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Quordle today – hints and answers for Monday, April 15 (game #812)

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It’s time for another Quordle puzzle – or two, if you play the Daily Sequence variant too.

But Quordle is tough, so if you already find yourself searching for today’s Wordle answer, you’ll probably need some hints for this game too.

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Macintosh 512Ke enhances the Mac |Today in Apple history

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April 14: Today in Apple history: Macintosh 512Ke launches April 14, 1986: The “low-cost” Macintosh 512Ke brings hardware upgrades — and a bit of confusion — to the low end of the Mac lineup.

The Mac 512Ke is an “enhanced” (hence the “e”) model of the Mac 512K. The upgrade addresses complaints that the original Mac lacked enough memory. The 512Ke adds a double-density 800KB floppy drive and a 128KB ROM to the Mac 512K formula.

Macintosh 512Ke: A ‘low-cost’ Mac. Sort of.

The fourth Mac model released, the Macintosh 512Ke served as a lower-cost alternative to the Macintosh Plus, which shipped three months earlier. While the Mac Plus cost $2,599 when it launched (the equivalent of more than $7,100 today), the Mac 512Ke cost $1,999 (the equivalent of a still-not-exactly-cheap $5,500 in 2023).

Buyers of the Mac 512Ke could trade in their machine for a Mac Plus for a one-off payment of $799. However, that meant they would pay more than if they just bought a Mac Plus outright.

For their money, Mac 512Ke buyers got an 8MHz 68000 processor (the same as the earlier Macs), 512k of RAM and that 800KB floppy, but no hard drive. This came packaged in a beige (at first) all-in-one case, with a 9-inch monochrome display. It shipped with Mac OS System 3.0, but could be upgraded to support System 6.0.8.

Although Steve Jobs was already out of Apple, the Macintosh 512Ke retained his philosophy that Macs shouldn’t be expandable. Apple was already moving away from this stance with its higher-end computers, since the Mac Plus allowed memory expansion.

The Mac 512Ke came with no memory-expansion slots. However, it was among the first Macs (maybe even the first?) that could be used as an AppleShare server.

Mac 512Ke: What’s in a name?

As older Apple fans might remember, the company’s product line names could prove confusing. The same Macs often got different names depending on the sales outlet. As someone whose early memories of Apple come from the 1990s, I always associated this naming oddity with that decade. The 1980s enjoyed straightforward product names like the Macintosh SE and Macintosh II.

In fact, this “Today in Apple history” pick shows that Apple’s unfortunate naming convention began relatively early in the Mac’s lifespan. While regular U.S. customers bought this machine as the Macintosh 512Ke, Apple also sold the computer to the education market as the Macintosh ED. That version came with a Mac Plus extended keyboard.

That same model, complete with Mac Plus extended keyboard, also sold to non-education customers outside the United States under the name Macintosh 512K/800.

More confusion: Mac 512Ke gets a face-lift

To add one final complication for Mac completists, in 1987 Apple gave the Macintosh 512Ke an aesthetic face-lift by switching to the Platinum color scheme. That meant changing the 512Ke’s front bezel to that of the Macintosh Plus. But the internals and name remained the same.

Apple ultimately canceled the computer in September 1987.

Do you remember the Macintosh 512Ke? Leave your comments below.



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NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, April 14 (game #42)

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Have you been hooked by Strands yet? It’s fast becoming a must-play for me, (almost) as essential as getting my daily Wordle fix.

Presumably, if you’re reading this page then you are at least vaguely interested in it – so read on for some hints for today’s game.

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Quordle today – hints and answers for Sunday, April 14 (game #811)

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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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Today in Apple history: Early iPad rumor gets Apple fans buzzing

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April 13: Today in Apple history: Early iPad rumor gets Apple fans buzzing April 13, 2005: The tech world gets excited when a sketchy rumor suggests Apple is building a tablet computer.

The Chinese-language report claims Quanta will build a 15-inch touchscreen tablet PC with detachable keyboard. Apple will supposedly ship the device in the first quarter of 2006. Things don’t turn out quite like that, but the rumor offers the first hint about Apple’s secret iPad project.

The first iPad rumor?

The idea of developing a tablet fascinated Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for a long time, although he denied it when asked by journalist Walt Mossberg in May 2003.

“We have no plans to make a tablet,” Jobs said at the time.

However, a tablet appealed to Jobs’ love of minimalism, since it was basically a screen with nothing else.

The iPad: Inspired by Alan Kay’s Dynabook

Alan Kay's Dynabook concept was for a personal computer simple enough for children to use.
Alan Kay’s Dynabook concept was for a personal computer simple enough for children to use.
Photo: Alan Kay

In particular, Jobs was inspired by the Dynabook, a concept dreamed up in 1968 by Xerox PARC (and later Apple) engineer Alan Kay.

During Jobs’ absence from Apple, the company experimented with tablet-like mobile devices in the form of the Newton MessagePad (which Jobs ultimately canceled upon his return to Cupertino).

However, by the early 2000s, Apple began working on the iPad, or at least thinking a lot more about the tablet computer form factor.

In March 2004, the company surveyed select customers, claiming it was considering relaunching the Newton. In actuality, Apple was gathering data about demand for future mobile devices.

Apple patent shows iPad-like ‘electronic device’

An Apple patent from 2004 shows designs for an iPad-like device.
An Apple patent from 2004 shows designs for an iPad-like device.
Photo: USPTO/Apple

That exact same month, the company filed a design patent application for an “electronic device” that looks virtually identical to the iPad that shipped a few years later (with the exception of the smaller display, which looked more like the iPad mini). The patent application listed both Jobs and Apple design chief Jony Ive as inventors.

Apple ultimately opted to develop a touch interface smartphone, the iPhone, before revisiting the iPad concept. It’s not clear whether there was any truth to the Quanta rumor about a possible tablet computer. Perhaps Apple was sourcing components it was unable to put together in its Industrial Design lab back in Cupertino.

Still, this rumor got a lot of people buzzing about a possible Apple tablet back in 2005. Another five years passed before Apple introduced the iPad. However, this rumor revealed definite excitement about what Apple might do with a tablet.

What was the first report you heard about the iPad? Leave your comments below.



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NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Saturday, April 13 (game #41)

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Today’s Strands is an apt one for the weekend, but I can’t say any more without giving the game away.

It’s a fun one, trust me, but requires certain specialist knowledge. If you don’t have it, you may find some of my hints to be helpful…

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Quordle today – hints and answers for Saturday, April 13 (game #810)

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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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Quordle today – hints and answers for Friday, April 12 (game #809)

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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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Apple-1 starts a computing revolution: Today in Apple history

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April 11: Today in Apple history: Apple-1 launches. It's the First Apple computer. April 11, 1976: Apple releases its first computer, the Apple-1.

Designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, the computers are sold wholesale by “Steven” Jobs. To finance their manufacturing, Wozniak sells his HP-65 calculator for $500, while Jobs sells his Volkswagen van. Years later, in 2014, a working Apple-1 will sell at auction for $905,000.

Apple-1: The first Apple computer

In terms of specs, the first Apple computer was incredibly primitive. It came with an 8-bit MOS 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz. It boasted 4KB of memory as standard, although expansion cards could boost this to 8KB or 48KB. Users had to add their own keyboard and monitor, although the latter could be a regular TV set, which made the Apple-1 innovative for its day. (And also, arguably, makes the Apple-1 the company’s first set-top box.)

Wozniak started working on the computer as a hobby, with no goal beyond showing it off to the people at the local Homebrew Computer Club, a hobbyist group whose meetings he attended in Menlo Park, California.

A proof of concept for the Homebrew Computer Club

“I did this computer … to show the people at Homebrew that it was possible to build a very affordable computer — a real computer you could program for the price of the Altair — with just a few chips,” Wozniak recalled in his autobiography, iWoz.

Jobs convinced Woz they would do better building and selling the Apple-1 rather than giving away the designs. Then Jobs approached Paul Terrell, who owned The Byte Shop in nearby Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores.

Terrell rejected Jobs’ first suggestion that the Apple-1 should come in kit form. He told Jobs that, with computers becoming more mainstream, people wanted to buy fully assembled machines.

Apple-1 launch price: $666.66

Jobs listened and agreed. So, Terrell said he would buy 50 Apple-1 computers for $500 each, although cash would only be paid upon delivery. Terrell then marked up the computers to $666.66, or the equivalent of more than $3,500 today.

Ultimately, the Apple-1 didn’t hang around too long. Apple only built 200 or so of its first computers. The number of surviving units is significantly smaller today, due to both the computers’ age and the fact that Apple offered a trade-in deal when it launched the significantly upgraded Apple II the following year.



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Quordle today – hints and answers for Thursday, April 11 (game #808)

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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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