Home Office Setup & Equipment

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you like to buy in bulk or just want one less thing to worry about during weekly errands, this sale might be worth the look: You can get a one-year membership to Sam's Club for $25 right now on StackSocial. It's half the usual price, but the catch is that it’s only for new members in the U.S. If you're eligible, though, the sale opens up access to warehouse prices on groceries, household staples, electronics, furniture, and even tires. It’s not just bulk cereal and 40-roll packs of paper towels anymore—there’s a surprising amount of variety on th…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I’m no stranger to the crisping prowess of the air fryer. (Here are some of my favorite models.) The powerful convection heating mechanism reheats leftovers, blisters veggies, and roasts meats quickly and with a sizzling finish reminiscent of an actual deep fryer—sans the vat of oil. But after using the Ninja Crispi—an air fryer that comes apart for easy storage—my interest in crispy crusts has changed to something totally unexpected: dips. Making dip in an air fryer is not normal. Dips have always been a stove top thing—you cook the ingredients in a pot or pan, then you pour it all into a casserole dish. Maybe at the end…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The urge to spring clean your home is a strong one. You know warmer months are coming, things are about to look up, and you want to enjoy all of that in a fresh, revitalized environment. Typically, that involves your standard cleaning, but what if you shook it up this year? Try a spring decluttering approach instead, getting rid of what no longer serves you so you can really enjoy your space. Here's how to do it. Assess your spaceThis is something I practice a lot, especially since I started heavily decluttering about two years ago: I stand in a room and look at it as objectively as I can. When you get used to things—a bu…

Originally launched by Microsoft last July, Windows Recall was swiftly pulled in response to a barrage of security and privacy complaints. Now it's back, with some tweaks to make it more palatable for users—but there remain plenty of concerns about what happens when it's enabled. If you're new to the story, Recall is an AI-powered feature that acts like a memory for your computer. It regularly snaps and analyzes screenshots of whatever you're doing. It's handy if you want to get back to a document or message you vaguely remember from three weeks ago, while at the same time sounding several alarm bells in terms of having all your past Windows activity stored on your system…

Ads are an unavoidable part of modern life. They support both free and discounted services, for better or for worse, and unless you pay for premium services like YouTube Premium or expensive Netflix tiers, it's likely you'll run into these commercials one way or another. But just because ads are deeply entwined in our digital devices, that doesn't mean they get a free pass in all situations. As reported by Ars Technica, it appears Roku is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable here, experimenting with placing ads when you first boot up your streaming device. Moana 2 ads are rolling on Rokus at launchOne Reddit user noticed the change when they turned on their Roku…

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…

The launch of the Google TV Streamer marked a significant shift for the company's streaming lineup, moving away from the behind-the-TV Chromecast dongles it popularized and introducing a pill-shaped set-top box that blends in nicely on a shelf of tchotchkes. It's hiding a worthy processor, double the memory you'd get from a streaming stick, and enough storage to download what you need to run all of your apps. It even acts as a smart hub, with Matter and Thread built in. It's taken me a long time to do anything with the Google TV Streamer. I reluctantly brought it into my home after realizing something more robust, but dated, like the Nvidia Shield, would be too much to m…

If you're a Switch fan, you might know that Nintendo dropped a pretty significant update this week. Version 20.0.0 introduced a number of new features and changes for Nintendo's consoles, including virtual game cards and GameShare, and set the stage for the launch of the Switch 2. However, the update brought with it something Nintendo did not intend: instability. It turns out that after updating to version 20.0.0, some Switch users ran into error codes when booting up their consoles—specifically, Error Code: 2206-1015, which caused some Switches to crash. While it doesn't appear to be affecting most Switches, the problem was bad enough for Nintendo to acknowledge it via …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When my cheap Amazon spin bike broke, I wanted to upgrade to something better. But even though I was already following along with Peloton videos on the company's app, I thought getting an actual Peloton was out of reach. Yet as I shopped, I began to change my mind: Even a good off-brand spin bike will start in the high triple digits, and it turns out Pelotons can be rented, or even purchased used. Thus began my quest for a cheaper Peloton, and in the end, I bought a used model I’m very happy with. Mine cost $950 through a Facebook Marketplace sale in 2022. If I had taken the time to shop around and negotiate more, I likely…

All batteries age, and the lithium ion battery in your iPhone is no exception. Overtime, the battery degrades, meaning it can no longer hold as much of a charge as it could when it was new. After a few years of using the phone, you may notice your phone needs more frequent juice-ups throughout the day. When the inevitable happens to you, you don't need to buy a new iPhone. Instead, you can simply replace the battery at a relatively inexpensive cost. Depending on your iPhone, you may not only notice an increase in time away from the charger, but also a boost in performance, since iOS slows down the processing power of your iPhone when its battery is too degraded. Though re…

It can be useful, while studying any topic, to get an overview of when major events happened relative to each other. History textbooks commonly use a timeline for this—a chronological chart that shows when various events happened. WikiTimeline is a free website that uses a large language model to turn any Wikipedia article into a visual timeline you can use to see major events in a sequence. Wikipedia's open nature means there's all kinds of third party tools that use the articles in interesting ways. There's WikiTok, a sort of TikTok for Wikipedia, which allows you to scroll through articles to learn topics at random. WikiTimeline is another tool like that, putting the f…

Hades II introduces a new mechanic called Forget-Me-Not, which allows players to pin recipes they don't have enough crafting reagents for. While they're out in the world, the path to those resources will be highlighted, making it easier to keep track of what you need. I love this feature, in no small part because I've been making my own version of it for other games for years. It's just one of the many ways I use spreadsheets to improve my gaming. To be clear, I am not recommending that you follow in my footsteps and create a spreadsheet for every game you play. I am deeply unwell, the world is on fire, and creating little charts and tables is how I exert some semblance o…

Digg, the dominant link aggregator of the mid-2000s, is attempting yet another comeback. Kevin Rose, one of Digg's original founders, has acquired the brand name for an undisclosed sum and is teaming up with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian to build a new-ish social network. The plan was announced this morning in articles on Techcrunch and in the New York Times. There aren't many concrete details in these articles about what the site will look like, though they do note it will use AI as a key moderation tool. "Online communities thrive when there’s a balance between technology and human judgment,” Ohanian told Techcrunch, adding that, "AI should handle the grunt work in the …

The average total consumer household debt last year was $105,056—a 13% increase over the past five years, according to the most recent data. When it comes to researching strategies and tips for paying off your balances, it’s easy to get lost down a rabbit hole. And that rabbit hole can distract you from the real work of getting organized and tackling your debt. Taking the first steps toward a clear plan and system in place—even just reading this article—can help you feel more in control and start to make some progress toward being debt-free. If you're worried and feeling overwhelmed by debt, here are initial steps to take so you can get organized and make some real progr…

Tuesday morning was a stark reminder of how fragile the global internet really is. Websites from X to ChatGPT went offline as Cloudflare, the company they rely on for web infrastructure services, experienced a massive outage. A huge number of sites and services across the world contract Cloudflare for cybersecurity protections, as well as to route traffic through servers local to each user, all in the name of performance and reliability. Ironic, of course, given today's events. When the public experiences such a massive internet outage, speculation runs awry. What caused this? Was it a simple bug on Cloudflare's part, or something malicious? Are bad actors attacking Cloud…

Social media can be a fantastic way to connect with friends and family, but it can also be dangerous—especially for kids and young adults. While modern social media platforms like Facebook have been around for over 20 years, figuring out how to make these apps and sites safe for minors is still an ongoing challenge. For all its faults, Meta is making some efforts in this space. Last year, the company announced Teen Accounts for Instagram. All accounts for users under the age of 18 automatically shifted to this new format, which included a number of protections not found on typical Instagram accounts. For example, Teen Accounts are private by default, so new followers ne…

Sometimes the trickiest part of cleaning is knowing where to start—and, once you've started, where to go from there. A handy checklist can help you move through the task systematically and easily. That's where these room-by-room checklists can help. Below, you'll find links to advice on how to complete many of the tasks you'll be facing. I've also turned the cleaning checklists into a downloadable spreadsheet you can print out, so you can mark off each chore as you go. Your kitchen spring cleaning checklist Before you start cleaning, take a minute to make sure you have everything you need. Nothing saps your mojo quite like having to leave the house to buy supplies, so ma…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. When Google first dropped the Pixel Buds A-Series, they packed a lot into a pretty small price tag. Now that they’re down to $59.99 (from the original $99.99), they feel even more approachable if you’re looking for simple wireless earbuds that get the basics right at a low price point. Google Pixel Buds A-Series $59.00 at Amazon …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. When you think of the best wireless earbuds, it's easy to think of popular brand names like Bose and Sony, but a newer entry to the market has also made a splash. EarFun has made a name for itself by punching well above its weight class with earbuds and headphones that don’t cost nearly as much as the competition but, as I can personally attest, bring audio quality and features that even some of their pricier rivals lack. But if the value offered by EarFun’s buds wasn’t already good enough, many of its products boast solid discounts as part of Amazo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Hopefully, you're done paying off your credit card bill from October Prime Day, but regardless, Amazon is ready for another round—a Spring sale is around the corner. Here is everything you need to know about Amazon's Big Spring Sale if you're looking for some deals. What is Amazon's Big Spring Sale?Amazon's Big Spring Sale is the spring version of Prime Day, although it lasts longer and features less impressive deals. It's a seven-day sale with deals focusing on seasonal items from winter- and spring-like apparel, travel, sports, furniture, gardening, lawn, grilling, storage, and bedding supplies. And, of course, tech. Thi…

Quick: Send me a large file. Even today, decades after a famous comic about this exact problem, it's not necessarily simple. Messaging services don't allow truly huge files; neither do most email providers. You could stick the file in a cloud storage space, sure, but only if you're paying for enough storage space and not using that space for anything else at the moment. Isn't there some way to send a file directly, without using up any cloud space? There is. File.pizza is a web service that allows you to directly share a file from your computer with another device—no cloud storage or app needed. FilePizza isn't the only application like this. There's p2pfileshare.com and…

Maybe you've treated yourself to a brand new MacBook Air, or maybe you want to factory reset your iMac—either to sell it on or wipe all the digital detritus off the system. Whatever the reason you're setting up a new Mac, these are the steps you'll need to follow. Apple has continually streamlined this process over the years, and with the rollout of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 Sequoia, it's now easier than ever: If you've got an iPhone or iPad available, it can take care of some of the setup process for you. First, you'll see a hello message, in a cycling selection of languages: Click Get Started, then choose the language you want macOS to use, and your country …

It's not just you. Google Search has become significantly worse in recent years. In the past, you only had to watch out for low-quality content filled with SEO-bait keywords. Today, you have to be wary of AI-generated garbage, misinformation, and a generally worse UI. Still, it's not impossible to find good search results on Google. I've found a number of tricks that have helped me reduce the number of low-quality entries Google returns for my searches. Here are 10 such tips everyone should know about before their next search: Remove AI from results Cre…

Every folder on macOS looks the same—a boring blue representation of a paper file. That makes browsing a folder full of folders harder than it needs to be because everything looks identical. Unless, that is, you use custom icons for your most-used folders. You can do that pretty easily, but the feature is a little bit hidden. And yes, this means you can use something silly for your folder icon. But it can also be practical. Having an important folder a different color than the rest, or all of your folders different colors depending on functionality, makes it easier to find and click on what you're looking for. And the process isn't difficult. First things first: you need …