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Apple will reportedly drop support for a few iPads with the release of iPadOS 17, including the first-generation iPad Pros. This rumor comes after a previous one that claimed Apple would be dropping support for older iPhones too.

According to French tech publication, IPhoneSoft – citing an internal source at Apple – the company will not be updating iPads running Apple’s own A9 and A9X processors; eliminating the 2015 iPad Pro (both the 9.7-inch model and the 12.9-inch model) and the iPad 5 from the running. Processors are often a benchmark that Apple uses to decide which devices to upgrade year over year, as they provide a baseline of supported features.

Apple is expected to continue to update the current best iPads, including all subsequent iPad Pros, for the foreseeable future. At the time of writing, it’s not exactly clear what the company is putting in iPadOS 17 to differentiate it from iOS 17. We’ll learn more about that when Apple announces these updates at WWDC 2023 in June.

 The track always runs out

Though Apple supports its iPhones and iPads with OS updates for far longer than most Android rivals, this support is never indefinite. As devices age, their chips are less able to keep up with the demands of new operating system releases and features. The passage of time also means that the hardware physically begins to degrade, with battery life dropping and performance slowing to the point where an older device becomes more trouble than it’s worth.

It’s not just owners of older iPads that will be looking nervously over their shoulders, as Apple is expected to also cull some iPhones with the release of iOS 17. Specifically, it’s rumored to be ending support for the iPhone X and iPhone 8. Though the iPhone X is iconic for kickstarting the current bezel-less smartphone design paradigm, both the best iPhones and the best Android phones have moved away from that look in their own respective ways.

With the iPhone 15 and 15 Ultra on their way to shape the future of iOS (and iPadOS by implication), it's bittersweet to watch the past retreat further into the rearview.

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Latest Tech News

Criminals are aiming to steal Fortnite user accounts, and is using websites belonging to American universities to do so. 

A new report from BleepingComputer claims to have found an ongoing phishing campaign leveraging compromised websites belonging to Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, UMass Amherst, Northeastern, Caltech, and other universities.

Tipped off by Twitter user g0njxa, the publication says that there are multiple websites, powered by TWiki or MediaWiki (content management systems and web app platforms), that are hosting Fortnite and gift card spam sites.

No free lunch

Apparently, someone managed to compromise these websites and upload wiki pages that promote fake websites that offer free gift cards and free Fortnite in-game currency, among other things. 

Visitors that click the links promoted on these pages will see a login form mimicking Fortnite. Should they try to enter their credentials, they’d give them directly to the attackers. 

Read more

> What is phishing and how dangerous is it?

> Phishing emails are seeing a huge rise, so stay on your guard

> Check out the best ID theft protection right now

“Are you an avid Fortnite player looking for the most efficient way to get your hands on V Bucks? If so, you've come to the right place!” one of the malicious pages reads.

Besides university sites, some government websites were also abused for the same purpose, the publication claims, mentioning mini-sites hosted by a Brazilian state government, as well as European Union’s Europa.eu. In the latter’s case, the Europass e-Portfolio service (a job search portal) seems to have been leveraged. 

Aside from BleepingComputer, no cybersecurity researchers have yet joined the investigation, it seems. At the moment, we don’t know who is behind the attack, or if they used any malware, or leveraged any zero-day vulnerabilities, to compromise these websites. The publication says that MediaWiki released security updates last month, but none of those addressed this campaign.

System admins operating MediaWiki and TWiki sites should run a search on their sites for malicious content such as “gift card”, “Fortnite”, and similar. 

• These are the best firewalls today

Via: BleepingComputer

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Latest Tech News

It's time for your daily dose of Quordle hints. And you might need them - because this popular online game takes the Wordle format and quadruples the difficulty. So if you already find yourself searching for Wordle hints, you'll probably need some for Quordle too. 

I'm a Quordle and Wordle fanatic who's been playing since December 2021, so I can definitely help you solve Quordle today and improve your game for tomorrow. Read on for my Quordle hints to game #455 and bookmark this page so you can easily return. 

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. 

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #2 - total vowels

What is the total number of vowels in Quordle today?

• The total number of vowels across today's Quordle answers is 9.

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #3 - repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #4 - total letters

How many different letters are used in Quordle today?

• The total number of different letters used in Quordle today is 13.

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #5 - uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #6 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #455) - hint #7 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• B

• N

• Y

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #455) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #455, are…

• DEUCE
• BEAST
• NOISY
• YOUNG

Today's Quordle is not one of the more difficult games in recent memory. I solved all four in short order, with two guesses remaining and with no real hiccups. DEUCE contains a repeated E, but the other three words are all standard CONSONANT-VOWEL-VOWEL-CONSONANT-CONSONANT answers and use common letters throughout.

I had slightly more trouble with Quordle's new Daily Sequence game, which challenges you to solve each of four Quordles in turn, but using the letters you've already played. You get one extra guess to complete them all, but it can prove quite difficult. If you've not tried it yet, I recommend you give it a go! 

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

---

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #454, Sunday 23 April: FALSE, LUSTY, EMPTY, FLESH
• Quordle #453, Saturday 22 April: LIMIT, IRONY, TERRA, ARBOR
• Quordle #452, Friday 21 April: WARTY, SEVER, KNAVE, PUBIC
• Quordle #451, Thursday 20 April: JELLY, PRONG, GLOBE, BLOOM
• Quordle #450, Wednesday 19 April: PURGE, OPINE, LILAC, CHEAP
• Quordle #449, Tuesday 18 April: MOLAR, PROBE, DRIER, BORNE
• Quordle #448, Monday 17 April: ASSAY, SLANT, NADIR, DENIM
• Quordle #447, Sunday 16 April: SLATE, BENCH, QUASH, FOGGY
• Quordle #446, Saturday 15 April: HAZEL, BERET, FALSE, COVEN
• Quordle #445, Friday 14 April: BROWN, PLAZA, DRUNK, DODGE
• Quordle #444, Thursday 13 April: DELVE, PIXEL, MINOR, CLOAK
• Quordle #443, Wednesday 12 April: INCUR, DRUNK, COVEN, THERE
• Quordle #442, Tuesday 11 April: CHIME, DRAIN, WHOSE, BOXER
• Quordle #441, Monday 10 April: THUMB, CHESS, SYRUP, HOTEL
• Quordle #440, Sunday 9 April: VERGE, CAMEL, PUTTY, GRASS
• Quordle #439, Saturday 8 April: CRUEL, LIVID, SPIED, BLEND
• Quordle #438, Friday 7 April: RIVET, VISOR, CEASE, AFOOT
• Quordle #437, Thursday 6 April: COVEY, BREAK, AWASH, STALK
• Quordle #436, Wednesday 5 April: SKULL, POLAR, SPREE, THOSE
• Quordle #435, Tuesday 4 April: OUNCE, WHINE, FROCK, POSIT

Quordle FAQs: Everything you need to know

What is Quordle?

Where Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day, Quordle presents you with four puzzles to solve. And rather than complete them in turn, you do so simultaneously. You get nine guesses, rather than the six for Wordle, but the rules are otherwise very similar. 

It's played online via the Quordle website and you can also get to it via the Merriam-Webster site, after the dictionary purchased Quordle last year. 

As with Wordle, the answers are the same for every player each day, meaning that you're competing against the rest of the world. And also as with Wordle, the puzzle resets at midnight so you have a fresh challenge each day.

The website also includes a practice mode - which I definitely recommend using before attempting the game proper! - and there are daily stats including a streak count. You also get Quordle Achievements - specific badges for winning a game in a certain number of turns, playing lots of times, or guessing particularly hard words.

Oh, and it's difficult. Really difficult.

What are the Quordle rules?

The rules of Quordle are almost identical to those of Wordle.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray…

4. …BUT the word you guess appears in all quadrants of the puzzle at the same time, so an A could turn green in one square, yellow in another and gray in the final two. 

5. Answers are never plural.

6. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

7. Each guess must be a valid word in Quordle's dictionary. You can't guess ABCDE, for instance.

8. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses and there is no equivalent of Wordle's Hard mode.

9. You have nine guesses to find the Quordle answers.

10. You must complete the daily Quordle before midnight in your timezone.

What is a good Quordle strategy?

Quordle needs to be approached in a different way to Wordle. With four puzzles to solve in nine guesses, you can't blindly throw letters at it and expect to win - you'll stand a far better chance if you think strategically.

That's the case in Wordle too, of course, but it's even more important in Quordle.

There are two key things to remember. 

1. Use several starting words

Firstly, you won't want just a single starting word, but almost certainly two or three starting words. 

The first of these should probably be one of the best Wordle starting words, because the same things that make them work well will apply here too. But after that, you should select another word or possibly two that use up lots more of the most common consonants and that include any remaining vowels.

For instance, I currently use STARE > DOILY > PUNCH. Between them, these three words use 15 of the 26 letters in the alphabet including all five vowels, Y, and nine of the most common consonants (S, T, R, D, L, P, N, C and H). There are plenty of other options - you might want to get an M, B, F or G in there instead of the H, maybe - but something like that should do the trick.

If all goes well, that will give you a good lead on what one or sometimes two of the answers might be. If not, well good luck!

2. Narrow things down

Secondly, if you're faced with a word where the answer might easily be one of several options - for instance -ATCH, where it could be MATCH, BATCH, LATCH, CATCH, WATCH, HATCH or PATCH - you'll definitely want to guess a word that would narrow down those options. 

In Wordle, you can instead try several of those in succession and hope one is right, assuming you have enough guesses left. It's risky, but will sometimes work. Plus, it's the only option in Hard mode. But in Quordle, this will almost certainly result in a failure - you simply don't have enough guesses.

In the scenario above, CLAMP would be a great guess, as it could point the way to four of the seven words in one go.

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