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. Prior to September 2024, any Apple user interested in active noise-canceling (ANC) AirPods would've had to shell out $250 for the AirPods Pro. With the release of the ANC AirPods 4, the tech is much more affordable—and you can currently grab a pair of these $179 earbuds for $148.99. Apple also has a more budget-friendly version of the AirPods 4 without ANC; that model is currently for $99.99, down from $129. Both of these prices mark record lows, according to price-tracking tools. While the discounts aren't mind-blowing, the fact we're seeing any pr…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As you embark on this year's spring cleaning, take it seriously. Upgrade your supplies and tools so you can do the best possible job. Some of the tools I've featured here save you time, some of these get your stuff even cleaner, and some of them will save you money by reducing the single-use products you rely on. When it's time for spring cleaning, these are a good jumping-off point to get your home in order and keep it in order. Upgraded cleaning tools for the kitchen O-Ce…

This week Google added Veo 2 to YouTube Shorts and—wow, this article is already gibberish. Let me back up. YouTube Shorts is YouTube's TikTok knockoff competitor. Veo2 is Google's AI tool for generating videos. As of this week, you can use that AI to make clips for YouTube Shorts. This innovative and revolutionary change will forever alter the vertical videos most people scroll past so they can find the thing they actually wanted to watch. According to a confusingly worded announcement post, you can now create clips to add to your Shorts simply by typing a sentence. Anyone can create a Short right in the YouTube mobile app either by combining footage already saved to thei…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I'm Lifehacker's resident marathon runner and senior finance writer. And now, I'm merging my two worlds. Running is often touted as one of the most accessible sports—just lace up and go, right? But as many runners discover, what starts as a "free" activity can quickly transform into a significant investment. Last week I broke down what it looks like to invest in proper running gear. And now, I'm turning my eye to the world of races. You might think you'll never get into races. I was like you, once: a casual runner who scoffed at the idea of paying money to run. Then you get coerced into running a 5k for charity or somethi…

Study after study shows that humans can't really multitask but we all keep trying to do it anyway. Why is that? In part, I blame our nice big computer monitors, which can fit lots of open windows at once. I have a habit of leaving a chat window open in the background when I should be focused on my writing, and I bet you do something similar, even if you know—and agree—with the research that suggests this only increases your distractibility. Recently I stumbled upon Monocle, a $4 indie Mac application that seeks to solve this problem. Monocle blurs everything on your screen except for your current window. The idea is that this will force you to focus on the task at hand, …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip still holds up as one of the best lightweight laptops Apple has ever made, and right now, you can get a Grade A refurbished model for $514.99 on StackSocial. That means you’re getting a machine that looks nearly new, with little to no visible wear. It’s the Space Gray model with a 13.3-inch Retina display, which delivers crisp text and vibrant colors, whether you're working, streaming, or scrolling through Reddit. With 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, it’s built for everyday tasks like web browsing, video calls, and …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Netflix's streaming era began way back in 2007, right around the time the company had delivered its billionth DVD by mail (a copy of Babel to a woman in Texas). That’s the year when the company began development of an app that would allow you to watch video-on-demand content on your actual TV, rather than in a window on your PC via Internet Explorer—or whatever the hell browser you happened to be using during the George W. Bush administration. Internet speeds and interest built and, by 2011, the company had moved fully away from its DVD-by-mail business as streaming took on a life of its own. While distribution rights for…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It's a good time to be shopping for TVs, with many options available right now. The TCL QM7 is a great budget TV currently on sale and its main competitor, Hisense's U7, is also down to its lowest price. If you want a better-quality TV, though, LG's 75-inch QNED80T is $896.99 (originally $1,399.99), is also at the lowest price it has ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Screen Size: 55 Inches, Brand: LG, Display Tec…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Pixel 9 Pro is the latest and most premium model in the Pixel lineup, and right now, the unlocked 128GB Google Pixel 9 Pro is discounted to $749 (originally $999). That's the lowest price it has ever been on Amazon, according to price-tracking tools. The 256GB version is also at a record-low price of $799 (originally $1,099), doubling your storage for $50. Google Pixel 9 Pro, 128 GB …

Ads are an unavoidable part of modern life. They support both free and discounted services, for better or for worse, and unless you pay for premium services like YouTube Premium or expensive Netflix tiers, it's likely you'll run into these commercials one way or another. But just because ads are deeply entwined in our digital devices, that doesn't mean they get a free pass in all situations. As reported by Ars Technica, it appears Roku is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable here, experimenting with placing ads when you first boot up your streaming device. Moana 2 ads are rolling on Rokus at launchOne Reddit user noticed the change when they turned on their Roku…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is a speaker that packs a serious punch for its size. Normally priced at $299.99, it’s down to $139.99 on Woot for the next 13 days or until stock runs out—and if you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free. Non-Prime members will have to pay $6, but either way, it’s only available to the contiguous U.S. (no shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) …

Gone are the days of blaming an entire generation's money problems on avocado toast. In fact, the stereotype of "millennial money problems" may not be quite what it seems in the first palce. Millennial wealth in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled since 2019, according to Federal Reserve data. And yet, time and time again, millennials report feeling financially insecure. This disconnect between numerical wealth and actual financial wellbeing has been termed "phantom wealth—money that exists in theory, but it doesn't translate to a sense of security or freedom in daily life. Here's why millennials might still be feeling financially vulnerable, and how you can regain a sense of…

You might not think about it, but you're probably pretty used to how Gmail's search function works. You type in your query, wait a moment, then scroll through the results, looking for the email in question. These results are always in chronological order, with the most recent results appearing at the top. After years of searching this way, you're likely subconsciously expecting this order, scrolling backwards in time to find the result you have in mind. I imagine it's going to be a bit confusing the next time you search for something in Gmail, and the results are not sorted by recency. That's because Google is changing the way it returns Gmail results for users: Google an…

https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/assam-india-june-25-2021-google-1999771961 Face it: with the competition spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it, Google's recent foray into AI isn't going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace's Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can't actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around getting its hands on as much data as possible. I rely on Google Docs for collaboration, but the company's AI push has got me looking for alternatives, even if Google currently denies using your data to train its models. On that note, these are the best AI-free, encrypt…

To create automations using Apple's Shortcuts app on your Mac, you're dependent on Apple's support for various actions. While Shortcuts supports an array of useful actions, some aren't in the app yet, such as clearing all notifications or quitting all apps. If you want to add a few more helpful actions to your Mac automations, consider Shortcutie ($6), a powerful extension for Shortcuts that lets you execute actions Apple doesn't yet support. Shortcutie itself has no interface. Once installed, all of its actions will appear in Apple's Shortcuts app on your Mac. To access them, install the app, open Shortcuts, and select Shortcutie from the Apps tab in the right pane. The …

Getting rid of stuff can be hard, even if you’re not exactly a hoarder. It’s hard enough for so many of us in our consumerist society, in fact, that scientists have studied why that is—and are always coming up with ways to overcome an aversion to decluttering our lives. Just in time for spring cleaning season, look to research published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology that suggests there’s a way to ease yourself into parting with old belongings: Instead of throwing them out all at once, banish them to purgatory first. What it means to put clutter in “purgatory”The researchers, Mathew S. Isaac and Poornima Vinoo, kicked off their paper by explaining that people who s…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When my wife and I bought our house two decades ago, one of the most exciting things about the process was finally having in-house laundry after spending our whole lives (almost literally) sitting in laundromats. The laundry center in the house wasn’t fancy—and it was small—but it represented freedom and we were excited. Of course, upon moving in, the laundry machine was instantly non-functional, so we had to scrape out the bottom of our bank account and buy a new one. And that machine has been humming along for 20 years, and might still be running when the sun swells into a red giant and destroys the planet. Considering t…

It took years of convincing before I finally started cooking with a Dutch oven, but once I started it quickly became my favorite pot to cook with. This dense and nearly indestructible pot is as versatile as it is beautiful to look at. The heavy cast iron allows for evenly distributed heat, and the glossy enameled surface is easy to clean. Plus they come in a rainbow of colors, which appeals to my need for whimsy in the kitchen. Contrary to what you might think, a good Dutch oven can be affordable too (for example, not $300). Read here for alternatives to the high-priced French brands. My brandless Dutch oven has been braising, baking, and frying for years and she has man…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Anker has been on a roll slashing prices off their portable projectors, with the powerful Mars 3 Air reaching its lowest price earlier this month, the mid-size Nebula Capsule 3 still at its lowest price, and now their smallest portable projector, the Nebula Capsule Air down to $269.99 (originally $399.99) after a $100 discount and a 10% on-page coupon on Amazon. This is the lowest price this portable projector has been, according to price-tracking tools. Nebula Capsule Air Projector …

When you buy a new home, it’s natural to get excited about wanting to move in and settle in as quickly as possible, putting off potential renovations—even the ones that will make you happier in the space—and other home projects until later. And sure, some renovations, like kitchen remodels or additions, require a lot of planning and are best scheduled when your bank account and stress levels have recovered from the home-buying process. That said, there are some home projects that are best tackled right away—because they come with a lot of disruption, take a long time to pay off on the investment, or both. Planting treesIf your property has outdoor space but no trees, th…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Travel deals can be hit or miss as prices jump around and deals disappear before you can check your schedule. The OneAir Elite Lifetime Subscription is designed to do the heavy lifting for you. A members-only deal-alert service, it tracks flight prices using AI, scans for mistake fares, and alerts you when there’s a significant drop—and currently, it's on StackSocial for $99.99 (originally $790), but apply the promo code FLY30 and you can get it for just $70. The sale runs until March 30. OneAir’s coverage is broad, spanning 60+ countries and multip…

This post is part of our Home Remedy Handbook, a tour of the landscape of home remedies from the iffy to the doctor-approved. Read more here. Thanks to a loophole in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, some of the “drugs” you can buy at pharmacies are actually nothing but magic water. I am, I promise, not exaggerating. I don’t mean supplements, which are legal because they are considered to be not drugs. And I don’t mean foods that make iffy or overblown health claims (nothing as boring as that). I mean that you can walk into a pharmacy and pay seven dollars of legal tender for a “natural” kids cold & cough remedy and walk away with a bottle of mostly wa…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Pixel Tablet didn't do too well for Google when it came out in 2023, costing more than the entry-level iPad but not offering a better experience. But with its current price of $279 (originally $399) for the 128GB storage and 8GB RAM version, it's matching its lowest Black Friday price, according to price tracking tools. This makes the tablet perhaps what it should've been in the beginning, a very well-priced Android tablet-smart display hybrid. Google Pixel Tablet 128 GB …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A good VPN works like a bouncer for your internet traffic, keeping snoops out while letting you move freely. AdGuard VPN is one of those solid, no-nonsense choices that does exactly what it promises. Right now, StackSocial is offering a five-year AdGuard VPN subscription for just $39.97, a steep drop from its regular price. That’s five years of private browsing, streaming, and secure connections across most major platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, and up to 10 simultaneous connections (making it great for multi-device users witho…