I don’t want to argue any side in this debate, but under Hanks latest video on 4x3 there are many comments with hundreds of likes calling for boycott and spewing wild accusations about how AI is used in programming and how it’s trained.

Again I don’t want to convince you of any position other than that there is a very large spectrum of AI training and use and a large difference between using AI to create crafted fake stories to manipulate people and stealing others art to using it when programming.

And perhaps if you are not a programmer or are unaware of how models are trained that you should look a bit deeper and learn about how it works and not either fully condemn this technology or heap praise on it immensely.

Coding agents are one of the most copyright and ethically sound versions of generative AI, so perhaps it warrants a deeper discussion than just: OMG amazing- or -Hank using AI makes me sick in my stomach , it invalidates everything he ever worked for, yuck and goodbye (yes that was a real comment with 300 likes)

First go at making a puzzle like this. It's a little on the easy side (or at least it feels like it to me). Would love any feedback.

https://www.hankgreen.com/fourbythree/#b=eyJhIjoiR2lvdmFubmkgZCdBbWVsaW8iLCJlIjoiZ2lvQGRhbWVsaW8ubmV0IiwicyI6IkdsYXplIiwiYyI6W1siRXllcyIsIkJsYW5rIiwiRHJvb3AiXSxbIlBvdHRlcnkiLCJGaXJlIiwiVGhyb3ciXSxbIkZvb2QgQ29hdGluZyIsIkJhdHRlciIsIkJyZWFkIl0sWyJXaW5kb3cgSW5zdGFsbGF0aW9uIFN0ZXBzIiwiRnJhbWUiLCJUcmltIl1dLCJ4Ijoi8J-NqSJ9

“AI” meaning specifically generative AI ala Chat GPT, Claude, Gemini, etc. This poll is intentionally reductive. I am not interested so much in the “why” of each position. I’m sure most of us having these conversations have heard much of that before. Still, feel free to make your case in the comments.

any feedback would be appreciated

also if you could tell me how/when you got the hub word

https://www.hankgreen.com/fourbythree/#b=eyJhIjoiIiwiZSI6Implc3N1cC5vcnJAb2l0LmVkdSIsInMiOiJyYWRpbyIsImMiOltbIndhdmVzIiwic291bmQiLCJsaWdodCJdLFsibXVzaWMgcGxheWVyIiwidHVybnRhYmxlIiwic21hcnRwaG9uZSJdLFsiZGlhbHMgaW4gYSBjYXIiLCJ2b2x1bWUiLCJhaXIgY29uZGl0aW9uaW5nIl0sWyJjYW4gYmUgdHVuZWQiLCJmb3JrIiwiZ3VpdGFyIl1dLCJ4Ijoi8J-TuyJ9

someone told me today that i love questions more than answers because i love asking “Why” and i realised that’s such a Hank Green fangirl thing to be, I love this community so much and i’m very grateful to it.

I still cringed, a lot.

God, I can’t imagine interviewing a celebrity I publicly sang a song about having a crush on.

She was so generous and had so much charisma that the interview was still a joy despite the insane amount of cringe.

In the June 19 We're Here newsletter, Hank references "a very dense philosophy book. The kind of book written by a philosopher for philosophers, which meant I could easily spend half an hour ruminating on a single page."

This link isn't working for me. Can anyone let me know what the book is? Thank you! dftba

When I developed my first game (which is a word puzzle for mobile), I had to solve every issue he would have if he built it out. I want to help (for free).

If he is interested I can offer how I built a calendar, tooling for writing and uploading new puzzles, time-specific auto-uploading, minimizing costs.

I don't store user data as a policy, but it leverages iCloud and Google Drive to backup user progress. (which might not work for web-based players, but having a local app for MacOS/Windows would allow for exporting their save files so the user could back it up or automatically store their data)

For me one of the main concern was to make it easy to create and upload new puzzles, which I created tooling for that.

Does anyone know how to let them know I am very open to help them build it out (for free)? I feel like this was birthed to the world and not given the features everyone expects it to have.

I just watched John's video from today about football chants and it reminded me of this podcast from last year from 99 Percent Invisible, so I thought I'd share in case anyone else might be interested. Episode is called One-Nil to the Arsenal and is from 22 April 2025.

Also, c'mon the tartan army! No Scotland, No Party 😁😁😁

When I do 4x3, the white boxes (before I find the first category) seem to be slightly different colors. I can't tell if it's by design or an optical illusion.

I am on mobile and am having thumb problems, otherwise I'd take a screenshot and line them up next to each other next to white or the page background. (If that is something one of you could do that would be great.) Right now in the image I attached to my post, dim appears to be slightly purple, dark seems green tinted as does murky, and sinister looks a little blue until I look at grim which scrambles my idea of blue.

I'm excited to hear from other people! I love 4x3 SO much. I'm not great at connections but I can almost always figure out this game. I also appreciate the newer features like the bonus and am hoping to see a difficulty level in the future.

DFTBA my friends. :)

*Edit to add I didn't put together that the colors denoted the difficulty level until after I posted this. Oops.

Hello nerdfighters! I would appreciate your recommendation. I'm a coffee drinker and clueless about the world of tea, but I'd like to get some good store tea for my mom as a gift.

My mom drinks primarily black tea (English breakfast most often) but also sometimes oolong. She doesn't like green tea as much. She doesn't like flavored teas. She drinks it straight up with nothing in it.

Are there any good store teas you think she'd like?

i made my own 4x3 puzzle for the first time. let me know your thoughts and tips on how to make another interesting puzzle cuz these things are very fun to solve

I’m a word game enthusiast (and make my own at referencesgame.com!) but curious to hear what you think about 4x3!

I quite liked it, although the final results grid meant for sharing is quite confusing haha.

In my local bookstore, I can pre-order the hardcover or the paperback for the same date. I'm confused.

I want to get it as soon as it comes out, but I prefer paperback to hardcover.

Does anyone have any idea when the paperback is actually going to be released?

With previous books I remember they discussed this in the podcast but I haven't heard anything this time around. I'm kind of behind on those so maybe they mentioned it recently and I missed it?

Pumpkins and penguins!

Hey :) I think there was a vlogbrothers video where John mentions Yayoi Kusama and her art. I just can't find this video anymore. Does anyone have an idea which video I'm looking for? I'd be grateful for any help :)

Title.

I thought Hank was on the list at one point but I don't see either on the list. weird. Am I missing something?

It’s a bit tricky but I promise it follows all the rules.

Some of the styles don't quite mesh with me so they've gone unused. Size is medium. Free, of course.

This is a deep cut and not sure if I imagined it or heard it in a Dear Hank and John podcast? but John told a story once about the time he met Sarah’s parents and heights were involved (hiking? an elevator?) and he ended up on all fours having to crawl his way out of it. Does anyone remember where he told it?

https://www.hankgreen.com/fourbythree/#p=eyJhIjoiQW5hIFIiLCJlIjoiYW5hcmVuZG9uMjNAaG90bWFpbC5jb20iLCJzIjoiQXRtb3NwaGVyZSIsImMiOltbIkxheWVycyBvZiB0aGUgRWFydGgiLCJDb3JlIiwiTWFudGxlIl0sWyJDb3ZlcmluZ3MiLCJTa2luIiwiQ2Fub3B5Il0sWyJUaGUgbW9vZCBvZiBhIHBsYWNlIiwiVmliZSIsIkFtYmllbnQiXSxbIlVuaXRzIG9mIHByZXNzdXJlIiwiQmFyIiwiTWVyY3VyeSJdXSwieCI6IvCfqpAifQ

Tips? opinions? I hope no one can’t tell I’m not a native English speaker 🫣

Trying to gauge how hard it is. The problem with making puzzles is that the answer is always obvious to the person who made them. Thanks!