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This is a spoiler-free preview of the first five episodes of season three.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ended its second season with arguably the single strongest run of any streaming-era Trek. The show was made with such confidence in all departments that if there were flaws, you weren’t interested in looking for them. Since then, it’s gone from being the best modern Trek, to being the only modern Trek. Unfortunately, at the moment it needs to be the standard bearer for the show, it’s become noticeably weaker and less consistent.

As usual, I’ve seen the first five episodes, but can’t reveal specifics about what I’ve seen. I can say plenty of the things that made Strange New Worlds the best modern-day live-action Trek remain in place. It’s a show that’s happy for you to spend time with its characters as they hang out, and almost all of them are deeply charming. This is, after all, a show that uses as motif the image of the crew in Pike’s quarters as the captain cooks for his crew.

Its format, with standalone adventures blended with serialized character drama, means it can offer something new every week. Think back to the first season, when “Memento Mori,” a tense action thriller with the Gorn, was immediately followed by “Spock Amock,” a goofy, starbase-set body-swap romantic comedy of manners centered around Spock. Strange New Worlds is the first Trek in a long while to realize audiences don’t just want a ceaseless slog of stern-faced, angry grimdark. And if they want that, they can go watch Picard and Section 31.

Marni Grossman/Paramount+

But, as much as those things are SNW’s greatest strength, it’s a delicate balance to ensure the series doesn’t lurch too far either way. And, it pains me to say this, the show spends the first five episodes of its third season going too far in both directions (although, mercifully, not at the same time). No specifics, but one episode I’m sure was on the same writers room whiteboard wishlist as last season’s musical episode. What was clearly intended as a chance for everyone to get out of their usual roles and have fun falls flat. Because the episode can never get past the sense it’s too delighted in its own silliness to properly function.

Marni Grossman/Paramount+

At the other end of the scale, we get sprints toward the eye-gouging grimdark that blighted those other series. Sure, the series has gone to dark places before, but previously with more of a sense of deftness, rather than just going for the viscerally-upsetting gore. A cynic might suggest that, as Paramount’s other Trek projects ended, franchise-overseer Alex Kurtzman — who has pushed the franchise into “grittier” territory whenever he can — had more time to spend in the SNW writers’ room.

Much as I’ve enjoyed the series’ soapier elements, the continuing plotlines take up an ever bigger part of each episode’s runtime so far. Consequently, the story of the week gets less service, making them feel weaker and less coherent. One episode pivots two thirds of the way in to act as a low-key sequel to an episode from season two. But since we’ve only got ten minutes left, it feels thrown in as an afterthought, or to resolve a thread the creative team felt they were obliged to deal with (they didn’t).

In fact, this and the recently-finished run of Doctor Who suffered from the same problem that blights so many streaming-era shows, which is the limited episode order. Rather than producing TV on the scale broadcast networks were able to — yearly runs of 22-, 24- or 26 episodes, a lot of (expensive) genre shows get less than half that. The result is that each episode has to be More Important Than The Last One in a way that’s exhausting for a viewer.

But Strange New Worlds can’t solve all the economic issues with the streaming model on its own. My hope is that, much like in its first season, the weaker episodes are all in its front half to soften us up for the moments of quality that followed toward its conclusion.

ASIDE: Shortly before publication, Paramount announced Strange New Worlds would end in its fifth season, which would be cut from ten episodes to six. It's not surprising — given the equally-brilliant Lower Decks was also axed after passing the same milestone — but it is disappointing. My only hope is that the series doesn't spend that final run awkwardly killing off the series' young ensemble one by one in order to replace them with the entire original series' roster as to make it "line up." Please, let them be their own things. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-third-season-falls-short-of-its-second-020030139.html?src=rss

Outdated tech stacks are more than annoying; they're driving top developers out of the industryDevelopers tie their identity to tech stacks, and they’re quitting when they feel embarrassed by themModern innovation can’t happen when devs are trapped in outdated frameworks and dead-end systemsA growing number of developers are rethinking their careers due to outdated and inefficient technology stacks, new research has claimed.A survey by Storyblok revealed over half (58%) of senior developers at medium to large companies reveal are considering quitting their jobs because of "inadequate and ‘embarrassing’ legacy tech stacks."Among all participants, 86% said they feel embarrassed by their current tech stack, with nearly a quarter citing legacy systems as the primary reason.Legacy tech takes a toll on developer moraleExcessive technical debt and reliance on outdated libraries and frameworks were also major contributors to their dissatisfaction.Developers take their tech environment personally. An overwhelming 74% said their tech stack has a "significant" impact on their professional identity, while 19.5% went further, saying it actually "defined" them. Only 2.5% reported feeling indifferent.This deep personal connection may help explain why 73% said they know at least one colleague who has quit in the past year due to frustrations with their tech stack.When asked to identify the biggest issues with their current stack, 51% pointed to a lack of core functionality. Another 47% highlighted maintenance challenges, while 31% expressed concern about limited compatibility with modern innovations such as AI.Only 14% of respondents said they had nothing to be embarrassed about.The situation is equally troubling when it comes to content management systems. Outdated CMS platforms were cited as major blockers, with 67.5% of developers saying their current CMS holds them back from doing their best work.Almost half described this as a "constant" obstacle, and only 4% felt their CMS was fit for purpose.To retain developers, employers may have to choose between costly pay increases or systemic change. The survey found that 92% of developers would require at least a 10% pay rise to remain in their current roles under existing tech conditions, while 42% said they’d need a 20% increase. Meanwhile, 15% said they would expect more than a 25% bump.“Outdated tech stacks are making your developers unhappy to the point of quitting. Pay rises are a short-term fix... If you want to bring joy back into your development team, you need to commit to a modernization roadmap,” said Alexander Feiglstorfer, CTO and Co-Founder of Storyblok.You might also likeCheck out the best AI phones on the marketHere is our list of the best AI website builders on the webFrom skepticism to sustainability: changing perceptions of refurbished phones

Manage VPS servers using natural language commandsWorks in over 50+ languagesSupported across the entire Hostinger ecosystemIt always puzzled me why Hostinger, one of the best web hosting providers, didn't offer managed VPS hosting.I rank Hostinger as a top web hosting provider across many categories including best VPS hosting, best WordPress hosting, and best cloud hosting - clearly, Hostinger knows how to put together excellent hosting packages.So, why not offer managed VPS hosting to beginners stepping up from shared hosting into VPS?Hostinger has been planning something betterMeet VPS Kodee, an AI assistant powered by the Model Context Protocol (MCP).While this isn't a complete replacement of some requirements of managed servers it does bridge that gap between beginner shared hosting and more complex VPS hosting."Our vision is to make VPS self-management radically simpler for everyone," Valentinas Čirba, Head of VPS at Hostinger told TechRadar Pro in an exclusive comment."With Kodee powered by MCP, users no longer need to learn complex commands – just chat naturally, and the AI takes care of the rest.”(Image credit: Hostinger)Kodee can handle complex server tasks 24/7 in multiple languages, and can be using for over 200 operations including setting up firewalls, creating snapshots, troubleshooting SSH, and scanning for malware.Kodee is integrated directed into hPanel, and throughout Hostinger's infrastructure by using MCP, an open source standard that provides context to AI.No need to worryThere is a lot of fear over the integration of AI into workflows but Hostinger says Kodee cannot and will not execute risky actions like a complete reinstall, changing OS templates, or restoring templates. If you need to do something like that, Kodee will guide you through the steps.While the biggest benefits can be seen with VPS hosting, Kodee can also also help with website building, managed hosting for WordPress, and support in general.Before this upgrade to Kodee, I spent one hour with Hostinger and found Kodee really helpful - and Hostinger data claims the tool resolved over half of issues via live chat, with that amount expected to grow as it rolls out further.AI is central to Hostinger’s businessKodee is not the only AI tool recently launched by Hostinger - other new releases include Hostinger Reach, an AI marketing tool, and Hostinger Horizons a no-code AI web app builder.Hostinger continue to develop the AI website builder that creates professional websites, writes content, creates images, and helps with SEO tasks. Plus, Hostinger's AI WordPress builder.More product and service support will be released for Kodee in the coming months, so stay tuned for more updates as we see them.You might also likeRead about my time at the WordCamp Europe eventWe've also interviewed Bluehost's new CEOAnd here's our round-up of the best no-code platforms around today

Garmin seems as though it's in the midst of a major course correction, and 2025 is a pivotal year. As someone who's been reviewing fitness technology, including the best Garmin watches, for many years, there's certainly been an increase in dramatic shifts in direction for the company in the past few months.That's not to say 'change' means 'bad': the recently announced Garmin Venu X1 looks like a great watch, but it's a pivot from the way Garmin has been designing watches up until this point.At two inches, the Venu X1 features Garmin's biggest screen. The Venu series has always represented Garmin's foray into lifestyle watch territory, with AMOLED screens replacing the duller, battery-saving memory-in-pixel (MIP) ones used in many of Garmin's other series and offering communication features, such as the ability to take calls on-wrist and interface with smart devices like the best video doorbells. Essentially, the Venu series was Garmin's answer to the best Apple Watches.The Garmin Venu X1 is Garmin's Apple Watch Ultra in every way. A square shape instead of Garmin's usual round face and no longer chunky to incorporate bigger batteries, the Venu X1 is described as 'ultrathin', and packs a reduced maximum of eight days of battery life.It's still leagues more life than you get out of your standard Apple Watch, but that powerful AMOLED screen, coupled with other features like an LED torch, means you'll get much less than the Garmin Venu 3, which used to offer up to 14 days.(Image credit: Garmin)Venu X1 eschews the way old watches used to be made for the company's truest smartwatch-esque design yet.All other watches, such as Garmin's Forerunner, Instinct, and Fenix ranges, which used to be released with power-saving MIP screens, are now being released as power-sucking AMOLED ones. Where MIP options do exist, they're packing Garmin's Power Glass solar battery-extending technology, because this can't yet be implemented on a watch with an AMOLED screen. I have no doubt that once Garmin cracks Power Glass for AMOLED, we'll never see a MIP option again.Battery lives are getting shorter, screens are getting brighter, and feature lists are getting longer, as Garmin positions itself further alongside Apple and Samsung and further away from its best running watch contemporaries, Polar and Coros. Apple is the biggest seller of smartwatches by a huge margin, so it's clear there's a market there, and one Garmin probably believes is worth pivoting to tap into.On the fitness side, the introduction of a premium tier aligns more closely with Garmin's competitors, such as Fitbit and Google, and some of the best fitness apps like Strava and AllTrails.Garmin has been one of the few holdouts for a long time as its competitors offered premium subscription services – even Apple has Apple Fitness Plus – and fans appreciated the company's stubbornness. However, it finally buckled in March, seeing the revenue streams it was leaving on the table and arriving with the controversial Garmin Connect Plus.Garmin fans can feel it in the air: their brand of choice is undergoing a change of direction, a sort of metamorphosis. The next six months will tell us more about that change and what the next few years of Garmin will look like.You might also likeWhoops! A Garmin Index Sleep Monitor video was reportedly just leaked – by GarminThe Polar Grit X2 is luring us away from the Garmin Instinct 3Garmin Index Sleep Monitor: Everything we know so far