Home Office Setup & Equipment

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. I am the biggest booster of Google's NotebookLM, an AI tool that functions like a personal ChatGPT. I have recommended it for studying, used it for my own work loads of times, and generally found it to be one of the best bits of software available right now. But recently, I tried using it on my phone, not just on my computer browser—and it fell surprisingly flat. Here's how I've been managing to use it via mobile, anyway, and why you should stick to the computer version for now. What is NotebookLM?Notebo…

All throughout 2025, I've been bursting with podcast recommendations (which might not be surprising, given writing a podcast recommendation newsletter is part of my job). I've shared my lists of the best podcasts about liars and scammers, podcasts that expose the nonsense in politics and pop culture, and podcasts you'll like if you miss Heavyweight. But then I awoke and realized that we are almost halfway through the year, and I haven't spent nearly enough time talking about my favorite new shows that debuted this year. June is a great time to take stock of all the new podcasts from the first half of the year. These are the shows that made my jaw drop, made me laugh, and…

If you've been experiencing random crashes on your Pixel 10 smartphone, you're not alone. Over the weekend, multiple Reddit users complained that their Pixel 10 phones, which only just hit the market in August, were already facing severe slowdowns and frequent crashes while trying to load apps. Worse yet, the problem seemed to persist across all apps and models of the phone, leaving users with little they could actually do on their new devices. "If an app does open and load it won't let me touch anything and it crashes," user cdriese said, with a number of others sharing a similar sentiment. The unfortunate news took me as a bit of a surprise, since I experienced no such…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There's a certain level of performance you expect from active noise-cancelling earbuds (ANC) or headphones—even if they are "budget" priced. If you're looking for a great pair of ANC earbuds for a price that won't make you cry if you lose them, consider the Anker Space A40, currently $44.98 (originally $99.99 at launch). I've been using these earbuds for over a year and cannot recommend them enough for the price. Soundcore by Anker Space A40 …

Whether it’s your starter home or just the latest move up the property ladder, buying a house is a huge investment—financially and emotionally. Despite the stakes, house hunting can be a rushed, stressful experience pushed along by tight timetables, precarious financing, and unpredictable market forces. So it’s not actually surprising to learn that more than 80% of Americans experience some level of regret after buying a house. But buyer’s remorse when house hunting isn’t a given. Most of those regrets are due to a few common mistakes people make when buying a new house, and they can be prevented—or at least minimized—by following some simple advice. Here are the most com…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Creatine is a rare thing in the world of workout supplements: It actually works, plus it’s cheap and safe. (Protein and caffeine are about the only other common supplements you can say that of.) If you’re trying to build muscle or lift the heaviest things around, you might want to get into the habit of taking creatine every day—but there are, of course, some caveats. What does creatine do?Creatine supplies quick energy in your muscles for short, intense bursts of power. You may have heard of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which stores energy in our cells. (One main reason you eat food: to be able to make ATP.) When our musc…

I've been getting relentless Instagram ads for AI-powered home gyms lately. You've probably seen them, too—sleek wall-mounted screens with impossibly toned instructors, testimonials promising "the future of fitness," and before-and-after transformations that make it all look effortless. The smart home gym equipment market is booming. According to Business Wire, the industry was valued at $3.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $4 billion by 2030. The numbers show plenty of people are investing in fitness technology that offers personalized, convenient, and effective home workouts. Fitness is yet another way to feed the AI beast, transforming boring old equipment in…

Mother’s Day is supposed to be wholesome and sort of boring: some flowers, a Hallmark card, maybe doing some chores around the house for once. But the American version of Mother's Day wasn’t born in a garden. It was forged in the smoke and death of the Civil War, shaped by radical women, and became a battleground between profit and principle—a holiday so contentious its own creator devoted her life trying to destroy it. Mother's Day's history is dramatic as hell. The ancient ancestors of Mother's DayMoms have been around for a long time, and so have celebrations to honor them. These kinds of celebrations have been around at least since the ancient Greeks and Romans threw…

Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change. The Sonos Arc Ultra is our pick for the best soundbar overall, and you can get it b…

Scroll through TikTok or Instagram, and you'll find influencers swearing by unconventional treatments, posting dramatic before-and-after photos and glowing testimonials about their rejuvenated skin. And the skincare "It Girl" of the moment? It's salmon sperm. Yeah. As we kick off the new year—prime time for beauty resolutions!—a growing number of people are seeking out "salmon sperm facials." Before your imagination paints an extra fishy picture (pun intended), understand that people aren't really smearing straight-up salmon sperm on their face. The secret ingredient is something called PDRN, or polydeoxyribonucleotide, a compound extracted from salmon DNA. So, what exact…

Cardio and strength training are both important, but it's easy to end up only doing one of those and conveniently forgetting to get around to the other. I’ve been on both sides of the fence. As a runner, I would go months without lifting a weight or doing any purposeful strength training, because who has the time? And in my more recent life as a lifter, I’d join in the joking about how more than 10 reps is cardio, har har. But here’s the truth: we all need strength training and real cardio. I think it’s easy to gravitate to one type of exercise because we find it fun or convenient. Then, when we feel like we’re sufficiently challenged, there’s no need to look further, ri…

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 looking for a wireless outdoor camera that doesn’t need constant babysitting, the Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera (2nd Gen) bundled with a solar panel is now at its lowest-ever price (according to price trackers)—$69.99, down from $99.99. Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera $69.99 at Amazon …

Artificial intelligence continues to be the thing in tech—whether consumers are interested or not. What strikes me most about generative AI isn't its features or potential to make my life easier (a potential I have yet to realize); rather, I'm focused these days on the many threats that seem to be rising from this technology. There's misinformation, for sure—new AI video models, for example, are creating realistic clips complete with lip-synced audio. But there's also the classic AI threat, that the technology becomes both more intelligent than us and self-aware, and chooses to use that general intelligence in a way that does not benefit humanity. Even as he pours resour…

Part of the fun of watching sports is that you don't know what's going to happen. TV shows and movies follow story beats, meaning you can usually get a sense for where things are heading, but sports do not work that way. The totally unexpected can, and does, frequently occur—and that's the reason people keep tuning in, whether their team is dominating or an underdog. Sometimes, though, you can't catch the game live, but still want a bit of that feeling. That's why leagues offer extended highlights, featuring all the key moments, complete with the commentary from the broadcast. These can feel almost like watching the full game, and I love catching up with them the next day…

MacOS is great in all kinds of ways, but it's far from the most customizable operating system out there. Sure, it's not locked down to the extent iOS and iPadOS are, but compared to Linux and even Windows, macOS really doesn't let you change the look and feel very much. But that isn't to say there's no room to tweak the operating system to make it the way you like—if you know where to look. Here are a few third-party tools that let you make macOS your own. Use a custom cursorIt's pretty easy to change how the mouse pointer looks on Windows and Linux—you just need to dig around in the settings. On macOS, you can only change the size of the pointer. Unless, that is, you ins…

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced a number of changes coming to its Windows Insider program—in fact, one could call it an overhaul. Despite being a beta program for Windows users interested in testing cutting-edge features, Microsoft is actually simplifying and streamlining the experience. Now, as highlighted by Bleeping Computer, the company is rolling out that updated experience—whether you're new to the Insider program, or you've been test-driving Windows this way for years. Microsoft is making Insider channels easier to understandThe Windows Insider program is changing in three key ways. First, Microsoft is making the "channels" easier to understand. For the uni…

Since their initial launch in 2016, Apple has released nine iteration of the AirPods, from the now iconic white earbuds, to the upgraded AirPods Pro, to the the AirPods Max, Apple's pricey take on over-the-ear headphones. Whatever the model, however, these things are meant to be simple: You open the case, tap a prompt on your iPhone, and presto, your AirPods are ready to go. Despite their ease of use, however, AirPods are packed with features and settings you can adjust to your liking. Here are 10 hacks you should know if you own a pair Apple's headphones, whether standard, Pro, or Max. (A note: Whenever I refer to "AirPods settings" in this article, I am generally refer…

If you bought a Windows computer in the past couple years, there's a good chance that it a "Copilot" key where the right ctrl key used to be. But what if you actually used the right ctrl key? Or what if you prefer Claude or ChatGPT to Copilot? Whatever your reason for not loving the Copilot key, don't worry—you can change it. Here's how to do so in the Windows settings or, if necessary, using Microsoft Powertoys. How to change the Copilot key in settingsOpen the Settings application and head to the Personalization section. You should find a Customize Copilot key option here, assuming you're using a recent-ish version of Windows 11. Click the drop-down menu and you'll have…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. More than 37 million Americans moved last year—and while that’s actually a historic low, one thing that hasn’t changed is the levels of hair-tearing stress the experience can inspire. Everything about moving, from packing to hiring movers to switching utilities, comes with a little spice of stress and anxiety. Even the most competent and careful planning can leave you with an ulcer and an incipient nervous breakdown as you try to pack your entire life into a truck and transport it to another location. There are lots of little ways to reduce that stress and make moving a little easier. These hacks can help anyone, no matter…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. When it comes to speakers, Sonos has the best reputation and the best companion app on the market. If you're interested in seeing what the hype is all about, it's a great time to test the waters, as Sono's entry-level speaker, the Sonos Roam 2, has reached a record low price, according to price tracking tools. The portable, waterproof device is on sale for $134 (originally $179) at Amazon, part of a small Sonos sale that also includes the a discount on the larger Sonos Move 2 (also currently at its lowest price ever). …

If you tried hopping on TikTok Sunday, you might have noticed something odd: the app wasn't working. Outages happen, of course, as anyone who has Verizon can attest. But in the moment, theories were flying left and right. TikTok had just officially moved into U.S. control, leading some to speculate that the outage had something to do with this change in ownership. As one user put it, "TikTok being down days after the people they were forced to sell to take it over does not feel like a coincidence." As it happens, it does appear that the changing of the guard was responsible for the outage—just not in the way that some conspiracy theories might suggest. TikTok finally rel…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Earlier this week, YouTube and Disney both warned YouTube TV subscribers that they might lose access to Disney-owned channels, including ESPN and FX, starting on Oct. 31. It's probably not the Halloween treat you were looking for, but now that the end of the month has come, that's exactly what's happened: Right now, more than 20 of Disney's channels have gone dark on YouTube TV. Why did Disney pull its Channels from YouTube TV?Not to be confused with YouTube Premium, YouTube TV is Google's Live TV service—kind of like cable without the cable box. As such, it needs to pay content providers like Disney fees to offer their ch…

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. It's official: As of Tuesday, Oct. 14, Microsoft no longer supports Windows 10. That said, if you powered on your Windows 10 PC this morning, only to read headlines suggesting the end of Windows 10, you might be a bit confused. Your computer still works, after all. So what's really going on here? What Windows 10 end of life really meansAs it might now be evident, Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 doesn't mean the company has shut down the OS for good. Any devices still running Windows 10 will continue …

Maybe it's not fair to call a medical diagnosis "trendy," but more and more adults in the U.S. are seeking treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. ADHD, once regarded as a childhood disease, has made the transition to adulthood: About 15.5 million adults in the U.S. have been "officially" diagnosed with the disorder, and a growing group of others believe they have ADHD. A lot of them are wrong, but that's OK. Fed by a steady stream of online influencers and pop science, more and more people are self-diagnosing with ADHD, autism, depression, and other mental disorders. Very few of them are qualified to make these diagnoses. While it’s easy to scoff at some…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Memorial Day sales are in full swing, you can find deals on smart beds, tools, Beats headphones, budget headphones, fitness equipment, and much more. Sony has joined the holiday madness and is offering a buy one, get one free (BOGO) deal when you buy a Bravia 8 II OLED Google TV. Purchase one of these top of the line sets, which start at $3,499.99, and you'll get a X77L LED Google TV, valued at $589.99, free. The deal runs through June 8. …