Home Office Setup & Equipment

As someone who regularly switches between the Mac and PC, I really can't live without the PowerToys app on Windows. It adds little missing features that I really like on the Mac, like a Spotlight Search alternative, auto dark mode, screen awake, on-screen OCR (which lets you pull text from images), and more. But the reverse is also true. When I'm on MacOS, I start to miss the little features and commands that I've been used to Windows having for decades now (I started using Windows in school, but was only exposed to macOS when I was in college). It's the little things, like not being able to cut and paste files in Finder. And why must I accidentally open the Music app eve…

There's very little privacy on the internet: Data brokers collect tons of information about you and your online activity and sell it to anyone interested in marketing to you. California residents have gained more control over their personal data than those in other states since the passage of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2018, and they now have a one-stop shop for requesting that their information be removed from hundreds of data brokers registered with the state (and any that do so in the future). California isn't the only state to enact stronger consumer privacy laws in recent years, but its Delete Requests and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) is the first of i…

Have you ever wanted to browse the internet, but the thought of typing a URL into your address bar seemed just too exhausting? Now, Google's here to help. Today, the company announced a big expansion of its existing Gemini in Chrome feature, with the highlights including a new look for the AI companion, more-integrated image editing tools, and, perhaps most impressive (but also creepy), the launch of Auto Browse, which lets Gemini take the wheel when you're going online. The new side panel view Credit: Google Previously, Gemi…

The 2026 tax filing season—for 2025 returns—begins on Jan. 26, which means scammers are ramping up efforts to steal taxpayers' information and money. These are a few of the tax-related schemes to watch out for this year. 'Tax resolution' scamsThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is alerting consumers to a phone scam currently circulating in which callers claim to be from the “Tax Resolution Oversight Department," “Tax Mediation and Resolution Agency,” or some similar official-sounding (but fake) government organization. They will claim that you owe back taxes and say they will help you apply for an “IRS liability reduction program” (also fake). The scammers' aim here is t…

Apple's MacBook Neo is exactly the laptop many budget-conscious people have been looking for. It's priced under $500 for students ($599 for everyone else), and has decent enough specs to be a great starter laptop for most users. To make it a 'budget laptop,' though, a few corners had to be cut. As a result, the MacBook Neo is lacking a few features that you might have come to expect from a MacBook. Here are the biggest trade-offs Apple is making to hit the Neo's lower price point. No Touch ID in the base modelThe MacBook Neo's base model doesn't have a Touch ID sensor, which means you'll have to type out your passwords every time you need to enter them. Some people might …

Microsoft has released its latest monthly Patch Tuesday update, this time offering fixes for 72 security vulnerabilities across its systems. Five of the malicious bugs addressed are zero-days that have been actively exploited, and two have been publicly disclosed. As Bleeping Computer reports, the May update addresses 17 elevation of privilege flaws, two security feature bypass flaws, 28 remote code execution flaws, 15 information disclosure flaws, seven denial of service flaws, and two spoofing flaws. In addition to the zero-day exploits, six of the remote code execution vulnerabilities are labeled "critical" along with one information disclosure flaw. If you're a Wind…

With all this talk about spring cleaning, you could be forgiven if you focused on, well, just cleaning in the spring. But the real beauty of spring cleaning is that it can be a jumping-off point for a clean year. Yes, you can put in extra effort right now, restocking and upgrading your cleaning supplies and doing all those intense annual tasks, but if you don't keep up with your tidying all year round, you'll be stuck doing another exhausting round next spring. Use this as a starting point for a big year of your cleanest home ever. First, commit to a cleaning schedule While you're undertaking spring cleaning this year, keep track of what tasks you enjoy (or just hate le…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Christmas movies have been a tradition for decades, but the days when our choices were limited to George Bailey contemplating jumping off of a bridge and Ralphie washing his mouth out with Lifebuoy soap are well past us. Holiday movies are an industry in and of themselves, with dozens of new seasonal offerings released each year, starting as soon as the leaves start to turn colors. Most of them are cozy cookie-cutter offerings—relaxing, if largely disposable. But among the seasonal glut, new classics do occasionally emerge. Here are 30 more recent holiday classics, from silly comedies, to cozy dramas, to gruesome horror…

If you're of a certain age, you might remember mixtapes: cassettes made up of a series of tracks you or a friend think work well together, or otherwise enjoy. (They took some work to put together, too.) Digital music sort of killed mixtapes, but, in their place, came playlists. You could easily put together a collection of your favorite songs, and either burn them to a CD, or, as streaming took over, let the playlist itself grow as large as you wanted. Anyone can make a playlist, but there's an art to it. Someone with a keen ear for music can build a playlist you can let play for hours. Maybe you have a friend who's good at making playlists, or maybe you're that friend …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Today, Whoop furthered its quest to become a comprehensive, one-stop health platform. Since last fall, Whoop members have had access to the Advanced Labs blood testing service—now, the performance wearable company is rolling out "Specialized Panels," a new line of targeted blood tests that let users drill down into even more insights about their body. Whoop Peak 12-Month Membership, 5.0 Fitness Wearable $239.00 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The next generation of Meta's Display smart glasses might come with a smart watch. According to a report from The Information, Meta's watch, codenamed Malibu 2, could feature fitness tracking features and AI, but its real purpose is to replace the Display's neural band and act as controller for the smart glasses. If the reports are accurate, Meta Display smart glasses with a smart watch could be available in 2026. There aren't any other details on the smart watch, so we don't know the price or what features it may have—but I'd be surprised if this rumor doesn't pan out eventually. Meta has discussed the idea of a smart w…

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 re…

It's been four days since Disney's channels disappeared from YouTube TV, and some subscribers are receiving a surprise hidden away in their account settings: Over on Reddit, there are reports that some users are able to claim $10 credits on their next six monthly bills, though it's not entirely clear if this is intended as a make-good for the streamer's Disney troubles. The credit doesn't seem to be showing up for everyone, but has been redeemed by YouTube TV subscribers at Tom's Guide. Google has yet to make any announcements about the credit, and that based on a post to the YouTube X account, it appears to be entirely separate from the $20 credit the company previously …

Some iOS users are getting an extra layer of privacy when it comes to how their location data is shared. Limit Precise Location is a new setting that prevents some Apple devices from broadcasting specific locations to cell carriers. Precise location sharing is useful, even essential, in some cases, such as when you're navigating with your maps app. But you may not want to constantly be sending your exact address to your phone provider, where it could be used for malicious purposes. If you enable Limit Precise Location, your iOS device will share your general area instead. Precise location sharing comes with privacy risksAs TechCrunch points out, precise location sharing…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. A quick public service announcement: Mother’s Day is this Sunday. If this holiday snuck up on you again this year (I’m in the same boat), it’s not too late to grab a thoughtful gift. Here’s a list of gift ideas for the chef, baker, coffee connoisseur, and everyone in between. While you may not have time to get something engraved or monogrammed, these gifts still say “You deserve to do more of what you love.” The vendors listed below offer expedited shipping so your gift will arrive on time. Just make sure to check the two-day shipping option during checkout. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Spotify noticed how many of us use its popular music app for fitness—workout mixes are one of the top uses of its playlist creation tools—and now it’s adding fitness content directly. Some workout videos are available to everyone, and premium users can take Peloton classes as well. Peloton App $12.99 Per Month at Peloton …

For members of the always-online generations, reality is hanging by a very thin thread. Core youth values like authenticity and "keeping it real" are confusing concepts to people raised in an environment where almost nothing can be counted on and anything can be faked. Every viral video could be a stealth advertising campaign. Every breakout band, an industry plant. Whether it's meat mountains at Arby's, or vérité video of cheater's antics, this week we're looking into all-encompassing scams. But at least you can bank on Scientology speed-runs as legit, and take comfort in the realness of a ball of red hot metal. What is Rod Wave's Arby's Takeover? Arby's is a fast food…

While it doesn't have quite the same prominence as ChatGPT or Google Gemini, the Claude AI bot developed by Anthropic continues to improve and innovate. Brand new Claude 4 models are now available, promising upgrades in coding, reasoning, precision, and the ability to manage long-running tasks independently. There are two new models, Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, and Anthropic says they're both "setting new standards" for what you can expect from AI. Coding is a big focus, and the models are said to have achieved the highest scores to date on two widely used AI coding benchmarking tools, SWE-bench and Terminal-bench. Claude 4 models can actually work for hours on pro…

Despite what the headline of this article might lead you to believe, I don't think AI voice generation is inherently bad. Certainly there are cases where it makes sense, like preserving people's voices when they lose the ability to speak themselves, or turning your notes into an AI "podcast" to keep studying on-the-go, or to make written content more accessible to people with low vision. And in contrast to clunkier older tools, modern AI makes it easy to generate a realistic voice you can use in a number of scenarios. But in my humble opinion, art isn't usually a proper use case for AI voices. If I choose to listen to an audiobook, I am almost assuredly looking for an e…

We’re living through a full-fledged skinny epidemic. Even if seeing celebrities get thinner and thinner doesn’t mean anything to you, notice how marketing for various weight loss products is getting increasingly ubiquitous. When I look around, the onslaught doesn’t stop with all the ads for GLP-1s. What has really caught my eye recently is how I—a fitness writer who happens to be pretty thin—keep receiving targeted ads for different types of “AI body scans.” These services take a few different forms (which I dive into below), but what they all try to sell is the same idea: Apparently, I don’t know enough about my body. It turns out I need to know my body fat percentage, …

It’s Christmas time, so I’m taking a look at myths related to the holiday. Last week, I focused on myths about Jesus. This week I’m taking a look at that other beloved Christmas icon: Santa Claus, the central figure in the secular holiday mascot pantheon, who is so mysterious, we can’t even agree on his real name. I’m sure he’s innocent of any crimes, but Santa has many aliases. Among many other sobriquets and honorifics, the guy who brings presents in December goes by Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Père Noël, and Father Christmas. That’s a lot of fake identities, but what is his real name? And who invented him? Did Coca-Cola invent Santa Claus? There is an oft…

Liquid Glass, Apple's big design overhaul for the "26" era, is contentious to say the least. Some users love it, some hate it, and others despise it. There's a real spectrum of opinions out there, especially since Apple rolled out the design to all of its products. iPhones got it with iOS; iPads with iPadOS 26, and, of course, Macs with macOS 26. Apple later added controls to adjust the look of Liquid Glass across all these platforms, but it's far from an off switch. If you don't like Liquid Glass, you probably aren't going to like Liquid Glass-lite. It seems, however, that some of the criticism is being levied at some platforms more than others. While Liquid Glass on th…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Samsung’s 65-inch S95F OLED TV is now down to $2,199.99 from $2,997.99—just a couple of dollars shy of its lowest tracked price, according to price trackers. That discount makes a difference, but it is still a premium buy. If your budget is tighter, a refurbished unit from Amazon Renewed comes in at $1,926.22. The new unit includes free delivery to your room (you will need to handle setup yourself), and a one-month trial of Xbox Game Pass for new users, which adds some immediate value if you plan to use it for gaming. …

The Spotify app is currently experiencing crashes and freezing on Android, the company has acknowledged after about two weeks of pressure from listeners. A fix is purportedly on the way, but in the meantime, there are a few steps you can take to get your music going. Reports of problems with the Android Spotify app first started on the Spotify help forums, although they have since spread to social media as well. Those affected complain that the app either freezes when opening, or crashes midway through listening. Others mention that problems only pick up when connecting to wifi—Spotify has since confirmed that "the issue doesn't occur while using mobile data." According…

Some unexpected good news from the FDA: bemotrizinol, a sunscreen ingredient that has been used in Europe and Asia for decades, is finally being added to the allowable ingredients list for products sold in the U.S. Bemotrizinol is the active ingredient in sunscreens like Bioré Watery Essence, which has a cult following for being unlike anything we can get in the U.S. I’ve tried Bioré UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence (that’s the full name of the product) in its original Japanese formulation. This sunscreen is a cult favorite on skincare and Asian beauty forums because of its non-greasy feel, and because it protects against both UVA and UVB rays without leaving a white cast. I g…