Setting Up Your Home Office

Wireless earbuds are great, but they can be pretty same-y from one brand to the next. Most adopt the classic AirPods design language—small buds, usually with some sort of stem, all of which travel in a charging case. Each has its own list of pros and cons, of course, but the product category has certainly homogenized. The newly announced Powerbeats Pro 2 seem a bit different, though. Of course, these new buds do all the things you'd expect from a pair of $250 headphones: They have active noise cancelling and transparency mode—the latter of which pumps in sounds from the world around you so you can hear what's going on with your earbuds in. They're IPX4 sweat- and water-r…

CSV, or Comma Separated Values, are files used for all kinds of things, from managing large datasets to exporting data to move it between web services. You might think CSV files are just spreadsheets, similar to Excel files, but it's a lot more interesting than that: Open any CSV file in a text document and you'll learn that the "comma separated" thing is literal. Really, these files are just text documents—every line break is a row in the table, and columns are the items in each row, all separated by commas. There is nothing stopping you from editing the values right there in your text editor of choice, but doing so would be extremely annoying. And while you can import …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Presidents Day is not until Feb. 17, 2025, but as is often the case, retailers have started their sales well in advance. Best Buy has the best sale I've seen so far, with great deals on major appliances and tech products, including headphones, TVs, soundbars, washers, and more. Here are my favorite deals from the sale worth considering. Resolution: 4K, Size: 55 inches, Display: LED, Backlight: Edge Lit, Voice Assistant: Alex…

It turns out that getting your news from robots playing telephone with actual sources might not be the best idea. In a BBC study of OpenAI, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity’s news prowess, the news organization found that “51% of all AI answers” about news topics had “significant issues of some form.” The study involved asking each bot to answer 100 questions about the news, using BBC sources when available, with their answers then being rated by “journalists who were relevant experts in the subject of the article.” A few examples of issues include Gemini suggesting that the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) does not recommend vaping as a method for quitt…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It's a potentially concerning sign of the times, but my morning is dictated by my apps. On an average day, I start off by putting in a mobile Dunkin' order, checking my sales on Poshmark and my rentals on Pickle, and playing the New York Times games before shifting over to the more serious work apps. As of last week, I added a new app to the morning mix: Finch, which is sort of like a to-do list mixed with a Tamagotchi. My ultimate goal with this whole morning app rotation is to resist the siren call of social media and, with it, an unproductive start to the day. This app, I reasoned, would help me be even more productive …

So you want to get out of jury duty. Sure, you could wear a "F*ck The Police" T-shirt to the courthouse, or loudly proclaim that the frequency of your bowel movements will make sitting through the trial an impossibility. But before resorting to antics and goofs, you should try one of the perfectly legitimate paths to avoiding jury duty. Because let's face it: Though we know we should be proud of doing our civic duty, few among us are excited to see an envelope in the mail that reads “summons.” Since the jury summons process is designed to be as random as possible, you never know when that dreaded letter may arrive in the mail, or what kind of court case you might be assig…

If you own a car, you own a long list of necessary maintenance and potentially expensive repairs, especially if your goal is to keep an old car going for as long as possible. The average car maintenance and repair costs run around 10 cents a mile—or close to $1,500 a year if you drive an average of 15,000 miles. And surprise repairs can be a lot worse than that—like a new transmission (typically more than $5,000) or a new head gasket (around $2,000). If you know your way around a vehicle, you can save some money by doing your own repairs. But if you’re not the DIY type, there's still some hope: You might be able to get free (or very low-cost) maintenance and repair work d…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There are no surprises with the Blink Video Doorbell camera. Blink is an established brand and the doorbell camera has been around since 2022. What might be surprising is how cheap it has become. You can get the Blink Video Doorbell and Sync Module 2 for $34.99 (originally $69.99) after a 50% discount, the lowest price it has been according to price tracking tools. Blink Video Doorbell and Sync Module 2 …

Breaking news: Apple has another update for you to install. While it seems like there's always a new update for us Apple users to install on our devices, this one is quite important to prioritize. That's because it's not a simple feature update, changing the software you're used to. Instead, it's a security patch, fixing issues with iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and other Apple OSes that, left unpatched, leaves you vulnerable to hacking. Security patches vs. software updatesSome platforms separate security patches and software updates as two distinct processes. Not Apple. Usually, the company couples security patches and software updates together, which creates some interesting si…

It happens way too often. You install a new, interesting app. The app asks you to grant it permission to your photo library, and you end up granting it full access. That is, after all, the most convenient option. Doing this for a trusted, popular app like Instagram or Slack is fine, useful even. But not all apps are built the same. In fact, researchers have recently found photo-scanning malware apps on the App Store. Yes, malware has started to make its way from Android to the iPhone. Dubbed SparkCat, this is a kind of malware framework that runs in the background, running OCR on all your photos in hopes of finding credentials to your crypto account. But any app that has …

As my boys become older, they become savvier at working their way around the parental controls on our devices. Time limits are tampered with, and apps I thought were deleted from our iPad suddenly reappear. I know they're not accessing dangerous content, but it's only a matter of time until they do. Most routers have parental controls included, allowing concerned parents to put controls over all the devices that rely on wifi to ensure they don't go to dangerous sites. If you're looking for a way to control what your family can access on the internet and how long, below are instructions for the three of the most popular router brands. How to set up parental controls on a T…

There are times when blocking someone on Discord just seems downright harsh. Plus, when you block someone, they'll know that you've done so, which might lead to unwanted drama. Perhaps you simply want to ignore that they exist. You can go on with your merry life, and they can do their own thing. No hard feelings. Well, Discord has now added a feature appropriately called Ignore, so you can do just that. What does it mean to Ignore someone on Discord?Ignore is basically a mute feature. It lets you mute someone who's annoying or downright abusive. All without the added drama that comes with outright blocking someone. You can even use it to take a temporary break from someon…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Samsung Galaxy S22 (Factory Unlocked) is up for grabs at $347.99 on Woot—way down from its original $849.99. That’s a massive $500 price drop, but it’s only around for four days (or until it sells out). Prime members also get free shipping, while non-Prime shoppers will have to pay $6 (unfortunately, shipping isn’t available to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). Samsung Galaxy S22 (Factory Unlocked) …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Apple Watch—and other smartwatches—are designed to be worn on your wrist. But why not wear it elsewhere? I’ve worn an Apple Watch on my ankle to keep it out of the way during kettlebell workouts, and that’s also a common placement for people who walk while they work, or who have a job or hobby that isn’t compatible with constant watch-wearing. So how do you do this, why might you do this, and is the data really just as accurate? Here’s what you need to know. How to wear your Apple Watch on your ankleLet’s get the “how” out of the way first. If you have small feet (and ankles), you can just slip your regular wristband …

When Nvidia introduced the free Nvidia Broadcast app in 2020, it promised to use the AI capabilities of RTX GPUs to boost the video and sound quality of users' recordings, presuming they had the right hardware. This could be useful when a laptop’s built-in webcam and microphones may not capture the best looking footage or the richest audio, and could potentially help streamers get by with a cheaper setup. With version 2.0 of the Nvidia Broadcast app, released at the tail end of January, the capabilities are stepping up even higher...perhaps a little too close to the sun. In Nvidia Broadcast 2.0, microphones still have options for noise removal and room echo removal, but t…

This week's biggest event was the Super Bowl. While the game was a snore-fest reminiscent of the lopsided Super Bowl blowouts of the past, the halftime show was nothing like the performances of 1980s Super Bowl favorites "Up with People." If you compare the two performances (and you should), you'll see how far we have come as a society. Kendrick's jeans win the Super Bowl Super Bowl 2025 may have been more of beatdown than an exciting football game, but luckily Kendrick Lamar was around at halftime to provide some much needed drama. From "Uncle" Samuel L. Jackson providing a preemptive critique of the show from "mainstream" America, to Serena Williams crip walki…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Everyone has their opinion on how to make a perfectly boiled egg—is it boiled from a cold start, hot start, steamed, pressure-cooked, or sous vide? This argument will rage all the more feverishly as periodic cooking enters the fray. According to science, periodic cooking yields the perfect boiled egg. The test required two pots of water at different temperatures, a two-minute timer, a notepad, and 32 minutes of uninterrupted focus. I must admit, the results were fantastic—but I’d never do it again. The special thing about eggs is that you have two substances: the egg white and the egg yolk, one encapsulating the other. As…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Americans are predicted to spend a whopping 2.5 billion dollars on flowers this Valentine’s day. If you are one of the people who are considering such a gift to your paramour, you may want to stop for a moment and consider your beloved’s beloved: Many popular flower choices are toxic for dogs and cats. Here's what to know before you choose your bouquet so you won’t have to apologize for a vet visit later. Flowers that aren't safe for petsFirst, consider whether your intended recipient has a cat or dog (or both), as they can have different reactions. For instance, lilies, a common Valentine’s Day choice, can be lethal to c…

The Department of Labor (DOL) is a critical federal agency that protects workers' rights, ensures workplace safety, and promotes employment opportunities across the United States. Around since 1913, the DOL is the latest government entity currently facing scrutiny from the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On Friday, a federal judge declined to limit DOGE—which is not an official government department, but a task force led by Elon Musk—from accessing the DOL's systems and sensitive information. Not everyone is happy about that, because they are worried Musk might gut the agency in similar fashion to what is being done with USAID. But what does the…

If you want to give yourself some grace, you can see tub rings as a sign that you are a person who, at the very least, takes regular baths. Unfortunately, that doesn't make rings any less unappealing to behold. Getting rid of them, unfortunately, isn't exactly an easy task, but I've figured out the two best ways to get it done with the least amount of elbow grease. Why you have a tub ringEvery two weeks or so, I run some water in my tub, splash a little Fabuloso in there, and zhush it around to clean and refresh the tile, but since I started using a new body scrub, the ring buildup has gotten too bad for that to be an effective end-all-be-all in my bathroom-cleaning rout…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It’s become fashionable to hate on Valentine’s Day, and I get it—the commercialization; the unreasonable expectations; the bland commodification of a deeply human experience. But here's why I clarify that it's also OK to love love. It’s OK to look forward to Valentine’s Day, whether because you’ve found your own storybook romance (whatever it looks like), or because you enjoy watching other people navigate the many possible relationship complications. Here are 25 movies that celebrate love, ranging from dark to outright comedic, If the expectations of V-Day start to feel overwhelming, throwing on a movie might offer you a…

As anyone who has ever tried to design their home knows all too well, neutral always works. Beige, white, and various subtle shades of gray are the safe choices in any room—they may not be exciting, but they also won’t irritate you over time or cause your guests to whisper about your choices behind your back. That safety combined with a long-running trend toward minimalist and uncluttered spaces has led to the color “pop”—a blast of vibrant color as an accent to add a dash of drama to your otherwise bland spaces. But as concepts like “unexpected red” demonstrate, you aren’t confined to painting an accent wall or buying a big red sofa when you want that pop of color. While…

The Beats Solo 4 came out last summer—they're Beats' latest headphones. Beats are a more affordable alternative to Apple headphones, and you can often find them with substantial discounts. You can now get the Beats Solo 4 for $99.95 (originally $199.95) after a 50% discount. This is matching the lowest price they've been since their release, according to price-checking tools. The Solo Buds and Studio Buds + are also both also seeing their lowest price right now. Beats Solo 4 …