Setting Up Your Home Office

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Wifi problems tend to reveal themselves at the worst times—laggy Zoom calls, buffering mid-binge, or a smart device that refuses to connect. The Eero Pro 7, named the best mesh wifi system of 2025 by PCMag, is built to solve exactly that. Right now, the two-pack is down to $449.99 on Amazon from its usual $549.99, its lowest price to date according to price trackers. Amazon Eero Pro 7 Mesh Router …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Blink Mini 2K+ (2-pack) is currently down to $44.99 on Amazon, half off its usual $89.99 price and the lowest it has ever been, according to price-trackers. That makes it one of the cheapest ways right now to add basic indoor security with sharper video than the older 1080p models. Blink, which is owned by Amazon, has always leaned toward simple and affordable cameras, and this one follows that formula closely. It records in 2K resolution, so faces and fine details come through more clearly than on earlier Minis. It also adds a built-in spotligh…

Google announced two new ways for users to remove their sensitive information from the web Tuesday morning—or, at least, remove that data from Google Search. The first lets users request that Google remove sensitive government ID information from Search, while the second gives users new tools to request the same for non-consensual explicit images. Google's "Results about you" tool is getting an update Credit: Google First, Google is updating its existing "Results about you" tool, which helps users scour the internet for their …

It finally happened. After months of speculation, ChatGPT officially has ads. OpenAI revealed the news on Monday, announcing that ads would roll out in testing for logged-in adult users on Free and Go subscriptions. If you or your organization pays for ChatGPT, such as with a Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Education account, you won't see ads with the bot. OpenAI says that ads do not have an impact on the answers ChatGPT generates, and that these posts are always clearly separated from ChatGPT's actual responses. In addition, ads are labeled as "Sponsored." That being said, it's not exactly a church-and-state situation here. OpenAI says that it decides which ads to s…

Have you ever used an application called Chat & Ask AI? If so, there's a good chance your messages were exposed last month. In January, an independent researcher was able to easily access some 300 million messages on the service, according to 404 Media's Emanual Maiberg. The data included chat logs related to all kinds of sensitive topics, from drug use to suicide. Chat & Ask AI, an app offered by the Istanbul-based company Codeway that is available on both Apple and Google app stores, claims to have around 50 million users. The application essentially resells access to large language models from other companies, including OpenAI, Claude, and Google, providing lim…

We should all take common-sense steps to make sure our data stays safe and secure: use strong passwords with our accounts, and never reuse passwords; employ two-factor authentication on any account that offers it; and avoid clicking strange links in emails or text messages. But even when you follow all those rules, your personal data can still be at risk, strictly because the services you rely on aren't following these rules themselves. Some websites are putting your passwords at riskResearchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered that a concerning number of browser extensions can access sensitive information that you enter into websites. Think passwords, c…

Traditional TV works best for live events, and for many people, that means sports. Most of the online services providing access to traditional TV, however, don't allow you to only subscribe to sports. That's going to change. Today YouTube TV announced new plans that are a little bit cheaper than the current cost of $82.99 per month. Among them is a $64.99-per-month Sports plan, which includes access to the big national sports channels including FS1, NBC Sports Network, and all of the ESPN channels, along with access to network television. Basically, if a game is broadcast nationally, this package should give you access. And it will eventually give you access to many out-o…

My subscription fatigue is real, but at the end of the day, I do recognize that companies need to make money. If one of them manages to put together a compelling package of features for a reasonable price, I can decide whether or not I find that value worth the money. That's fine. What isn't fine is offering a feature for free for years, and then suddenly deciding to lock it behind a paywall. It seems YouTube didn't get that memo. Starting on Saturday, outlets like 9to5Google began reporting that YouTube Music had started to remove the ability to vie lyrics for free users. If you want a full lyrics experience, you'll need to subscribe to either YouTube Music Premium, or …

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…

On Monday, Discord announced its plan to begin rolling out mandatory age verification globally. Starting in March, new and existing accounts will start moving over to a "teen-by-default" setting, which will lock certain chats and features away until the account's owner proves they're an adult. Here's what you'll lose, how to get it back, and for good measure, what your other options are. Discord will require age verification starting in MarchIn its announcement, Discord said the new age verification settings will start with a "phased global rollout" in March, so it may be some time until it hits you. However, once the changes make their way to your region, you'll lose acc…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In the world of exercise, variety abounds. You can lift light weights, or heavy weights, or no weights at all. If you don’t lift at all right now, it doesn’t matter much where you start. But that doesn’t mean that all of these options are equivalent. Light weights can build muscle, but they do not have the same benefit as heavier weights. It takes different workouts to get the most benefit out of light weights versus heavy weights. And heavy weights can do some things that light weights can't. I'm going to unpack all of that below, but right now the most important thing I want you to understand is that it's not correct wh…

If you tuned into Super Bowl LX on Sunday, you may have caught Ring's big ad of the night: The company tried to tap into us dog owners' collective fear of losing our pets, demonstrating how its new "Search Party" feature could reunite missing dogs with its owners. Ring probably thought audiences would love the feature, with existing users happy to know Search Party exists, and new customers looking to buy one of their doorbells to help find lost dogs in the neighborhood. Of course, that's not what happened at all. Rather than evoke heartwarming feelings, the ad scared the shit out of many of us who caught it. That's due to how the feature itself works: Search P…

Getting a little bit of extra juice into your phone before you leave your house in the morning could make the difference between the device still having power at the end of the day or not. But there are multiple factors that affect charging rate, and you might not be aware of all of them. Run through the tips here, however, and you can be sure your phone is always charging up as quickly as possible. Use a wired power source To begin with, you're going to get your phone charged a lot faster if you plug it directly into a power source rather than putting it on a wireless charger. Wireless charging offers a lot of convenience, and is gradually getting faster and faster as f…

Browser extensions, even ones from trustworthy sources, are not without privacy and security risks. I've written before about add-ons that manage to slip through official store safeguards and even some that "wake up" as malware after operating normally for several years, so it should come as no surprise that a host of AI-powered browser extensions—collectively installed by tens of millions of users—may also be invading your privacy. Researchers at data removal service Incogni looked at browser extensions available in the Chrome Web Store that included "AI" in their name or description and employed AI as part of their core functionality. By analyzing the data collected a…

If you receive an event invitation via email, verify it's legit before you RSVP, as you may not actually be invited to anything. Malwarebytes Labs has identified a new scam in which threat actors are using party invites to trick users into installing a remote access tool (RAT) that gives them full control over infected devices. (This specific campaign seems to be limited to the UK, but similar tactics could easily spread.) These malicious invites contain a ScreenConnect installerThe scam starts with an innocuous-looking email invitation with an informal "Save the Date" vibe that may appear to come from a friend or acquaintance. The message contains a link to "View Invita…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Things seemed very quiet this week in the world of youth culture, so I asked my always-connected son what kids were talking about. "Dad, the Epstein files," he said. "That's all anyone is talking about." I like to keep things light here, but it's not possible at the moment; The Epstein files are the culture right now, no matter what age you are. Younger people are trying to figure out how to fit this massive thing into their idea of the world, just like you probably are. Smaller kids are contextualizing the files by visiting/making Roblox Epstein Islands and joking about it in school (then asking their folks what it reall…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Beats Powerbeats Fit earbuds are currently down to $179.95 on Amazon, their lowest price yet, according to price trackers. They’ve replaced the older Fit Pro in Beats’ lineup and made some meaningful improvements, especially in sound quality and fit. Beats Powerbeats Fit Workout Earbuds $179.95 at Amazon …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Nothing’s Ear (a) earbuds launched at $109, which always felt a little ambitious for a midrange pair trying to punch above its weight. But at their current sale price of $58.99 right now, their lowest price to date (according to price trackers), they’re in a range where the design, sound quality, and software finally make sense for the money. Nothing Ear (a) Wireless Earbuds with ChatGPT Integration, 45dB Hybrid Noise Cancelling Earbuds, Hi-Res Audio, Advanced Equaliser, Dual Connect, 6 Mics, …

If you've ever joined me in the misfortune of downloading TikTok, you've probably spent at least one evening mindlessly scrolling until two or three in the morning, not even looking for anything in particular to watch. According to the EU, that needs to change, as the region has preliminarily determined that the "addictive" app is in violation of its Digital Services Act. The decision came on Feb. 5 and followed an investigation from the European Commission into the effects that features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and the fabled TikTok algorithm have on the minds of users. According to the commission's findings, "TikTok did not adequately…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for following and tracking exercise. We’ve already shown you 10 hacks for all Apple Watch users, but I’m here with a follow-up on the fitness features, specifically. With these lesser-known settings, apps, and features, you can get more out of your workouts and your health data. Give your Apple Watch rings a "rest day" Credit: Beth Skwarecki The Apple Watch’s Fitness app famously includes three rings (Move, Exercise, Stand) that you can close w…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Things don't look great for virtual reality. Once seen as the future of online interaction, the present has caught up to VR, and it's brutal: Meta is by far the biggest dog in the virtual reality kennel, and its virtual reality division, Reality Labs, lost over $73 billion since it launched five years ago, leading the company to pull some resources from VR to focus on smart glasses and AI. Apple, seen as the runner-up in the VR market, shipped only 45,000 Vision Pro headsets in the final quarter of 2025, a rounding error compared to the 82.6 million iPhones Apple sold in the same period. At his metaverse introduction in 2…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Maybe this is just me being Extremely Online, but whenever I see a video of someone squatting in running shoes, a comment section goes off in my head. “Ditch the shoes!” “You’ll hurt yourself!” “You don’t want cushions under your feet when there’s a heavy bar on your back!” There’s some truth behind those knee-jerk reactions; when squatting (or deadlifting), I do not personally wear running shoes nor would I recommend them. But the importance of your choice of shoes is hugely overblown. You aren’t going to injure yourself or kill your gains by squatting in sneakers. Why people say you shouldn’t squat in sneakersWhy is this…

When you sign up for a subscription on Substack, you're thinking you'll receive newsletters and posts from online creators, not lose the data you share with the platform. But like any digital service, the data you provide when signing up is at the mercy of Substack, or anyone who happens to gain access to that data. Unfortunately, that's now the case. Substack may have lost nearly 700,000 user recordsAs reported by BleepingComputer, Substack recently disclosed a significant data breach. The company's CEO, Chris Best, sent users a notice of the breach this week, sharing that email addresses, phone numbers, and "other internal metadata" were shared from Substack accounts w…

I'm just a humble immigrant, but as a mere (legal!) guest in the U.S., I can't help but notice that the country is rather, shall we say, politically divided these days (sorry if pointing that out seems rude). It seems international scammers have also noticed—and are taking advantage in subtle ways. Recently, investor Fred Benenson blogged about a sophisticated phishing campaign targeting SendGrid users. Phishers sent emails claiming the company was going to add a large "Support ICE" button at the bottom of every outgoing email unless users opted out. The emails also featured a large blue button promising to help you disable the message, which, when clicked, naturally led …

Streaming services make it easy to listen to a lot of music, but they don't necessarily tell you much about the songs themselves. You can see how long each track is, who performed it, and maybe even the song writing credits, but you don't know why the artist wrote the song, or what each song is supposed to mean. You can, of course, scour the internet, looking at articles and blogs to learn more about your favorite music—or, you can skim Spotify's new summary cards that offer fun facts about each track. Spotify announced the new feature, called "About the Song," on Friday. The feature, which is launching in beta, is available in the app's Now Playing View. When you select…