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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 15.

An appeals court on Friday lifted a block on executive orders seeking to end government support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, allowing the orders to be enforced as a lawsuit challenging them plays out.

(Image credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In an internal VA memo seen by NPR, the VA says it's rescinding a directive that contains detailed guidance on the kind of care transgender veterans can receive at VA facilities.

(Image credit: Tierney L. Cross)

The melodrama of the 2024 F1 season -- both on and off the track -- comes back to bite in the latest installment of the hit Netflix show.

A directive from the National Institute of Standards and Technology eliminates mention of “AI safety” and “AI fairness.”

Tesla has joined the ranks of U.S. companies concerned that Trump's aggressive tariff policies may negatively affect global sales.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

The rare speech at the Justice Department comes as the Trump administration has spent the last several weeks trying to reconfigure the agency, including demoting attorneys who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and firing officials who investigated the president himself.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

Registering a domain can be done with just a few simple clicks in 2025, but it hasn’t always been that way. Rewind to March 1985 and the internet’s first .com domain name was registered: Symbolics.com.

What makes this date particularly noteworthy is the fact that the World Wide Web didn’t even exist at that point, and it would be six years until the web came onto the scene and changed our world forever.

Put simply, the creation of Symbolics.com marked what many would regard as the beginning of the dot-com era; the embryonic phase of a tectonic shift in global business, commerce, and society in general.

Symbolics.com

So who was behind the registration? As the name obviously suggests, it was created by an organization called Symbolics Computer Corporation. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company specialized in the development of Lisp machines - early general-purpose computers running on the list processing (Lisp) programming language.

Registering a domain was no easy task during this period. The Domain Name System (DNS) was very much still in its infancy, and registrations were processed manually by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI).

To secure the domain, Symbolics was required to submit a paper request via fax machine or mail to the institute. Thereafter, it was a waiting game until it was processed and approved.

A far cry from the simple click-and-go experience of your modern web user.

A long road since the first domain name registration

It would be an understatement to say the web has come a long way in the 40 years since the Symbolics registration. It’s now an ever-present aspect of our daily lives, defining how we access information, shop, communicate with friends and family, and crucially, how we work.

We’ve seen the impact of IT downtime in the last few years, and it’s safe to say that moving back to pen and paper and fax machines on a full-time basis simply isn’t an option.

From that first registration, the number of domains globally has surged steadily over the years. As of the end of 2024, the number of domains registered globally stood at 364.3 million, according to figures from DNIB.

For context, in 2014 the number of domains registered globally stood at around 250 million. This continued growth over the last decade hasn’t been restricted to business-related domains, either. Anyone can create one easily and at a fairly reasonable price.

From microbusinesses and blogs to professional portfolios and artistic showcase sites, millions of people globally have some form of website and associated domain.

Where is Symbolics now?

Today, a quick visit to Symbolics.com will take you to what is essentially a web-based museum. In 2009, the domain was acquired by Aron Meystedt, a startup investor and founder of Napkin.com.

Meystedt has maintained the site since then, offering users a glimpse into historic events and milestones over the course of the web’s development. It still attracts tens of thousands of curious visitors each year, including myself while researching this article.

Aside from the interesting facts and tidbits available on the site, there is another interesting feature: an AI-powered domain name quality scoring tool.

It’s fantastic that, 40 years on from its creation, the world’s first domain has jumped on the AI bandwagon. Nonetheless, it is a handy tool and has been used by thousands of people to evaluate domain name strength and quality.

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In my years as a gamer – stretching back to childhood afternoons blowing desperately into dusty Nintendo cartridges – I've watched countless tech innovations appear, dazzle briefly, and fade quietly away. Remember motion controls? Great for Wii bowling, less great for just about everything else. VR keeps promising to be revolutionary but always feels like it's still waiting in the wings. But artificial intelligence may have something that lasts longer.

That's probably why Microsoft is working on an AI "Copilot for Gaming," that will aid future Xbox players. But there’s no need to wait if you want to bring the power of AI to your next gaming session. ChatGPT can be a surprisingly pleasant companion on your gaming journey, here are a few ways I've deployed it to make playing video games more fun.

Game guide AI

(Image credit: Insomniac Games / Sony)

There was a time when official game guides were thick, glossy artifacts full of art and obscure easter eggs or enormous and often funny digital books written by paid games journalists. But these days, official guides are rare, and the investors in online guides mostly rely on messy wikis. The information you want is probably out there, but rarely in a cohesive and useful format.

Recently, while swinging through the streets of New York in Spider-Man 2 on my PS5, I decided to see if ChatGPT could recreate something resembling those classic guides, one that could chart every side mission, collectible, and hidden secret. I used the Deep Research tool to really delve into the internet and come back with more than just a single mission tipsheet. I asked the AI to "Create a personalized, comprehensive guide for completing Spider-Man 2 on PS5. Make sure it includes information on collecting suits, getting upgrades, and finding side-missions, so I don't miss anything."

Five minutes later I had a thorough game plan, with not just everything I should look for, but even what to prioritize at different stages of the story. I got optimal routes for collectibles, tips for efficiently earning upgrade tokens, and suggested combat approaches tailored to different types of encounters. I didn't need or want to follow its suggestions slavishly, but if I ever got confused or realized there was a blank in my costume options, it was right there to steer me to the solution.

Real-time guidance

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Open-world games offer freedom to do anything, but a sprawling fantasy RPG can sometimes almost be annoying if you simultaneously love them but also get impatient with them. While wandering the vibrant landscapes of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, I stood atop a floating island and felt stuck despite the options for shrines, side quests, and mysteries scattered across the horizon.

Just to break the paralysis, I asked ChatGPT, "I'm feeling unsure what to do in Tears of the Kingdom. Should I prioritize shrines, exploration, or push forward with the main story?" I soon had a nice breakdown of possible rewards, pacing, and general vibe of the options, and I immediately had my next four hours filled with fun rather than dithering from my island.

Game mechanics education

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Complex game mechanics are part of the fun of a video game, but sometimes they're a little too difficult to work out from a game's own description. I don't like switching to easy mode on games even in a game with that option, but that can leave me stuck failing over and over. Hogwarts: Legacy is no one's idea of an ultra-hard pro-gamer only game, but that doesn't mean the mastering spell combos, potions, and talent trees doesn't take at least some practice.

Frustrated after a particularly disastrous duel, I turned to ChatGPT for help. My prompt was: "I'm struggling with the spell system and combat combos in Hogwarts: Legacy. Can you clearly explain how I can combine different spells effectively without making it feel like studying for finals?"

Happily, ChatGPT didn't just mock me, but explained some intricate mechanics in simpler ways and suggested strategies to improve. The advice included showing the synergy of some spells, combos to try for different enemies, and other variations to try. Suddenly I was a capable wizard, rather than another confused Muggle.

The next game

(Image credit: Sony Santa Monica)

Ever stare at your gaming library or scrolled endlessly through digital stores, unable to choose a new game? ChatGPT can be your guide on that too. After completing God of War: Ragnarok, I was keen to find something similarly exciting. Online guides helped, but I didn't want to waste time or money so I asked ChatGPT for help with the prompt, "I loved God of War: Ragnarok, particularly the story, visceral combat, and mythology connection. Can you recommend something similar for my next game?"

ChatGPT recommended options like Horizon: Forbidden West and Ghost of Tsushima, explaining how each matched my preferences. ChatGPT didn't just throw random ideas my way, it had an explanation for each. Ghost of Tsushima turned out to fulfill my interests perfectly.

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NWSL's Jessica Berman says the league is adopting a tool to monitor and protect players from online abuse. The NWSL was scrutinized for not doing more to protect player Barbra Banda from harassment.

(Image credit: Katelyn Mulcahy)

Ukraine's president said he hopes the U.S. applies "maximum additional sanctions" on Russia if it refuses to accept a 30-day ceasefire, describing the Russian leader's "bravado" as a stalling tactic.

(Image credit: Efrem Lukatsky)

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., has tried to walk a fine political line in dealing with the Trump administration -- choosing her battles, with immigration possibly emerging as the big one to come.

Team officials are accused of altering athletes' suits to enhance their aerodynamics. The suspension by International Ski and Snowboard Federation (IFS) follows last week's FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.

(Image credit: Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Headphones and watches will also switch to Gemini, while smart home devices will become "powered" by it.

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 173, for March 15.

The Senate voted 54 to 46 to approve a spending bill to fund the government through the end of September.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)

• Nokia 5G 360 Camera is a IP67-rated camera that excels in tough regions
• Real-time RXRM software boosts remote monitoring and teleoperation efficiency
• Released in January 2025, it's now gone on to win 3 iF Design awards

Nokia has revealed its 5G 360 Camera, and the company's proprietary Real-time eXtended Reality Multimedia (RXRM) software powering it, has won 3 iF Design awards.

The "world-firs"t" 8K 5G-enabled 360-degree camera, combined high-resolution, low-latency 360° video streaming with 3D OZO spatial audio.

Tougher than ever

Nokia originally touted the Extreme Temperature variant of its 5G 360 Camera as being engineered for harsh environments (with an IP67 waterproof rating), and coming with robust data privacy features that make it ideal for critical industrial use.

Key to that has been the RXRM software, which aids real-time remote operations by enabling the remote monitoring, inspection, and operation of industrial equipment. Its APIs allow customers to integrate 360° video and 3D OZO Audio into AI tool platforms, supporting analytics, overlays, and extended reality applications.

At the time, Sami Ranta, General Manager of RXRM at Nokia, said “Nokia RXRM allows industrial customers to enhance their business processes, saving costs from product support to field operations. Adding a 5G-enabled industrial camera product to RXRM now offers a complete solution for real-time remote use cases such as situational awareness, remote monitoring, teleoperation and stadium scale sports and entertainment events.”

RXRM has demonstrably enabled safer and more efficient industrial processes by delivering real-time, actionable insights.

Finnish company Callio Pyhäjärvi was an early adopter of RXRM technology at Europe’s deepest mine, the Pyhäsalmi Mine, which has now been transformed into a multidisciplinary environment for research, training, and remote operations, demonstrating that the 5G 360 camera's ability to transmit video and audio over private and public wireless networks has been pivotal for high-risk industries in enhancing operational efficiency, reducing risk, and enabling remote control.

"Previously, existing cameras have been unable to meet the challenges posed by the harsh conditions of mining operations in Callio Business Park," noted Sakari Nokela, Callio Pyhäjärvi's Chief Development Officer. "With the trusted Nokia product reliability and security, this camera effectively addresses a critical gap in the market.”

In case you missed it, Nokia's 5G 360 camera is certainly a bit beyond even the best business webcams available, streaming ultra high-definition 8K video (for the best 5K and 8K monitors out there) with near-zero latency, coupled with spatial audio, over 5G, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet.

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• UK PM says AI should soon replace civil servants

Amid deteriorating relations between the US and Canada, many Canadian video game developers are opting not to travel to San Francisco for next week’s Game Developers Conference.

In Syria about a decade ago, while the Assad regime was focused on crushing an uprising that challenged its rule, it faced a problem. It had too many children in detention, who had been swept up when their mothers were arrested. An NPR investigation has found that hundreds of children were separated from family and placed in orphanages around Damascus by government intelligence agents. They ordered the orphanages to keep this a secret.

Now that the Assad regime has fallen, families are searching the Syrian capital for their missing children. We go to Damascus to learn more.

Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad Review

The Technet Laptop Cooling Pad is an inexpensive cooling solution for any heavy-duty tasks you throw at your laptop, whether you’re gaming or rendering 3D animation. It rocks two fans capable of up to 1800rpm and is compatible with laptops up to 17 inches.

As those fans would suggest, the Technet Laptop Cooling Pad offers genuinely impressive cooling. The baseline 3D Mark Stress Test I ran on our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 saw its temperature rise from 20.2°C to 52.1°C, an increase of 31.9°C. With the Tecknet running at its highest output, our gaming laptop hit a high of 41.8°C, a much more modest warming of 17.9°C. That’s one of the best results I’ve seen in my testing so far.

With this kind of cooling, you’d expect some pretty serious fan noise from the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad. However, in my experience it wasn't too disruptive – while the noise was noticeable, it didn’t distract from the tunes I was listening to.

And this was borne out by empirical testing – 10 minutes into the stress test, I measured the noise levels from three inches away and the combined noise of the cooling pad and laptop was quieter at 58dB than the 60dB benchmark of the laptop’s fans working alone. At my head height (21 inches away), this evened out a little, registering a little louder at 45dB combined compared to 42dB alone. Still, this rivals some of the best laptop cooling pads.

The Tecknet felt comfortable to use. The ergonomics were just right for me, with its angle allowing me to comfortably rest my wrists without any flexion or extension.

Speaking purely aesthetically, its looks are perhaps a little on the basic side – it’s essentially just made of textured matt plastic and a grille over the fans. You won’t see them most of the time, but when in use the fans are lit by a subtle blue light, which I think looks a bit more classy than some of the flamboyant RGB lighting its rivals opt for. One slight worry I do have, though, is the textured grips that hold your laptop in place. While my laptop didn’t slip around too much during testing, I have concerns about how well they’ll keep one in place during extra vigorous gaming sessions.

Ultimately, though, I can’t argue with the results. Despite being toward the cheaper end of the spectrum at $19.99 / £19.99, the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad offers seriously decent performance, even if it doesn't look quite as fancy as more stereotypically gaming-focused cooling solutions. All in all, it's definitely worth the spend if your biggest priority is shaving off those degrees for as little dough as possible.

(Image credit: Future) Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: specs

(Image credit: Future) Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: price and availability

• Released August 18, 2015
• MSRP of $29.99 / £24.99

The Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad first went on sale on August 18, 2015, and is still available now. It retails for an MSRP of $29.99 / £24.99, but there are plenty of deals out there. It’s currently on sale for $26.99 on Amazon US, while you can buy it direct from Tecknet in the UK for just £12.49, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for bargains.

There aren’t many different options available, with most retailers only offering it with blue lighting and detailing. However, Amazon US does currently offer it with red lighting and highlights, so if that’s more your bag, it’s worth snapping that option up.

(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad? Buy it if…

You want impressive cooling
Able to keep our testing laptop a full 14°C cooler even during a 3D stress test, this cooling pad is seriously frosty. It should go a long way to stop your laptop overheating, even during the most demanding gaming sessions.

You want reduced noise
Thanks to those ultra-quiet fans, this cooling doesn’t come at the cost of loads of noise. In fact, the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad seems to be no louder than our testing laptop’s built-in fans.

Don’t buy it if…

You want souped-up gaming aesthetics
If you want psychedelic RGB lighting and the sharp, angular geometry typical of most gaming equipment, you might be disappointed here. The Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad has understated blue lighting and is made of relatively basic materials, so it’s more for cooling than drooling over.

You want to ensure your laptop will stay put
Unlike some cooling pads with physical rests for keeping your laptop in place, the Tecknet only offers some textured grips. These are not a guarantee your laptop won’t slip during vigorous gaming sessions.

Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad review: also consider

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad
The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad looks stunning, with its vibrant RGB lighting and quality build, while the braces at its bottom end keep your laptop firmly in place. It didn’t quite manage to keep up with the Tecknet’s cooling in our test, allowing our laptop to warm up by 22.8°C, but it was just as quiet. If you’re willing to spend $29.99 / £29.77, this will definitely earn you some extra style points.

How I tested the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad

• Tested it over several days
• Used a thermal camera to measure temperature difference before and after test
• Used a sound level meter to measure fan noise 10 minutes into test

I spent several days testing and using the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad. I ran it through several standardized benchmarks that we use for all laptop cooling pads. I checked the temperature of the hottest point of our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 testing laptop using a handheld thermal camera, ran a 15-minute 3DMark Stress Test with the cooling pad on its highest setting, then checked its temperature again.

To test the noise it generated, I used a sound level meter to check the noise generated 10 minutes into the test both with the laptop alone and with the laptop cooler running. I tested this from three inches to get an accurate reading of the noise generated, as well as from my head height to gain a reading of how loud it will sound in practice.

In terms of my experience, I’ve been a committed gamer and laptop user for over 30 years, and I’ve been covering tech and gadgets as a journalist for well over a decade.

• First reviewed: March 2025
• Read more about how we test