Setting Up Your Home Office

Responding to posts on social media claiming that ChatGPT will no longer offer legal or health advice, OpenAI is clarifying that "model behavior remains unchanged" and there is "not a new change to our terms." The clarification follows a since-deleted viral post from betting platform Kalshi, which claimed "JUST IN: ChatGPT will no longer provide health or legal advice." Since then, concerned users have repeated the claim, while others have attempted to push back against it. The confusion likely stems from an Oct. 29 update to OpenAI's Usage policies, which appeared to add a stipulation that users cannot use OpenAI for "provision of tailored advice that requires a license,…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon Big Deal Days is coming October 7-8, 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. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. New to Prime Day? We have a primer on everything you need to know. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change. October’s Prime sales have already begun, including deals on f…

Back in 2021, Apple announced a new feature for the Wallet app, that allowed users to add their driver's licenses or state IDs to their iPhones. To me, it sounded like the beginning of the end for physical wallets. In reality, it was anything but: Not only are the applications limited, but even after all this time, only 12 states and Puerto Rico actually support the feature. While the rest of us wait for our respective states to get on board, many might have another option for these virtual documents. On Wednesday, Apple announced "Digital ID," a new initiative that lets you create an ID in the Wallet app using your passport. This bypasses the waiting period for the 38 s…

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…

While I updated my iPhone to iOS 26 as soon as I could, I haven't yet pulled the trigger with macOS Tahoe. I love my M1 iMac, but I worry that Apple's first version of this new update isn't quite optimized for the five-year-old chip, and have been waiting to see if a future version of Tahoe performs a bit better. As it happens, that next version is well on its way—and does seem improved, at that. Apple has been beta testing macOS Tahoe 26.1 alongside iOS 26.1 since September, and it dropped the release candidates for both of the updates on Tuesday. The "RC," as the name implies, is what Apple thinks is the finished version of any given software release. Barring any major…

Productivity is an essential skill for getting things done in your life and career, but it’s also important because it can gives you a sense of accomplishment and it enhances your sense of wellbeing. When you don’t get all your tasks done, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and disappointed in yourself, which doesn’t help you push through to finish those tasks, let alone feel like you’re thriving. You should be happy. You need to be productive. Reaching a state of zen can help you accomplish both—or so goes the theory behind the “Zen to Done” method, which aims to help you get more good and feel good about it. Unlike some other productivity approaches, this one has less to do …

Losing something you spent time working on, or photos that you can't replace, is devastating. You might think this is a problem of the past because of cloud storage services like Apple's own iCloud, but that's not completely true. For one thing, users sometimes get locked out of their cloud accounts, which makes it impossible to retrieve their files. For another, not everything on your Mac is stored in iCloud. Things like settings, applications, and customizations aren't easy to recover should something happen to your Mac. It's also a lot faster to retrieve files from a local backup than a cloud one, which is important if you're backing up things like videos or photo libr…

Windows 10 is no longer officially supported by Microsoft, but that doesn't mean the company has actually stopped supporting it. It's not as confusing as it sounds: As of Oct. 14, Microsoft has stopped issuing security updates for Windows 10 users by default. However, Windows 10 users can continue receiving security updates if they enroll in Microsoft's Extended Security Updates program. The ESU gives these users an extra year of security support, so they can continue using an internet-connected Windows 10 device safely. Or, at least, that's how it's supposed to work. As reported by How-To Geek, Microsoft's first ESU update crashed upon release on Tuesday. When users try…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. 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. The 10th-generation iPad is considered Apple’s entry-level budget tablet and was one of the best tablets on the market until the 11th-generation iPad was released. Right now, you can pick up the 256GB wifi version for the lowest price it has been since its release: $349.99, down from its listed $499 price. After looking at price-tracking tools, I can say this is the cheapest price the …

They say no one actually uses their phones for phone calls anymore. That's not really true, though maybe the "Phone" app does get underused. Instead, many of us have turned to chat apps for our calls. FaceTime, WhatsApp, Messenger—these apps are now our go-to choices for getting in immediate touch with friends and family. (Not that I'm complaining: The call quality is usually better, anyway.) But one thing the Phone app—and traditional phone calls—have on these chat apps is voicemail. For decades, when you called someone and they didn't answer, you could "leave a message after the tone." That way, when the person saw they had a missed call, they didn't need to guess what…

Netflix's January lineup is on the lighter side, but includes the return of period romance series Bridgerton (Jan. 29). Season four centers on Benedict, the second-eldest sibling, and Sophie, who he meets at Lady Bridgerton’s masquerade ball. The first four episodes drop in January, with the remaining four coming at the end of February. Another original series worth watching is Agatha Christie's Seven Dials (Jan. 15), an adaptation of crime author's novel The Seven Dials Mystery. Mia McKenna-Bruce plays sleuth Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent, who is attempting to solve a murder mystery at a country house party in 1920s England. Martin Freeman and Helena Bonham Carter also sta…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Pennywise is back, baby, and pop culture's favorite freaky clown is going back in time to kill the kids of Derry, Maine, in 1962, with future seasons (should they materialize) visiting other time periods. If my hometown saw mass slaughterings of children every generation or so, I might be tempted to pick up stakes and head on out—but the Stephen King IP train must keep rolling, and so here we are. So far, the show isn't hitting the heights of previous It adaptations, but it's shown an admirable willingness to shock—the opening scene includes an impressively graphic and rather unconventional birthing sequence, and the show…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. RAM, also known as random-access memory (or just memory for short), is an important part of most electronics these days. It essentially allows programs to keep key information at the ready so they don't have to dig through your storage (like your hard drive or solid state drive) to find it. RAM is in laptops, phones, tablets, gaming consoles, and even cars, and all apps rely on it at least a little bit. Essentially, if your device has a computer in it, it probably comes with RAM equipped, or it'll want you to install some before it'll boot up. But that dependency has become a big problem recently. While RAM has historical…

You know a theory is janky when even its Wikipedia page has “(pseudoscience)” in its title. That’s the case with so-called “biorhythms,” or periods of 23, 28, and 33 days that supposedly predict how mentally, physically, and actively on-point you’ll be on any given day. The concept of biorhythms is all over social media and has been for years, so you might think there's some legitimacy to it, but it's essentially hogwash. There are, however, other ways to track your “peaks” in productivity that are more scientifically sound. The difference between a biorhythm and circadian rhythmThe idea behind biorhythms is that over the course of month-long periods, your physical, emoti…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Power tools make everything easier and your finishes more professional. You might think that connecting those power tools to an app on your phone via Bluetooth is an unnecessary upgrade—why in the world does your power drill need to be connected to your phone? The truth is that Bluetooth-connected, “smart” power tools offer a lot of real advantages, and you should definitely start thinking about upgrading your tools to include them. More controlThe biggest reason smart power tools are a good investment is the increased control they offer. If you’ve ever wasted time experimenting with the torque settings on a drill (and the…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. 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. With early Prime Day deals going live, now is the perfect time to start shopping for new tech essentials like TVs, headphones, and speakers. If you’re a gamer or a movie and TV fanatic in the market for a new screen, the 2025 Hisense U65QF 55-inch QLED TV is currently 42% off on Amazon, bringing it down to less than $500. 2025 Hisense U65QF 55…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It's so-called spooky season, and there's nothing more frightening than realizing how out of touch you've become, so allow me to throw you a lifeline with an explainer on the week's trending topics with the youths. This week, everyone is talking about their membership in a completely arbitrary online group, planning Halloween costumes that few people over 30 will understand, and trying on "historically accurate" clothing from 2005. What is "Group 7" on TikTok? Everyone on TikTok this week is posting about "Group 7." Here's what's up: On October 17, 26-year-old singer Sophia James did a little social experiment to promot…

Need some help writing your emails? Through the wonders of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), you can now get messages composed on your behalf in Gmail, in Apple Mail, in Outlook, and in many other email clients. Most of the time, the AI option pops up straight away, ready to give you however much assistance you need. The pitch is that you can offload the drudgery of dealing with email to AI, and move on to other tasks that may be more interesting and important. Anecdotally, I've spoken to quite a few people who now use AI chatbots in this way. But it's not something I'm ready to embrace, and I don't think I ever will. These are my reasons, which may or may not resonate…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. 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. With all the apps and digital tools available to enhance your studying, plus how fast and easy it is to type notes compared to how long it takes to write them, it seems like a no-brainer to bring your laptop with you to class. But there’s good reason to believe taking notes by hand helps your brain retain more. Here’s why you should try leaving the laptop behind at home and how to make the switch to the old-school way easier. Digital note-taking isn’t perf…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. 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. Finding the perfect gift for som…

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. The method of loci (or the loci technique) is a mnemonic memorization trick with a number of uses, from helping people with mild cognitive impairment learn and remember information, to getting someone ready to give a speech. But you can use it in almost any context, for anything you need to remember. Obviously, you're here because it's helpful when you're taking a test, but the ways you can apply it in that scenario are a little unique and you'll need to get the hang of something that seems silly at firs…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Contacts with cat pupils or neon colors can be fun, but are you sure you want to put a piece of plastic from a costume store into your eye? Experts, like those at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, warn against it. These non-prescription contacts are technically illegal in the U.S. (even though plenty of companies sell them anyway). The CDC warns that the risks include "eye sores and vision loss." Why costume contacts often aren't safeCheap Halloween contacts tend to be one-size-fits-all, but the AAO points out that contacts should never be one-size-fits-all. A contact that is too large or too small for your eye can c…

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. Australian indie game studio Team Cherry released Hollow Knight: Silksong on Sept. 4, and within three weeks, the combat/platformer climbed up Steam's most played chart, made Xbox's most played list, and gained legions of fans on Switch and PlayStation consoles. So a lot of people are playing it. If you're one of them, and you've uncovered every secret in Pharloom (or you just need a break), here are 10 more games you might like. They're (roughly) all in the metroidvania family of games, so they feature 2D …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon just marked down the Nothing Phone 3 to $678.99, its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. That’s about $120 off the usual $799 tag for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage base model. Nothing Phone 3 Cell Phone $678.99 at Amazon $799.00 Sa…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. 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. When a home security camera drops to half its price, it usually means you’re giving up something in return. With the Blink Mini 2, that’s not the case. It’s currently $19.99 on Amazon, down from $39.99, which is the lowest price it’s ever been, according to price trackers. Blink Mini 2 …