Home Office Setup & Equipment

Whenever I open Reddit these days, it feels like I'm just asking to see outrage bait. That means posts from AITA, posts from AIO (Am I Overreacting), and posts about political turmoil. As a writer, I need to check Reddit to keep a tab on interesting new app launches, common problems people face with technology (so that I can write about the solutions), and sometimes, to solve a niche problem that I face with my own tech. But if I accidentally open Reddit's default home page, my mental health starts tanking, and my thoughts become angrier, too. Yes, a lot of bad things are going on in the world right now, but I don't want to hear about them all the time. My brain needs a b…

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 …

Dark mode has saved many of us from eye pain when using our smartphones at night. The difference between a black display with white text and a blinding white screen with black text is immeasurable when your phone is the only light source in the room—especially when you're opening your eyes for the first time in a while. While many Android users prefer to use dark mode all the time, others prefer it exclusively in the evening and night. That's where the "sunset to sunrise" schedule comes into play: On many devices, such as Google's Pixel phones, you can choose to schedule dark mode from sunset to sunrise. After the sun rises, your phone stays in light mode, so your content…

Notion Mail is finally out in the wild, for anyone who has a Gmail account. And it's quintessential Notion. If you've used the standard Notion app, you really can't confuse it for anything else. Notion Mail is a minimalist and text-based take on the Mail app that isn't trying to do anything revolutionary. There are no AI summaries, and no complicated split views like in Superhuman. It's just your email, sorted in a way that you like. What does it mean, though, to apply the Notion philosophy to email, and is it good enough for you to make the switch? That is, if you even can. Currently, Notion Mail only works on the Web and on Mac, and it only supports Gmail accounts (leav…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Mobile gaming stopped being a casual distraction a while ago. Big-budget titles, console-quality ports, and cloud streaming have turned phones into credible gaming machines. The problem is still input. Touch controls work until they don’t, especially once games demand precise movement, aiming, or long sessions. The Razer Kishi Ultra is built to fix that gap. And it’s currently $79.99 on Amazon, which online price trackers confirm is its lowest price to date. It fits most phones, even with cases, and can expand wide enough to hold an iPad mini, which…

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…

Bluesky is setting itself up to be a social media jack of all trades. There's the main experience, of course, which replaces something like X or Threads. But it's not all about the text posts: Soon, you'll be able to use an app like Flashes to transform Bluesky into a kind of Instagram. Before that drops, however, you can use a different app to turn Bluesky into TikTok. It's not quite there yet, but it's a fascinating look into a unique kind of social media client—an app that turns one platform into something else entirely. Introducing Bluescreen for Bluesky Bluescreen is a Bluesky client with one singular purpose: It identifies the videos from your Bluesky feed and deliv…

Have you committed to a new habit—exercising, let’s say—but keep falling off the wagon? Do you give up when the going gets tough? Does this whole “pursuing goals” idea seem really daunting? You may have low self-efficacy. But don’t worry: Self-efficacy is something that you can build with practice. Here's how. What is self-efficacy?Self-efficacy, as psychologists understand it, is related to the idea of confidence, but it’s not just being cocky for no reason. It’s a feeling something like determination and related to discipline and motivation. When you have high self-efficacy, you believe that you can do the thing. Whatever that thing may be. Maybe you’re just getting sta…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. While it’s not the best choice for iPhone users or most other Android phones, for those in the Samsung ecosystem with a Galaxy device, the Samsung SmartTag2 Bluetooth tracker is an effective way to find often-misplaced items. Right now, a Samsung SmartTag2 four-pack is half off at $44.99 (originally $99.99) on Woot, making it a great gift to yourself this holiday season or a stocking stuffer for family or friends. Samsung SmartTag2 Four-Pack …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Act fast if you want to pick up an Oura ring on a steep discount—some of them are available today for just $199 in Amazon's spring sale. I’m seeing this deal on gen 3 rings in the Heritage shape, and silver or black colors. Oura Ring Gen 3 $199.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg …

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…

The following content is brought to you by Lifehacker partners. If you buy a product featured here, we may earn an affiliate commission or other compensation. Photoshop has been the industry standard in image-editing software for over 30 years, but up until now, creators have been limited to using it on their computers and tablets. The recent launch of the first Photoshop iPhone app has (finally) changed that. Now you can go to the App Store, search "Photoshop," and download the spanking-new Photoshop iPhone mobile app. It’s available for free with an impressive feature set, but if you’re a savvy Photoshop user, the $7.99 a month/$69.99 a year Photoshop Mobile and Web Pla…

With tax season in full swing, smart filers are looking to maximize every deduction available to them. We're all familiar with common tax deductions like mortgage interest, charitable donations, and retirement contributions. However, there are plenty of unexpected deductions and other little-known uses for pre-tax money. Andy Phillips, Vice President of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, shares some more unexpected facts about deductions. For instance, people who are wrongfully incarcerated may be able to exclude settlement money they receive to compensate them. And if you’re just starting to repay your student loans for the first time, you might not know that most taxpayers…

If you read enough tech news on the internet, you're probably used to seeing the same advice over and over again: Update your software to the latest version as soon as possible. This advice is repeated often, because, for the most part, it's sound—updates not only give you access to the latest features, but also the most up to date stability and security patches. If you want to protect your software, hardware, and the data contained therein, update! Web browsers are no exception. It's particularly important to keep the tool you use to access the internet fully updated if you want to keep yourself safe as you surf the web. While you should update all web browsers whenever …

Each year, Samsung takes what Google has made with the annual Android update—the Android Open Source Project (or AOSP) to be precise—and builds a fresh version of One UI, its bespoke mobile operating system complete with all the extra Samsung bells and whistles. This year, we're getting One UI 7, which is based on Android 15. One UI 7 comes preinstalled on the new Galaxy S25 phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the rest of us are still waiting for it to roll out at the time of writing. Here's everything new that's coming with the software update, and when you can expect it to make its way to your Galaxy handset. Best new features in One UI 7Perhaps the most…

Priority Notifications is a new Apple Intelligence feature that's rolling out with the iOS 18.4 update, which is currently in beta. It's one of the last AI features that we will see with the iOS 18 update cycle, and it goes hand-in-hand with Apple's Notifications Summary feature, though they are distinct. Perhaps because of the backlash Apple got to Notification Summaries, this feature isn't even enabled by default. You have to enable it instead. How Priority Notifications WorkLike many new Apple Intelligence features, Priority Notifications uses on-device AI processing to figure out what your most important notification is at any given point. Then, it surfaces those noti…

On Wednesday, April 2, Nintendo will finally host its first Direct entirely dedicated to Nintendo Switch 2. While we all know what the console looks like by now, there are still plenty of questions left for Nintendo to answer (and I'm expecting answers.) Here's what I'm looking out for, and where you can watch the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. The truth is, we really don't know what Nintendo is going to share during Wednesday's Direct. What we know for sure is this: The presentation itself is going to run about 60 minutes. That's a long time for a Nintendo Direct. The company's last presentation on March 27, for example, was just under 37 minutes, which means Nintendo must ha…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Hulu doesn't always get the recognition of competitors like Netflix and Max, but the streamer has an unfailingly reliable and rotating selection of theatrical films, as well as some impressive original releases. These are some of the best, buzziest, and/or most fun movies currently streaming on the service, across a variety of genres. Anora (2024) Writer/director Sean Baker (Tangerine, Red Rocket) has a long run of impressive film credits to his name, but comedy-drama Anora was the film that put his name firmly on the map, winning him a Best Director Oscar and the film a Best Picture prize. Mikey Madison (who also …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Outfitting that garage with the right gear is the difference between a useful and organized space and a chaotic black hole of junk. If you want your garage to be a place where you can get work done, where you can actually find stuff, and maybe also where you can park your car, here’s what you should have, ranging from the must-have essentials to some luxuries you could stretch for. What every garage needsIf you want to get the most of any garage, here’s the short list of essentials: Overhead storage. An empty garage might seem like endless storage, but it fills up fast. If you don’t want to navigate a maze of junk every ti…

In the wake of the controversy surrounding PayPal's Honey browser extension, Google Chrome has updated its policies to ban the practices that the extension was observed to be engaging in. Chrome's updated extension policies for affiliate ads includes wording that seems to be a direct response to many of the tactics Honey was accused of participating in, such as injecting affiliate codes without providing discounts. Given that Chrome powers most browsers available now, expect this to have major ramifications on shopping extensions going forward. If you're out of the loop about the Honey controversy, a multi-year investigation by YouTuber MegaLag recently uncovered evidence…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Ever since my home was broken into, I've installed as many security cameras, floodlights, and other security measures in place as I could get away with (and they've been working great so far). The video doorbell I chose to go with for my front door is the Reolink Video Doorbell. Right now, you can get one of the best video doorbells of 2025 for a $51.99 (originally $109.99), the lowest price it has ever been, even cheaper than used ones on Amazon, according to price-tracking tools. Reolink Video Doorbell …

It feels like every social media site now has a 'reply guy' problem. You'll post about something that you know your followers will get, but if the post goes any degree of viral, multiple random strangers will appear in the replies questioning all your decisions and putting you down for making a harmless quip or a minor error. Bluesky is now helping you do something to address this problem. The site's moderation tools are among the best I've seen on social media platforms and in its latest update (1.98), Bluesky is doubling down on its efforts to help you keep harassment at bay. You can now restrict replies to only your followers, which is another great tool to reduce the…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Cyber Monday is long gone, but with spring sales popping up this week in response to Amazon's Big Spring Sale event, there's still plenty of good tech to be found for cheap. Across Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and more, gadgets from laptops to TVs are seeing deep discounts. Shopping these sales can be a bit difficult unless you know how to track an item’s price history, but fortunately, I’ve already done all of the work for you. Keep checking in here throughout the week for the best deals on laptops, TVs, tablets, video games, and more. Price…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Hisense 65U6N, a PCMag Editor's Choice winner (that also made it into Lifehacker's "Best 65-inch TVs to Buy in 2025" roundup in the budget category) is currently on sale for $498, down from its regular $734 price tag. This 65-inch 4K QLED TV uses a mini-LED backlight system to deliver solid contrast and color accuracy—something you’d expect from pricier models. It supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG—meaning whatever you stream will look sharp and vibrant. That said, it’s a 60Hz panel, so motion won’t be as smooth as on higher-end 120Hz or 144Hz m…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When I wrote my review of the Whoop 4.0, I kept it to the basics—how the strap looks, works, and charges, and what activities it can track. Today, I’m going to dive in to all the metrics Whoop reports, and give a reality check on what’s most useful and what isn’t worth paying attention to. I'll leave out the activity tracking features here, since I covered them in more depth in the review. (Bottom line: I love the way it tracks how hard your workouts are—strength workouts included—but it's not going to replace a true fitness watch for most people.) WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscripti…