Technologies

I Live in the City Where Netflix’s Thrilling New Crime Drama Is Set. I Barely Recognize It

Commentary: This bingeworthy detective show cast my hometown in a noirish light.

Any well-reviewed crime drama that draws numerous comparisons to Apple TV’s brilliant Slow Horses will easily earn a place on my to-watch list, but as soon as Dept. Q hit Netflix last week, I hit play without hesitation. The reason I was in such a hurry to dive in is that I live in Edinburgh — the city where the new detective show is set.

Edinburgh is often used as a filming location, but most of the time it simply provides a picturesque and/or historical backdrop for a TV show or film — it’s more about the aesthetic effect rather than playing a pivotal role in the plot.

Dept. Q is different. Jaded detective Carl Morck, played by a grizzled Matthew Goode, who is recovering from a shooting that killed one police officer, nearly killed him and paralysed his partner on a call-out, has been tasked with running a new department delving into Edinburgh’s cold cases. The case that Goode picks out, along with the circumstances surrounding his shooting, has complex, knotty links to Edinburgh’s justice system and criminal underworld.

Here, the city provides more than just a pretty skyline — it’s pulled into the foreground, with the key players moving between the grand courts on Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile and the grimier parts of the city that tourists never see. As someone who calls Edinburgh home, I’m more than familiar with the landmarks, but I don’t recognize the side of the city I see in the show at all. That’s not to say it’s not accurate.

Sure, Edinburgh isn’t exactly a hotbed of violent crime compared with other cities in the UK and definitely compared with cities in the US. In the five years I’ve lived here, I can remember only one fatal shooting making the news. But I also fully acknowledge that the majority of organized crime is often hidden from the view of those not immersed in that world.

Occasionally, violent incidents, police raids or trials spill over, sending ripples of anxiety through neighborhoods and cropping up in headlines. But artistic portrayals, while often exaggerated for dramatic effect, can expose us to versions of places that otherwise might remain hidden from view.

As a city famed for its beauty, often thought of as genteel and rather sedate, it’s interesting to see Edinburgh portrayed as a place that is so much more than the tourist ideal. Not since the 1996 film Trainspotting has a less romanticized vision of the city been seen on screen.

Dept. Q even wasn’t originally set in Edinburgh — it’s actually adapted from a Danish novel of the same name — but as a resident, I appreciated the way it provided a different perspective on the place that I know and love. It was also fun to spot parts of town I’m intimately familiar with appear in a relatively high-production show — the castle view from outside my favorite indie record store, for example.

There are many flaws with Dept Q, from little niggles (what local journalist can afford to drive a Porsche?) to pacing issues — especially in the first episode. The plot is so meaty that at times it becomes convoluted. But in spite of all of this, I found myself staying up past my bedtime to watch «just one more episode» — as my husband and I would tell each other with a sideways glance, fully aware that we were succumbing to a full-on binge.

Is it perfect? No. Am I already hankering after season 2? Absolutely. Am I hoping Edinburgh will loom even larger in future episodes? I’m asking nicely — yes, please.

Technologies

Meta Wants AI to Handle Every Part of Ad Creation. Here’s What That Means

This move can impact all Instagram and Facebook subscribers and the future of the global advertising industry.

Meta is diving even deeper into artificial intelligence. According to an exclusive Wall Street Journal report released Monday, the company behind Facebook and Instagram is developing AI systems that could eventually fully automate the process of creating and buying ads on those popular sites. This means no human copywriters, designers or media buyers will be involved.

It’s a controversial move that could shake up the $600 billion global ad industry. The announcement also raises fresh questions about creativity, accuracy and the future of marketing jobs.

A representative for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: What Is Meta AI? Everything to Know About the Tech Giant’s AI Tools

How would this work?

Seemingly, Meta’s end goal is to create a system that lets businesses simply explain their product or marketing ideas, alongside a budgeting goal, to the AI-driven ad tools and then the machine takes over from there. That means AI generates ad copy, visuals, targeting strategies and even media placement decisions, all without human intervention.

In the short term, this would start with AI making suggestions or streamlining parts of the ad process. But over time, Meta reportedly wants AI to be capable of managing entire campaigns on its own, from start to finish.

Meta’s spokesperson told the Journal that advertisers would remain «in control» of their campaigns, but the broader vision paints a future where AI is the creative director, media planner and performance analyst all in one.

Meta is all in on AI

AI is central to Meta’s long-term strategy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called AI the company’s «single largest investment area,» and with competitors like Google and Amazon also building AI-powered ad systems, Meta is racing to claim its stake in the game.

This also aligns with Meta’s broader ambitions to weave AI across its platforms. Meta has already integrated its Meta AI chatbot across Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp, explored creating AI avatars on Instagram, and worked generative AI tools into its apps, so automating advertising is just one more piece of a much larger puzzle.

Read more: How to Opt Out of Instagram and Facebook Using Your Posts for AI

Can anyone benefit from this move?

The effort builds on Meta’s existing suite of AI-powered ad tools, like Advantage+ and generative tools introduced in 2023. Those features already allow marketers to automatically create image backgrounds, write copy variations and test ad formats. What’s coming next could push those tools into full autonomy.

According to Meta, this isn’t just about improving efficiency, it’s about scale. Meta claims small businesses would be the key beneficiary of this AI approach, especially those lacking the time or resources to hire marketing teams. The idea is that AI can level the playing field between small businesses and multi-million dollar companies.

«In the not-too-distant future, we want to get to a world where any business will be able to just tell us what objective they’re trying to achieve, like selling something or getting a new customer, how much they’re willing to pay for each result, and connect their bank account and then we just do the rest for them,» Zuckerberg said during Meta’s annual shareholder meeting last week.

While Zuckerberg is calling this «a redefinition of the category of advertising,» critics are already raising concerns.

Mainly, media and ethics experts warn that fully automating ad creation could open the door to misinformation, biased targeting and further erosion of accountability in digital advertising. AI isn’t immune to mistakes or manipulation, and can be used to spread harmful messaging, such as AI-generated deepfakes.

Read more: Trump Signs Bill Banning Deepfakes, Nonconsensual Images

What can this mean for advertising agencies and jobs?

Critics are not just concerned with the accuracy for AI-driven ads, they’re also worried about the future of traditional ad agencies and marketing jobs.

Meta claims that its focus on AI-driven ads is not intended to wipe out ad companies and their employees. Alex Schultz, the chief marketing officer and vice-president of analytics at Meta, has said these AI systems are meant to assist ad agencies and he doubled down on the claim that this will be an asset to small and medium-sized businesses.

«We believe in the future of agencies,» Schultz wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. «We believe AI will enable agencies and advertisers to focus precious time and resources on the creativity that matters. While we think there will ultimately be more automation in marketing, the role that agencies play is going to become ever more important through their ability to plan, execute and measure across platforms.»

What can this mean for Instagram and Facebook users?

If you’re a business owner, marketer or even just a regular social media user, you’re going to feel the ripple effects. You can expect to see more ads that were built by AI machines and possibly tailored to your interests in ways that feel more personal, even if no human ever touched them.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 3, #1445

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle, No. 1,445, for June 3.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle could be tricky. I think of it as an abbreviation and I didn’t know Wordle allowed those as answers. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter A.

Wordle hint No. 4: Short for something

Today’s Wordle answer is an abbreviation that is used for a job title.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an employee who is in charge of the technical aspects of a business.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is ADMIN.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 2, No. 1444 was PREEN.

Recent Wordle answers

May 29, No. 1440: QUASH.

May 30, No. 1441: IDIOM

May 31, No. 1442: HABIT

June 1, No. 1443: ROUGH

Technologies

Traveling Abroad This Summer? Here Are the Best Tips to Avoid Roaming Phone Charges

International travel is exciting — until you get roaming fees. Abide by these tips to keep using phone apps and data stress-free on your trip.

Modern smartphones makes international travel a breeze compared to the old days. The Android or iOS supercomputer in your pocket has all the downloadable apps and included features to smoothly reserve hotel rooms, navigate cities, translate signage through the camera and pay for goods and services. With the latest software upgrades, you can translate conversations in real time with AI-powered features and even ask your AI-powered assistants for travel tips.

All those fancy phone features and apps work best — and sometimes only work — with a data connection. While that’s covered by your domestic plan, it usually comes with extra roaming fees when you travel abroad. Here’s how to avoid those charges.

Read more: Best Phone to buy for 2025

First and foremost, you’ll want to understand how pricey those extra charges are or whether you’ll be traveling to a region that’s cheaper or free with your carrier. Some mobile carriers have partnered with carriers in other countries for more affordable roaming or even free service, albeit with some restrictions. For example, some plans — like T-Mobile’s Essentials — offer free service in Canada and Mexico, but only at slow, 2G- or 3G-like speeds. So don’t expect to stream much video on that connection.

But traveling to most countries will require you to pay mobile roaming charges if you try to use data services, make voice calls or send text messages on your phone as normal. If that’s your plan, check out our guide for the best travel phone plans.

If you want to avoid mobile roaming charges, keep the following tips in mind.

Set up mobile service before you leave

Some carriers will let you pick traveling service options ahead of time, which can include daily, weekly or monthly flat fees to get service from partner carriers in other countries. You can wait until you arrive at your destination and wait to be prompted to select your chosen service or you can set it up ahead of time. Note that some carriers will simply default you to these services rather than charge you higher roaming fees, although it’s worth confirming before you travel.

These international plans are pretty convenient, although some may come with caveats such as being deprioritized behind other carrier customers, meaning you’ll get slower speeds during peak traffic times. Check the fine print of each travel plan to know its restrictions and what you may need to pay for extra service.

Verizon’s international plans start pretty simply, with $10 a day getting you 2GB per day of high-speed data and unlimited 3G-speeds data thereafter, as well as free voice calls and texting, in more than 210 countries. That plan is discounted to $5 per day in Canada and Mexico.

If you have one of the carrier’s latest plans, known as Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome, you’ll get these features included for Canada and Mexico. Customers with Verizon’s top Unlimited Ultimate option will get this international data for Canada and Mexico as well as for more than 210 countries.

AT&T has a similar $10-per-day travel plan for unlimited data, voice calls and text. The data counts against your usual plan’s allowance; going over will result in a charge and/or reduced download speeds of a super slow 2G-like connection. If you don’t sign up for this plan, traditional roaming fees kick in, charging per text message, megabyte of data and minute of voice calling.

Unlimited data for Canada and Mexico is included in AT&T’s main Unlimited plans, while the carrier’s Unlimited Premium PL and Unlimited Elite plans also allow unlimited data in 20 Latin American countries.

T-Mobile has its own international plans with unlimited calling, but they’re pretty modest with data, starting at $5 per day for half a gigabyte of downloaded data. Keep in mind that the carrier’s standard plans also include some international data allowances.

The basic Magenta and Go5G plans offer up to 10GB of high-speed data a month in Canada and Mexico, and once that’s used up, get unlimited data at very slow 2G speeds (as previously mentioned, the cheapest Essentials plan only gets data in Canada and Mexico at 2G speeds). Go5G Next, Go5G Plus and Magenta Max plans have a small 5GB monthly travel allowance for high-speed data in more than 215 countries, although that’s subject to potential extra taxes and conditions. Standard Go5G plans get the same 5GB data allowance in 11 European countries.

Although it’s possible to bump up your plan for the month (or more) you’re traveling and return to your old plan thereafter, it’s likely simpler to just pay for international data.

Getting mobile service directly from a local carrier

Before carriers got friendlier with their international agreements to support each other’s customers, one of the better traveling strategies was to get service straight from the carrier in the country you were traveling in. Once you landed, you’d just walk into a local carrier’s retail store and get a prepaid SIM card to last you the length of your trip.

That’s still possible today but it’s a bit more complicated. If you have one of the many phones that lack a physical SIM slot, including the latest iPhone 15 series and Samsung Galaxy S24 series, you’ll have to register for service through one of the eSIM accounts on your device. It’s pretty easy to do and is in fact one of the benefits of having multiple digital eSIM slots — so you can have one for domestic use and one for traveling — but it requires you to register through the carrier in question. You can even load the eSIM before you travel, through apps such as Airalo and Ubigi.

Unfortunately, there’s something else to consider: whether your phone is unlocked, that is, not tied to a carrier and restricted in using eSIMs from other carriers (even international ones). If you bought your device unlocked, you’re in the clear.

If you’re paying off your phone in installments from your carrier, it’s complicated. Verizon users have it best, as their installment plans unlock phones after 60 days. AT&T and T-Mobile, however, require you to finish your installments and fully pay off your phone to unlock it. Because AT&T’s plans have a minimum of 36 monthly installments, customers may be out of luck getting a local carrier eSIM unless they’re nearing the end of their contract — in which case it may make sense to pay the balance for more travel freedom.

Relying on a hotspot and tethering

Another method to avoid roaming is a bit more roundabout and requires you to sign up for service with a local carrier anyway but you won’t have to fiddle with eSIMs. When you land in your country of travel, you can rent a mobile hotspot (or register service on one you already own), which is a handheld device that turns cell signals into Wi-Fi.

Note that you’ll still need to pay for service either from the hotspot maker or from a local carrier, and there’s no guarantee that their networks will play nicely with a given hotspot device. Check that it’ll work in the area you’re traveling to.

Once you have one set up, you just connect to the hotspot’s Wi-Fi using your phone as normal. While it’s a bit more cumbersome, this also lets you get internet for your other devices, such as tablets and laptops, pretty much anywhere you get a phone signal from a local carrier.

Read more: Best cheap phone plan for 2024

Another caveat is that you’ll need to keep the hotspot itself charged, which is another device battery you’ll have to worry about. It might be worth carrying an external battery to make sure your hotspot can last a full day while you’re out and about.

Ultimately, whatever option you choose should fit your travel habits and destinations. Some carrier partnership options will be more appealing but offer slower speeds than getting service straight from the local carrier. But don’t worry about getting locked into a choice: You can always try out one way when you arrive and switch to another if a better choice presents itself.