Latest news with #computer
CTV News
23-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Class-action lawsuit filed in B.C. over 2009 Interior Health data breach
A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Oct. 9, 2023 photo illustration. (Graeme Roy / The Canadian Press)
CTV News
18-05-2025
- CTV News
Thunder Bay police charge 3 men in child porn probes
A hand is shown operating a computer mouse with a screen full of blurred images shown on the monitor in the background. (File photo/CTV News)
CNET
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for May 18
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. Today's NYT Mini Crossword offers up two golf-computer clues, which sound confusing, but are pretty easy once you give them some thought. Need some help 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 at those Mini Crossword clues and answers. The completed NYT MIni Crossword puzzle for May 18, 2025. Mini across clues and answers 1A clue: Golf shot that's also a piece of computer hardware Answer: CHIP 5A clue: Golf shot that's also a piece of computer hardware Answer: DRIVE 6A clue: Screenwriter Sorkin Answer: AARON 7A clue: Nonreactive, chemically Answer: INERT 8A clue: "Bye-bye!" Answer: SEEYA Mini down clues and answers 1D clue: Origami bird Answer: CRANE 2D clue: Person added to the staff Answer: HIREE 3D clue: Material used to plate the skin of the Parthenon Athena and the statue of Zeus at Olympia Answer: IVORY 4D clue: Five: Prefix Answer: PENTA 5D clue: Speaker's platform Answer: DAIS How to play more Mini Crosswords The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day's Mini Crossword for free, but you'll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
CNET
13-05-2025
- Business
- CNET
I Tested AI for Its Best Laptop Picks. I'm Glad I Fact-Checked Before I Bought
If you're looking to buy a computer right now, please accept my condolences. With the ongoing tariff madness, it's a heady time to be researching your options and choosing a new PC. The tech market is in flux, and you're no doubt concerned about the potential for price increases. CNET is tracking how political and financial developments are impacting the prices of things like smartphones, TVs, game consoles and laptops. Meanwhile, shopping assistant chatbots have proliferated, and the best-known one, ChatGPT, says it's rolling out a shopping experience soon -- so maybe you're tempted to take a shortcut by using an AI chatbot to help you narrow down the options to find a suitable computer in your target price range. I tested it out, cross-referencing its suggestions with CNET's guide on the best desktop PCs, the best MacBooks and the best laptops, assembled by a staff of experts based on hands-on testing. And in my experience, as you'll see, the AI recommendations all had notable shortcomings. The AI's suggested picks "are all old and, for the most part, they are underpowered for what we asked for," CNET managing editor and laptop expert Josh Goldman said. "With two exceptions." A laptop for value and flexibility The MacBook Air M1 laptop was released in 2020 and discontinued in 2024. Josh Goldman/CNET You need a laptop that checks a ton of boxes while also staying well within your budget. What Microsoft Copilot picked was a laptop from 2020 -- the Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020). The M1 Air is only available new in one configuration from Walmart, but you can get a refurbished one at Best Buy or buy the M2 model (see it at Best Buy). "Despite its advanced age in computer years, the M1 Air is a good all-around choice for school, home office, entertainment and basic content creation," Goldman said. Where the AI recommendations started to really fall off was when I tried to use the free versions of Copilot and Perplexity to help with the mind-numbing work of identifying which retailers accept buy now, pay later purchasing options, such as Klarna and Affirm. These allow you to make purchases in installments instead of owing the total cost at checkout while avoiding high-interest credit cards. The AI-enabled search tool Perplexity confirmed that Walmart offers the ability to pay for products using Affirm, and its recommendation of the Apple MacBook Air as a budget-friendly option agreed with CNET's advice. However, be warned -- Perplexity was terrible at identifying afterpay options available directly from retailers, and confidently conflated store credit cards and high-interest payment plans as "pay-as-you-go" options, so make certain you double-check the cited results. (As a side note, I've been putting AI tools through their paces for a year now, and I have noticed some are getting worse, with more frequent hallucinations and bad information being returned. Perplexity in particular admitted in the chat that there is a "disconnect" between its "capabilities" and what it can actually accomplish.) A laptop for browsing and bed rotting An HP Chromebook was suggested by AI for binge-watching your favorite shows. HP Screen time can also be self-care if you do it right. You deserve a lightweight, internet-optimized laptop with a screen big enough for bingeing Columbo episodes on Prime Video (just me?) under the covers in your personal cocoon. I asked Microsoft's AI-enabled in-browser search tool, Copilot, to find me laptops I'd use while mostly horizontal. No powerful frills necessary. This needs to be built for comfort, not speed, with a price to match. What it came back with: the HP Chromebook 11 (see it at Amazon) -- which it called the "HP Lightweight 11," no doubt confused by its description online -- with an 11-inch HD IPS display, Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and Windows 11. To throw in another warning about using AI, Copilot returned a great list of very affordable options optimized for lounging and bingeing, but it fabricated links that were not active on any sites instead of providing real links to review the products. After this deceptive hallucination was discovered, another query had to be done for active links to the products. Copilot / Screenshot by CNET Goldman, CNET's laptop expert, disagreed with the choice, though. "For binge-watching, the correct answer is an iPad or Apple tablet, frankly," he says. "An 11-inch laptop would not be enjoyable because the screen and audio quality at that price would be disappointing. Performance would be pretty disappointing too." A laptop for gaming power and portability The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop is great for gaming. Josh Goldman/CNET I'm not going to suggest you touch grass, but it would be nice to play Baldur's Gate while looking out a window or, better yet, at Ren Faire on the shared Wi-Fi with three of your best Tavs. I asked Copilot to recommend laptops that are blessed with long battery life and are feature-rich, yet have affordable graphics chips that can run a game like Baldur's Gate 3 smoothly. The first suggestion was the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 (see it at Amazon) -- the second recommendation that Goldman agreed with. But here's what else Copilot recommended: Copilot / Screenshot by CNET Although Copilot's list of laptops were technically capable of running the game, only the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 met the recommended specs for an epic title like Baldur's Gate 3. Copilot / Screenshot by CNET After prodding, the AI tool admitted that the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 was the only option that met the search criteria. So, as always, make sure you double-check the info AI is giving you -- and cross-reference it with CNET's recommendations for gaming laptops before making a purchase. A laptop for content creation and connectivity You have a gift, an expertise or another light inside you that you want to share with the world, and being afraid of overpaying for a laptop shouldn't deprive us of your contributions. I asked Copilot to show me laptops and computers built for content creation, photo and video editing, and easy, creative collaboration that wouldn't set me back more than $500. Copilot / Screenshot by CNET Copilot returned a list of options that made some sense; however, when asked to crown a content creation laptop champion, its criteria and methodology were lacking. The tool first identified a laptop option that was not on the initial list provided and was well over the $500 budget. When prodded, Copilot recommended the HP 15.6-inch FHD Chromebook (see it at Best Buy) as the best budget option; however, when compared directly, the Acer Aspire 3 Premium (see it at Amazon) beat the HP on all criteria, including price. Copilot / Screenshot by CNET Key tip on using AI to help you choose your tech Working with conversational AI-integrated search tools is a give and take, and you should never take the first answer at face value. Challenge the AI, be specific about what you want and scrutinize the results, comparing them against actual human expert advice like CNET reviews for the best outcome.
Gizmodo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
HP Pavilion Tower Desktop Computer Debuted Two Weeks Ago, Now 50% Off and Already Rated 4.8 Stars
Ready for a new computer? Don't just settle for the first one you see. Do a bit of research before you make a big purchase like that. And if you don't want to do that, you can take our buying advice. There's an excellent deal you can claim right now on a computer that'll last you for some time. And all you have to do is head to Amazon to grab it! Right now, get the HP Pavilion Desktop for just $719 at Amazon, down from its normal price of $1,399. That's $680 off and a discount of 49%. So you're getting this computer for half off, plus Windows 11 Pro installed! That's a big discount all on its own. See at Amazon A solid desktop that meets all your needs This isn't a gaming rig or a high-end production machine, but it's a very capable desktop for most people's needs. The 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11700F processor inside has eight cores of processing power with clock speeds that boost up to 4.9 GHz. That's more than enough for multitasking, streaming, web browsing, and even some photo or video editing on the side. It also comes with 32GB of RAM, which gives you plenty of breathing room to run multiple applications without slowdown. Paired with a 1TB PCIe SSD, you'll get quick startup times, faster file transfers, and plenty of space to store work files, media, and apps. For graphics, it includes a GeForce GT 610 with 2GB of VRAM. This older GPU isn't built for modern gaming, but it's perfectly fine for multimedia playback, dual-monitor setups, and running design or office programs that don't rely heavily on 3D acceleration. See at Amazon You also get modern connectivity options like Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth, plus plenty of USB ports and HDMI output. Whether you're hooking up a webcam, external storage, a second monitor, or all of the above, it has room to handle it. And we mentioned this before, but it does come with Windows 11 Pro. That means you get access to advanced features like remote desktop, domain join, and more control over updates and security. It's good for a professional setting, but even better if you're using it at home so you can reap all the benefits. So let's recap. This computer is a massive 49% off. That means you're paying just $719. It's a smart pick for students, remote workers, or anyone who just wants a great and reliable desktop. So grab it while you can and start getting things done! See at Amazon
