Setting Up Your Home Office

The pace of AI technology is so rapid, it's tough to keep up with everything. At Google I/O back in May, Google rolled out an AI-powered shopping feature that let you virtually try on clothes you find online. All you needed to do was upload a full-length photo of yourself, and Google's AI would be to dress you up in whatever article of clothing you liked. I still can't decide whether the feature sounds useful, creepy, or a little bit of both. Google's virtual try on feature only needs a selfie to workWhat I can say, however, is that the feature is getting a little creepier. On Thursday, Google announced an update to its virtual try on feature, that takes advantage of th…

One of the ways AI models are rapidly improving is in their image editing capabilities, to the extent that they can now quickly take care of tasks that would previously have taken a substantial amount of time and effort in Photoshop. This is undoubtedly one of the main reasons Adobe has decided to introduce its own ChatGPT plug-ins. Want your t-shirt to be blue rather than red? Need to cut out a person or an object from an otherwise perfect group selfie? These are tricks that AI chatbots are now able to do cleanly and professionally, from just a text prompt. You don't need to have any digital photo editing skills; you only need to describe what you want to happen. Over th…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While I’m a frequent reviewer of laptops and other computer-y type things, the gadgets that I care about the most are the ones I actually use on a regular basis in my day-to-day life. This year, I got big into showing off important memories with a digital picture frame, and into nostalgic handheld gaming with my first Anbernic device. But out of all the upgrades I’ve made to my life this year, the Ninja Creami was my easy favorite. What is the Ninja Creami?The Ninja Creami is different from a more traditional ice cream maker, which sits on your counter and constantly churns and freezes your liquid ice cream mixture until i…

Scammers frequently target shoppers who are looking for a good deal or a rare find (or both). As holiday sale season winds down, the Better Business Bureau is warning buyers about a scheme in which fraudsters charge you for "out of stock" goods and fail to refund your money. The out-of-stock purchase scam is simple: After you buy a product online, scammers send you a notification that said item is no longer available, cancel your order, and tell you that you'll get your money back. Obviously, the refund never arrives, and no one ever responds to further inquiries. As the BBB points out, in most cases, the item you thought you bought probably never existed in the first p…

My Neato D5 Connected was once a willing workhorse, but, today, things aren't looking so good. I recently caught an email from the company alerting me that it shut down my vacuum's cloud servers. Now, my once capable Neato is just a LiDAR-equipped vacuum with a soul that's been deprecated. Without cloud servers, the "smart" is gone. This could be the lobotomized future awaiting Roomba users. Earlier this month, the company behind the pioneering smart vacuum, iRobot, filed for bankruptcy. The remainder of the business will go to its primary manufacturing partner—the one it owes all that money to—Shenzhen Picea Robotics. It's a stark reminder that the longevity of a connect…

During last year's CES, Dell killed the brand behind the very first laptop I ever owned, ditching its beloved XPS branding alongside other classic names like Inspiron and Precision. In its place, the company said all of its future (non-gaming) computers would now be known simply as "Dell," either being Dell, Dell Pro, or Dell Pro Max devices. In addition to these, other monikers like Dell Plus and Dell Premium were also tossed into the mix—and with all those similar-sounding adjectives floating around, it was just a mess to know what you were actually buying. If you can tell me the difference between a Dell 14 Plus, a Dell 14 Premium, and a Dell 14 Pro Premium without loo…

At last year's CES, Sony's press conference showed off products from all over its portfolio, including a first look at The Last of Us season 2. This year, it was all about the Afeela, an electric car Sony's making in collaboration with Honda that it's been teasing for years, but is now finally getting ready to release. Sony has big plans for Afeela. Previews have been less about hard specs like mileage or speed and more about the company's plans to change how we look at cars. Previously, that's included demo'ing integrations with other Sony services like Crunchyroll and themes for the car's interior based on Sony brands. Just last month, the company confirmed it would sup…

Many people think the world is going to end in 2026. Man people think the world is going to end every year—maybe because the Bible said so, or The Simpsons said so—but this 2026-doomsday prediction seems to have a scientific basis. In a 1960 issue of Science magazine, Austrian scientist and polymath Heinz von Foerster detailed what he called the “Doomsday Equation,” a model he used to calculate the last day of civilization on earth. According to von Foerster (and probably Homer Simpson), The End is coming on Friday, November 13, 2026. Who is Heinz von Foerster?Foerster was not a crank. A pioneer in computer science, artificial intelligence, physics, biophysics, and other…

Love it or hate it, the Apple ecosystem really does have its perks. Take "Handoff," for example. With this feature, you can be working in one app on one of your devices, then continue on in the same app on one of your other devices. You can start an article in Safari on your iPhone, then finish it on your Mac, without needing to google the piece and scroll to find your spot. It isn't 100%, but when it works, it's pretty great. Microsoft actually offers a similar feature over on Windows, though it's so limited, you might not even know it exists. The feature is called Resume, and the idea is to allow you to pick up your place in an app from another device on your PC. For t…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The expected release of glasses from huge players like Apple and Google has industry analysts predicting sales of smart glasses will rise from six million units in 2025 to 20 million in 2026. In other words, this year is looking like an inflection point, where tech-enabled spectacles make the transformation from tech wear for early adopters to everyday gear for regular folks. Whether you're looking for a pair of audio-first glasses, display glasses, or full augmented reality, here's what to expect from the major players and smaller operators in the smart-glasses space. CES's major smart glasses announcementsThis year's Con…

If you have Verizon, yesterday might have been a bit chaotic. The wireless carrier's coverage was down for large swaths of the country for much of the day, leading to confusion, frustration, and, for some, conspiracy theories. I saw some users on X post cryptic messages like "This is how it starts," and "These are the end times." It's good to know in times of service disruption, we can all keep a level head. But despite claims to the contrary, the world didn't end yesterday, and Verizon fixed the issue. The company issued a statement at 10:20 p.m. ET, confirming the outage had been resolved, and that Verizon would contact affected customers directly to issue account cred…

If you just tried to open Instagram on your phone or computer, only to find that nothing would load, don't worry: It's not your wifi, nor is Verizon experiencing another outage. The fault instead lies with Meta, as Instagram is currently down. That's according to Downdetector, owned by Lifehacker parent company Ziff Davis, which shows over 2,000 user reports of issues with Instagram at the time of this writing. The issues seem to affect Instagram in all forms. While the mobile app was working last time I checked, I couldn't get it to load in Safari. That means you might not be able to check out posts, add new posts, or send and receive DMs—at least until Meta figures out…

Selling a house is one of the largest transactions most of us will ever make. Considering how much you’ve invested in the place in terms of both money and sweat equity, it’s natural to want to get as much profit from the sale as possible. One strategy to maximize profits that most real estate professionals will recommend is staging: temporarily dressing, furnishing, and arranging the home to make it as appealing as possible. Staging works—it’s been shown to speed up the time to sale and to increase the sale price of a house. But it’s not magic—there’s a specific psychology to staging a house that you have to keep in mind, especially if you’re choosing to do it yourself in…

Whether you're a smart TV veteran or are somehow just now setting your first TV with an internet connection, there's a lot to learn. Modern TVs are basically computers, complete with their own operating systems and application ecosystems. That means you can tweak them to run better.—or just the way you want them to. Here are a few tips, tricks, and hacks that every smart TV owner should be aware of. Turn off motion smoothing on your smart TVWondering why every single TV show and movie you watch on your brand new TV looks like a soap opera or a cheap community theater production? It's probably because of motion smoothing. This "feature", which is the default on far too man…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There’s no shortage of outdoor security cameras, but finding one that balances video quality, battery life, and ease of use without pushing past $100 is rare. Right now, the Tapo MagCam 2K+ is on sale for $64.98 on Amazon, down from $89.99, which is its lowest price to date, according to price trackers. TP-Link Tapo C425 2K Wire-Free MagCam Security Camera …

Unsolicited texts are annoying—and even more so if they keep coming from a legitimate sender after you've opted out. If you received text spam from Kaiser Permanente, you may be eligible for a cash payout for each message. The healthcare company, which serves over 12.5 million members, recently settled a $10.5 million class action lawsuit filed over marketing text messages sent after recipients tried to opt out. The suit, filed in August 2025, claimed that Kaiser Permanente failed to honor opt-out requests. Those with a valid claim may receive up to $75 per qualifying text. Are you eligible for the Kaiser settlement? To qualify for a payout from this settlement, you mus…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When Owala water bottles started appearing in every influencer's "daily essentials" video and cluttering my Instagram feed, I rolled my eyes. I assumed this was another overhyped product that people would forget about in three months, just the latest in a long line of Stanley Cup successors. One of my biggest personality quirks (or "flaws," according to some) is that I'm a major spiller. The Stanley Cup's open straw is a non-starter for me. In fact, no water bottle technology has been stronger than my ability to spill its contents. After watching my latest bottle create yet another puddle in my bag, I caved and bought an O…

When I asked real people why they post their workouts online, I received well over a hundred replies, many of them filled with venting about body image issues and unattainable beauty standards. That's didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was that the majority of these responses came from men. Carefully measured chicken and rice, obsessive tracking of macros, the guilt when a workout is missed: On social media, these behaviors are framed in the language of performance and strength. The same rituals that would be clear indications of disordered behavior for women are redefined as “discipline” and “optimization” for men. How many men suffer in silence because eating dis…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Eufy FamiLock S3 Max is a deadbolt, a 2K video doorbell, and a small indoor monitor in one device. Right now it’s $279.98 on Amazon, down from $399.99, which price trackers list as its lowest price to date. Eufy FamiLock S3 Max $279.98 at Amazon $399.99 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Meta's strategy for its Quest 3 and 3S VR headsets is clearly to make virtual and mixed reality as easy, fun, and affordable as possible, but they might have done the job a little too well. All that user-friendliness has left a lot of power on the table. Casual Questers don't know that the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor is powerful enough to handle spatial computing and multitasking that rivals some laptops, and that they can link their headset to a PC for close-to-4K visuals that rival much more expensive headsets. With the right software and a little bit of monkeying around with (often-hidden) settings, you can take the …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It turns out the “lifestyle logging” feature introduced with Garmin’s Venu 4 watch announcement isn’t limited to that watch—it seems to be available to all Garmin users, which means the app has made a huge stride in catching up with competitors like Whoop. What is lifestyle logging? This feature lets you track different habits, behaviors, or factors that might impact your health metrics. For example, you can log when you have caffeine or alcohol at night, and see how this affects your sleep. (Garmin tends to refer to these as “behaviors,” even though some of them are more like environmental factors or states of being—ill…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. You can get a three-year license of Adobe Acrobat Classic (valued at $324) and a lifetime license of Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows (valued at $219.99) together on sale for $89.99 on StackSocial right now. The bundle is only available to U.S. customers, though. The Acrobat license works on both Mac and Windows, while the Office license is limited to a single Windows PC. And because these are digital codes, delivery is instant, and once redeemed, you can use the software offline without the monthly costs that come with subscriptions. …

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 my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. When the Powerbeats Pro 2 came out earlier this year, with their in-ear heart rate sensors, I had a hard time getting them to read my heart rate accurately from my ears. Now, with iOS 26, Apple and Beats are introducing some new fitness features that make these headphones work better as heart rate sensors. They also apply to the new AirPods Pro 3, which also measure heart rate. I tested the new features, and found that the experience is much improved—but sti…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Google's Gemini AI app has been topping the "most downloaded" charts on both the Apple App Store and the Android Store ever since the company added a free image generation feature, called "Nano Banana," back in August. Of course, Google is hardly the only huge tech corporation with an AI assistant that can make images right on your phone. I wanted to know which mobile AI image generation tools is best, so I pitted three of the biggest—Google's Gemini (with Nano Banana), the iPhone version of OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Meta's Meta AI—against one another in a not-so-old-fashioned image-generation throw down. While there was ulti…