Home Office Setup & Equipment

It finally happened: Threads officially allows you to choose a default feed to see when you open the app, whether that be "Following" or a custom feed you've created yourself. This means that when you open Threads, you'll be able to view posts from the accounts you chose to follow, instead of seeing what the algorithm wants you to. Meta has been testing this feature for a few months, and is now rolling it out to everyone—in addition to a few other new features. How to change Threads' default feed to FollowingThe process of changing your default feed is straightforward. Follow these steps: Open the Threads app on your phone and go to the Home tab. You'll see all your fee…

Months after enabling Deep Research in its expensive $200 ChatGPT Pro plan, OpenAI is now rolling out the feature to all users. Anyone can now access a lightweight version of Deep Research for free. This new version of Deep Research sits somewhere between a regular ChatGPT search and a ChatGPT Pro-style in-depth report. These searches usually take around five to ten minutes, and give you a report that's about a page or two long. In my experience, its reports are practical, to-the-point, and well-researched. How the new "lightweight" ChatGPT Deep Research worksDeep Research is different from a regular ChatGPT search. Here, ChatGPT will use all of its resources, like its re…

Everything seems to be getting more expensive these days, and video games are no exception. Case in point: Microsoft, just jacked up the recommended prices on its video game products. Xbox consoles and games alike are seeing cost increases—all of which go into effect today, May 1. You can find the full list of price changes on Microsoft's official pricing update blog post. But for those of us in the United States, here are the new prices we can expect to pay for Xbox products going forward, in addition to the original prices provided by IGN when available: Xbox consolesXbox Series S 512: $379.99 (originally $299.99) Xbox Series S 1TB: $429.99 (originally $349.99) Xbox Ser…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. TV tech has improved a lot over the years, with high-end buyers focused on subtle differentiators like the number of local dimming zones. But if all you're looking for is a big screen with decent smart features, good visuals, and a low price, the 75-inch LG UR9000 is a great option. This set is $449.99 (originally $1,099.99) on Woot, a 59% discount and the lowest price it has reached according to price tracking tools. (Remember that Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it…

More than 300 organizations in critical infrastructure, including the medical, tech, and manufacturing sectors, have been victimized by a ransomware threat known as Medusa—and with attacks escalating significantly in the first few months of 2025, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) are advising companies to take steps now to secure their systems. What is Medusa ransomware? Medusa is a ransomware-as-a-service software that, when deployed successfully, encrypts your data along with a threat to release stolen information unless you comply with ransom demands. According to the CISA advisory, victims receive ransom notes requesting a response withi…

When Apple's AirTags first launched, I thought that the devices would prove to be useless once the novelty wore off, but after using them for about a year, my assumption has proved to be wrong. AirTags have quite a few useful hidden features that make the product worth checking out even if you're someone who doesn't lose things often. Here are the best hidden features of your Apple AirTags. Rename your AirTagsIt sounds obvious, but you really should rename your AirTags to make it easy to identify each item they're attached to. Instead of having them named "Pranay's AirTags #1," you can change it to something like "Pranay's Blue Backpack." To do this, go to the Find My app…

Losing your job can be overwhelming, but taking immediate control of your finances is crucial for maintaining stability during your job search. I've written before about the steps you need to take immediately after losing your job. One of those is to assess your budget—but what does that look like, exactly? If you've never used a formal budget before, now is the time to start. But if you already have a budget, how should you adapt it to your current situation? Here's how to evaluate your budget and make strategic cuts that will help extend your financial runway. First off, calculate your new monthly cash flowBefore making any cuts, assess your current financial situation…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re looking for an outdoor security camera that doesn’t need constant battery swaps or a monthly subscription, the Eufy SoloCam S40 might be worth considering—especially now that it's $99.99 (down from its usual $199). This battery-powered camera comes with a built-in solar panel, which, according to Eufy, only needs two hours of direct sunlight daily to stay charged. That’s the kind of low-maintenance setup we want, but as with all solar-powered devices, real-world performance depends on actual sunlight exposure, so if you live somewhere gloo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Ever since Apple released the latest Apple Watch Series 10 earlier in September, it has been steadily dropping in price; it's currently sitting at $299 (originally $399) after a $100 drop, the lowest price yet, according to price-tracking tools. This price is for the 42mm case, 130 to 180mm size bands, in black, denim, and rose-gold case colors. The bigger 46mm case is down to $329 (originally $429), also the lowest price yet after a $100 discount. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The M3 lineup of MacBook Air laptops is already seeing big discounts before the release of the new M4 MacBook Air laptops tomorrow. You can get the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage for $794.99 (originally $1,099) after an additional $54.01 on-page coupon on Amazon. This is the lowest price this MacBook has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools. M3 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop (2024) …

Companies like Apple have their own ecosystems, where it's easier to interact with other devices from the same company. For example, it's trivially easy to transfer photos from one iPhone to another, or to share a Wi-Fi password between iPhones with one tap. The same goes for a hotspot as well. You can start using your iPhone's internet connection on your iPad or Mac, without even lifting your iPhone. Android, unfortunately, mostly lacks this level of cross device integration. Samsung and Pixel devices do offer some exceptions, but usually only with other Samsung or Google devices, respectively. Now, though, a formerly Pixel-exclusive tethering feature named Instant Hotsp…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. For many years, I've depended on my phone to get me out of bed in the morning, and I've hated it. I'd easily snooze or catch myself doom scrolling instead of starting my morning routine. That all changed after my brother gifted me perhaps the best Christmas present I've received over the last few years: a Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, which you can now get on Walmart or Target for $99.99. It was previously only available on the Nintendo store. Display: Digital, Power type: Corded Electric, Alarm c…

Around November of last year, when readers were certainly not paying attention to anything else, Nintendo briefly shared that the Nintendo Switch 2 would be backwards compatible with games for the original Nintendo Switch. Fast forward to this year, and it turns out that’s not so clear cut. According to Nintendo, the Switch 2 can play the vast majority of Nintendo Switch 1 games, but there are some caveats to keep in mind. The Switch 2 uses emulation to play Switch 1 gamesAs Nintendo posted to its site yesterday and confirmed in a developer roundtable I attended, the Switch 2 does not have any Switch 1 hardware inside. This means that, unlike the Nintendo DS did with the …

A good main-course meat can be made great with a complementary finishing sauce. This might look like a drizzle of an espagnole sauce, a buttery pan sauce, an easy board sauce, or maybe a bright vinaigrette, but lately I’ve been branching out. My latest meat sauce obsession is sizzling oil sauces. They’re delicious, fragrant, and—best of all—nearly impossible to screw up. I first started using this Chinese technique after making recipes from The Woks of Life, a delightful and approachable cookbook that you should check out (read my review here). This flash-fried sauce pops up regularly in the book as a dressing or a dipping sauce for meats and vegetables, and it’s a suref…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own. Every time I see a newly budding tree or a daffodil leaping out of a scruffy patch of grass, it brings me a fresh moment of cheer. Spring is coming to New York. That means sun and spring fashion, but mostly I’m excited for the variety of veggies that’ll be available. I’m choosing to celebrate Spring’s approach with an appropriately veggie-forward Cookbook of t…

It's been about six months now since Apple's big iOS 18 update introduced RCS support to the iPhone. In many ways, it's been a game changer: Ditching SMS for RCS has meant group chats function better, and videos are sent in higher quality. But there's still one big drawback to RCS on iPhone that has yet to be fixed: Your messages aren't encrypted. What is RCS?To fully understand the issue, it's important to know what RCS actually is. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, and is basically a souped up version of SMS: The platform supports modern messaging features, like typing bubbles, high-quality image and video sharing, functioning group chats, and end-to-end enc…

Letterboxd is the social media app of choice for many movie fans out there—and for good reason. The service has long been a platform for rating movies, sharing and viewing recommendations, and organizing your watch lists. Now, however, the company is gearing up for a new business model: on-demand video streaming. Letterboxd announced the news at the Cannes film festival on Tuesday. While the company's reveal is lacking many details, we do have some idea of what to expect. The new streaming service will be called the Letterboxd Video Store, and will host "shelves" of select titles. These movies are curated by Letterboxd, and are quite specific. According to the company, …

As the spring gets closer and closer, I was excited to see a new trend on TikTok that claims you can easily clean fans—a pretty tedious chore—just by spritzing the machine and covering it with a plastic bag. I tried it out on two different fans today and the results weren't great. Here's what happened and what you can (and should) do instead. My attempt at the TikTok fan-cleaning hackFirst of all, here's how it's supposed to look and work when you use a cleaning solution and garbage or plastic bag to "clean" your fan: There are tons of videos like this on TikTok and they all look pretty effective, so I gave it a real try. Different creators recommend different cleanin…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Nintendo Switch Lite is already a solid pick for gamers who prefer a portable console, but this deal on Woot makes it even more tempting. For $164.99 (for the next two days or until it sells out)—down from its usual $199—you’re getting an open-box Singapore model that’s been fitted with an official Nintendo USA power adapter. That means functionally, it’s the same as the U.S. version, and it plays all U.S. and international Switch games without any issue. The only catch is that it's an open-box deal, so while it’s brand new, the box has been ope…

Coming across a light website in dark mode feel like shining a light bulb directly into your eyes. Noir is an extension for Safari that automatically adds a dark mode to websites that are otherwise bright. Modern operating systems, including Apple devices, offer some kind of system wide dark mode that puts light text on dark backgrounds instead of the more-traditional black-on-white. Basically all applications respect the system wide setting at this point, but many websites do not. Noir helps by modifying websites you browse so that they offer light text on a dark background, effectively forcing them to support dark mode. I've been testing it for a few days and it works r…

Social media apps aren't exactly known for their privacy and security features, but TikTok users are getting a little bit of help with a built-in tool to monitor their account security and keep their information safe. The new Security Checkup dashboard shows you where your TikTok security is lacking with step-by-step guidance to update your settings. How to use TikTok's Security CheckupTo get to your security dashboard on TikTok, go to your profile and tap Settings and privacy > Security and permissions. Security Checkup will show you which settings have been completed and which need attention, with guidance on how to update each: Adding an email and/or phone number …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. For anyone who dabbles in photo editing but doesn’t need the full creative suite and its subscription fees, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2025 offers a simpler alternative, and it’s currently available for $99.99 for a three-year license on StackSocial. That’s a one-time payment for three full years of access—no monthly charges or auto-renewals. It's the 2025 version with updates included, and yes, it works on both Mac (including M1/M2 chips) and Windows as long as your system meets the basic requirements (8GB RAM, 10GB storage, modern OS, etc.). This ve…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip still holds up as one of the best lightweight laptops Apple has ever made, and right now, you can get a Grade A refurbished model for $514.99 on StackSocial. That means you’re getting a machine that looks nearly new, with little to no visible wear. It’s the Space Gray model with a 13.3-inch Retina display, which delivers crisp text and vibrant colors, whether you're working, streaming, or scrolling through Reddit. With 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it’s built for everyday tasks like web browsing, video calls, and …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Whoop, the screenless watchband-like wearable that beat out Oura in my non-watch fitness tracker showdown, has just added a VO2 max feature to its app. Now, just like Garmin, Apple Watch, and others, it can put a number on your cardio fitness and tell you how it changes over time. WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscription – Wearable Health, Fitness & Activity Tracker $239.00 at Amazon …