Home Office Setup & Equipment

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The kitchen tends to be the heart of the home—it’s where we gather to share meals, nibble on snacks, and talk about our day. It’s also a pretty dangerous place. Aside from open flames, slippery floors, and flammable gas that is literally pumped into our homes, the innocuous little appliances that crowd our countertops can also represent real dangers. More than 150,000 people head to their local emergency room every year after an accident involving a household appliance of some sort. Small appliances might seem safe enough sitting on your kitchen counters, but they can be extremely dangerous if defective, misused, or placed…

Study after study shows that humans can't really multitask but we all keep trying to do it anyway. Why is that? In part, I blame our nice big computer monitors, which can fit lots of open windows at once. I have a habit of leaving a chat window open in the background when I should be focused on my writing, and I bet you do something similar, even if you know—and agree—with the research that suggests this only increases your distractibility. Recently I stumbled upon Monocle, a $4 indie Mac application that seeks to solve this problem. Monocle blurs everything on your screen except for your current window. The idea is that this will force you to focus on the task at hand, …

Another major data breach has compromised the sensitive health records of more than 1.6 million patients—including minors under 18—who received care at Planned Parenthood in more than 30 states. Laboratory Services Cooperative (LSC), which provides lab testing services to reproductive health clinics across the U.S., is notifying individuals who may have been affected by a security incident that took place in October 2024. Planned Parenthood itself has been the target of cyberattacks in 2021 and 2024. What happened with LSC?According to LSC's filing with the Maine attorney general's office, hackers accessed its systems on Oct. 27, 2024—the breach was identified the same …

If you don't like how the internet makes you feel right now, you're not alone. The entire ecosystem seemingly exists to manipulate you, which can make finding clarity hard. I've written about how to avoid anxiety bait, which can be an important step toward healthy and productive engagement, but an important step is recognizing when you're being manipulated. RageCheck is a potentially useful tool here. Built using concepts from social science research, this website can analyze any link or screenshot. It points out examples of potentially manipulative language, from us-versus-them framing to emotionally loaded phrasing. "The system analyzes text for linguistic patterns comm…

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…

While apples and broccoli have become basic—constantly on the grocery store shelves year-round—rhubarb is a vegetable unicorn. It only appears for a very short and magical window. I'll spot it in the market for maybe a month and before I know it, I’ve missed it. That’s why I buy bundles of it when I do happen to catch it, and I get right to work. Not cooking it down in a pot with a cup of sugar, no: My favorite way to prepare rhubarb for pies and cakes is roasting. Roasting keeps things from getting soggyMy first time working with rhubarb was right out of culinary school, making dozens of miniature strawberry and rhubarb tarts. It was actually my first time eating it to…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A good VPN works like a bouncer for your internet traffic, keeping snoops out while letting you move freely. AdGuard VPN is one of those solid, no-nonsense choices that does exactly what it promises. Right now, StackSocial is offering a five-year AdGuard VPN subscription for just $39.97, a steep drop from its regular price. That’s five years of private browsing, streaming, and secure connections across most major platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, and up to 10 simultaneous connections (making it great for multi-device users witho…

So, you want to buy a MacBook? You have no shortage of options. If you go directly through Apple, you can pick between the Air or the Pro, in two different sizes, across a seemingly endless number of configurations. If you're shopping from a third party retailer, the issue only compounds. There are a lot of MacBooks out there. Which machine you should purchase is entirely up to you and your unique needs. However, unless you have demanding or specialized work to do, there is one model that makes more sense than most. Before today, I recommended the M2 MacBook Air to most people. Its combination of price, portability, and power made it not just the best MacBook for most peo…

Max still goes by Max for now, but the return to the original HBO Max branding is expected sometime this summer. In the meantime, the third season of HBO Original series The Gilded Age is set to drop in weekly installments starting June 22. The period drama, set in 1880s New York, stars Carrie Coon, Christine Baranski, and Cynthia Nixon, among others. On the movie slate, there's A24's Parthenope (June 6), a Paolo Sorrentino coming-of-age film set in Naples and starring Celeste Dalla Porta and Gary Oldman, and Cleaner (June 13), about radical activists in present-day London who take hostages at an energy company's annual gala in an attempt to expose corruption. …

It's been clear for some time that the Gemini AI app would be replacing Google Assistant, once it had learned all the necessary tricks and been granted all the required hooks into other apps. Now, Google is in the process of actively dismantling the features available in Google Assistant ahead of its retirement. As per Google's official support document (as spotted by 9to5Google), seven more Google Assistant features have recently been pulled across Android devices and Nest smart speakers and displays. These deactivated features add to a bunch of other capabilities that were taken away last year. On smart displays, you can no longer use your voice and Google Assistant to …

Scheduling your computer to do something every day, every time you log in, or whenever the screen wakes up isn't impossible on most computers, it's just not convenient. Task Scheduler on Windows and Automator for macOS work if you're willing to dig in, but there's a learning curve. Task Till Dawn (which I found via App Addict) is a free Windows and macOS application made by developer Oliver Matuschin that you can use to set up custom automations for everything from starting a backup to changing your desktop wallpaper. To get started, download the application and launch it. You can start creating automations right away. There are four main sections to the automation builde…

Home renovation projects always start out in a rush of excitement—you’re finally going to solve all those annoying problems, update those dated aspects of the house, and live the life you deserve! And sometimes it actually works out that way—but there are a lot of ways a renovation can go wrong. That’s why nearly three-quarters of homeowners come to regret their renovations to some extent. Most of the reasons behind renovation regrets are pretty straightforward: Cost overruns, dissatisfaction with the final result, or shoddy work (either by contractors or DIY efforts) are the problems most people worry about when embarking on a renovation. But there are other, less obviou…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Gardening season is approaching faster than it might seem, and like a lot of modern gardeners, I get an assist from technology every year. I use tech to help raise seeds into seedlings, plant them outside, produce a harvest, and still have a whole life outside of the garden. From weather stations and soil monitors to apps and calendars, here's all the tech I'm dusting off right now to start getting ready. A weather stationIt begins with the basics. I have a Tempest weather station in my front yard, and a few smart temperature gauges in the backyard. Although you can easily pull weather information from a local weather stat…

Some people have fully stocked bars—the rest of us make do with a rotating cast of liquors and ingredients. If that's you, Drinkable is a totally free app that tells you which cocktails you can make with the ingredients you have on hand. Even better: it works offline, perfect if you're stranded in a cabin with a well-stocked bar but no wireless signal (it happens, believe me). This application, available for iOS and Android with no ads or in-app-payments, includes a catalogue of over 150 drinks. This means you could use it to quickly look up the recipe for all of the common cocktails. To get started, install the app from Google Play or the App Store. You can start searchi…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's new soundbar came out this year, and it's tailored for people looking for an easy setup that is both user-friendly and affordable. Right now, the 3.1 channel Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer combo is $289.99 (originally $374.99), the lowest price it has ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus with Subwoofer 3.1 channel, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, clear dialogue …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been eyeing a pair of noise-canceling headphones but don’t want to spend over $300 for the usual suspects, this deal on the Anker Soundcore Space One Pro might be worth a closer look. It’s currently going for $129.99 on Woot for the next three weeks or until it sells out, which is $70 less than the current Amazon price. It’s new, has an 18-month manufacturer warranty from Anker, and ships free if you have Amazon Prime (if not, it'll cost you $6 for shipping). Just keep in mind, Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states—so if you're in Al…

Smashing Pumpkins' legendary frontman Bill Corgan and confrontational comedian Bill Burr look alike—both have shaved heads, stubbly beards, blue eyes, and similar facial structures. They look so much alike they could be brothers; so much alike that a lot of people think they are brothers. While it's possible, these people are probably wrong. Why people think Bill Corgan and Bill Burr are brothersThe rumor started with Corgan's appearance on Howie Mandel's podcast back in January. On the show, Corgan recounts the following conversation that he said happened a decade prior: My stepmother said to me, "Do you know who Bill Burr is?" Now at that point, I had never heard of Bil…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Kodak Printomatic Mini Instant Print Camera is about the size of a power bank, light enough to toss in your pocket, and quick to fire up when something photo-worthy happens. You snap, it prints, and you get a little sticker photo you can slap on your scrapbook, phone case, bedroom wall, or wherever you want. There are no cables, ink cartridges, or waiting for an app to sync—you can just point, shoot, and print, and it's on sale for $59.99 on StackSocial right now. It's obviously more of a playful gift or party gadget than something you’d use for…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's spring sale is halfway done, and we've done some work to single out the best deals available, but many other retailers—like Target and Best Buy—have been going tit for tat, matching prices and spinning up aggressive deals of their own. Amazon's ongoing buy-two-get-one-free sale closely resembles the same one from Target, each offering mix-and-match bundles of books, vinyls, and DVDs at discounted prices. Here's how each sale works, along with a few of the best items worth highlighting from both Target and Amazon. …

A few months ago, ChatGPT got an app store of its own, which means you can access tools like Photoshop and Apple Music right inside the ChatGPT prompt box. Now Malwarebytes has joined the ChatGPT app store, which means you can get some expert help when investigating web links, emails, text messages, domains, and phone numbers you think might be suspicious. The app is free to use for everyone, whether or not they're signed up to a paid ChatGPT subscription, and you can enable the tool via the ChatGPT app store or by entering the prompt "Malwarebytes, is this a scam?" Once you've used the app for the first time, you can access it again via the + (plus) button on the prompt …

On Monday, Apple released iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 for compatible devices. But Apple Watch owners might have noticed watchOS 11.4 curiously missing from the list. Apple pulled the update at the last minute, something of a rarity from the company that likes to release all software updates together. But now, the new watchOS update is finally available to everyone, and the slight delay was worth it. This update enables a feature that many Apple Watch users have wanted for a long time: the ability to break through Silent mode when an alarm goes off. The iPhone already does this really well. You're in Silent mode, or you have Do Not Disturb enabled, but y…

I don't expect Meta to respect my data or my privacy, but the company continues to surprise me with how low they're willing to go in the name of data collection. The latest such story comes to us from a report titled "Disclosure: Covert Web-to-App Tracking via Localhost on Android." In short, Meta and Yandex (a Russian technology company) have been tracking potentially billions of Android users by abusing a security loophole in Android. That loophole allows the companies to access identifying browsing data from your web browser as long as you have their Android apps installed. How does this tracking work?As the report explains, Android allows any installed app with inter…

Converting a .pdf to a .docx and back again may seem like a quick and easy thing you can do online for free—but that doesn't mean it's safe. A new notice from the FBI Denver Field Office warns that some online document converters are also loading malware onto unsuspecting users' computers, giving bad actors access to your device and your data. The tools may also scrape files submitted for conversion for sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, passwords or tokens to bypass multi-factor authentication, banking information, and cryptocurrency seed phrases and wallet addresses. How to spot malicious file convertersThis scheme may…

Hisense is all about TVs at this year's CES—specifically, how those TVs display color. If the company's keynote is any indication, Hisense is extremely invested in leading the charge in color reproduction. Though its tagline this year is "Innovating a Brighter Life," the pitch is less on how bright their TVs are, and more on how true to life their colors are, especially when it comes to accurately displaying the filmmakers' original intent. Will consumers buy a TV because their favorite movie looks a bit more how the director intended it to be? I'm not sure. But that's largely the idea behind Hisense's new RGB MiniLED Evo. RGB MiniLED Evo …

I never enjoyed the experience of reading long threads on Twitter (the same goes for X), and I don't think any of its successors have done a particularly great job making them easier to read. Since Bluesky is the preferred home of X-pats, I've been reading a number of lengthy threads there, and after I encountered multiple threads with 10+ posts, I went looking for a tool that would make it easier to follow along. That's when I came across Skywriter, a utility that unrolls long threads and converts them into an article format. Skywriter turns Bluesky threads into articlesThe next time you encounter a long thread on Bluesky, drop the link to the first post on Skywriter's …