Setting Up Your Home Office

The internet is always open. What if it were closed sometimes? That's the central question of Seven39, an experimental social network that's only open for three hours a day, starting at 7:39pm Eastern. I logged in to the service last night and found a small, mostly friendly collection of people excited to try something new. We're a few decades into an experiment where everyone on Earth uses the same couple of social networks for everything. It's ... not perfect. That might be why more and more alternatives to Instagram, X, and Facebook keep popping up, all with some sort of hook. Some, like Mastodon and Bluesky, make decentralization their central promise. Seven39's hook …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you've never considered the Kindle Kids e-reader because of the label, you've been missing out on some sweet perks. The 16 GB Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids is $139.99 (originally $179.99), the lowest price it has ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Here's why this is a great deal for everyone—not just kids. (16 GB) – larger 7" glare-free display – Cyber …

Obsidian is my favorite productivity tool. I use it for all of my writing, as a journaling app, and to replace multiple productivity tools. There's a big downside, though: no grammar checking tool. Grammarly is the best known grammar checking tool, but there's no way to add it to Obsidian. I also wouldn't enable it even if I could. Grammarly processes text on their own servers, which is a potential privacy issue and also generally inefficient. This is why I've come to love Harper, a free and open-source alternative that runs entirely on your device and can be added to Obsidian in a couple of clicks. Harper isn't just an Obsidian tool—there are also plugins for WordPress, …

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. A surprisingly endearing sitcom about an American football coach moving to the U.K. to coach the other kind of football, Ted Lasso was Apple TV+'s first breakout hit, but it's long over by this point. While few of their other shows have commanded even a fraction of the zeitgeist, over the past few years Apple's streaming service has built a small but solid library of other original series that are at least interesting or pretty good, and occasionally more. Apple's offerings still can’t quite compare to what you’ll find on Netflix or Hulu, at least in terms of volume, but there’s enough money in the tech company's bank acc…

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 thinking about upgrading your tablet or just want something lightweight that doesn’t feel like a compromise, this refurbished 2022 iPad Air deal on StackSocial could be worth a closer look. It’s the 5th Gen 64GB model in pink (other colors are available too), going for $369.99, a decent drop from Amazon’s current $435.06 listing. And while it’s refurbished, it comes with a Grade "A" rating, meaning you’re getting a nearly new device with little to no visible wear and nothing that impacts how it works. It’s also light and slim, making …

Be careful what you share with ChatGPT these days: It'll remember everything you say. That's because OpenAI is rolling out a new update to ChatGPT's memory that allows the bot to access the contents of all of your previous chats. The idea is that by pulling from your past conversations, ChatGPT will be able to offer more relevant results to your questions, queries, and overall discussions. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, announced the changes on X, touting the usefulness of AI systems that know everything about you: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. ChatGPT's memory feature is a little over a year old at this po…

Microsoft has released its April 2025 Patch Tuesday update, which fixes 134 malicious bugs across its systems—including one zero-day exploit. Windows and Microsoft users should ensure their devices are up to date with the latest patches. Patch Tuesday updates for April 2025One of the vulnerabilities fixed this month was a zero-day, which is a flaw that is exploited or publicly disclosed before an official patch is released by developers. The active exploit—labeled CVE-2025-29824—is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) Driver. The flaw, which was identified by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, allowed attackers to g…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Ever since Apple released the latest Apple Watch Series 10 earlier in September, it has been steadily dropping in price; it's currently sitting at $299 (originally $399) after a $100 drop, matching the lowest price yet, according to price-tracking tools. This price is for the 42mm case, 130 to 180mm size bands, in black, denim, and rose-gold case colors. The bigger 46mm case is down to $329 (originally $429), also its lowest price after a $100 discount. …

Unbox and power up a brand new iPhone and you'll find there are plenty of apps already on there—which, broadly speaking, is good! You can start browsing the web, checking your email, streaming music, making notes and much more without visiting the App Store. However, you're not necessarily going to make a lot of use of all of these apps. Uninstalling the ones you don't actually need means they won't take up space on your phone and won't take up bandwidth with app updates. In recent years Apple has made more and more apps optional, and you can now get rid of more apps than you may have realized. If you find you do need them again, you can easily grab them from the App Stor…

YouTube Music is a decent Spotify alternative, especially if you're already paying for YouTube Premium to remove the ads. There's a big downside, though: Google doesn't offer a desktop app for YouTube Music, meaning you have to run the application in a browser. It also means you can't really customize YouTube Music the way you can with Spotify. That's why YouTube Music Desktop App—a free application not made by Google, to be clear—exists. The app, compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux puts YouTube Music in its own window, outside of your browser, while also adding extensions for things like downloading songs, skipping the non-music parts of videos, and blocking ads. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you’re serious about lifting barbells, sooner or later you’re probably going to want a belt. Belts don’t prevent injury as people sometimes assume, but they do help you to lift more weight. This helps you to squat and deadlift heavier—thus get stronger—so they’re standard equipment for a lot of strong people. We have a guide here to understanding what belts are for, how they work, and who needs them. But once you get the basic idea, you’ll need to pick out the belt that's right for you. I have opinions, so let me show you my favorite types and give some recommendations for specific brands and models. By the way, if you…

When you're planning a trip with friends, there's a good chance your group chat will be full of links to and screenshots of places you want to visit or cafés you want to hit. To help you keep track of all that, Google is now rolling out a new feature to add multiple locations to a Google Maps list for you using screenshots. This feature scans your phone and uses Gemini AI to work out the places mentioned in your screenshots. It's starting out first first on iPhones (which is odd for Google), and it's limited to the US for now. However, Android and global releases are planned for the future. How to automatically add places to Google Maps using screenshots …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you're looking to build out your home security system without spending a ton at once, right now you can pick up a 2K Arlo indoor camera for less than $30—63% off the original $79.99 price. This camera is ideal if you’re looking for easy installation, smart home-enabled commands, and basic indoor surveillance. It features 2K video quality with sharp 1080p resolution and exceptional color quality, according to this PCMag review. It’s also Arlo’s only wired model, providing a continuous power supply that eliminates the need to worry about battery l…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. There are plenty of places worth investing your money for long-term growth. But what about short-term savings? Shouldn’t you be able to earn a little something extra on that, too? A high-yield savings account functions like a traditional savings account but offers significantly higher interest rates. More specifically, the average interest rate on savings accounts is currently 0.41% per the FDIC. Compared to those meager returns on a traditional savings account, high-yield alternatives can deliver more than 4.50% APY—turning a potential $50 annual return on $10,000 into $450 or more. These accounts are typically offered b…

While it may not have the high profile of Spotify or Apple Music, YouTube Music has its own band of loyal users—not least because of the wealth of audio material you can find across YouTube as well as the designated YouTube Music library. The service integrates neatly with other Google services of course, and is available across a multitude of devices. Despite the rather functional and basic appearance of the YouTube Music apps, there's plenty going on behind the scenes, from the option to upload your own MP3s to your library, to the opportunity to collaborate on playlists with other people. Add videos to playlistsYouTube Music gives you something you don't get with any o…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There’s a sweet spot between overpaying for a flashy machine and settling for a sluggish budget buy. Right now, this refurbished Dell Inspiron Plus 7630 (2023) is sitting in that zone, on sale for $739.99 on StackSocial (versus $999 on Amazon). It’s been given a Grade “A” rating, which means you’ll get a laptop that looks nearly brand new—maybe a faint scuff here or there. Plus, it ships free across the contiguous US and has a one-year parts and labor warranty. It runs on an Intel Core i7-13700H chip, a high-performance 14-core processor typically f…

The IRS tends to be something of a stickler when it comes to filing tax returns and paying taxes on time. And that time is ticking—there are only a few days left before the official April 15 deadline. If you think filing is a headache, just wait until you're dealing with penalties and interest. Here's what you need to know about the upcoming tax deadlines help you file on time in 2025. Key tax deadline informationThe standard tax filing deadline for most individual taxpayers is typically April 15. However, if you requested an extension earlier this year, your final deadline to file your 2024 tax return is October 15, 2025. You can request an extension by April 15 with the…

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…

The old turn-it-off-and-on-again adage has helped successfully troubleshoot computers for years, but there's more than one way to restart your hardware and software—including a lesser known option on Windows that may well be new to you. Having spent many years writing about tech, it isn't often that I come across something I didn't already know about. So when I stumbled across this old BetaNews article about an emergency restart feature in Windows, I was taken aback. It showed a screen and a keystroke combination I had genuinely never heard of before. A bit more digging revealed that this has been in Windows for decades, making it even stranger that I'd never come across …

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 is in full swing, and we've done some work to weed out the duds and highlight the best deals available—it may not be Prime Day, but the sale still has deals worth checking out. As Lifehacker's deals writer, I use price tracking tools to vet deals and will keep rounding up the best tech ones I find throughout the sale. Here are the best deals I've found so far: Ergonomic Ear Hook, Balanced Sound, IPX7…

Sometimes, you need to make a couple of quick edits before you send off a photo on WhatsApp or Gmail. Perhaps you need to crop out something in the background, or enhance an image to make it clearer. If you're on Android 14 or higher, Google's new Quick Edits feature is here to help. It works kind of like editing screenshots before sharing them, but for everything in your Google Photos library. How to quickly edit photos before sharing them Credit: Khamosh Pathak To use Quick Edits, first update the Google Photos app on your An…

There was a time when we all had dedicated alarm clocks on our nightstands to wake us up in the morning. Now, I'd wager a smartphone does the job for most of us (whether we like it or not). The thing about alarms, though: They kind of need to work every time they're scheduled to go off. There's no acceptable percentage of failure, as, presumably, you're setting that alarm at a specific time for a good reason. You might have work, an interview, an appointment, any number of other important obligations, and not all of them are going to tolerate "my alarm didn't go off" as an excuse. So, alarms need to work, and right now, alarms set on a Google Pixel can't be trusted. Alarm…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As Lifehacker's resident marathon runner and senior finance writer, there is one perfect point where my worlds intersect: buying sneakers. When it comes to investing in—and maybe even splurging on—running gear, nothing affects your running experience more than your shoes. Finding the perfect running shoes is about much more than style or brand preference. Proper footwear can be the difference between achieving your running goals and suffering through preventable injuries. Why proper shoe fit mattersMany runners unknowingly wear the wrong shoes for years. According to Jessica Lyons-Quirk, director of footwear merchandising…