Home Office Setup & Equipment

As anyone who has ever tried to design their home knows all too well, neutral always works. Beige, white, and various subtle shades of gray are the safe choices in any room—they may not be exciting, but they also won’t irritate you over time or cause your guests to whisper about your choices behind your back. That safety combined with a long-running trend toward minimalist and uncluttered spaces has led to the color “pop”—a blast of vibrant color as an accent to add a dash of drama to your otherwise bland spaces. But as concepts like “unexpected red” demonstrate, you aren’t confined to painting an accent wall or buying a big red sofa when you want that pop of color. While…

After years of intense rumor and speculation, Nintendo finally revealed the Switch 2 in January of this year. While the company hasn't yet announced each and every new feature the Switch's successor will sport, the company did confirm a number of details leakers had been hinting for a long time, including a larger display, redesigned magnetic Joy-Cons, a new kickstand, backwards compatibility, and, least consequentially, a large "2" embossed on the console and dock. Since the initial announcement, we've learned a bit more about the Switch 2 in advance of its full unveiling later this year. Nintendo announced a worldwide tour, where fans can try out the Switch 2 early. It …

Apple, Google, and Samsung are competing on multiple fronts—from phones, to health apps, to smartwatches—and that rivalry extends to AI tools as well. All of these tech giants offer AI-powered object removal features in their mobile photo editing apps, which ostensibly allow you get rid of an unwanted person, a tree, a hand, or anything else that's ruining your shot, with only a tap or two on the screen. However, just because Apple, Google, and Samsung all offer AI object removal doesn't mean the tools are of the same standard. There's been a fair bit of chatter online about how these features stack up against one another, so it feels as though a head-to-head object remov…

Time is ticking to file your taxes before April 15, 2025. If you've already do so, congrats! Now you can kick back and await that refund, right? Sure—but your relief will be short-lived. Once tax season rolls around next year, you'll again find yourself frantically searching for receipts, statements, and other documentation needed to file an accurate return. Instead of accepting the annual scramble, you can get ahead of the game by using a spreadsheet to track all your tax-related information throughout the year. And there's no better time to start than right now—when your tax knowledge is fresh as can be—to make your spreadsheet and start logging things away for next Ap…

For the last 10 years, all of my moves have happened within about a 15-block radius. For personal reasons (a dislike of annoyance and paperwork), I may never leave this neighborhood in Manhattan. Then again, I may not have a choice. You never know when something—a great job opportunity or the sudden desire to experience something new—may come up. If and when you find yourself moving not just locally, but quite a distance, there are some unexpected hurdles you'll need to keep in mind that differentiate this from your standard move. Your budget has to be on pointBudgeting for any kind of move is a key to not going broke during the process, but your expenses for a longer mo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Apple’s AirPods Pro are among the best wireless earbuds you can buy, especially if you’re already entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. Like many Apple products, AirPods Pro are pretty simple to set up and use. However, there are also plenty of settings you should be using (and changing) from the default. Because many of the features are found in the same settings page, here's some advice: When I refer to AirPods Pro settings, I'm talking about those found in Settings > [Your AirPods] (iOS). You can also find these options in Settings > Bluetooth (iOS), or System Settings > Bluetooth (macOS), then by tapping the (i)…

There's a lot of advice out there for proper password management: Each of your passwords should be strong and unique; use a secure manager to store your passwords; use two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your accounts. But there's another piece of advice that is held in the same regard as the others: Change your passwords often—perhaps once every three months. This habit is so emphasized, many companies and organizations will make you change your passwords multiple times a year in the name of security. The thing is, in all likelihood, this isn't actually doing anything to help your security. This idea that changing your passwords multiple …

March isn't the most exciting time of the year for casual skywatching, though there are two notable events: a total lunar eclipse in the middle of the month and the partial solar eclipse at the end. There are other reasons to head outside and look up too. Here's what you're looking for. March 13–14: Total lunar eclipse (Blood Moon)Late on the night of March 13, the entire moon will fall into the darkest part of Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse throughout the Western Hemisphere. Because of the alignment of the Sun, Earth, and moon—and the filtering of the Sun's light through Earth's atmosphere in between—the moon will appear red or orange, which is why it is…

When Google rolled out AI Overviews for Search last year, it didn't go over so well. The company's AI made some pretty massive mistakes with its results, many of which went viral. In response, Google pulled back the feature, reworked it, and slowly reintroduced it to the masses. You've probably noticed. This month, Google is continuing its work of adding AI to Search—whether you want it or not. First, it's rolling out a new version of AI Overviews that's powered by Gemini 2.0, the company's latest AI model. Google says this update will help with "harder questions," like coding, math, and multimodal (prompts using different types of media) requests. In addition, teens can…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While most people think of smart cameras as just a part of their security system, they’re also a good way to monitor the things growing in your yard. In most cases, the cameras you already have set up for security can be doing double duty as a tool to keep track of what's happening in your garden. I believe we’re on the cusp of smart cameras becoming a much bigger part of the gardening experience. For the last few years, smart bird houses have exploded in popularity. One of those companies, Bird Buddy, has launched an entirely new line of cameras specifically for micro-viewing experiences in the garden. Their Petal cameras…

One of the things a Dutch oven does best is sear and cook "low and slow." Sauces reduce, sugars caramelize, and meats brown with great success in these pots, but your food won’t be the only thing left with a brown crust. The creamy white interior of enameled Dutch ovens can get pretty gunky. Here are some ways to clean stubborn crud, and prevent more from building up. 1. Boiling is your best friend If you try to clean burnt sauce and stuck meat residue right off of the stove, you’ll likely ruin your sponge on the first pass. Don’t attempt to scratch it off with steel wool or your fingernails (you want to keep those). Your first line of attack is loosening any burnt-on cr…

Max is joining the lineup of streaming platforms limiting users sharing a single subscription to those in the same household—unless you pay $7.99 per month for an "extra member" add-on. Adding an extra member to an existing streaming plan costs a little bit less than purchasing a new, separate subscription, though these users are limited to one profile and one supported device at a time. The best value for extra members typically comes with the most expensive plans. On Max, that's Premium, which costs $20.99 per month. How Max's "extra member" option stacks upMax subscribers on any plan (except Disney+/Hulu/Max bundles) can add one extra member at $7.99 per month if the…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. For a property owner, paint is an incredibly powerful tool. It’s a cheap and effective renovation in a can, a fun way to add some personality to your home, and a project that can be wrapped up in a weekend. Best of all, if you mess up your paint job, you can just paint over your mistakes. But the power of paint goes way beyond aesthetics. Paint can be formulated in different ways, with different effects, making it an easy, low-cost solution to a host of problems you might experience in your home—and I'm not talking about covering them up to pretend they aren't there. Choosing the right kind of paint can often be the most a…

Obsidian is the Winamp of productivity tools. If you're as ancient as I am, you might remember that the best part of that once-ubiquitous music player extension was the massive number of plugins and themes you could install to make it better, all of them built by enthusiasts. Obsidian is a good note-taking application on its own, stuffed with all kinds of features: You can organize notes in folders, link to notes from other notes, and even use advanced options like Mermaid diagrams. But like Winamp, Obsidian truly shines once you dig into its extensive plugin ecosystem. There are over 2,000 Obsidian plugins available as of this writing, and you can use them to basically t…

Hallucinations have always been an issue for generative AI models: The same structure that enables them to be creative and produce text and images also makes them prone to making stuff up. And the hallucination problem isn't getting better as AI models progress—in fact, it's getting worse. In a new technical report from OpenAI (via The New York Times), the company details how its latest o3 and o4-mini models hallucinate 51 percent and 79 percent, respectively, on an AI benchmark known as SimpleQA. For the earlier o1 model, the SimpleQA hallucination rate stands at 44 percent. Those are surprisingly high figures, and heading in the wrong direction. These models are known a…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Apple community has been finding their lost keys since 2021 with the AirTag, but Tile has been helping both Android and Apple users locate their missing devices since 2013. Over a decade later, their latest tracker (after being acquired by Life360), the Tile Mate, is just $16.95 (originally $27.99) for a single tracker, $33.99 (originally $44.99) for a two-pack, and $55.99 (originally $79.99) for a four-pack, the lowest prices, according to price-tracking tools. If you're an Android user, this is a good opportunity to stock up. (If you're an Ap…

It happens way too often. You install a new, interesting app. The app asks you to grant it permission to your photo library, and you end up granting it full access. That is, after all, the most convenient option. Doing this for a trusted, popular app like Instagram or Slack is fine, useful even. But not all apps are built the same. In fact, researchers have recently found photo-scanning malware apps on the App Store. Yes, malware has started to make its way from Android to the iPhone. Dubbed SparkCat, this is a kind of malware framework that runs in the background, running OCR on all your photos in hopes of finding credentials to your crypto account. But any app that has …

Nintendo didn't make preordering the Switch 2 particularly easy—especially with its back and forth decisions in the face of tariffs. But even if you manage to get your hands on a Switch 2 for launch day, be careful, because Nintendo is ready to brick any Switch device you own should you break its rules—and I'm not talking about cheating at Mario Party. Rather, Nintendo is particularly concerned about Switch users who hack their systems, use emulators, or engage in piracy using Nintendo hardware. These players are the targets of the company's newfound bloodlust, and they're not messing around: steal our games, and lose the right to use your console. Stephen Totilo of Game…

If you're out and about with your laptop, or just in a different room than your charging cable, you want to eke out as much time as possible before the next recharge—and an important part of that is knowing which apps are draining the battery the quickest. Once you know who the worst offenders are as far as battery drain is concerned, you can do something about it. Maybe you can use the programs in question less often, enable any battery-saving features (if they're available), or uninstall them altogether and switch to less power-hungry alternatives. Take Google Chrome, for instance—not a program known for its light touch on system resources. If you find it's putting a lo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you like the idea of running errands or going for a jog without lugging your phone around, the Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS + Cellular) is down to $249.99 on Woot. That’s a $500 discount on its original $749 price tag, but the deal is only live for two days or until it sells out. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get free standard shipping, while others will have to pay $6 (keep in mind that Woot won’t ship to Alaska, Hawaii, PO boxes, or APO addresses). Now, if you’re wondering why you should care about the cellular version over the regular G…

It’s official: Skype is dead. The long-lived (by internet standards) voice-over-internet app has been put out to pasture by parent company Microsoft. Though Skype was once considered the way to call someone online, it's now going the way of Google Hangouts and dozens of other trendsetting apps before it. Come May 5, it’ll officially be replaced by Microsoft Teams. It’s truly the end of an era. Launched in 2003, Skype quickly became synonymous with video calls online, with “skype-ing” entering the lexicon as its own verb. It has supported countless long distance relationships, podcasts recording sessions, and remote D&D games, but after being supplanted by apps like Z…

You know that putting money aside is a good idea, but putting it all in the same place can make your budgeting more complicated than it needs to be. It sounds counterintuitive, but when all your savings sit in one account, it's difficult to track progress toward different goals. You might see a healthy balance, but you can't easily see how much is truly available for discretionary spending versus what's socked away for long-term goals. Rather than keeping all your money in one place, here's how you can make the most of your money by separating your savings into goals-based accounts. Think of multiple savings accounts as foldersLike the old-school cash-stuffing where you…

There are nearly two million apps on the iOS App Store, and a lot of them aren't worth your time. That's why many of us, when considering a new app, turn to reviews: You want to see what other users' experiences were like with the app—whether they loved it, liked it, or loathed it. Personally, the current review system works fine for me. I scan some reviews, and generally get a sense of whether the app is right for me. If I'm feeling particularly analytical, I'll even adjust the filters, perhaps to see which reviews are most critical (so it's not just a bunch of fluff) or ones that are most recent, to see what customers thought of the latest version of the app. But it's…

Like the first few months of the year, April is a relatively quiet month for sky watching, but it does bring one of the oldest meteor showers and a micromoon. April 13: Pink MoonApril's full moon is known as the Pink Moon, so named for the color of ground phlox, a wildflower that blooms during the month—though the moon itself doesn't actually appear pink in the sky. The Pink Moon is also a micromoon, meaning it occurs at that furthest point from Earth. The opposite of a supermoon, it will look about 5% smaller in diameter than usual. April 21: Lyrid meteor shower peakThe main event in April is the Lyrid meteor shower. It starts mid-month (around April 17) and will peak …

Cheese and carbs have never been a tough sell, but if you’ve ever had a stretchy, springy bite of pão de queijo (a Brazilian cheese bread puff) then you know that this simple combination can soar to new heights. It’s the most utterly stretchy cheese puff you’ve ever known. If you haven’t had the pleasure of noshing on pão de queijo, then we should change that. Luckily, it only requires six ingredients and with the help of a blender or stand mixer, it’s nearly effortless. What is pão de queijo?While many South American countries have a version of a this cheesy bread, pão de queijo originated in Brazil. This delightful snack owes its stretchy, gummy center to tapioca flour…