forbesnewsbbc.site

Tag: future of ai

  • High altitude and hard falls: how I mastered skiing at 40

    High altitude and hard falls: how I mastered skiing at 40


    You might think that someone like me, who did everything from 100-mile ultramarathons in Mongolia and bikepacking through Wales to trail running in the Dolomites and eFoiling in the South of England, must have mastered the art of skiing. After all, I turned 40 last year, which is plenty of time to tick something like skiing off the bucket list.

    Well, that’s not the case. I’ve never skied before, partially because we never had the money to go on ski trips when I was young, and it hasn’t come up later in life. So imagine my excitement when Helly Hansen approached me with an offer I couldn’t refuse: did I want to learn to ski in Verbier?


  • Edge AI has significant business potential – here’s why

    Edge AI has significant business potential – here’s why



    The rapid evolution of tech, and especially AI, has brought us to the era of edge computing, an approach in which data is processed closer to its source rather than relying entirely on distant cloud servers.

    At the forefront of this trend is ‘edge AI’, where AI models and algorithms are deployed on local devices to deliver immediate insights and actions. The approach is being fueled by advancements in efficient large language models (LLMs) such as DeepSeek, as well as small language models, so-called tiny AI, and the integration of neural processing units (NPUs) in modern hardware.


  • ASRock Steel Legend SL-1000G Power Supply Review

    ASRock Steel Legend SL-1000G Power Supply Review


    ASRock, a prominent name in PC hardware, has recently extended its product portfolio into the power supply unit (PSU) market. As a company whose philosophy revolves around reliability, ASRock aims to provide robust and aesthetically appealing PSUs for high-performance gaming PCs and workstations. The company released four PSU series almost simultaneously – the Taichi, Phantom Gaming, Steel Legend, and Challenger – with the Steel Legend series being the most affordable modular PSUs that the company currently offers.

    We examine the Steel Legend SL-1000G, a 1000W power supply designed to meet modern ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 specifications. This PSU balances efficiency and performance and could be a notable contender to some of the best power supplies in the market. With 80Plus Gold and Cybenetics Platinum certifications, the Steel Legend SL-1000G delivers modern features, aesthetics, and value.

    Specifications and Design

    Swipe to scroll horizontally
    Power Specifications (Rated @ 50 °C)
    RAIL +3.3V +5V +12V +5Vsb -12V
    MAX OUTPUT 20A 20A 83.4A 3A 0.3A
    120W 120W 1000W 15W 3.6W
    TOTAL 1000W 1000W 1000W 1000W 1000W
    AC INPUT 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz 100 – 240 VAC, 50 – 60 Hz
    PRICE $160 Row 5 – Cell 2 Row 5 – Cell 3 Row 5 – Cell 4 Row 5 – Cell 5


  • Darktable Download Free – 5.0.1

    Darktable Download Free – 5.0.1


    Darktable manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable lighttable and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them.

    Features

    • Non-destructive editing throughout the complete workflow, your original images are never modified.
    • Take advantage of the real power of raw: All darktable core functions operate on 4×32-bit floating point pixel buffers, enabling SSE instructions for speedups.
    • GPU accelerated image processing: many image opertions are lightning fast thanks to OpenCL support (runtime detection and enabling).
    • Professional color management: darktable is fully color managed, supporting automatic display profile detection on most systems, including built-in ICC profile support for sRGB, Adobe RGB, XYZ and linear RGB color spaces.
    • Cross platform: darktable runs on Linux, macOS / macports, BSD, Windows and Solaris 11 / GNOME.
    • Filtering and sorting: search your image collections by tags, image rating (stars), color labels and many more, use flexible database queries on all metadata of your images.
    • Image formats: darktable can import a variety of standard, raw and high dynamic range image formats (e.g. JPEG, CR2, NEF, HDR, PFM, RAF … ).
    • Zero-latency, zoomable user interface: through multi-level software caches darktable provides a fluid experience.
    • Tethered shooting: support for instrumentation of your camera with live view for some camera brands.
    • Speaks your language: darktable currently comes with 21 translations: Albanian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian and Portuguese), Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian.
    • Powerful export system supports G+ and Facebook webalbums, flickr upload, disk storage, 1:1 copy, email attachments and can generate a simple html-based web gallery. darktable allows you to export to low dynamic range (JPEG, PNG, TIFF), 16-bit (PPM, TIFF), or linear high dynamic range (PFM, EXR) images.
    • Never lose your image development settings darktable uses both XMP sidecar files as well as its fast database for saving metadata and processing settings. All Exif data is read and written using libexiv2.
    • Automate repetitive tasks: Many aspects of darktable can be scripted in Lua.

    Modules

    Darktable contains several image operation modules. Many modules support powerful blending operators offering blend functionality that works on the incoming image information and the output of the current module or be used with drawn masks.

    Basic image operations:

    • Contrast, brightness, saturation: Quickly tune your image using this simple module.
    • Shadows and highlights: Improve images by lightening shadows and darkening highlights. Read Ulrich’s blog post on this.
    • Crop and rotate: This module is used to crop, rotate and correct the perspective of your image. It also includes many helpful guidelines that assist you using the tools (e.g. rule of thirds or golden ratio).
    • Base curve: darktable comes with general enhanced basecurve presets for several models that are automatically applied to raw images for better colors and contrast.
    • Exposure controls: Tweak the image exposure either by using the sliders in the module or dragging the histogram around.
    • Demosaic: You have the choice between several demosaicing methods when editing raw files.
    • Highlight reconstruction: This module tries to reconstruct color information that is usually clipped due to information not being complete in all channels.
    • White balance: A module offering three ways to set the white balance. You can set tint and temperature or you define the value of each channel. The module offers predefined white balance settings as well. Or just pick a neutral region in the image to balance for that.
    • Invert: A module inverting colors based on the color of film material.

    Tone image operations:

    • Fill light: This module allows the local modification of the exposure based on pixel lightness.
    • Levels: This module offers the well-known levels adjustment tools to set black, grey and white points.
    • Tone curve: This module is a classical tool in digital photography. You can change the lightness by dragging the line up or down. darktable lets you separately control the L, a and b channel. Read in Ulrich’s blog post how to make use of this feature.
    • Zone system: This module changes the lightness of your image. It is based on the Ansel Adams system. It allows to modify the lightness of a zone taking into account the effect on the adjacent zones. It divides the lightness in a user-defined number of zones.
    • Local contrast: This module can be used to boost details in the image.
    • Two different tone mapping modules: These modules allow to recreate some contrast for HDR images.

    Color image operations:

    • Velvia: The velvia module enhances the saturation in the image; it increases saturation on lower saturated pixels more than on high saturated pixels.
    • Channel mixer: This module is a powerful tool to manage channels. As entry, it manipulates red, green and blue channels. As output, it uses red, green, blue or grey or hue, saturation, lightness.
    • Color contrast
    • Color correction: This module can be used to modify the global saturation or to give a tint. Read Johannes’ blog post.
    • Monochrome: This module is a quick way to convert an image to black and white. You can simulate a color filter in order to modify your conversion. The filter can be changed in size and color center.
    • Color zones: This module allows to selectively modify the colors in your image. It is highly versatile and allows every transformation possible in the LCh colorspace.
    • Color balance: Use lift/gamma/gain to change highlights, midtones and shadows.
    • Vibrance: For a detailed description read Henrik’s blog post.
    • Color look up table: Apply styles or film emulations. You can also easily edit the changes done. For more information you can read this blog post
    • Input/output/display color profile management
    • A useful feature that displays pixels outside the dynamic range.

    Correction modules:

    • Dithering: This helps with banding in smooth gradients in the final image.
    • Sharpen: This is a standard UnSharp Mask tool for sharpening the details of an image.
    • Equalizer: This versatile module can be used to achieve a variety of effects, such as bloom, denoising, and local contrast enhancement. It works in the wavelet domain, and parameters can be tuned for each frequency band separately.
    • Denoise (non-local means): Denoising with separated color / brightness smoothing.
    • Defringe: Remove color fringes on high contrast edges.
    • Haze removal: This module allows to remove the low contrast and color tint coming from haze and air pollution.
    • Denoise (bilateral filter): Another denoising module.
    • Liquify: Push image parts around, grow them, shrink them. More information can be found in this blog post
    • Perspective correction: A great module to automatically un-distort shots with straight lines. See our blog post for an introduction and examples.
    • Lens correction: lens defect correction using lensfun.
    • Spot removal: Spot removal allows you to correct a zone in your image by using another zone as model.
    • Profiled denoise: By measuring the typical noise of cameras at the different ISO levels darktable is able to remove a lot of it. Read this blog post for more information.
    • Raw denoise: Raw denoise allows you to perfom denoising on pre-demosaic data. It is ported from dcraw.
    • Hot pixels: This module allows you to visualize and correct stuck and hot pixels.
    • Chromatic aberrations: This module automatically detects and corrects chromatic aberrations.

    Effects/artistic image postprocessing:

    • Watermark: The watermark module provides a way to render a vector-based overlay onto your image. Watermarks are standard SVG documents and can be designed using Inkscape. The SVG processor of darktable also substitutes strings within the SVG document which gives the opportunity to include image-dependent information in the watermark such as aperture, exposure time and other metadata.
    • Framing: This module allows you to add an artistic frame around an image.
    • Split toning: Original split toning method creates a two color linear toning effect where the shadows and highlights are represented by two different colors. darktable split toning module is more complex and offers more parameters to tweak the result.
    • Vignetting: This module is an artistic feature which creates vignetting (modification of the brightness/saturation at the borders).
    • Soften: This module is an artistic feature that creates the Orton effect also commonly known as softening the image. Michael Orton achieved such result on slide film by using 2 exposures of the same scene: one well exposed and one overexposed; then he used a technique to blend those into a final image where the overexposed image was blurred.
    • Grain: This module is an artistic feature which simulates the grain of a film.
    • Highpass: This module acts as highpass filter.
    • Lowpass: This module acts as lowpass filter. One use case is described in Ulrich’s blog post.
    • Lowlight vision: Low light module allows to simulate human lowlight vision, thus providing the ability to make lowlight pictures look closer to reality. It can also be used to perform a day to night conversion.
    • Bloom: This module boost highlights and softly blooms them over the image.
    • Color mapping: Transfer colors from one image to another.
    • Colorize
    • Graduated density: This module aims at simulating a neutral density filter, in order to correct exposure and color in a progressive manner.

    What’s New

    We’re proud to announce the new bug-fix release of darktable, 5.0.1!

    Since Darktable 5.0.0:

    • 105 commits to Darktable+rawspeed
    • 57 pull requests handled
    • 15 issues closed

    Performance Improvements

    • Improved performance of discarding history of selected images.

    Other Changes

    • Harmonized style selection in print settings with the update made in the export module for release 5.0.
    • Darktable now includes the Lensfun database into the AppImage.
    • Center collapsible module section labels.

    Bug Fixes

    • Fixed a scrolling bug in the collections module where the collection tree was not scrolled to the previous position when returning from darkroom.
    • Fix crash when attempting to move up the top or only shape in a group in the mask manager.
    • Fix collection module when using the “module” filter which was listing none of the processing modules.
    • Fix iop-order user presets use. It was not possible to get a user’s iop-order preset to be applied as the Darktable internal presets where always picked up first.
    • Fixed a crash in variable expansion for $(SEQUENCE[n,m]).
    • Fixed handling on click from filmstrip when in map and print view. On map we now properly center the image on the map. On the print view, we use the selected image as content of the main print area.
    • Fixed a regression introduced in 5.0.0 where we lost the ability to read 2-channel TIFF files and files with more than 4 channels. This fix allows them to be read by the TIFF loader, whereas previously the TIFF loader rejected such files and they were loaded by a fallback loader (GraphicsMagick or ImageMagick).
    • Fixed not being able to pan with a mouse in the zoomable layout.
    • Fixed possibly collapsing the module header when restoring defaults.
    • Fixed a case of XMP being written without actual image modification.
    • Fixed a crash of Darktable when reimporting XMP having overlay images referenced.
    • Fixed the support for single lib module opened at a time when in darkroom.
    • Fixed xmp sidecar writing while working as a gimp plugin.
    • Fixed issues when applying a style in darkroom using the Styles module.
    • Fixed a possible crash when using Ctrl+z reproduced on macOS.
    • Fixed Darktable crashing in enlarge-canvas module.
    • Fixed Darktable crashing using details mask due to bad tiling.
    • Fixed a hash calculation bug leading to pixelpipe instabilities.
    • Fixed issue to handle auto-presets when the focal length is greater then 1000.
    • Fixed crash on macOS when closing the darkroom’s second window.
    • Fixed possible jump in filmstrip when entering darkroom from full preview.
    • Fixed a performance regression in haze removal module.
    • Fixed reading palette-based PNG with transparency.
    • Fixed possible crash in lens correction module when changing camera and/or lens model.
    • Fixed crash after deleting style or preset that was selected in shortcuts dialog.
    • Fixed a crash when the currently active module instance is being deleted.
    • We now support the correct orientation for JPEG XL if it was specified in the format’s metadata but not in Exif (or Exif is missing). We also avoid over-transformation if it is specified in both the basic data and Exif.

    RawSpeed changes

    • Fujifilm GFX cameras now use the vendor supplied crop

    Camera support, compared to 5.0.0

    Base Support

    • Leica SL3-S (DNG)
    • Minolta DiMAGE 5
    • Panasonic DC-S5D (3:2)

    White Balance Presets

    Noise Profiles

    • Fujifilm GFX100 II
    • Fujifilm X-S20
    • Fujifilm X100VI
    • Missing Compression Mode Support
    • Apple ProRAW DNGs
    • CinemaDNG lossless (Blackmagic, some DJI, etc.) and lossy (Blackmagic)
    • DNG 1.7 using JPEG XL (Adobe enhanced, Samsung Expert RAW)
    • Fujifilm lossy RAFs
    • Nikon high efficiency NEFs
    • OM System 14-bit high resolution ORFs
    • Sony downsized lossless ARWs (“M” for full-frame, “S” for full-frame & APS-C)

    Suspended Support

    Support for the following cameras is suspended because no samples are available on https://raw.pixls.us:

    • Creo/Leaf Aptus 22(LF3779)/Hasselblad H1
    • Fujifilm IS-1
    • Kodak EasyShare Z980
    • Leaf Aptus-II 5(LI300059)/Mamiya 645 AFD
    • Leaf Credo 60
    • Leaf Credo 80
    • Olympus SP320
    • Phase One IQ250
    • Sinar Hy6/ Sinarback eXact
    • ST Micro STV680

    Previous Release Notes:

    The following is a summary of the main features added to darktable 5.0. Please see the user manual for more details of the individual changes (where available).

    This development cycle has included a large number of changes which improve the user experience, as detailed in the next section.

    UI/UX Improvements

    • Added camera-specific styles for more than 500 camera models to more closely approximate the out-of-camera JPEG rendition. These styles only affect contrast, brightness, and saturation and do not attempt to match sharpening, denoising, or hue shifts. Also added a Lua script to auto-apply the appropriate style on import and manually apply styles to a collection of previously-imported images.
    • Added an optional splash screen showing startup progress (including estimated time remaining during the scan for updated sidecar files) to dramatically reduce the time between invoking darktable and something appearing on screen when the user has a large library.
    • The user interface now gives feedback while processing bulk image operations such as rating, tagging, applying styles, and edit history management (and undoing those operations), rather than silently freezing until the operation completes. While the operation is in progress, darktable will now show either a busy cursor (such as a stopwatch or spinner) or a progress bar with option to cancel the remainder of the operation.
    • Paths for drawn masks now display two Bézier handles per control point, which can be moved individually. This allows for more precise control of the paths.
    • Added a high-contrast theme with bright white text on a dark gray background.
    • Enhanced tooltips for utility module headers to provide more information about the module.
    • Added more new-user hints on an empty lighttable.
    • Added two new error placeholder images to distinguish between missing, unsupported, and corrupted images. When attempting to edit such an image, an appropriate, more specific error message is displayed.
    • When selecting a style in the export module, hovering on the style name in the popup menu displays a thumbnail previewing the effect of appending the style to the active image’s edit (first selected image in lighttable, center-view image in darkroom).
    • Allow for selecting the utility modules to be displayed on the panels in the different views.
    • Right-click on the empty panel area below the modules to get a menu where they can be hidden or shown. This allows additional modules to be added to the darkroom, like metadata editor and styles.
    • This replaces the options in the “collections” and “recently used collections” modules’ preferences to show or hide the latter and show a “history” button in the former instead. Users that want the separate module will need to reenable it once via the new Right-click menu.
    • The menu also contains an option “restore defaults” that resets the selection and position of modules in the current view. In the preferences dialog, on the general tab, there’s a “reset view panels” button that resets all views, including visibility and width of the panels themselves.
    • Added a global preference to swap the left and right side panels in the darkroom view.
    • The first time a new user presses Tab, they will be warned that this will hide all panels and how to get them back. Hopefully this prevents some confusion or frustration.
    • Drag&drop utility module headers to reposition them across the left and right panels (lighttable) as well as vertically (all views). Each view can have a different layout.
    • Drag&drop of processing modules in the darkroom right panel has been improved to auto-scroll when reaching the top or bottom and to not get confused when images get dragged into the area. This functionality no longer requires Ctrl+Shift modifiers.
    • Improved the message displayed at startup when the database is locked by another instance of darktable.
    • Replaced the icon of the operator button in the color label filter for working with multiple selected color labels (union/intersection).

    Performance Improvements

    • Added OpenCL implementation of color equalizer.
    • Improved the speed of bulk image operations by improving the speed of sidecar writes, and by moving sidecar updates for many operations into a background task, allowing the user to proceed before the writes complete.
    • Significantly accelerated loading of PFM files due to loops parallelization and optimization that eliminated additional processing.

    Other Changes

    • Switched default scope for new installations from histogram to waveform to display more detailed information about image color and tonality.
    • The ISO 12646 color assessment condition is kept until unset by user action.
    • Exposure bias can now be used to form collections and as a display filter.
    • Improved visualization of the color equalizer’s effect.
    • Improved debugging support for verifying CPU vs. GPU results.
    • Add Calibrite alias for X-Rite ColorChecker in color calibration.
    • The scan for updated sidecar files now ignores timestamp differences of two seconds or less.
    • The macOS installation package now has a background image to direct the user on installing darktable.app.
    • Changed the user interface of the import dialog to make it easier to delete custom places.
    • Numerous rounds of code cleanup.
    • The copy-parts dialog does not select any module by default now.
    • Add support for undo/redo for actions done on the filmstrip while in darkroom.
    • In darkroom, add action (binding to Ctrl+x by default) for synchronizing the last edited module on current edited module to the selection.
    • Adjusted the internal AVIF encoder parameter to significantly boost encoding speed without compromising the output quality.
    • Tag names can now easily be copied to the clipboard via popup context menu in the tagging module.
    • The Piwigo export storage now supports to specify a file name pattern for the exported file.
    • The directory where darktable will write the log file under Windows has been changed to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Darktable. This allows the user to easily see where the log file is located without even having to search for it in the documentation or FAQ. The previous location was deep in the system subdirectories of the user profile, and also under a hidden directory (so it was impossible to click to it in File Explorer with default system settings).
    • Allow import of JPEG 2000 files with .jpf and .jpx file extensions.
    • Add a visible indicator to the color calibration module when its color mapping section has non-neutral settings which will affect color rendition.
    • Added new substitution variables$(IMAGE.TAGS.HIERARCHY)to insert tags with full hierarchy and$(IMAGE.ID.NEXT)to insert the image ID to be assigned to the image being imported, allowing the image ID to be part of the filename generated during a copy&import operation.
    • Exporting to floating-point JPEG XL with a quality of 100 will try to do it as losslessly as possible. That is now consistent with the behavior of integral JPEG XL formats.
    • Improved visibility of shortcuts that can be changed by users by using bold text.
    • The histogram-exposure interface now supports all standard bauhaus features (Ctrl+click, Right-click…).
    • Introduce image module order v5.0 to have the final-scale done before color-out to fix some issues with color difference between darkroom view and exported files.
    • Add support for editing any live color-picker samples. Using Right-click on a sample it is possible to edit it (changing location and/or size of the box) and either add a new sample based on the edit or store the edit into an existing live sample.
    • Added more substitution variables for using EXIF data fields, enabled autocompletion of variables in the watermark module.
    • The new variables are$(EXIF.FLASH),$(EXIF.METERING),$(EXIF.EXPOSURE.PROGRAM),$(EXIF.WHITEBALANCE)and$(GPS.LOCATION.ICON).
    • Increase maximum focal length for filtering auto-applied presets to 2000mm.
    • Added an expanded color-checker preset to the Color Look Up Table module with seven-level red/green/blue/gray ramps, IT8/CC24-like skin tones, and miscellaneous color patches for more targeted color adjustments across the full spectrum.
    • Added support for EXIF tags ‘AnalogBalance’ used for color calibration and ‘LinearResponseLimit’ used in highlights reconstruction.
    • If we find currently unsupported color calibration data in DNG specific tags, we tag the image by darktable|issue|no-samples for better support.
    • Added read support for HEIF files with AVC (H.264) compression and .avci file extension.
    • Added read support for JPEG 2000 encoded images in HEIF containers with .hej2 file extension.

    Bug Fixes

    • Fixed a performance regression for redrawing mipmaps.
    • Fixed handling of old (2020) edits using Filmic RGB.
    • Various OpenCL fixes to reduce differences between CPU and GPU processing: colorspace conversion, saturation gradient filter in color equalizer.
    • Fixed gallery export not working on Windows.
    • Fixed printer discovery in the print module, which could cause available printers to be missed.
    • Work around out-of-spec EXIF date field caused by buggy software.
    • Fixed reading embedded color profiles from PNG images.
    • Fixed certain boundary cases in the crop module.
    • Fixed crash when loading corrupted .gpx file in the geotagging module
    • Fix preset handling in the export module not saving all parameters.
    • Fix an issue in FilmicRGB where one of the parameter could be above the maximum allowed range making the validation failing and the whole set of parameters reset to default.
    • Fix overlay recording to work in all cases (discarding history or copy/paste history for example) ensuring that an image not referenced anymore as overlay in a composite module can be removed.
    • Properly reset darktable internal tag darktable|style| and darktable|changed when resetting history.
    • Fixed crash in the Piwigo export storage when not logged in to the Piwigo server.
    • Fixed a bug in the export module where it was impossible to export a file again if “on conflict: overwrite if changed” was selected.
    • Fixed a bug where double clicking on a label in darkroom modules does not reset the control.
    • The composite module now prevents assigning an overlay that would lead to a loop. Previously, only direct references (image #1 <-> image #2) were checked; this has now been extended to also cover chains (image #1 -> image #2 -> image #3 -> image #1) of arbitrary length.
    • Fix a bug in overlay module which incorrectly apply a color profile and so creating an unwanted and wrong color cast. This bug was a regression added just before the 4.8 release.
    • Fixed a bug in color calibration module where switching between various illuminants could lead to unpredictable settings.
    • Various fixes In the demosaic module. Non-usable options are hidden now. Fixed dual demosaicing for xtrans sensors and OpenCL code.
    • Fixed a bug in the history module where style creation fails if a style with that name already exists.
    • Fixed guides drawing in case a module is expanded and active.
    • Ensure that the list of images in the culling view remains up to date when hidden.
    • Fixed minor glitches in color calibration module.
    • Fixed issues with wrong corrections in highlight opposed OpenCL code.
    • Fixed surface blur radius calculation possibly resulting in garbled output.

    Camera support, compared to 4.8

    Base Support

    • Fujifilm X-M5 (compressed)
    • Fujifilm X-T50 (compressed)
    • Leica D-Lux 8 (DNG)
    • Leica M11-D (DNG)
    • Leica Q3 43 (DNG)
    • Minolta Alpha Sweet Digital
    • Minolta Alpha-7 Digital
    • Nikon Z50_2 (14bit-compressed)
    • Nikon Z6_3 (14bit-compressed)
    • Panasonic DC-FZ80D (4:3)
    • Panasonic DC-FZ82D (4:3)
    • Panasonic DC-FZ85 (4:3)
    • Panasonic DC-FZ85D (4:3)
    • Panasonic DC-G100D (4:3)
    • Phase One P20+
    • Sony ILCE-1M2
    • White Balance Presets
    • Nikon Z6_3
    • Sony ILCE-6700
    • Noise Profiles
    • Canon PowerShot G1 X
    • Leica M11
    • Nikon Z6_3
    • Missing Compression Mode Support
    • Apple ProRAW DNGs
    • CinemaDNG lossless (Blackmagic, some DJI, etc.) and lossy (Blackmagic)
    • DNG 1.7 using JPEG XL (Adobe enhanced, Samsung Expert RAW)
    • Fujifilm lossy RAFs
    • Nikon high efficiency NEFs
    • OM System 14-bit high resolution ORFs
    • Sony downsized lossless ARWs (“M” for full-frame, “S” for full-frame & APS-C)

    Suspended Support

    Support for the following cameras is suspended because no samples are available on https://raw.pixls.us:

    • Creo/Leaf Aptus 22(LF3779)/Hasselblad H1
    • Fujifilm IS-1
    • Kodak EasyShare Z980
    • Leaf Aptus-II 5(LI300059)/Mamiya 645 AFD
    • Leaf Credo 60
    • Leaf Credo 80
    • Minolta DiMAGE 5
    • Olympus SP320
    • Phase One IQ250
    • Sinar Hy6/ Sinarback eXact
    • ST Micro STV680


  • Fast break AI: How Databricks helped the Pacers slash ML costs 12,000X% while speeding up insights

    Fast break AI: How Databricks helped the Pacers slash ML costs 12,000X% while speeding up insights


    Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More

    Stats might be everything in basketball — but for Pacers Sports and Entertainment (PS&E), data about fans is just as valuable. 

    Yet while the parent company of the Indianapolis Pacers (NBA), the Indiana Fever (WNBA) and the Indiana Mad Ants (NBA G League) was pumping untold amounts of it into a $100,000-a-year machine learning (ML) platform to generate predictive models around such factors as pricing and ticket demand, the insights weren’t coming fast enough. 

    Jared Chavez, manager of data engineering and strategy, set out to change that, making the move to Databricks on Salesforce a year-and-a-half ago. 

    Now? His team is performing the same range of predictive projects with careful compute configurations to gain critical insights into fan behavior — for just $8 a year. It’s a jaw-dropping, seemingly unthinkable decrease Chavez credits largely to his team’s ability to reduce ML compute to near-infinitesimal amounts.  

    “We’re very good at optimizing our compute and figuring out exactly how far we can push down the limit to get our models to run,” he told VentureBeat. “That’s really what we’ve been known for with Databricks.” 

    PS&E cuts OpEx by 98%

    In addition to its three basketball teams, the Indianapolis-based PS&E operates a Pacers Gaming esports business, hosts March Madness games and runs a busy, 300-plus day event business through the Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena (concerts, comedy shows, rodeos, other sporting events). Further, the company just last month announced plans to build a $78 million Indiana Fever Sports Performance Center, which will be connected by skybridge to the arena and a parking garage (expected to open in 2027). 

    All this makes for a mind-boggling amount of data — and data sprawl. From a data infrastructure standpoint, Chavez pointed out that, up until two years ago, the organization hosted two completely independent warehouses built on Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics. Different teams across the business all used their own form of analytics, and tooling and skill sets varied wildly. 

    While Azure Synapse did a great job connecting to external platforms, it was cost-prohibitive for an organization of PS&E’s size, he explained. Also, integrating the company’s ML platform with Microsoft Azure Data Studio led to fragmentation. 

    To address these problems, Chavez switched over to Databricks AutoML and the Databricks Machine Learning Workspace in August 2023. The initial focus was to configure, train and deploy models around ticket pricing and game demand. 

    Both technical and non-technical users immediately found the platforms helpful, Chavez noted, and they quickly sped up the ML process (and plummeted costs). 

    “It dramatically improves response times for my marketing team, because they don’t have to know how to code,” said Chavez. It’s all buttons for them, and all that data comes back down to Databricks as unified records.”

    Further, his team organized the company’s 60-some-odd systems into Salesforce Data Cloud. Now, he reports that they have 440X more data in storage and 8X more data sources in production. 

    PS&E today operates at just under 2% of its previous annual OPEX costs. “We saved hundreds of thousands a year just on operations,” said Chavez. “We reinvested it into customer data enrichment. We reinvested into better tooling for not just my team, but the analytics units around the company.” 

    Continued refinement, deep understanding of data

    How did his team get compute so staggeringly low? Databricks has continually refined cluster configurations, enhanced connectivity options to schemas and integrated model outputs back into PS&E’s data tables, Chavez explained. The powerful ML engine is “continuously enriching, refining, merging and predicting” on PS&E’s customer records across every system and revenue stream. 

    This leads to better-informed predictions with each iteration — and in fact, the occasional AutoML model sometimes makes it straight to production without any further tweaking from his team, Chavez reported. 

    “Truthfully, it’s just knowing the size of the data going in, but also roughly how long it is going to take to train,” said Chavez. He added: “It’s on the smallest cluster size you could possibly run, it might just be a memory-optimized cluster, but it’s just knowing Apache Spark fairly well and knowing which way we could store and read the data fairly optimally.”

    Who’s most likely to buy season tickets?

    One way Chavez’ team is using data, AI and ML is in propensity scoring for season tickets packages. As he put it: “We sell an ungodly number of them.”

    The goal is to determine which customer characteristics influence where they choose to sit. Chavez explained that his team is geo-locating addresses they have on file to make correlations between demographics, income levels and travel distances. They’re also analyzing users’ purchase histories across retail, food and beverage, mobile app engagement and other events they might attend on PS&E’s campus. 

    Further, they’re pulling in data from Stubhub, Seat Geek and other vendors outside of Ticketmaster to evaluate price points and determine how well inventories are moving. This can all be married with everything they know about a given customer to figure out where they’re going to sit, Chavez explained. 

    Armed with that data, they could then, for instance, upsell a given customer from Section 201 to section 101 center court. “Now we’re able to not only resell his seat in the higher deck, we can also sell another smaller package on the same seats he purchased in the mid-season, using the same characteristics for another person,” said Chavez. 

    Similarly, data can be used to enhance sponsorships, which are critical to any sports franchise. 

    “Of course, they want to align with organizations who overlap with theirs,” said Chavez. “So can we better enrich? Can we better predict? Can we do custom segmentation?”

    Ideally, the goal is an interface where any user could ask questions like: ‘Give me a section of the Pacers fan base in their mid-to-late 20s with disposable income.’ Going even further: ‘Look for those that make more than $100K a year and have an interest in luxury vehicles.’ The interface could then bring back a percentage that overlap with sponsor data. 

    “When our partnership teams are trying to close these deals, they can, on-demand, just pull information without having to rely on an analytics team to do it for them,” said Chavez. 

    To further support this goal, his team is looking to build out a data clean room, or a secure environment that allows for the sharing of sensitive data. This can be particularly helpful with sponsors, as well as collaborations with other teams and the NCAA (which is headquartered in Indianapolis). 

    “The name of the game for us right now is response time, whether that’s customer facing or internal,’ said Chavez. “Can we dramatically lessen the required knowledge to cut up information and sort through it using AI?”

    Data collection and AI to understand traffic patterns, improve signage

    Another area of focus for Chavez’s team is examining where people are at any given time across PS&E’s campus  (which comprises a three-tier arena with an outdoor plaza). Chavez explained that data capture capabilities are in place throughout its network infrastructure via WiFi access points. 

    “When you walk into the arena, you are pinging off all of them, even if you don’t log into them, because your phone’s checking for WiFi,” he said. “I can see where you’re moving. I don’t know who you are, but I can see where you’re moving.” 

    This can eventually help guide people around the arena — say, if someone wants to buy a pretzel and is looking for a concession stand — and help his team determine where to position food and merchandise kiosks. 

    Similarly, location data can help determine optimal spots for signage, Chavez explained. One interesting way to identify signage impression counts is placing vision gradients at spots equivalent to average fan height. 

    “Then let’s calculate how well somebody would have seen this walking through with the number of people around them,” said Chavez. “So I can tell my sponsor you got 5,000 impressions on this, and 1,200 of them were pretty good.” 

    Similarly, when fans are in their seats, they are surrounded by signs and digital displays. Location data can help determine the quality (and amount) of impressions based on the angle of where they’re sitting. As Chavez noted: “If this ad was only on the screen for 10 seconds in the third quarter, who would have seen it?”

    Once PS&E has adequate locational data to help answer these types of questions, his team plans to work with Indiana University’s VR lab to model the entire campus. “Then we’re just going to have a very fun sandbox to go run around in and answer all these 3D space questions that have been bugging me for the last two years,” said Chavez. 



  • Statcounter’s Windows market-share data is not accurate or reliable, and I can prove it

    Statcounter’s Windows market-share data is not accurate or reliable, and I can prove it


    Statcounter stories

    ZDNET

    It happens like clockwork, around the first of each month. Sites that focus on technology churn out nearly identical articles, all based on a chart like this one, prepared by the good folks at Statcounter Global Stats.  

    statcounter-windows-version-ww-monthly-202312-202501.png

    Every month, tech bloggers try to turn a chart like this one into a story, but most of them miss what’s actually happening.

    Statcounter GS

    I saw that chart in dozens of posts this month, along with detailed explanations of what the author thought the underlying data points mean. Sometimes the authors of these posts even convince an industry analyst to share their thoughts. It’s stereotypical horserace coverage.

    Also: How to upgrade your ‘incompatible’ Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 in 2025

    This month, the challenge for every pundit was to explain why Windows 10 (the purple line at the top) appears to be suddenly collapsing in popularity and why Windows 11 (the blue line in the middle) has regained its mojo.  

    Here’s a small sampling of some of the stories that the Statcounter “Windows market share” report inspired.

    statcounter-stories-feb-2025

    At the start of every month, stories like these appear, all based on the same charts.

    Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET

    My favorite quote from this batch is from Forbes, which made this bold assertion: “The January stats are now out, and according to Statcounter, the Windows 11 upgrade trend has now un-reversed itself … some 40 million hold-outs have suddenly upgraded their PCs in the last 31 days.”

    Also: Don’t ignore Microsoft’s February Patch Tuesday – it’s a big one

    Inevitably, these posts try to answer the question, “Why did this happen?” But maybe a better question is, “Did this happen?” followed by “Are you sure?” and “Why doesn’t any of this data make sense?”

    Because here’s the reality: Statcounter’s “market share” reports are a great excuse for tech bloggers to crank out a story each month, but they bear only the most casual relation to the real world, and most of those month-to-month spikes are simply statistical noise.

    Let me show you what I mean with another chart, which I created using data I downloaded from Statcounter’s site. For this one, I changed the parameters to include data from January 2022 through January 2025, covering only the United States. After plugging that data into Excel, I created a line chart like the ones they publish, but I made two changes. First, I added third-order polynomial trendlines for the Windows 10 and Windows 11 data points to show the general direction of those monthly figures over time. Then, I added a shadow on either side of that trendline to indicate a likely margin of error.

    statcounter-data-remixed

    Adding a trendline helps to smooth out the statistical fluctuations and reveals the real patterns in this data.

    Chart by Ed Bott/ZDNET; data from Statcounter GS

    Well, that tells a very different story, doesn’t it?

    At the sites that use Statcounter’s web analytics service, pageviews from PCs running Windows 10 are steadily declining, while pageviews from PCs running Windows 11 are steadily increasing. And those trends have been consistent over time, despite some fluctuations in the data.

    You’ll notice that description doesn’t mention “market share.” Statcounter’s data counts pageviews, not visits, or sessions, or individual devices.

    Also: Microsoft has a big Windows 10 problem, and it’s running out of time to solve it

    And make no mistake about it, those monthly fluctuations really are just noise. Look at the teal-colored line for Windows 8.x versions from January 2024. Do you really think that 10 or 20 million people fired up their old Windows 8 devices on New Year’s Day, used them for a few weeks, and then put them all back in the closet? That’s unlikely.

    None of those other monthly spikes mean anything either. Did millions of people uninstall Windows 11 in December 2024 and then change their mind a month later? Of course not. The data is just messy!

    Now, let me be crystal clear here: I don’t blame the Statcounter folks for taking advantage of an irresistible opportunity to generate publicity. I do, however, want to have a serious talk with every journalist and analyst who relies on Statcounter’s charts without questioning the underlying data behind them, because those numbers can’t stand up to even the mildest questioning.

    Who is Statcounter?

    Statcounter is a web analytics company based in Ireland. It was founded in 1999, during the Web 1.0 era, with a simple business model of counting “hits” to websites using a tracking pixel that clients embedded on their pages. If you’re a website owner, adding Statcounter’s tracking technology to your site can give you valuable information about your visitors.

    It was a good business for a long time, but over the years the company’s customer base has shrunk. In 2009, it boasted that 3 million customers were using its service. By 2022, its own pages acknowledged that the customer base had been cut in half, to 1.5 million websites.

    Also: How to do a clean install of Windows 11: See which option is best for you and why

    W3Techs, which tracks companies in this space, reported that 0.9% of all websites were using Statcounter’s services in 2019. By January 2024, that number had shrunk to 0.5%, and when I checked again in January 2025, the number was down again, to 0.4%.

    None of that decline should be surprising. Google Analytics dominates this space today, and other big players, like Meta Pixel, WordPress Jetpack, and Adobe Analytics, have also stolen share from tiny firms like Statcounter.

    Where do Statcounter’s numbers come from?

    Statcounter’s customer base consists of a lot of small websites and a few medium-sized ones. The Statcounter Global Stats reports aggregate all the pageviews from those sites, with details about the visitors, including the hardware type, operating system, and browser, as collected by that tracking.

    Also: If your Windows 10 PC can’t be upgraded, you have 5 options before time runs out

    Statcounter’s data collection has declined dramatically in the last decade. A decade ago, the company’s FAQ page reported that it measured more than 17 billion pageviews in a typical month. By 2022 (the last numbers that Statcounter has provided on the current FAQ page), that number was down to 5 billion a month.

    Statcounter represents a tiny sliver of actual traffic on the web, mostly from fairly esoteric websites that have chosen to embed the Statcounter tracking code on their websites, like Futbin.com, Filmyzilla.com.fj, Ask.com, and Kernel.org. They can’t count traffic from the most popular sites on the web, like Google, Facebook, or Wikipedia.

    Also: Can you still get a Windows 10 upgrade for free in 2025? Short answer: Maybe

    It’s like trying to do a survey of consumer behavior without including Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, Target, CVS, or any Kroger grocery store. By leaving out those giants, your sample becomes quirky and almost certainly not representative of the greater market.

    More importantly, Statcounter measures only pageviews, not visits or sessions. If I go to a site that uses the Statcounter service and visit five pages on my Windows 11 PC, and you load 10 pages with your Windows 10 PC, the results in Statcounter’s “market share” report will show that Windows 10 is twice as popular as Windows 11. You see the problem here, I presume.

    Of course, that assumes all those pageviews are even counted. On my Windows 11 PC, where I use Microsoft Edge with its tracking protection set to Strict, Statcounter’s tracking code is automatically blocked. Oops.

    So, what’s the real story?

    The data from Statcounter tells a perfectly valid story about how people use websites that belong to its customers. But it says nothing about the “market share” for Windows PCs.

    It does show, in the most general terms, that traffic to those sites from Windows 10 PCs is declining slowly and that traffic from PCs running Windows 11 appears to be increasing slowly as well. Do those numbers map to the population of PCs worldwide? Probably not, although no one can say for sure.

    Also: How to clear the cache on your Windows 11 PC (and why it makes such a big difference)

    We do know that there are a very large number of PCs running Windows 10 that are not eligible to upgrade to Windows 11. That number will probably still be very large in October 2025, when support for Windows 10 ends. Someone with access to Microsoft’s telemetry servers could probably give you a pretty good estimate of how many devices are in each population, but they’re not talking.

    The rest of us, unfortunately, are left to guess. And if you want to make a wager based on data from Statcounter, go right ahead. Just don’t put any serious money on that bet.




  • Back in theaters, Parasite is the perfect thriller for our post-Luigi world

    Back in theaters, Parasite is the perfect thriller for our post-Luigi world


    Song Kang-ho grimaces behind a steering wheel as Cho Yeo-jeong talks obliviously on the phone in the backseat in a still from the movie Parasite.
    Cho Yeo-jeong and Song Kang-ho in Parasite Neon / Neon

    Five years after it took the Cannes Film Festival, the Academy Awards, and the global box office by storm, Parasite is back on the big screen. That’s a pretty short amount of time to commemorate with an anniversary rerelease. Then again, it’s been a long five years, hasn’t it? Oh, how the world has changed since the halcyon days of 2019 — “the last f***ing year for cinema,” to quote Quentin Tarantino, whose Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood premiered within hours of Bong Joon-ho’s darkly ingenious class-warfare caper. In retrospect, Parasite winning Best Picture on Oscar night a few months later really did feel like the final joyous surprise of an old era — a last gasp before COVID closed theaters and changed everything.

    Watching the film today, via its current IMAX victory lap or from the comfort of your own home, actually emphasizes the ways things haven’t changed so much these past five years. Or maybe it’s just that the tensions and resentments Parasite dramatized back then have fully exploded to the surface of the culture, as surely as they simmer to a boil in the climax of the movie. Like Mr. Kim (Song Kang-ho), people are fed up. Does his shocking act of violence look so shocking these days? You might think suddenly of a real, more premeditated crime that just stirred the media into a frenzy and sent a jolt of understanding through the public — a murder with a motive so clear, the killer etched it on the bullets.

    Yes, the time is right for a Parasite encore. It’s very much a movie for the moment, a tale of rage and desperation fit for our post-Luigi Mangione world. At the same time, there’s no mistaking this South Korean award-winner — more acclaimed, perhaps, than any film that’s come in its wake — for a simple eat-the-rich parable. Not with Bong at the reins. The sheer slipperiness of his demented take on upstairs-downstairs drama is what elevates it beyond mere timeliness.

    Parasite [Official Trailer] – In Theaters October 11, 2019

    The title alone is provocative in its potential double meaning. Who are the parasites in this story of a destitute family, the Kims, that latches itself to the payroll teat of a wealthy family, the Parks? It’s less a trick question than a Rorschach test. Parasite’s huge success the world over could reflect a certain universal frustration, the kind that the murder of a CEO just illuminated like a black light. Or it could be chalked up to people seeing what they want to see in the master-servant relationship that develops between these economically entwined clans. To win the top prize on Hollywood’s biggest night, the film had to have spoken to people who saw a kind of horror movie about the dangers of opening your house to the help.

    Bong leaves us to sort through our biases. He’s too shrewd a dramatist to reduce his characters to emblems of their social station — to divide our sympathies by tax bracket alone. The Parks are not cartoon fat cats. They are clueless and easily manipulated, in the case of Mrs. Park (Cho Yeo-jeong), or snobbishly condescending, in the case of Mr. Park (Lee Sun-kyun), who prefers those he hires respect professional boundaries and not “cross the line.” Their most odious offense is rudely fixating on odor. They are awful in the casual, everyday way that the wealthy can be. They are recognizably human, not blatant guillotine fodder.

    Likewise, the Kims are not cardboard saints — the noble working-class heroes a more self-righteous parable might position upon a pedestal. They are, at times, bluntly and hilariously underhanded. They lie and steal and screw over other people for a shot at the cash the Parks thoughtlessly splurge on luxury and convenience and creature comforts. Parasite says that desperate times call for desperate measures. Every transgression in the movie is a scramble to survive. “Money is an iron,” as Mrs. Kim (Jang Hye-jin) says. It smooths out the difficulties of life — and with them, the challenges to our moral compasses.

    The Kim family gathers around a pizza box in a still from the movie Parasite.
    Parasite Neon / Neon

    No one widely familiar with Bong’s work could confuse Parasite for a pro-elite cautionary tale, even if its narrative wickedly toys with the Saltburn-like fears of a ruling class paranoid that the Great Unwashed are coming for them. Rarely one for didactic screeds, the writer-director has spent most of his career smuggling his class politics onto screens under cover of rollicking genre scenarios. Take The Host, which savages American imperialism and corporate disregard for public safety in the form of a primo kaiju movie of original Gojira vintage. Or Snowpiercer, which takes late-stage capitalism to its logical endpoint, with all that remains of civilization stuffed aboard a train endlessly looping a ravaged planet. It’s arranged like a social ladder turned on its side, the poor in the back, the rich in the front.

    Parasite flips that hierarchical structure vertically again: Here, privilege is a matter of altitude — a theme established right from the subterranean opening shot. The film is one of Bong’s most purely entertaining Trojan horses. That, maybe more than its politics, might account for its enduring popularity and for its ability to smash the language barriers that traditionally keep films not in English off the box-office charts and out of the Academy’s winner circle. For a while, it almost plays like an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist movie where the “score” is gainful employment. And the twists arrive with dizzying force, Bong opening his satirical scenario up into the realm of perverse farce (no doors are slammed, but tables are scurried under) and downright Hitchcockian thrills. Parasite remains about as fun as any movie this ultimately, witheringly downbeat can be.

    The Parks aren’t the real villains of the film. They’re but a symptom of an unjust system. Capitalism is a zero sum game in Parasite. It keeps the 99% divided, fighting over the same crumbs, scrambling for the same tiny wedge of the pie. Most of the violence in the movie is between the Kims and the family of the housekeeper (Lee Jung-eun) they muscle out of a job. Only in the climax, when all hell breaks loose at that party, do the Parks experience any kind of reckoning. And it’s hard to call that a victory, regardless of where your sympathies lie. After all, Mr. Kim’s actions don’t even radicalize his son, Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik), who remains seduced by a fantasy of upward mobility, dreaming of keeping up with the Joneses (or Parks).

    Choi Woo-shik looks out of a window longingly, his reflection staring back at him, in a still from the movie Parasite.
    Choi Woo-shik in Parasite Neon / Neon

    Since 2019, Parasite’s finger hasn’t left the pulse of an economically lopsided world. The Kims don’t see the big picture of their misadventure — namely, that they’re trying to win a rigged game on an uneven playing field, and that they’re trapped in a system designed to keep them literally and figuratively down. But the audience might see that picture more clearly than ever. After all, Parasite has returned to theaters at a time when newsfeeds are filled with daily reminders of the unjust disparity of life under capitalism. It remains a crazed crowdpleaser for an exploited world, building madcap complications around its social conscience… never mind the inconvenient truth that every ticket bought puts a few extra dollars in the pockets of the Friedkins, a family whose wealth makes the Parks look like the Kims.

    All that said, you have to wonder if the pointedly unsubtle Parasite might actually be a little too subtle for 2025. In a key scene, the Kims sit around, drinking the Park family’s liquor, enjoying the mirage of a life within the household they serve. “She’s rich, but still nice,” Mr. Kim says of his employer, to which his wife replies, with a snort: “She’s rich, therefore she’s nice.” Right now, though, the mask of niceness the obscenely monied often wear has slipped. As these words are written, and maybe as you read them, the world’s richest man is waging war on the middle and lower class in broad daylight — unlawfully destroying public services, hurting American workers to line his own pockets, slashing cancer research for kids. Him and his kind are monsters too broad for the broadest of satires, the kind Bong would be embarrassed to put in a movie. They’re parasites in the truest sense.

    Parasite is currently playing on select IMAX screens, streaming on Netflix, and available to rent or purchase from digital services owned by wealthy men who don’t care about you. For more of A.A. Dowd’s writing, visit his Authory page.







  • Best Internet Providers in Aiken, South Carolina

    Best Internet Providers in Aiken, South Carolina


    What is the best internet provider in Aiken?

    The fiber internet coverage in Aiken is increasing and if your home has access to it, fiber internet is the best choice for most. AT&T Fiber is CNET’s pick for the best internet service provider in Aiken. It gets the top spot because it offers speeds going up to 5,000Mbps at reasonable prices, and also has high reliability. You also don’t have to face the hassles of contracts or data limits, nor do you have to pay for equipment rental, making it a great deal.

    If you live outside the coverage areas of AT&T, you can opt for one of the other options like Breezeline, Xfinity or T-Mobile, especially if affordability is a factor. Breezeline and Xfinity have some affordable internet plans starting at just $20 and $30, respectively. Xfinity offers a slightly higher speed of 150Mbps compared to 100Mbps from Breezeline, but equipment costs may be higher with Xfinity and a 1.2TB data cap may apply.

    Aiken, South Carolina, internet providers compared

    Provider Internet technology Monthly price range Speed range Monthly equipment costs Data cap Contract CNET review score
    AT&T
     Read full review    		 DSL, fiber $60 DSL, $55-$245 fiber 10-100Mbps DSL, 300-5,000Mbps fiber None None None 7.4
    Breezeline Cable $25-$60 100-1,000Mbps Free for 12 months, $18 after (optional) None None N/A
    T-Mobile Home Internet
     Read full review    		 Fixed wireless $50-$70 ($35-$55 with eligible mobile plans) 87-415Mbps None None None 7.4
    Verizon 5G Home Internet
     Read full review    		 Fixed wireless $50-$70 ($35-$45 with eligible mobile plans) 50-1,000Mbps None None None 7.2
    Xfinity
     Read full review    		 Cable $30-$95 150-2,000Mbps $15 (optional) 1.2TB 1-2 years (optional) 7

    Show more (0 item)

    Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

    What is the cheapest internet plan in Aiken?

    Plan Starting price Max download speed Monthly equipment fee
    Breezeline Core $25 100Mbps Free for 12 months, $18 after (optional)
    Xfinity Connect
     Read full review    		 $30 150Mbps $15 (optional)
    Breezeline Fast $30 200Mbps Free for 12 months, $18 after (optional)
    Xfinity Connect More
     Read full review    		 $35 300Mbps $15 (optional)
    Verizon 5G Home Internet
     Read full review    		 $50 ($35 with eligible mobile plans) 300Mbps None
    T-Mobile Home Internet
     Read full review    		 $50 ($35 with eligible mobile plans) 318Mbps None
    AT&T Fiber 300
     Read full review    		 $55 300Mbps None

    Show more (2 items)

    Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

    How to find internet deals and promotions in Aiken

    The best internet deals and top promotions in Aiken depend on what discounts are available at the time. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers. 

    Aiken internet providers, such as Xfinity, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Many, including AT&T Fiber, Breezeline and T-Mobile Home Internet, run the same standard pricing year-round. 

    How many members of your household use the internet?

    For a more extensive list of deals, check out our guide on the best internet deals.

    Fastest internet plans in Aiken

    Plan Starting price Max download speed Max upload speed Data cap Connection type
    AT&T Internet 5000
     Read full review    		 $245 5,000Mbps 5,000Mbps None Fiber
    AT&T Internet 2000
     Read full review    		 $145 2,000Mbps 2,000Mbps None Fiber
    Xfinity Gigabit x2
     Read full review    		 $95 2,000Mbps 200Mbps 1.2TB Cable
    AT&T Internet 1000
     Read full review    		 $60 1,000Mbps 1,000Mbps None Fiber
    Breezeline GigaFast $60 1,000Mbps 50Mbps None Cable
    Xfinity Gigabit
     Read full review    		 $65 1,000Mbps 20Mbps 1.2TB Cable
    Verizon 5G Home Plus Internet
     Read full review    		 $70 ($45 with eligible mobile plans) 85-1,000Mbps 50-75Mbps None Fixed wireless

    Show more (2 items)

    Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

    What’s a good internet speed?

    Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you’re looking for an internet plan that can accommodate video conferencing, streaming video or gaming, you’ll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here’s an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Note that these are only guidelines and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.

    For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

    • 0 to 5Mbps allows you to tackle the basics: browsing the internet, sending and receiving email and streaming low-quality video.
    • 5 to 40Mbps gives you higher-quality video streaming and video conferencing.
    • 40 to 100Mbps should give one person sufficient bandwidth to satisfy the demands of modern telecommuting, video streaming and online gaming. 
    • 100 to 500Mbps allows one or two people to simultaneously engage in high-bandwidth activities like video conferencing, streaming and online gaming. 
    • 500 to 1,000Mbps allows three or more people to engage in high-bandwidth activities at the same time.

    How CNET chose the best internet providers in Aiken, South Carolina

    Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. What’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

    It doesn’t end there: We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.

    Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:

    1. Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
    2. Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
    3. Are customers happy with their service?

    The answer to those questions is often layered and complex, but the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

    To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

    Internet providers in Aiken, South Carolina, FAQs

    What is the best internet service provider in Aiken?

    AT&T Fiber is the best internet service provider in Aiken. Although not the cheapest internet provider in Aiken, AT&T Fiber presents the best overall value by offering fast, symmetrical speeds and service free of contracts, data caps, equipment fees and set price increases.

    Is fiber internet available in Aiken?

    According to the most recent FCC data, approximately 28% of Aiken residential addresses were serviceable for fiber internet as of July 2024. Serviceability is greatest in the Pinecrest and Aiken Estates communities, although fiber internet is available in random neighborhoods throughout the city. AT&T Fiber is Aiken’s largest fiber internet provider, while Breezeline also has a small fiber presence in the area.

    What is the cheapest internet provider in Aiken?

    Breezeline has the lowest starting price for internet in Aiken: $205a month for 100Mbps. Xfinity offers a bit more speed, with maximum downloads of 150Mbps at $30 monthly. Despite the speed difference, Breezeline’s cheapest plan is the better deal, as it comes with free equipment rental for one year and unlimited data. Xfinity, on the other hand, has a $15 equipment rental fee (optional) and a 1.2TB monthly data cap.

    Which internet provider in Aiken offers the fastest plan?

    AT&T Fiber offers the fastest internet in Aiken with maximum upload and download speeds of 5,000Mbps. AT&T Fiber and Xfinity offer a 2,000Mbps plan in Aiken, although Xfinity’s maximum upload speeds are significantly slower at 200Mbps.




  • How to survive Valentine’s Day when you’re heartbroken

    How to survive Valentine’s Day when you’re heartbroken


    Many Februarys ago, I went for lunch with a friend and was served a devastating blow.

    As I ordered a club sandwich, I caught her eyeing me nervously. “So, I have some news,” she said in a hesitant tone. There was an agonising suspenseful pause.

    “Oh god,” I said. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might leap right out of my chest cavity. She put her head in her hands as she geared up to break the news to me. Just tell me, for the love of god, I thought to myself.

    “It’s about Glen,” she said.

    “OK,” I said, panicking. This was the man I had been seeing on and off for the past nine months. A friend-with-benefits that I’d accidentally fallen in love with. Not that I would’ve admitted that at the time.

    SEE ALSO:

    The Relationship Experience dating trend: like a situationship but so much worse

    “He has a girlfriend?” I guessed in a bid to put myself out of my own misery.

    “That’s not all, though,” my friend said.

    There was more. “They’re having a baby,” she said. Suddenly the restaurant felt unbearably noisy. A wave of heat passed over my body and a weird rash appeared across my chest, my sandwich arrived. I stared at it and tried my best not to puke.

    It was three days before Valentine’s Day and I wanted nothing more than for time to stand still. “Valentine’s Day can absolutely get fucked,” I said the next day to my friend Michelle as I ran on the treadmill and cried simultaneously. A feat of human nature, you might say.

    I wanted to round up every silk rose, every cheesy card, every tacky giant teddy bear and throw them on a giant bonfire. Everywhere I turned felt like a constant onslaught of love, romance, and relationships. Each one of them a reminder of the sting of rejection I was feeling. I wanted to pretend that Valentine’s Day didn’t exist, but I didn’t know how.

    SEE ALSO:

    The best dating apps to help find a relationship, a hookup, or something in between

    There’s a scene in Bridget Jones’ Diary where she finds out that Daniel Cleaver has a secret fiancée the whole time they’ve been together, and she has to go to work and act like nothing’s happened. She stares blankly at her computer screen, tears welling in her eyes. At my job in a theatre press office, I spent a week stealthily wiping away tears as they streamed from my eyes.

    On Valentine’s Day, a work friend left a card on my desk. It was a kind gesture that made me feel loved. But later, on Instagram, I saw the Valentine’s Day card that Glen had given to his girlfriend. There was an illustration of a green olive alongside the line “Olive You.” Ugh, they’re at the pun stage of their romance. It was the longest Feb. 14 I have ever lived through.


    “Being in a relationship is not a mark of success. Many people in relationships are unhappy. Be proud of being single.”

    Over the next few years, that cursed day came and went. On some years, I was nursing a broken heart from yet another terrible dating experience. Dear friends continued with their sweet gestures (my best friend left a red rose on my desk one year). Truth is, Valentine’s Day is just another day if you’re not in a state of loved-up bliss. So, why not treat it as exactly what is is: just another day in February.

    I refuse to spend another Valentine’s Day crying over a terrible olive pun. If you’re nursing the fragments of a broken heart and are listening to The 1975’s “Somebody Else” on repeat, then don’t fret about Feb. 14’s impending arrival. Here are some tried and tested techniques for putting two fingers up to V Day.

    Mashable After Dark

    Celebrate other types of love

    Psychologist Dr. Tony Ortega suggests reframing the day “from being a day of romantic love to a day of celebrating any kind of love, like we did when we were children.”

    SEE ALSO:

    Why I’m celebrating female friendship this Valentine’s Day

    “If you want to celebrate love but don’t have romantic love, grab your friends and do something out of the ordinary to celebrate your friendships,” say Ortega. “This could take the form of a scavenger hunt or perhaps an establishment that serves both liquor but has some entertainment like games or even a drag show.” If you don’t fancy going out, you could FaceTime a friend who lives far away and have a long-overdue catch up.


    “Being in a relationship is not a mark of success. Many people in relationships are unhappy. Be proud of being single.”

    Look upon your heartbreak as a gift

    It’s really hard when you’re in the thick of the post-breakup emotional turmoil, but try to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Whether the relationship was short-term, long-term, a situationship, FWB — there’s a reason why it ended. Reframe romantic rejection as a positive thing that steers you back onto the right path, and prevents you going too far down the wrong road. It’s a blessing to have your route corrected. It’s better to be alone than in a bad relationship with a person who’s not matching your energy or feeling the same way. Your future self will look back and be grateful.

    SEE ALSO:

    How to separate romantic rejection from your self-worth

    Banish all negative thoughts

    Psychosexual and relationship therapist Silva Neves recommends banning the negative thoughts you have about yourself. “Being in a relationship is not a mark of success. Many people in relationships are unhappy. Be proud of being single,” says Neves.

    SEE ALSO:

    The best dating apps for hooking up, serious relationships, and everything else in between

    “Each time you have a negative thought about yourself, breathe in and out deeply and say something nurturing about yourself instead. You will find out that you have many good qualities.” Make a list of everything you like about yourself, if you feel like it.

    Do something nice for yourself

    The longest relationship of your life is with yourself. So, why not spoil yourself? Buy yourself the dress you’ve been eyeing up for weeks. Make a delicious meal for yourself. Go get a manicure. Treat yourself to a new sex toy.

    Ignore the hype

    Valentine’s Day literally is just any other day. So why not treat it as such? As it happens to fall on a Friday this year, stick to your usual Friday routine — be that grabbing a drink in the pub with your mates, or binge-watching Grace and Frankie on your sofa with a takeaway. Avoid anything that’ll remind you what date it is — stay off social media and turn any calendars around so they’re facing the wall.

    Rachael Lloyd, relationship experts at eharmony, says “it may sound obvious, but the more you engage in Valentine’s Day, the more you will be impacted.” “Skip over the love stories, avoid your local Pizza Express and keep off social media for the day to limit your exposure.”

    Get really into puzzles

    If it’s nigh-on impossible to ignore the fact that it’s the most cursed day in the calendar, then ramp up your distraction techniques. My best friend Elisha swears by jigsaw puzzles because, she says, “they require enough of your concentration to prevent you from getting in your head too much, but not so much that you can’t complete the task.” Buy yourself a big bag of Doritos, a bottle of rosé, and a 1,000-piece puzzle and it’ll keep you entertained and, crucially, distracted for hours on end. Alternatively, you could invite all your single friends over to your house for a games night.

    A sad woman staring at a computer screen.

    things to do on valentine’s day
    Credit: vicky leta / mashable

    Have some ‘me time’

    Dating and relationship coach Sami Wunder says if you’re single, Valentine’s Day is the perfect day for celebrating yourself. “Firstly, don’t let all the hype get to you. Decide that it will be a day for self-love,” says Wunder. “So schedule in some me time. Book yourself a massage, or a manicure, or treat yourself to a nice coffee, or even put on your favourite dress and take yourself out for dinner.”

    Neves says if Valentine’s Day is unpleasant for you, “give yourself the permission to be indulgent with whatever floats your boat.” “A long bath maybe? Or have your favourite chocolates. Or put your favourite movies on and a glass of wine?” says Neves.

    Keep busy

    If you’ve got the day off, one thing that’s guaranteed to keep you very busy is running errands. Go to the gym, clean out your fridge, buy your groceries, do your laundry, iron those clothes at the bottom of your ironing pile. In short, stay busy. At the end of the day, you’ll have a big sense of accomplishment.

    Have sex

    People in long-term relationships aren’t the only people who get to have sex on Valentine’s Day. Dr. Ortega suggests calling up your fuck buddy and scheduling a hookup.

    “Do you have a friend with benefits you can call on? Instead of celebrating romantic love, celebrate your sexual nature with your FWB,” says Ortega. “Throw away the notion of romantic love and for a period of time, celebrate sexual love.”

    If you don’t have a FWB, then Neves recommends having an orgasm anyway through solo sex (aka masturbation). “And make a commitment to have those on a regular basis, not just on Valentine’s Day,” says Neves.

    Leave the country

    Not forever. Just take a break and get some space from everything. If you can afford to, treat yourself to a weekend away somewhere nice, or take a road trip to visit a friend you haven’t seen for ages. About a fortnight after this whole debacle occurred, I decided to book an EasyJet flight to Germany to visit a really lovely friend of mine. It did me a world of good to get away from everything and gain some perspective on the situation. This year, I’m heading back to Germany to see the very same friend, and we’ll be celebrating female friendship rather than romantic love.

    Whatever you do on Feb. 14, remember that lots of people in long-term relationships couldn’t give a shit about it. It’s just a stupid day.

    This article was first published in 2019 and republished in 2025.




  • The 33 Best Shows on Apple TV+ Right Now (February 2025)

    The 33 Best Shows on Apple TV+ Right Now (February 2025)


    Slowly but surely, Apple TV+ has found its feet. The streaming service, which at launch we called “odd, angsty, and horny as hell,” has evolved into a diverse library of dramas, documentaries, and comedies. Now, its library is so packed, we’ve declared it “the new HBO.”

    Curious but don’t know where to get started? Below are our picks for the best shows on the service. (Also, here are our picks for the best movies on Apple TV+.) When you’re done, head over to our guides to the best shows on Netflix, best movies on Hulu, and best movies on Amazon Prime, because you can never have too much television.

    If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.

    Mythic Quest

    Considering it’s a TV show set in the world of video games, you’d be forgiven for thinking this series—now four seasons deep—would be a clunker. It’s not. Instead, Mythic Quest is one of the best workplace comedies of the past few years. Presented in perfectly bingeable half-hour episodes, the show follows a fictional game studio known for its World of Warcraft–like MMO, Mythic Quest, as the people who make it slalom through their many quirky relationships. The writing is excellent, consistently funny and emotionally impactful when you least expect it, and the show manages to confront real issues in the industry without sacrificing laughs. If you really love it, there’s more in store: Apple TV+ plans to roll out a spinoff anthology series, called Side Quest, March 26.

    Severance

    Has there ever been a second season more highly anticipated than that of Severance? OK, there probably has—Game of Thrones comes to mind—but considering Severance is the show that firmly established Apple TV+ as a streaming player with its own distinct kind of edgy prestige content, the hype around the show’s second coming was intense. For those who don’t already know, a primer: Adam Scott plays Mark, a man distraught by the death of his wife who opts to undergo Severance, a procedure that divides his memories of work from those of his life at home. He’s quite happy with the setup until a former Lumon Industries coworker tracks him down when he’s out-of-office, setting off a series of events that makes him question not only Severance but the work his company does. From there, it only gets more weird and bleak with each passing minute. Tense and heartbreaking, Severance will keep you guessing and questioning the whole way through.

    Silo

    As WIRED noted in the wake of Silo’s release, this show is prestige sci-fi gold. Nearly two years later, that’s still true—and it is poised to get even better. Based on a dystopian book trilogy by Hugh Howey, the series focuses on a subterranean bunker—the silo of the title—where humanity has sequestered itself after the apocalypse. Some are hoping to win the chance to reproduce, some are trying to solve mysterious murders. Everyone watching is enjoying figuring out what’s going on in this underground city and what’s happening outside of it. Silo has already been renewed through season four. If you haven’t been watching, start.

    The Secret Lives of Animals

    Seventy-seven species. Twenty-four countries. This 10-part docuseries is all about the million-and-one ways animals are incredible problem solvers. A production of BBC Studios Natural History Unit, it does all the things good nature docs do: going underground and getting (perhaps creepily) close to some of the world’s most compelling creatures. Spiders, wood mice, frogs, and octopi—its got it all.

    Disclaimer

    When filmmaking legend Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) decides to do a limited series starring Cate Blanchett, you kind of owe it to yourself to watch. Especially when, as Cuarón told WIRED, the Renée Knight novel the series is based on was so intriguing it made him want to bring his cinematic skills to TV. In the seven-part series, Blanchett plays an esteemed journalist named Catherine who is sent a mysterious novel that threatens to expose parts of her past she’d hidden for years. As she tries to investigate who wrote the book, she also must keep her own life from collapsing around her. Cuarón adapted the novel himself and directed each episode of the series, bringing his big-screen style to the small-screen world.

    Shrinking

    Do you enjoy In Treatment but wish it was, you know, fun? Then Shrinking may be right for you. Created by Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein—of Ted Lasso fame—and Jason Segel, the show follows Jimmy (Segel), a therapist struggling to get over the death of his wife and reconnect with his daughter and patients. That may sound like a downer, but it’s buoyed by the fact that it’s also a workplace comedy focusing on the therapy practice where Jimmy works alongside Harrison Ford’s Paul and Jessica Williams’ Gaby. Shrinking, ultimately, is about the things people do to cope, but it also features a dream team of a cast and one very memorable party scene featuring a vomit-soaked piano and a super-stoned Ford.

    Slow Horses

    As we wrote not too long ago, Slow Horses is the ideal show for people who want a Pizza Hut-Taco Bell-esque combination of John Le Carré–style espionage thrillers and The Office. Based around the misfits of Slough House, where MI5 agents are sent when they biff it as spies, the show effortlessly jumps from shoot-outs and car chases to quirky conversations and camaraderie. The show’s fourth season, which launched last year, is a little more subdued than the ones before, but if you’ve been sleeping on Slow Horses, now is the time to wake up.

    Bad Monkey

    Created by Bill Lawrence, one of the creative forces behind two other Apple TV+ zingers, Ted Lasso and Shrinking, Bad Monkey is about a one-time detective (played by Vince Vaughn) who’s hit a bit of a rough patch and is trying to get to the bottom of why someone found a severed arm. Yes, there’s a monkey, but there’s also a lot of dark humor and heart—and a look at the complex lives of more than a few Florida Men.

    Sunny

    Sunny is the story of a woman named Suzie (Rashida Jones) whose husband and son are lost in a mysterious plane crash. To work through her grief, Suzie is given Sunny, a domestic robot with whom she forms a unique bond as she begins to uncover what happened to her family. As artificial intelligence gets more and more ingrained in everyone’s lives, Sunny promises to hit differently now than it would at any other time.

    Presumed Innocent

    Just to be clear, this whodunit has been done before. Thirty-four years ago, Harrison Ford starred in the film adaptation of Scott Turow’s novel. This time around, the lead is played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and the adaptation is an eight-part limited series, not a film. Gyllenhaal stars as Rusty Sabich, a Chicago prosecutor accused of killing a colleague. A colleague with whom he was having an affair. Presumed Innocent is produced by David E. Kelley, so it has the intrigue and glossiness of his recent offerings like Big Little Lies and The Undoing, as well as the darkness and drama.

    STEVE! (martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces

    Putting this on the “best shows on Apple TV+” list is a bit of a cheat. Rather than a series, this two-part documentary is more like a pair of movies looking at the life and career of Steve Martin. The first part chronicles his rise in, and reimagining of, the standup comedy world. The second looks at how he went from that to the neurotic and lovable neighbor he currently plays on Only Murders in the Building, which would be his career’s triumphant second act if he hadn’t had something like 30 acts in between. Directed by Morgan Neville, who made the backup singer documentary 20 Feet From Stardom and the Fred Rogers doc Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, it’s funny, intimate, and a little surprising—just like Martin himself.

    Loot

    OK, so Loot isn’t exactly about MacKenzie Scott’s divorce from Jeff Bezos, but it is about a woman named Molly (Maya Rudolph) who separates from her tech billionaire husband and devotes herself to philanthropic work. Also, creators Alan Yang (Master of None) and Matt Hubbard (Superstore) were kind of inspired by Bezos and Scott’s split. With an incredible supporting cast that includes Joel Kim Booster, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Adam Scott, it’s a quirky comedy with a lot of heart—and the kind of thing you (probably) won’t see on Amazon Prime Video.

    The Big Door Prize

    With The Big Door Prize Chris O’Dowd finally got the “guy leading a show” role he was always meant for. In the series, he plays a 40-year-old high school teacher named Dusty who’s pretty content with his life until a magic machine shows up in his small town. The machine, you see, tells people their life’s potential, and as soon as folks around him start using it, everything changes. Marriages end, paths divert, and eventually Dusty must confront whether he’s happy in his own life.

    The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin

    Dick Turpin was a real highwayman in 18th-century England who was ultimately executed for horse theft. But the myths surrounding him are far more interesting than the facts. The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, true to its name, opts to stick with the fun stuff. Starring Noel Fielding (The Great British Bake Off) in the title role, this six-episode series presents Turpin as someone who stumbled into leading a group of outlaws and made the best of it. Enjoy the ride.

    Constellation

    Around here we have a theory that Apple TV+ is the new HBO. At the same time, we also wonder among ourselves whether it’s the new Syfy. After opening with a bang in 2019 with For All Mankind, it has released a steady drumbeat of trippy, spacey, timey-wimey prestige shows, from Foundation to Severance. In early 2024, it released Constellation, an eight-part thriller about an astronaut (Noomi Rapace) who returns to Earth after a disaster in space to find things are very off. Brain-bending and tense, it’s the kind of sci-fi that sucks you in.

    Masters of the Air

    Generally speaking, “World War II drama” and Steven Spielberg are probably enough to get anyone to click Play on this series, but it’s got a lot more than just a good elevator pitch. Based on Donald L. Miller’s Masters of the Air, this series dives deep into the lives of the 100th Bomb Group—aka the “Bloody Hundredth”—a squad of pilots tasked with risking their lives to fight Nazi Germany from the air. Spielberg and Tom Hanks serve as executive producers, and the cast features Elvis himself, Austin Butler, as well as Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan and Doctor Who’s latest Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa.

    The New Look

    Keeping with the World War II theme, The New Look follows Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain, and Cristóbal Balenciaga as they lay the path for modern fashion in Nazi-occupied Paris. The cast features Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior, Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel, and Maisie Williams as Catherine Dior, and also has a soundtrack courtesy of Jack Antonoff that’s chock full of early 20th-century music covered by the likes of Perfume Genius and Florence Welch.

    Criminal Record

    Starring former Doctor Who Doctor Peter Capaldi, Criminal Record follows two cops—Capaldi’s Daniel Hegarty and Cush Jumbo’s June Lenker—as they try to get to the bottom of a long-settled case. Daniel worked the case originally and got a confession; June got a fresh tip and wants him to reopen it and find out whether the man who went away for murder is actually innocent. Might sound a bit overdone, but the series also works in elements of law enforcement shortcomings and race in a rapidly-changing Britain for a series that’s about more than just one case.

    Hijack

    There’s this face Idris Elba does. He’s been perfecting it since he was Stringer Bell on The Wire. It’s the look of total calm even when he’s talking about the most harrowing thing you can imagine. That face gets a full workout in Hijack, in which Elba plays a corporate negotiator who finds himself trying to settle things with a group of, yes, hijackers who have taken over the flight he’s boarded to get home to his family. This series is seven episodes, roughly seven hours—the same length of the flight, and it follows the drama in the air and the political maneuvering below before attempting to stick the landing. Do stay around until the end.

    For All Mankind

    Long before Foundation, there was For All Mankind. A solid slice of alternate history, the show starts with a very smart premise: What if the US had been edged out in putting a man on the moon? How would the space-race rivalry between the Americans and the Soviets have played out? It’s mostly a slick, stylish, NASA-heavy period drama, but as this is from the brain of Ronald D. Moore, there are a few standout moments and episodes with attention shared around the large ensemble cast. It might be the best sci-fi show you’re not watching, and if that’s true you now have multiple seasons to catch up on.

    Messi Meets America

    If your home screen hasn’t made it obvious, Apple TV+ is super stoked about soccer. Messi Meets America is a six-part docuseries about all-star player Lionel Messi’s move to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami club. Messi Mania, indeed.

    Lessons in Chemistry

    Based on the debut novel from science writer Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry is the story of Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson), who gets hired to host a cooking show after she’s fired from her lab for doing science while female. Obviously, the show Elizabeth puts on ends up being about a lot more than just having dinner on the table at 6 pm, but we suggest you watch to find out just how revolutionary it is.

    The Morning Show

    Every streaming service needs a flashy mainstream drama with Hollywood heavyweights to pull in viewers. Apple TV+ has The Morning Show. When Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) loses her morning news program cohost Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) following sexual misconduct accusations, she gets paired up with Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon). What unfolds is a #MeToo-era drama full of TV network intrigue and Sorkin-lite dialog. In its second season, it went deep on Covid-19, and in the third season the series’ fictional network, UBA, finds itself dealing with the aftermath of a cyberattack. There’s likely a new season coming in 2025, so now’s a good time to catch up, or go back and refresh your memory.

    Shining Girls

    This Elisabeth Moss psychological thriller/murder mystery came out in 2022 and never really got the buzz it likely deserved. Moss plays Kirby, a woman who believes a recent Chicago murder may be linked to an attack on her many years prior. She teams with a Sun-Times reporter to investigate, but the deeper she digs the more her own reality starts to shift. Based on the book The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, this series may seem like just another murder mystery, but its sci-fi twists put it one step ahead.

    Foundation

    WIRED called Foundation a “flawed masterpiece” in our review of the first season. Considering the complexities of adapting a sprawling Isaac Asimov book series, it was high praise. Starring Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, a math professor who, along with his loyal followers, is exiled for predicting the oncoming end of the galactic empire that rules over them, the show often suffers under the weight of its own massive scope. But it also features wonderful performances from Lee Pace and beautiful images inspired by the James Webb Space Telescope. If you have a soft spot for big sci-fi dramas, this Game-of-Thrones-in-space wannabe is a must-watch.

    The Crowded Room

    Set in the late 1970s, The Crowded Room stars Tom Holland as Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested after a grisly shooting in New York City. Following his arrest, this 10-episode limited series unfolds into a twisty whodunit as interrogator Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried) tries to suss out what happened with the shooting and the peculiar events in Sullivan’s past that may have shaped how he ended up involved. Holland told Extra that the shoot for The Crowded Room, which he also produced, “broke” him, leading to him taking a yearlong hiatus from acting. Want to see why? Watch now.

    Ted Lasso

    On paper, Ted Lasso sounds terrible. It’s the inconceivable story of an American football coach who has never watched a game of soccer somehow landing himself a job as coach of a (fictional) Premier League club and trying to make up for his total lack of qualifications by being a nice guy. Sounds unwatchable, doesn’t it? And yet Ted Lasso has captured the hearts and minds of viewers on both sides of the pond with its large-as-life cast and irresistibly wholesome messaging, hoovering up awards in the process.

    High Desert

    The Patricia Arquette–aissance doesn’t get as much ink as Matthew McConaughey or Keanu Reeves did during their second comings, but it’s here—in part thanks to the rise of streaming. Between The Act and Severance, Arquette has received some of the highest accolades of her long career recently, and High Desert is no exception. While coming to terms with the death of her mother, Peggy (Arquette)—an addict—decides she wants to pick up the pieces of her life and become a private investigator. She finds an unwitting employer/sometime mentor in Bruce Harvey (Brad Garrett), but not everyone is onboard with Peggy’s career decisions—namely, her straitlaced sister (Christine Taylor). It’s an odd duck of a show, which is perfectly suited to Arquette’s ethereal acting style, allowing her to seamlessly flit between moments of tragedy and laugh-out-loud comedy, with the audiences doing their best to keep up. The all-star cast is made even more impressive by recurring appearances from Bernadette Peters as Peggy’s late mom.

    Big Beasts

    Look, Discovery doesn’t get to corner the market on animal documentaries—and this 10-part docuseries proves it. Featuring elephant seals, brown bears, orangutans, giant otters, and all kinds of massive mammals in between, it’s the perfect thing if you just want to escape and learn a few tidbits about nature. But the best part? It’s narrated by Tom Hiddleston, and there’s just something charming about hearing the voice of Loki talk about a bunch of different animals he could turn himself into in the blink of an eye.

    Servant

    Cinematically, M. Night Shyamalan can be a little hit-or-miss, but Servant, which the filmmaker executive produces and occasionally directs, is stellar. It’s about a Philadelphia couple—a chef and a news anchor—who lose a child only to have it mysteriously come back to life (maybe) with the arrival of their new nanny. (You really just need to watch the show for any of this to make sense.) Moody, freaky, and occasionally even funny, it’ll suck you in. With four seasons on the streamer, there’s plenty to enjoy.

    The Essex Serpent

    Claire Danes doing her best trembling-chin acting in period garb, Tom Hiddleston as a town vicar, rumors about a mysterious mythological serpent—is there anything not to love about this show? No, there’s not. The Essex Serpent, based on the novel by Sarah Perry, follows a recent widow (Danes) as she heads to the countryside in Essex to investigate a “sea dragon.” There, she meets a vicar, Will (Hiddleston), who is far more skeptical of the serpent’s existence. Lush and inviting, it’s the ideal period mystery.

    Dickinson

    Hailee Steinfeld is a riotous young Emily Dickinson in this half-hour show from creator Alena Smith. It was part of the original Apple TV+ lineup and quickly distinguished itself thanks to its off-kilter vision of 19th-century Amherst, Massachusetts. The first season is a set of sharp, surreal vignettes, inspired by Dickinson’s work and tracing the imagined life of the young poet, who is rebelling against her father, the town’s societal rules, and just about everything else. The second and third seasons go deeper, examining not only the poet’s life, but also the roles that race, gender, sexuality, and class played in the early days of America. If you’re a Dickinson stan, love a bit of smart queer dramedy, or just have a penchant for a modern soundtrack in a Civil War–era show, you’ll dig this.