Setting Up Your Home Office

When talking to a chatbot like ChatGPT, you should never assume your conversations are private. Many chatbots, by default, use your discussions to train the underlying AI models, but even if you opt out of training, or use a temporary chat, these conversations are often stored on company servers for some limited amount of time. The general rule of thumb is to avoid sharing anything with a chatbot that you wouldn't want to come out in public. (Proprietary company information, personal secrets, etc.) But what if the chatbot in question already has your private information? What if ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude is happy to share your phone number with anyone who asks for it? Th…

Microsoft Teams is a multi-use platform for chatting, calling, video conferencing, and collaboration, which means it has a lot of features, as well as integrations with other Microsoft 365 apps. If your workplace relies on Teams, there are several hacks you need to know to work more efficiently and get the most out of the platform. Use email forwarding to send attachments directly to a Teams channelIf you receive an email (and email attachment) that is relevant to a conversation happening in Teams, you don't need to send it to others' inboxes, copy and paste, or download and upload to the correct chat or channel. Instead, you can forward it directly from Outlook to Teams…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I’m so much in the habit of recording and tracking my workouts that when I started training for Hyrox, my first question was, "how will I track them?" I want to keep an eye on my heart rate, so that narrowed it down to watches rather than smart bands or rings. But which is best? I tried four different watches and found two clear winners—depending on what you want to focus on. Hyrox is, of course, the hybrid fitness sport that blends running with strength-endurance activities. (I have an explainer on it here.) A typical Hyrox or hybrid fitness workout involves cardio and strength exercises, which you’ll usually switch betw…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Sony’s SRS-XB100 is down to $43 from its usual $64.99. This is Sony’s entry-level portable Bluetooth speaker, and it shows in both good and limiting ways. It’s small, light, and built for casual use. At under 10 ounces and roughly the size of a coffee mug, it fits easily in a bag or clips onto a backpack with its included strap. The matte black finish keeps things simple, and the IP67 rating means it’s fully dust proof and can withstand submersion in water for up to 30 minutes. It’s a speaker you can bring to the pool, the shower, or a dusty worksit…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple accessory pricing gets out of hand fast, especially once you start adding separate chargers for an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. The Anker 3-in-1 Cube with MagSafe simplifies that setup by turning everything into one compact charging block, and right now it’s down to $64.99 on Woot from its usual $129.99 price. According to price trackers, this is the lowest price it has reached so far, and it’s also cheaper than Amazon’s current $86.99 listing. You also get a 30W USB-C wall charger in the box, so you don't need to buy a separate power ada…

I'm totally totally cheesin over Mixtape and not cheesin at all about TikTok's AI cat videos. Scuba! If none of that makes sense to you, you're about to be educated and embettered by this week's Out-of-Touch guide, where the secret world of young people is either explained or misunderstood, depending on whom you ask. What does "cheesin" mean? And how does it differ from "cheesing?"The slang word "cheesin'" refers to smiling, particularly a big, goofy smile. It comes from the common exhortation to "say cheese!" when a photograph is being taken. Here's an examples of how cheesin is used online: The word "cheesing," with a "g" at the end, often means the same thing, but i…

You need to use a lot of quotation when discussing AI. There's "intelligence," of course, but also "thinking," which these days usually refers to a specific type of model that breaks requests into multiple steps and takes longer to process (or "think through") them. Thinking models are nothing new, but if you use Gemini, you do have new thinking "levels" to choose from when using non-thinking models. Here's how it works. As spotted by 9to5Google, there's a new "Thinking level" option at the bottom of the model selector in Google's Gemini app for iOS and Android. To be clear, this isn't the "Thinking" model listed under "Gemini 3," as this model has been available for som…

It's been a good few months for Android-to-iPhone sharing: Late last year, Google figured out how to get AirDrop working with the Pixel 10, and since then, the functionality has spread to many other Android handsets. Many more models will be picking up the same capability in the coming months. Apple hasn't invested quite so much time in iPhone-to-Android sharing, but we can't have everything. At least there's now support for end-to-end encryption over RCS, rolled out with the iOS 26.5 update. There's more good news for those who want to share from Android to iOS, and who aren't getting the AirDrop feature (or don't have it yet): Google is pushing out an improved sharing m…

Google I/O 2026 is finally here. On May 19, 2026, Google will take the stage in California to announce all the new software (and perhaps some hardware) initiatives the company has been cooking up over the past year. While it will undoubtedly focus considerable attention on AI, Google may have some other announcements up its sleeve as well. If you're looking for the most up-to-date information on each and every one of those announcements, you've come to the right place. From now until Google I/O concludes, I will be updating this live blog with all the updates I come across. That includes any leaks and rumors that pop up in anticipation of the show, as well as all of the…

1Password is one of our favorite password managers, especially for users who are new to password management tools. It has a handful of unique features and hidden hacks that keep your data safe and secure while also making it accessible when you need to log into an account, make an online payment, or view a sensitive document. Here's how to get the most out of your 1Password subscription. Enable Travel Mode to hide your more sensitive data at border crossings Travel Mode is one of 1Password's most unique features, and it's especially useful for anyone concerned about keeping their data private when crossing international borders. When Travel Mode is enabled, password vaul…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Asus ROG Ally is a Windows 11-based handheld gaming console, and right now, a refurbished unit is down to $389.99 at Woot—the lowest price ever recorded for it, according to price trackers. For context, the same device (used) costs $665 on Amazon, and the lowest it's ever been is $449.99. This deal runs for another four days or until the stock runs out. Shipping is free for Prime members, and Woot only ships within the lower 48 states. Asus ROG Ally $389.99 at Woot …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Nothing is really new in conspiracy theories, but the churning morass of social media sometimes mixes up new combinations of old nonsense that bubbles up to the surface unexpectedly. Lately, interest in "Grabovoi codes" or "Grabovoi numbers" is high. The CIA is supposedly hiding Grabovoi codes, strings of numbers that one can concentrate upon in order to cure disease, get rich, and manifest a new car. This video, for instance, has been viewed over a million times in the last couple weeks: "You can search 'quantum healing codes' at the CIA.gov website and it has many different codes for many different things," This TikT…

After some harsh feedback about the quality of Windows 11, Microsoft is on a sort of apology tour. The company is promising to improve the operating system, addressing critical issues and features that annoy longtime Windows users. It started off with a way to delay Windows updates for longer than a week. Now, Microsoft is testing new settings that let users customize the placement and size of the taskbar alongside the start menu. The fact that you couldn't move the taskbar to the top or side of the screen has bothered Windows 11 users ever since launch. As with many frustrating aspects of Windows, there are multiple workarounds to customize the taskbar and its placement…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re interested in expanding your DIY tool kit or building a new one, a good set of cordless tools is essential. The DeWalt cordless tools I use at work are durable and the batteries last hours on a single charge, even after years of use. Here are some deals on DeWalt tools at Home Depot in the run-up to Memorial Day that can save you some money on good quality cordless tools and batteries. The DeWalt 6-tool set is on sale for $499If you’re building a new DeWalt set, buying a tool bundle that comes with the basics (and batteries) can save you s…

A few times each year, the tech community lights up with new theories and renewed speculation about what Apple might announce next. Those of us who scour the internet for the latest leaks and whispered rumors might try to guess what colors the next iPhone might come in, or what new features could ship with the next version of iOS, then watch Apple's keynote presentations live to see if we were right. If that sounds like you, listen up: This year, your guesses could win you a brand new Apple Watch. Throughout 2026, Lifehacker is running a guessing game contest based on Apple's new announcements and releases. Here's how it works: The contest will unfold across three …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Dan Levy's follow-up to Schitt's Creek teams him with I Love LA creator Rachel Sennott for a comedy that, in the best tradition of crime shows, starts small and gets absolutely ridonculous. Laurie Metcalf stars as mom and matriarch Linda alongside Dan Levy's closeted gay minister Nicky and Taylor Ortega's chaos-magnet Morgan. Linda demands that the two of them get a piece of jewelry for their dying grandmother's last birthday, leading to a tiny bit of theft that finds them in debt to the mob. Not content to put the family through the wringer just once, Netflix has renewed it for a second season. In the meantime, enjoy the…

Among the many AI-powered features announced today at Google I/O 2026 is a new "intelligent shopping cart" designed to help you find items faster and make purchasing more seamless. Universal Cart is an agentic hub that works across Google, so you can add products from multiple merchants while using Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail to a single shopping cart. How Google's new Universal Cart worksOnce you add an item to your Universal Cart, Gemini will search for deals, show pricing history, and alert you to price drops and restocks. It can suggest other products relevant to your purchase, identify potential problems (such as items that are incompatible), and provide alte…

There are a flurry of AI-related announcements coming out of Google I/O 2026 today, but perhaps the most impressive is a new multimodal model called Gemini Omni. While it's launching as a video generator to begin with, it'll eventually be able to incorporate images and audio too, on both the input and output side. The idea is you can remix different audio, images, and video into a completely new clip, via a custom prompt. Right now, you can only generate videos from text prompts and images within Gemini, so you're getting the added ability to combine audio clips and existing videos too when generating something new—multiple sources for input, and then an output that Googl…

Google's Gemini app is getting an overhaul, in terms of both design and function. At Google I/O 2026, the company announced Gemini is getting upgraded models that will lean more into agentic AI capabilities, which allow the assistant to send emails, add calendar events, and perform other actions on your behalf. (Google does emphasize that all agentic capabilities are designed to be used under your supervision, which hopefully allays fears of the agent going rogue and, I don't know, draining your bank accounts.) Here's is everything Google announced about Gemini's app upgrades during this year's event. Gemini has a new lookGoogle says it has revamped the design language f…

Google Workspace is getting a slew of AI-related updates, including a brand new app called Google Pics, which can generate and edit images for you. Many of these updates will be available to those who use Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and other Google Workspace apps, the company announced during the Google I/O 2026 keynote. This includes conversational features that will allow you to control Gmail, Docs, and Keep; a new AI inbox that aims to help you stay on top of your email; and a personal AI agent called Gemini Spark that can integrate with Google Workspace apps to get things done for you. Here are all the major Google Workspace updates unveiled during Google I/O …

It wouldn't be a Google I/O keynote without a new frontier AI model. At I/O 2026, Google finally revealed the Gemini 3.5 family to the world, starting with Gemini 3.5 Flash. As you'd expect, it's the latest and greatest model from Google, designed to work across a slew of Google products like the Gemini app, Android, and Google's Antigravity coding platform. Google says that the latest frontier model is designed especially for complex agentic workflows. Google isn't the only company we're thinking about today, either. Lifehacker is launching a Big Guessing Game, featuring questions about what Apple might announce at its various events this year. The entire CNET Group is p…

At Google I/O 2026, Google announced that they're going all in on AI Search. According to Google, AI Mode now has more than a billion monthly users. To tackle all those questions, Google is plugging their best new Gemini 3.5 model directly into AI Mode, and, of course, they're integrating agents directly into Google Search so they can accomplish things on your behalf. Google Search gets Gemini 3.5 FlashStarting today, Google is integrating its latest Flash model, the Gemini 3.5 Flash, directly into AI Mode—and it's going to be available to everyone, globally. Google also sees the AI Mode search queries as the beginning of a longer conversation, so they're making the input…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The new Google Health app starts rolling out today, replacing the Fitbit app for data tracking on Fitbit and Pixel Watch devices. It’s what the Fitbit “Public Preview” previewed, and now, the finished app is live. The final app is definitely better than the preview, but still has its problems—here’s what I’ve noticed so far. (By the way, to get the Google Health app, you don't have to do anything—just wait, and the upgrade will come to you sometime over the next week or so.) Google Fitbit Air - Berry with Large Fog Active Band Bundle $99.99 at Amazon …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As the average running watch gets increasingly high-tech, there’s a new normal for pre-race rituals: Staring at your watch the week before a big event, hoping the algorithm has good news for you. Both Garmin and Strava offer race time predictions, but how accurate are they, really? I put each platform to the test during the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 16, 2026. Here’s what I experienced, and what I think every runner needs to know about what these tools actually measure. How Garmin's Race Predictor worksGarmin's Race Predictor has been a fixture on its mid-range and advanced running devices for more than a decade. The f…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. At the upper echelon of earbuds, you have a few options to choose from: Bose, Sony, and Apple. If you are an Apple user, go with AirPods Pro 3. If you value audio fidelity and like to control the nitty-gritty details, go with the Sony XM6 earbuds. If you value comfort, user-friendliness, and ANC, the 2nd Generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra are your best option. And currently, the latter of those is $50 off, bringing them to $249 (originally $299) on Amazon. (All five color options are on sale.) …