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. Sony might be better known for its headphones, but it also makes decent speakers. Its latest portable speaker is the ULT Field 3, which launched along with the ULT Field t and ULT Tower 9 this spring, all made to be portable and rugged. Right now, you can get the smallest one of the lineup for $148 (originally $199.99), the lowest price it has been, according to price tracking tools. Sony ULT Field 3…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Netflix's streaming era began way back in 2007, right around the time the company had delivered its billionth DVD by mail (a copy of Babel to a woman in Texas). That’s the year when the company began development of an app that would allow you to watch video-on-demand content on your actual TV, rather than in a window on your PC via Internet Explorer—or whatever the hell browser you happened to be using during the George W. Bush administration. Internet speeds and interest built and, by 2011, the company had moved fully away from its DVD-by-mail business as streaming took on a life of its own. While distribution rights for…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A good air fryer doesn’t need to have a ton of bells and whistles. For the most part, the convection heating function is highly effective in both cheap and pricey models. So if you have few demands like I do—just make the food hot and crispy—then you’ll enjoy a reliable basket-style air fryer that consistently churns out crunchy snacks and roasts meats without asking for too much from you. The Instant Vortex is a great pick for that, and it's on sale right now during Amazon's Big Spring Sale. Instant Vortex 5…

Raycast on the Mac is a powerful keyboard-based launcher. It's quite popular in Mac productivity circles, and you can think of it as a customizable version of Spotlight. You can add extensions to it, use it for math, create custom shortcuts with it, search for files, and now, of course, talk to AI, using a floating window on top of anything on your Mac. Apple users have requested an iPhone version of Raycast for a long time. But things that Raycast can do on the Mac, like access the clipboard, trigger extensions, and manage windows and files, just aren't possible on the iPhone and iPad. But Raycast for iPhone is finally here after all, and it's just the beginning. Raycast…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Spring hasn’t really been as big of an online shopping season, comparatively speaking: We've got Prime Day during the summer, October Prime Day and Black Friday during the fall, and a bunch of holiday sales during winter. But that might be changing with the recent Big Spring Sale from Amazon, in its second year. Target has decided to compete for your money as well with a Circle Week event, coming later this month. What is Target's Circle Week?Circle Week is Target’s name for its biggest sale, which used to happen once a year but, much to the dismay of Target workers, now happens multiple times a year. Usually, you’ll see …

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…

Yesterday, Nintendo finally announced its successor to the Nintendo Switch, fittingly named the Switch 2. I already wrote about my general experiences with the console, where I talked about how it’s mostly boring, but probably the right move on Nintendo’s part. Still, I wanted to take a moment to call out one part of the console that definitely isn’t boring: the mouse controls. When you take one of the Switch 2’s controllers, the Joy-Con 2, off the console and put it on its side, it becomes a mouse—simple as that. If you’re playing a compatible game, you’ll instantly see a cursor pop up on screen, and right away, you’ll be playing as if you were on PC. Rotate the controll…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sony WF-1000XM line has been an innovative and solid series of headphones and earbuds for many years. Right now, the latest version of the Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds are $179.99 (originally $299.99), a new record-low price, according to price-tracking tools. They are also the best earbuds for audio quality that you can get in 2025, especially if you want to use active noise canceling (ANC). Sony WF-1000XM5 Earbuds …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve ever tried dragging a too-large speaker—or worse, relied on your phone’s tiny audio for sound projection—you should appreciate this sale on the Skullcandy Terrain Mini: It's palm-sized, no-frills, and currently on sale for $34.99 down from $39.99 on StackSocial, with free shipping in the U.S. That price drop isn’t jaw-dropping, but for under $35, you’re looking at a IPX7-rated waterproof speaker that won’t be damaged if it's dropped in the pool this summer. The Skullcandy Terrain Mini has Bluetooth 5.3, so the connection holds steady withi…

I'm a big fan of the USPS' "Informed Delivery" option. When you enroll, the USPS will send you daily emails that show all mail and packages you're set to receive that day. (The mail scans arrive in grayscale, address-side only.) If you like to be surprised every time you open your mailbox, it's not the service for you. But for the rest of us, it's a helpful way to keep an eye on the day's incoming mail. Now, the USPS is expanding the feature, working on a dedicated Informed Delivery app. The app will send you push notifications whenever you have new mail and packages on the way, and will let you share the status of packages with other people. If you sent a friend a packa…

While a lot of May gardening is dedicated to moving plants into the ground, there is still plenty of seeding to be done. Inside, I'm starting late-planted vegetables like cucumbers, and a second round of annual flowers, like stock and celosia. Outside, I'm beginning to direct seed vegetables like corn and beans, and annuals like sunflowers. It's important to remember to stay on top of your succession planting during this busy time. And finally, there's no better time to start, reseed, or overseed your eco lawn. Lawns A clover lawn before being cut Credi…

If it seems like every tech company is trying shove AI into all of their products and services, that's because they are. And as someone who rarely (if ever) uses AI, it's a lot: I don't need AI to write my emails, nor do I want it to generate realistic videos that might trick viewers into thinking they're human-made. I certainly don't need it to serve up incorrect information when I try to search the internet. But Firefox's latest AI feature seems genuinely useful, likely because it isn't "making" anything for me. Instead its new AI-powered link previews simply show a small summary of the content on a webpage hidden behind a URL, so you'll have a better idea whether or no…

With macOS Sequoia 15.4, Apple fully rolled out all of its new Apple Intelligence features to the Mail app. As such, when you open Mail after updating to the latest OS, the app will look quite different. You'll see new "Mail Categories," a Priority Messages box, and email summaries, the latter two of which are powered by AI. It's not something many asked for, and you might be longing for the Mail app you're used to. But there's good news here: If you don't like these features, you can easily disable or customize them to suit your needs. How to disable Mail Categories on Mac …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Sonos takes their user-friendliness seriously. When people complained about an update on their companion app that got rid of many cool features, Sonos listened and put them back. That's the kind of commitment to their customers you can expect from Sonos, and why they've been so popular in the audio market. So when there's a Sonos sale with actual good discounts, take advantage of it. Right now you can get the Roam 2 for $139 (originally $179), the Sonos Era 100 for $199 (originally $249), Sonos Sub Mini for $343 (originally $429), and the Sonos Arc …

You can’t go long these days without hearing the word “tariff,” and for most of us, just hearing it induces anxiety. Family budgets, already a challenge, are going to get a lot more difficult once the predicted price increases and shortages kick in—one study predicts that these new tariffs will cost American households an average of $3,800 this year alone. If you’re determined to avoid tariff surcharges, you’ve got your work cut out for you—especially when it comes to groceries. About 15% of our food supply is imported, but that number doesn’t necessarily account for food that is sourced domestically but uses imported ingredients. And some staples, like coffee or bananas,…

YouTube is an amazing tool. If there's anything you want to do, from playing an instrument to fixing household appliances, there is a video on the site somewhere outlining exactly how to do it. The problem: YouTube doesn't always act like a tool. It's easy to get sucked down a rabbit hole of related videos, comments, and other distractions (mostly because the site it designed to make sure you do exactly that). If you wish YouTube behaved more like a tool and less like a dopamine factory, I recommend Untrap. This browser extension, available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Opera, lets you make almost 300 tweaks to the YouTube website, allowing you to remove the dis…

Several hit Paramount+ shows are returning with new seasons in May. The seventh installment of The Chi, Lena Waithe's drama about life on the South Side of Chicago, will premiere on May 16. Original crime series Criminal Minds: Evolution (May 8) is returning for its 18th season, along with season three of medical drama SkyMed (May 15), which follows medics and pilots flying air ambulances in Northern Canada, and season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (May 9). Paramount+ will also broadcast the American Music Awards (AMAs)—hosted by Jennifer Lopez—on May 26, along with a live studio show hosted by football star David Beckham. Beckham & Friends Live is an …

I don't mean to be alarmist, but I do think it's time to start assuming everything you see online is fake. The internet is full of content produced by real people, of course (this article included). But AI-generated media is getting so realistic, that it almost puts you at a disadvantage to presume the content you're scrolling past on your feeds is legitimate. Don't skip this article because you know what AI content looks like—the current stuff your algorithm delivers to your social media feeds is easy to spot if you know what you're looking for. But even if you can identify AI slop the second it hits your eyeballs, you need to know you're not ready for the next wave of…

Google announced a lot of new stuff today at I/O, but few things were more eye-watering than the company's new Google AI Ultra subscription. At $250 per month, it's by far the most expensive subscription Google has yet launched. So it makes sense it comes with everything. And I mean everything. For starters, subscribers at this tier get to use Gemini Ultra, which includes the new Veo 3 video generation model that can also generate sounds alongside video, to...some effect. This tier will also be the first to get access to the upcoming 2.5 Pro Deep Think reasoning model that Google says can "consider multiple hypotheses before responding." It also brings access to tools lik…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's Big Spring Sale (spanning seven days from March 25 to March 31) gives shoppers the chance to grab great deals on everything from tech to home goods. It's Amazon's second-ever spring sale, and while it may not be as flashy as Prime Day, it's still packed with discounts that are hard to ignore. Prime members get the best deals, so if you want in but don’t want to commit, Amazon’s 30-day free trial of Prime does the trick—just remember to cancel after the sale. One of the better deals in the mix is the EufyCam S3 Pro (2-Cam Kit with HomeBase 3…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Beats headphones have been a great alternative for Apple users ever since Apple acquired Beats back in 2014, but even if you're an Android user, the Beats' Studio Buds+ offer some good benefits, they are currently at a great price for earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC): They are currently $99.95 (down from $169.95) on Amazon—their lowest price ever, according to price tracking tools. Beats Studio Buds + Color: Transparent, Ear Placement: In Ear, No…

Until now, Xbox Game Pass has been sorely lacking in retro games. There are no titles for the original Xbox on the service, and only a scant few Xbox 360 games. There are a few games from earlier eras, like Goldeneye 007, but even those are rereleases. Since most older games don’t get that kind of treatment, they’re ultimately still few and far between on Xbox Game Pass. But now, finally, Microsoft is doing something to address this gap, bringing a new “Retro Classics” collection to its subscribers. While Activision might be better known these days for Call of Duty, back in the ‘80s, it got its start developing games for Atari consoles. When Microsoft’s merger with Activi…

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 lightweight, all-purpose Chromebook for casual work, school, or everyday browsing, this open-box ASUS Chromebook CM30 might be worth a closer look. Currently priced at $179.99 (down from $329.99), it’s one of those mid-range 2-in-1s that doesn’t try to be everything, but nails the basics with enough flair to feel premium. The 10.5-inch WUXGA touchscreen is responsive and sharp, and thanks to the Kompanio 520 processor and 8GB of RAM, general multitasking is smooth, whether you’re juggling docs, Google Meet, or your Spotify ta…