeling is the highest of highs. Then you hit the lows: when you realize all the interesting parts are farmed out to tech companies doing the real heavy lifting. You started to build your perfect life management app, but your personal contribution is 100% glue code, between Google and Plaid and OpenAI and Twilio and Home Assistant and a dozen other services. When you want to do something and get stuck because there’s no off-the-shelf API to deal with it, that’s the worst feeling of all: realizing that you were never that powerful to begin with.  Everyone who writes code goes through this. Everyone who creates anything goes through this. Having learned to code before LLMs, I can only imagine how hard it is now – easier to get a taste of the good life, harder still to learn the skills needed to make it great. It’s disillusioning to realize you’ve come so far from the start, but you’re still so far from making an impact. Even those cool algorithms fade away as you write your hundredth boring business logic if-statement.  Is this all there is? It’s easy to get jaded. But as you keep going, you find that you can make a difference. You pick up domain experience and life experience, novel insights, and the ability to contribute.

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Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles. My favorite Mini Crosswords are ones that take me on a little journey. Today, I learned something new about Hawaii and also basked in a nostalgic moment while thinking about a childhood board game. Need an assist with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips. The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page. Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers. The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Monday, July 21, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNET Mini across clues and answers 1A clue: Ceremonial bandAnswer: SASH 5A clue: First official state hand gesture, following a 2024 Hawaiian billAnswer: SHAKA 6A clue: Deck with the Major and Minor ArcanaAnswer: TAROT 7A clue: Just loveAnswer: ADORE 8A clue: Boardwalk has the highest one on a Monopoly boardAnswer: RENT Mini down clues and answers 1D clue: Cool place to be on a sunny dayAnswer: SHADE 2D clue: Name that might come first during an alphabetical roll callAnswer: AARON 3D clue: Hybrid athletic garmentAnswer: SKORT 4D clue: Just loatheAnswer: HATE 5D clue: One whose name is in lightsAnswer: STAR Read More

What is the best internet provider in Raleigh? CNET recommends AT&T Fiber as the best internet provider in Raleigh. The service offers wideespread fiber coverage, fast upload and download speeds, and competitive pricing. It’s the best all-around option in a city that’s already ahead of the curve when it comes to internet performance. If you’re looking for even faster speeds, Google Fiber is the fastest provider in Raleigh, though its premium pricing may not fit every budget. For those outside fiber coverage areas or looking for alternatives, Spectrum delivers reliable cable internet throughout the region, filling in the gaps where fiber might not yet reach. Whether you’re new to the area or just upgrading your connection, Raleigh offers a strong mix of options which balance speed, value and availability when it comes to internet service. Internet providers in Raleigh compared Provider Internet technology Monthly price range Speed range Monthly equipment costs Data cap Contract CNET review score AT&T Fiber Read full review Fiber $55-$245 300-5,000Mbps None None None 7.4 Google Fiber Read full review Fiber $70-$150 1,000-8,000Mbps None None None 7.5 Spectrum Read full review Cable $30-$70 100-1,000Mbps Free modem; $10 router (optional) None None 7.2 T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review Fixed wireless $50-$70 ($35-$55 with eligible mobile plans) 87-415Mbps None None None 7.4 Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review Fixed wireless $50-$70 ($35-$55 with eligible mobile plans) 50-250Mbps None None None 7.2 Show more (0 item) Source: CNET analysis of provider data. All available Raleigh residential internet providers Fiber is fantastic and Spectrum is everywhere, but there are a few other ISPs to consider when you’re shopping in Raleigh. T-Mobile, in particular, is worthy of consideration as a no-fuss option with simple pricing and a tempting bundle discount. AT&T Internet: Remember those AT&T Fiber dry spots I mentioned earlier? Those areas may be serviced by AT&T’s Internet Air network instead. Speeds can vary greatly. You may only get 10Mbps in some areas of Raleigh for the standard price of $60 a month. So basically, this is me saying, please look for a better option. Go with AT&T Internet Air only if you don’t have faster fiber or cable available to you. Frontier Internet: Frontier’s DSL network sneaks into Raleigh from the northwest so that you will find it as an option up around Brier Creek and Bethesda and around the Durham area. Speeds, however, can be variable. You may be able to pull down speeds of only 12Mbps, or you may be able to get 25Mbps. The price is $65 a month. Residents of Durham can look for Frontier’s faster fiber offerings, which are much preferable to DSL. Raleigh folks, however, will want to skip the Frontier DSL and opt for Google or AT&T fiber, if available, or Spectrum’s speedier cable plans. Google Fiber: AT&T Fiber’s toughest competitor is Google Fiber, which doesn’t quite match AT&T’s top speed or availability across town. However, it’s worthy of strong consideration if it services your address. While Google Fiber has speeds of up to 8,000Mbps in some areas of the US, you’ll be looking at speeds up to 3,000Mbps in Raleigh. That will cost you $100 a month, or you can get 1,000Mbps service for $70 a month. There are no contracts or data caps, and equipment is included, making it one of the best deals for fast, reliable internet.  T-Mobile Home Internet: Availability of either T-Mobile or Verizon home internet services is a roll of the dice that depends on your address and whether any slots are available. Check into T-Mobile if you’re interested in trying fixed wireless internet. T-Mobile costs $50-$70 a month for typical speeds up to 415Mbps. Equipment is included and there are no data caps. It’s a particularly good deal for T-Mobile phone customers. Bundle an eligible phone plan and get your internet for just $35-$55 a month. Satellite internet: Starlink, Viasat and Hughesnet are competitors in the satellite internet market. They likely won’t be your first choice for getting online unless you’re in a rural area with few options. However, digital nomads with a home base in Raleigh might consider Starlink’s on-the-go plan for staying connected while traveling. Walter Bibikow/Getty Images Raleigh broadband at a glance Raleigh residents are in the enviable position of having two major fiber providers competing for their dollars. It’s hard to go wrong with either AT&T Fiber or Google Fiber, but pricing is a factor that can influence which ISP you go with. It may push you to explore options from Spectrum, Verizon or T-Mobile. How many members of your household use the internet? Pricing info on Raleigh home internet service The average starting price for home internet in Raleigh is around $50 a month. It will cost you a little more to get started with fiber. AT&T’s 300Mbps runs $55 a month while Google’s lowest-cost plan is $70 for 1,000Mbps. Look to Spectrum, Verizon and T-Mobile if you’re searching for budget options.  Cheap internet options in the Raleigh metro area One of the cheapest ways to get online is to bundle Verizon or T-Mobile home internet with an eligible phone plan. That knocks your home internet price down to as low as $35 for Verizon and T-Mobile. If you’re shopping for Google Fiber, keep an eye out for the ISP’s Neighborhood 100 Meg plan, which is available in some areas. It’s for households with an annual income under $40,000, and it costs only $20 a month. You’ll be asked to confirm your income when you sign up.  What’s the cheapest internet plan in Raleigh? Provider Starting price Max download speed Monthly equipment fee Contract Spectrum Internet Advantage Read full review $30 100Mbps Free modem; $10 router None Spectrum Internet Premier Read full review $40 500Mbps Free modem; $10 router None T-Mobile Home Internet Read full review $50 ($35 with eligible mobile plan)  318Mbps None None Verizon 5G Home Internet Read full review $50 ($35 with eligible mobile plan) 85Mbps None None AT&T Fiber 300 Read full review

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 21, No. 301. Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto. 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. Golf knowledge is a weak point for me, so I struggled a little with today’s Connections: Sports Edition. It’s nice to see an appearance from one of the best team names in minor league ball. Hello, Yard Goats fans. Stuck? Check out our hints and get 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: Don’t skip this step. Green group hint: Par for the course. Blue group hint: Constitution state. Purple group hint: Not bored. Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups Yellow group: Get ready for a game. Green group: Golf wedges. Blue group: Connecticut teams. Purple group: _____ board. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 21, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today’s Connections The theme is get ready for a game. The four answers are get loose, prepare, stretch and warm up. The green words in today’s Connections The theme is golf wedges. The four answers are gap, lob, pitching and sand. The blue words in today’s Connections The theme is Connecticut teams. The four answers are Sun, UConn, Yale and Yard Goats. The purple words in today’s Connections The theme is _____ board. The four answers are back, leader, skate and surf. Read More

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 tough one. Once you see the theme, you’ll know why — really, there are so many words that could have been answers, because you can craft any and all shapes out of paper. 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: I fold! If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Japanese paper art. 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: SHIFT, CANT, RANT, NITE, GRAM, BURY, CANE, CORE, BORE, GRIME, LOME, MOLE, FEATHER, WOLF, FLOW 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: KITE, BOAT, FISH, FROG, CRANE, BUTTERFLY, HEART, FLOWER Today’s Strands spangram The completed NYT Strands puzzle for July 21, 2025, #505. NYT/Screenshot by CNET Today’s Strands spangram is ORIGAMI. To find it, look for the O that’s four letters down on the far-left row, and wind across in a zig-zag pattern. Read More

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 21, #771. CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line. Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year”​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism. Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles. Hey, Seinfeld fans, today’s NYT Connections puzzle is right up your alley. That makes the blue category fun, but that purple category got me, as always. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers. The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak. Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time Hints for today’s Connections groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Top it off. Green group hint: Liquid can change forms. Blue group hint: Big salad, puffy shirt. Purple group hint: A certain symbol. Answers for today’s Connections groups Yellow group: Additional perk. Green group: Phase transitions for liquids. Blue group: Concepts from “Seinfeld.” Purple group: What ‘ can indicate. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today’s Connections answers? The completed NYT Connections puzzle for July 21, 2025, #771. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today’s Connections The theme is additional perk. The four answers are bonus, extra, gravy and icing. The green words in today’s Connections The theme is phase transitions for liquids. The four answers are condensation, freezing, melting and vaporization. The blue words in today’s Connections The theme is concepts from “Seinfeld.” The four answers are Festivus, regifting, shrinkage and yada yada. The purple words in today’s Connections The theme is what ‘ can indicate. The four answers are contraction, foot, possessive and quote. Read More

The iPad Pro with the M5 chip is expected to be just as easy to use for selfies in a landscape or portrait orientation. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will add a second front-facing camera on the portrait edge of the upcoming iPad Pro that’s expected to launch later this year. It may seem

Welcome to our weekly roundup of the goings on in the indie game space. It’s been quite the busy spell, with several notable games debuting or landing on more platforms and some intriguing upcoming projects popping above the parapet. The Steam Automation Fest is taking place this week (it runs until July 21 at 1PM