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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 31.

• The iconic floppy disk is reborn as a storage case for today's terabyte-packing SD cards
• From 1.44MB past to terabyte present, the new design bridges eras creatively
• Fun artwork references glitch aesthetics and retro computing

Floppy disks are unquestionably a relic from the past, although they still keep resurfacing in unusual places - most recently, surfacing in the American prison service, and an enterprising YouTuber set out to build a floppy disk from scratch.

If you're of a certain age, you'll no doubt still remember the feeling of sliding a floppy disk into a computer, hearing that quiet click, and waiting as files loaded bit by bit. That memory will come rushing back with the Floppy Disk-Inspired SD Card Packaging, a design concept created by Indian industrial designer Ayushmaan Singh Jodha for SanDisk.

It takes the iconic 3.5-inch floppy and reimagines it as a different kind of storage device - as a case for today’s SD cards.

(Image credit: Ayushmaan Singh Jodha )From megabytes to terabytes

Where a floppy once held 1.44MB, this design protects cards that now carry gigabytes or even terabytes.

The idea bridges eras of technology in a fun way, but with a serious practical purpose.

SD cards can easily get lost, slipping out of pockets during a shoot, hiding beneath clutter in a busy studio, or disappearing into the depths of a travel bag. I’ve lost a good number of them over the years.

The floppy case provides a larger, sturdier object to hold onto, making it easier to keep track of the tiny cards that store important work.

The packaging keeps the same square profile and iconic shutter, transforming an obsolete form into a fresh, modern tool.

The design showcases artwork that references early computer culture, glitchy error screens, and retro sci-fi themes. The idea is turn the cases into collectible pieces that creatives may want to keep on display, not tucked away in drawers.

The sliding shutter reveals the hidden compartment where the SD card is stored, adding a small sense of interaction to an otherwise simple task.

Is it truly practical? No, but it’s fun and something I’d love to own.

Via Yanko Design

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Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 31, No. 546.

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 31, #812.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for Aug. 31, No. 1,534.

• 5G phones can be silently downgraded to insecure 4G, leaving the device exposed
• The exploit works without setting up expensive and complex fake towers
• Tested smartphones include flagship models from Samsung, Google, Huawei, and OnePlus

In late 2023, researchers uncovered a set of flaws in 5G modem firmware from major chipmakers, including MediaTek and Qualcomm, collectively named 5Ghoul.

A group of academics at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has now shown how 5G phones can be tricked into falling back to 4G networks through a method that avoids the need for a fake base station.

Instead, it targets a vulnerable stage of communication between phone and tower, where critical messages remain unencrypted.

How the toolkit works in practice

The SNI5GECT toolkit, short for “Sniffing 5G Inject,” makes use of the tiny time window at the start of a connection attempt.

It targets the pre-authentication phase, when the data passing between the tower and the phone remains unencrypted.

Because of this gap, attackers can intercept and inject messages without needing to know the phone’s private credentials.

During this stage, the system can capture identifiers sent from the tower and use them to read and modify messages.

With such access, the attacker can force a modem crash, map a device fingerprint, or trigger a switch from 5G to 4G.

Since 4G carries long-known flaws, the forced downgrade leaves the target open to older tracking or location attacks.

The tests revealed a success rate between 70% and 90% when attempted from around twenty meters away, suggesting the method works in realistic conditions.

The academics tested the framework on several smartphones, including popular models from Samsung, Google, Huawei, and OnePlus.

In these cases, the researchers were able to intercept both uplink and downlink traffic with notable accuracy.

Importantly, the method avoids the complexity of setting up a rogue base station, something that has long limited practical attacks on mobile networks.

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) has since confirmed the issue and assigned it the identifier CVD-2024-0096, marking it as a downgrade risk.

The claim from the team is that their toolkit is not meant for criminal use but for further research into wireless security.

They argue it could help with the development of packet-level detection and new forms of 5G protection.

Still, the ability to crash devices or silently downgrade them raises questions about the resilience of current networks.

While no clear reports exist of real-world abuse so far, the method is public and the software is open source, so the risk remains that skilled actors could adapt it.

Unfortunately, users have few direct options to block such low-level exploits, though broader digital hygiene may help limit downstream risks.

However, running updated antivirus software, securing credentials with a password manager, and enabling an authenticator app for accounts can reduce the impact of secondary attacks that might follow from a network downgrade.

Via The Hacker News

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• Nvidia Jetson AGX Thor debuts with Blackwell GPU, 128GB memory, and 1TB storage
• Early reviews describe a capable platform offering serious performance improvements over Jetson Orin
• Reviewers agree it will appeal to developers needing powerful hardware for projects

Nvidia recently launched the Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit, a $3,499 platform designed for robotics and edge AI development - and it's had a warm initial reception from reviewers.

At its heart is the Jetson T5000 module built on the Blackwell architecture, which combines a GPU with 2,560 CUDA cores, 96 Tensor cores, and a 14 core Arm Neoverse CPU.

It is paired with 128GB of LPDDR5x memory, offering over 270GB per second of bandwidth, and 1TB of onboard storage. Connectivity options include USB C, USB A, HDMI 2.1, Wi Fi 6E, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 100GbE port.

"Gobs of horsepower"

The first reviews of the kit are now in, and they suggest Nvidia has built an impressive option for developers despite its higher price compared to the Jetson Orin.

HotHardware's testing showed the Jetson AGX Thor to be a strong performer, even with limited comparisons. Nvidia’s Arm64 containers ran smoothly, but testing against other Blackwell hardware wasn’t possible, and the older Orin kit failed to complete workloads.

The gap in capability was clear, though, with Orin closer to an RTX 3050 and Thor approaching RTX 5070 levels.

Large language models performed well in testing. As HotHardware points out, "LLMs are one area where the Jetson excels, and it needs to since humanoid robots are expected to mix language with visual inputs."

The review concluded that the kit has “gobs of horsepower” for robotics and AI projects, noting, "If you want to run very large AI models in a friendly multi-tasking environment using Nvidia's software stack, the Jetson AGX Thor Developer Kit is a great new tool for your toolchest. The good news is that it handles all of those tasks with style and aplomb. And the device will likely get even better over time as Nvidia continues to refine and update its software stack with additional edge AI capabilities."

ServeTheHome's review found performance came close to matching Nvidia’s claims, including 149.1 tokens per second on Llama 3.1 8B versus the expected 150.8.

CPU multi-threaded performance placed it near an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 or Mac Mini M4, which was considered sufficient given its GPU focus.

In benchmark testing, as expected, Thor consistently outpaced Orin across every model. Gains on smaller workloads such as Qwen 2.5-VL 7B and Llama 3.1 8B were modest, with Thor coming in around 1.3 times faster.

Deepseek-R1 7B showed a larger improvement at about 1.5 times the speed. The most dramatic difference came with Qwen 3 32B inference, where Thor nearly reached five times the performance of Orin, highlighting its strength when running larger and more demanding models.

While power draw may challenge battery systems, ServeTheHome concluded the Thor offers the compute and memory needed for advanced robotics. It also managed to identify the included 1TB SSD as a WD/SanDisk SN5000S.

Both reviews described the Jetson AGX Thor as a capable step forward for edge AI and robotics projects and praised its mix of compute power, memory capacity, and developer tools, while noting that software updates will be needed to unlock all of its poential.

As ServeTheHome put it, the new kit is “going to sell like hotcakes. If you are building high-end next-generation robotics, this is the platform you want to do it on. ”

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• More Samsung Galaxy leaks have appeared online
• New phones and tablets are expected next week
• We now know almost everything about these devices

Samsung has booked in another Galaxy launch event for next Thursday, September 4, and we're seeing plenty of leaks around what to expect in terms of devices – and specifically, the Galaxy S25 FE phone and Galaxy Tab S11 series of tablets.

We've got what look like official marketing images of the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Galaxy S25 FE from tipster Evan Blass, which were shared by Android Authority, giving us a good look at the design of both devices.

The Galaxy S25 FE is of course the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, and it doesn't look as if we're going to get much in the way of external changes – though the internals are certain to get a performance boost for 2025.

As for the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, it's the follow-up to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra that launched in October 2024. Again, it doesn't seem as though much has changed in terms of the aesthetics, but we'll have to wait for the details.

The leaks continue

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE launched last October (Image credit: Future)

Besides the official-looking imagery linked to above, we've also got a sneak preview of the Tab S11 series, courtesy of a couple of Polish retail outlets (via GSMArena). A standard Tab S11 and a Tab S11 Ultra are listed, so we can expect at least two new models.

We've also got even more promo shots of the Galaxy S25 FE courtesy of Android Headlines, and the pictures indicate four colors for the new mid-ranger: black, white, navy, and what looks like a pale lavender shade, so take your pick.

Add in the extensive series of leaks we've previously seen – covering everything from full specs sheets to display sizes and resolutions – and there isn't much we don't know about the phones and tablets that are on the way next week.

Everything gets underway on September 4 at 2.30am PT / 5.30am ET / 10.30am BST / 7.30pm AEST), ahead of the IFA 2025 tech show in Berlin. We'll bring you all the announcements as they happen, and you'll also be able to watch the event live.

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, August 30 (game #811).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

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

NYT Connections today (game #812) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DRUM
• BASS
• FISH
• CARDS
• FIDDLE
• ROAST
• DOES
• FLAME
• CHOP
• AXES
• BLAST
• DICE
• COORDINATE
• PIECES
• BOARD
• BASH

NYT Connections today (game #812) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Strong put downs
• GREEN: Parts needed for tabletop entertainment
• BLUE: Spelt the same sounds different
• PURPLE: Add a word that rhymes with “picks”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #812) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CRITICIZE HARSHLY
• GREEN: COMMON COMPONENTS OF BOARD GAMES
• BLUE: HETERONYMS
• PURPLE :___STICKS

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

NYT Connections today (game #812) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #812, are…

• YELLOW: CRITICIZE HARSHLY BASH, BLAST, FLAME, ROAST
• GREEN: COMMON COMPONENTS OF BOARD GAMES BOARD, CARDS, DICE, PIECES
• BLUE: HETERONYMS AXES, BASS, COORDINATE, DOES
• PURPLE :___STICKS CHOP, DRUM, FIDDLE, FISH

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Fail

I made a mess of this game. My first mistake was in thinking we were looking for a group that was about cooking – ROAST, DICE, CHOP and FLAME.

Then I gathered all the instruments, before making a third mistake putting together a group of words vaguely connected to being fired from a job – CARDS, AXES, CHOP, BLAST.

Basically I didn’t have a clue!

However, before failing again I did manage to put together the CRITICIZE HARSHLY group. 

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, August 30, game #811)

• YELLOW: MUSIC GENRES EMO, FUNK, METAL, POP
• GREEN: NOT BE GOOD BITE, BLOW, STINK, SUCK
• BLUE: DO EXCEPTIONALLY WELL EAT, ROCK, RULE, SLAY
• PURPLE: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS CAGE, ENO, GLASS, REICH

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, August 30 (game #1314).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,100 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

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 #1315) - hint #1 - VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* 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 #1315) - hint #2 - repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 2.

Quordle today (game #1315) - hint #3 - uncommon lettersDo 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 #1315) - hint #4 - 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 #1315) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• M

• E

• F

• T

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

Quordle today (game #1315) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1315, are…

• MORAL
• ENTER
• FOIST
• TESTY

My streak ended and man am I TESTY about it.

After taking three turns to get FOIST, I was left with just one guess on the final line and gambled with a rare letter rather than the more obvious repeat letter. I hope you did better.

Daily Sequence today (game #1315) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1315, are…

• JOUST
• SAVOY
• RABBI
• BRINK

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1314, Saturday, 30 August: RHINO, FLUNG, JUICY, DROVE
• Quordle #1313, Friday, 29 August: FLAIR, TAROT, FRAIL, PRUNE
• Quordle #1312, Thursday, 28 August: AFOOT, TANGO, LUMEN, NAVAL
• Quordle #1311, Wednesday, 27 August: TWEED, SCRAP, SHEIK, AWOKE
• Quordle #1310, Tuesday, 26 August: BEGET, WRATH, HEARD, INDEX
• Quordle #1309, Monday, 25 August: GEEKY, SHALT, CHIEF, JIFFY
• Quordle #1308, Sunday, 24 August: ROVER, GONER, ANTIC, OUTDO
• Quordle #1307, Saturday, 23 August: DEMON, GRATE, FLYER, SHEEP
• Quordle #1306, Friday, 22 August: TROOP, SCOPE, TORSO, BRINY
• Quordle #1305, Thursday, 21 August: QUEST, SPARK, WHITE, ACUTE
• Quordle #1304, Wednesday, 20 August: DOLLY, MERRY, BUGLE, WORST
• Quordle #1303, Tuesday, 19 August: KNAVE, SMART, CARRY, MAMMA
• Quordle #1302, Monday, 18 August: FIBER, TRADE, RAYON, TEASE
• Quordle #1301, Sunday, 17 August: FUNGI, AMITY, DRIER, CHECK
• Quordle #1300, Saturday, 16 August: OWING, QUAKE, SLIDE, ELITE
• Quordle #1299, Friday, 15 August: WHALE, PRISM, DRAKE, TEPEE
• Quordle #1298, Thursday, 14 August: LAPEL, IDIOM, RENEW, LIVER
• Quordle #1297, Wednesday, 13 August: CACTI, HOMER, EMAIL, ALBUM
• Quordle #1296, Tuesday, 12 August: SPOOL, TITLE, JAUNT, OVINE
• Quordle #1295, Monday, 11 August: ADULT, BROOM, PURER, CRUEL

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, August 30 (game #545).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

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

NYT Strands today (game #546) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Up the hill

NYT Strands today (game #546) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BOIL
• WATCH
• LAKE
• KNIFE
• BEAT
• PRANK

NYT Strands today (game #546) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 11 letters

NYT Strands today (game #546) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First side: right, 7th row

Last side: left, 2nd row

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

NYT Strands today (game #546) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #546, are…

• PAIL
• TUMBLING
• FETCH
• WATER
• AFTER
• CROWN
• BROKE
• SPANGRAM: JACK AND JILL

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

Initially, I had no idea what the theme was about, but I was finding plenty of non-game words so I took a hint to get started.

PAIL is not a word that has featured regularly in my lifetime so I immediately recognized it from the nursery rhyme – something that was confirmed when I found the spangram JACK AND JILL.

From here it was just a case of remembering what they went up the hill for and what happened when they fell down it.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, August 30, game #545)

• HUGE
• ENORMOUS
• MIGHTY
• GIGANTIC
• MASSIVE
• COLOSSAL
• SPANGRAM: BIG DEAL

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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