Setting Up Your Home Office

Garmin displays a real-time stress level from 0 to 100. Oura calculates "daytime stress" and resilience metrics. For Whoop, it’s the stress monitor; for Fitbit, a "stress management score." However it’s branded, some version of a “stress score” has become ubiquitous across smartwatches and wearables. This number is marketed as a window into our internal emotional state, turned into quantified proof of how our day is really going. The only issue: these numbers aren’t all that accurate. What your "stress score" actually tells youThe scores lighting up our wrists aren't measuring what most of us think they're measuring. When you check your smartwatch and see that your stress…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Garmin, maker of fitness watches (among other things), announced this week that the subscription tier of the Garmin Connect app will now include nutrition tracking. According to the company, the app can identify foods based on a photo, and can set your calorie targets based on your activity data. Garmin announced this feature during CES 2026, although a new feature announcement isn't exactly traditional CES fare—I was hoping it would show off a new watch. Still, I did get a chance to try out the feature on my own phone (and watch), and thought it worked well. How Garmin Connect+'s nutrition logging works …

Google is adding a slate of AI features to Gmail that could save some of the hassle of searching for important information buried in messages and threads. Many users will soon see a more personalized inbox with AI-powered suggestions, summaries, and proofreading support. Plus, some AI functionality that was previously available only to paid subscribers will be rolling out to all Gmail users, including Help Me Write, AI Overviews for threaded emails, and Suggested Replies. See personalized, AI-powered snapshots Gmail users will soon have an AI Inbox view with two sections. "Suggested to-dos" will show immediate action items found in your inbox, such as bills to be paid an…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When shopping for cordless power tools, you'd think you could simply purchase the best option of each to fit your needs. But there's a big problem that makes this a lot harder (and more expensive) than it should be: battery incompatibility. By design, you can’t simply pop a Ryobi battery into a DeWalt tool and expect it to work. Engineering decisions aside, using proprietary batteries allows companies to create a sort of obligatory brand loyalty, forcing you to stick with their line of tools unless you want to invest in a whole new set of batteries for every new tool you buy. If you've been building your cordless tool coll…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The latest AirPods Pro are a big step up from the first-generation buds. The third (and newest) generation comes with OTA updates that the AirPods Pro 2 also get to enjoy—but considering the second and third generations are the same price right now, why not go with the newer version? The AirPods Pro 3 are down to $199 (originally $249.99), which they briefly hit back in December during the holiday sales—the lowest price yet, according to price tracking tools. Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancellin…

This week, OpenAI announced its new ChatGPT Health feature, which will let users upload their medical records and ask health related questions. However, I certainly won't be making use of it, it might not be the best idea for you to do it either, for both reliability and privacy reasons. The new ChatGPT Health feature will be a sandboxed tab inside the app that is isolated from your conversation history in other conversations with the chatbot. This tab also allows users to connect a variety of health-tracking apps like Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, and Peloton, as well as uploading medical records directly. …

Whenever you have a bunch of looming tasks—as many of us do at the start of the new year, when everyone actually "circles back" on the things we've been putting off—having a structured to-do list is an essential part of getting everything done. Determining what goes on that list and in what order, though, is a task all its own. I've covered a lot of ways to do that, but if you're stuck with a high volume of important responsibilities, you need an approach that matches the complexity of what you're trying to do—and that's where the RICE method comes into play. What is the RICE method of prioritization?RICE, as you probably guessed, is an acronym. Here's what it stands for:…

If you've been running several email accounts through your Gmail, you might want to double-check your settings this month—that's because Google is ending support for the POP3 protocol that can sync emails from third-party accounts. And while there are some other solutions, they don't work quite the same. POP3 is an older standard of syncing emails between multiple accounts that allowed users to import emails from a third-party account and manage them in one spot. It's also a less secure method of transferring emails, so it's not a total surprise that Google is phasing it out, but the company hasn't broadcast the change too loudly, so it might come as a surprise to some us…

What if a team of super magicians used their talent and training to stage elaborate heists? That’s the high concept that drives the Now You See Me franchise. Critics were lukewarm when Now You See Me was released in 2013, categorizing the film as a heist flick with thin characters and a plot that fell apart as often as it twisted, but Now You See Me pulled off its own escape act—audiences loved the movie's flashy style, whipsaw pace, and all-star cast featuring names like Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, and Morgan Freeman. The result was box office magic: a movie with a $75M budget that returned over $300M worldwide. Now You See Me has since grown into an …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The 65-inch Samsung QN90F Neo QLED TV is currently $1,199.99 on Woot in "factory-reconditioned" condition. That undercuts a new unit, which sits around $1,600 on Amazon, and even slips below what some retailers ask for “like-new” stock. This deal runs for seven days or until it sells out. Shipping is free for Prime members, while everyone else pays a flat $6 fee. One thing to note before checkout: This item doesn’t ship to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes, and you’ll need to provide a valid phone number and physical shipping address. The QN90F isn’t a mi…

Hackers continue to find ways to sneak malicious extensions into the Chrome web store—this time, the two offenders are impersonating an add-on that allows users to have conversations with ChatGPT and DeepSeek while on other websites and exfiltrating the data to threat actors' servers. Beware these Chrome extensionsOn the surface, the two extensions identified by Ox Security researchers look pretty benign. The first, named "Chat GPT for Chrome with GPT-5, Claude Sonnet & DeepSeek AI," has a Featured badge and 2.7K ratings with over 600,000 users. "AI Sidebar with Deepseek, ChatGPT, Claude and more" appears verified and has 2.2K ratings with 300,000 users. However, th…

You can pinpoint the exact minute of the high-water mark for tech-based enthusiasm: January 9, 2007, 9:41 AM PST, the moment Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world. Cell phones weren’t new—neither were cellphones with touch screens—but this one was different: so high-tech it seemed like it couldn’t be real, but so perfectly designed, it felt inevitable. And people were hyped. Not just tech nerds: normal people. The crowd at the 2007 Macworld Conference & Expo broke into rapturous applause when Jobs showed off the iPhone’s multi-touch—an ovation for a software feature!—because it seemed like Jobs was touching a better future. The iPhone, people said,…

I'm someone who routinely switches between Mac and Windows. It's a hazard of being a tech writer. But the thing is, I'm so used to the user friendliness in macOS that whenever I shift to Windows mode, there are some hiccups. Windows tends to throw up walls where there really shouldn't be any. I used to just white-knuckle through it, but that was before I fully embraced PowerToys. PowerToys is a collection of utilities made by Microsoft itself. It's free to download on GitHub, or a myriad of other places, and unlike with Windows 11, Microsoft actually adds useful and interesting features to it every couple of weeks. You can download and install PowerToys from the GitHub p…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. I really adore my Series 10 Apple Watch. But if I hadn't upgraded last year, I would have gone for the Series 11, just for the extra battery life upgrade. I usually like to wait for discounts before upgrading, though, and if you're like me, Amazon has some good news: While the Series 11 only came out four months ago, it's already down to its lowest price ever. You can get the 42mm Series 11 model for $299 (down from $399) and the 46mm Series 11 model for $329 (down from $429). That's a discount of $100 across the board. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Prime Video's Fallout, an adaptation of the popular video game series of the same name, is set more than two centuries from now on an Earth still devastated by a long-ago nuclear war between the United States and China. The protagonist, Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), emerges from the underground fallout shelter where she's lived her entire life in search of her father, and a fuller understanding of the world above, a wasteland is dominated by warring factions and freakish mutants. It's a gutsy, hilarious adaptation of out-there source material, and it's wild to consider that, in the space of a couple of years, we've gone f…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The ANC headphones from Sony and Bose are great, but they look like gadgets, not music gear. Luckily, Marshall is offering these Monitor III ANC earbuds, which offer a cool retro look. And right now, they're available for the lowest price ever, at $279.99 (down from $379.99), beating the heavyweights from Sony and Bose on price. Marshall Monitor III Headphones …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Premium noise-canceling wireless earbuds don’t come cheap, and Bowers & Wilkins earbuds (a brand owned by Samsung) are definitely at the top end of that category. But in a market crowded with ANC earbuds that do little more than meet the bare minimum, these justify their price tag by leaning into thoughtful features, sound quality, and build that go beyond the basics. Right now, a brand-new pair of Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds are going for $279.99 (originally $399) on Woot, their lowest price ever. …

The Kindle has become the default e-reader for many bookworms, and I get it. I've used Kindles for well over a decade, and I've enjoyed using my latest Paperwhite quite a bit. It helped me read more than 30 books last year, so I'm not complaining. The basic Kindle setup is okay, but if you learn your way around the device's gestures, hidden features, and additional services, you can really get a lot out of this unassuming reading device. Kindle Gestures that you really should knowThere’s only one button on the Kindle. Everything else happens using touch. And like every touchscreen device, there are countless gestures you need to know to use the device. The most obvious …

Internet videos have always been addicting, but short-form content is a whole other beast. Whatever platform you watch them on, these brief clips pull you in and don't let go, and, before you know it, you've mindlessly scrolled through hours of videos, most of which you'll never remember watching. YouTube Shorts are no exception. But unlike TikTok or Instagram, short-form content is not the main source of videos on the platform. YouTube, of course, hosts long-form videos first and foremost, and is the sole reason why many of us visit the site or app. Shorts are just an afterthought, but an afterthought that YouTube pushes hard. You might hop on to watch a specific video,…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple's flagship products rarely get substantial discounts—but if you wait for the right moment, you can grab a great deal. If you've been eyeing Apple's top-of-the-line smartwatch, that moment is now: The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has dropped to $549.99 on Amazon, saving you $250 off the retail price. This matches the lowest price it has yet reached, according to price tracking tools. Apple Watch Ultra 2 …

Any new phone almost certainly comes with a handful of preinstalled apps you'll never use, regardless of which manufacturer you buy from or which operating system you're on. Some devices are more bloated than others: Google Pixels have a relatively "clean" build compared to Samsung phones, for example, and don't typically come with third-party apps and games. But you may still want to eliminate apps and features that clutter your home screen, take up valuable space, and create a drag on performance, especially if you have alternatives you like more. On Android, that likely means uninstalling what you easily can and disabling everything else. What you can (and can't) uni…

Most people haven't actively managed a firewall in at least a decade, assuming they ever have. But keeping track of which applications are using the internet—and how much data they're using—is still useful at times, as is blocking apps from accessing the net entirely. While you're traveling, for example, internet access might be limited, so it's a good idea to cut off applications that constantly churn through data. But even while at home, it's a good security practice to review which applications are connecting to the internet. And while macOS comes with a firewall, it's not really a useful tool for that. Which is why I like FireWally. This totally free application, offe…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I just got back from CES 2026, and you can see my real-time reports on some of the best and weirdest things I saw in our CES 2026 live blog. I tried on six(!) different exoskeletons, perked up my ears whenever I heard about a new smart strap, and looked in vain for new models of familiar fitness tech like watches. Here are the biggest trends I noticed and some notes on what was conspicuously missing. I've included prices where possible; anything without a price is likely too far from market to have one yet. The number of non-Whoop smart bands just doubled …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. AI is still the big thing in the tech world, but it's no longer the big new thing. It's been around long enough that simply integrating it into your product isn't enough to make it stand out anymore, especially at the biggest tech show in the world. While I attended this year's CES, the trend I noticed over and over again on the show floor was that AI is getting weird now. From personal hologram sidekicks to a gaming monitor that basically cheats for you, here are the five weirdest AI inventions I saw at CES 2026. Razer is giving you your own personal anime girl …

If you've ever been intrigued by the mystery of a dusty cassette you found in a thrift shop—or if you're just looking for a new time-sink—you have to check out Intertapes, a website that digitizes "found cassettes" sent in by users all over the world, then posts them in full for anyone to listen to. The catalog is small at the moment—only 14 cassettes—but already really interesting. There's a bootleg cassette of music played at a Spanish nightclub in the late 1990s (lots of squelchy noises and relentless bass) and a 90-minute recording of New York hip hop station WBLS captured in '94 (Warren G.'s "Regulate" represent), amid more mysterious choices, like this haunting rec…