Setting Up Your Home Office

If all you want is a simple, reliable email client, Apple's Mail app is superb choice. And over the years, it's only gotten better. But until now, it's had this one weird quirk that has users running to third-party clients like Gmail or Outlook. It has to do with how the Archive feature works. When you archive an email that you're reading, the Mail app automatically opens the next email in your inbox. Now, that's great if you're just going through newsletters. But when this happens, the next email is marked as read automatically, something you might not want to do in every case (like if the sender is using a tracking service, or if you were saving that email to read late…

I love movies, and especially when I can watch them for free: And while streaming the latest Hollywood blockbusters might come at a price (at least for those wanting to stay on the right side of the law), there's an ever-growing collection of older films that you can get at online without paying a dime. The site WikiFlix (as spotted by the fine folks at Gizmodo) lists movies available to stream that are now in the public domain. The way that copyright works in the U.S. basically means that copyright expires on films after a period of 95 years—so with every year that passes, a batch of new flicks become available to view by anyone, free of charge. If you're looking for som…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When it comes to DIY projects, my enthusiasm and willingness to dive in have always compensated for a certain lack of what some would call “skill”—I’m a guy who has to cut twice no matter how many times I measure. Finding studs in the wall is a perfect example: This should be the easiest part of any project, but fancy digital stud finders have always let me down—in fact, the fancier they are, the less useful I find them to be. That’s why the StudPop is so great. It’s an incredibly simple stud finder—and incredibly cheap. It’s made locating the studs in my walls such a breeze that I’ve tossed those digital stud finders into…

At the end of last month, The Google Pixel 4a got a software update that rendered the device nearly unusable for some people, for seemingly unknown reasons. The update included "battery management features" that left some people with phones that couldn't hold a charge for more than 30 minutes. Google explained the problems in a support document and offered a few solutions, but again, it didn't explain the root cause of the issue. But now, there appears to be one possible explanation for the problem—overheating batteries—as mentioned in a Pixel 4a recall issued in Australia, spotted first by Android Authority. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issue…

Firefox 138 is now publicly available worldwide, and this version brings full support for tab groups, profile management, a quick way to check the weather, and much more. These updates bring feature parity with other browsers and could prompt people to ditch Chrome and switch to Firefox. Here are all the new features in Firefox 138: Tab groups are now available more broadlyMozilla began the rollout of tab groups with Firefox 137, and the company says the feature is now available to almost all of its users across the world. Using tab groups, you can group similar tabs together to bring some semblance of organization to your open tabs. Creating a tab group is easy—just drag…

If your browser of choice happens to be Firefox, good news: Your web surfing is about to get a bit more private. On Tuesday, Mozilla announced a number of upcoming updates to Firefox, all under the theme of user customizability. One such option happens to be a built-in VPN that Mozilla will offer users free of charge. This new VPN option in Firefox rolls out March 24, as part of Firefox 149. There are no downloads required, since the VPN is baked into the update: Once it hits your browser, you'll be able to turn on the VPN and start hiding your IP address and location while you use Firefox. The only caveat here is that Mozilla is capping VPN data usage at 50GB per mont…

Since ChatGPT kicked off the generative AI revolution in 2022, it seems like every company under the sun has tried to stuff AI features into their products in one way or another. Sometimes, these features can be useful; often, they're not, only serving as proof these companies are "keeping up with the times." Can you even say you're a tech company if you aren't all-in on AI in 2026? There's nothing wrong with companies offering AI features to users, so long as they also offer easy ways to disable them. Some customers don't want AI in their day-to-day products, but, anecdotally, I know many do not. Give us an off switch though, and it's all good. The issue is when these fe…

If it seems like every tech company is trying shove AI into all of their products and services, that's because they are. And as someone who rarely (if ever) uses AI, it's a lot: I don't need AI to write my emails, nor do I want it to generate realistic videos that might trick viewers into thinking they're human-made. I certainly don't need it to serve up incorrect information when I try to search the internet. But Firefox's latest AI feature seems genuinely useful, likely because it isn't "making" anything for me. Instead its new AI-powered link previews simply show a small summary of the content on a webpage hidden behind a URL, so you'll have a better idea whether or no…

Cardio load gets a major fix in the new Fitbit app, which Android users can test out starting this week in a “public preview.” (This is the same preview that gives you access to the AI fitness coach, which I tested yesterday, with baffling results.) Cardio load will now be tracked weekly, making it much easier for the app to make sensible recommendations. What is (and was) cardio load? The cardio load feature is Fitbit’s attempt to guide you in how much to exercise. Obviously a beginner shouldn’t jump into hour-long hard workouts right out of the gate, nor should a person training for a marathon slack off for no reason. Cardio load is an attempt to put a number on the amo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Google hasn’t launched a new Fitbit device since 2023, instead seeming to pour all its hardware efforts into Pixel watches. But all along the company refused to confirm that Fitbit hardware was truly dead, and a new promotional video appears to show why—it looks like there’s a Whoop-style smart band on the way. What was teasedThe video was posted to Steph Curry’s Instagram page on March 31, so it’s not an April Fool’s stunt. In a few short clips, we see a gray and orange fabric band around Curry’s left wrist. He says “I’m excited for what this is going to mean for health for the world and wellness. It’s a first of its kin…

The latest craze in the fitness world—from gym culture, to nutrition planning, to recovery protocols— is hyper-personalized optimization. But is there really a benefit to at-home microbiome tests that reveal the optimal diet for your gut bacteria? How about a device that tells you whether you're burning carbs or fat with each breath? Personalized fitness advice used to be largely limited to factors like height and weight, but now you might have a Whoop, Oura, or Apple Watch wearable tracking your track heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen, and so much more. Continuous glucose monitors, once reserved for diabetics, are now worn by biohackers and CrossFit…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Growing up, I was obsessed with helping my mom cook. Though she would dabble in making Italian food or try out popular boxed ingredients of the time, most nights featured what she knew best—giant pots of Thai comfort fare and heaping mounds of jasmine rice. My childhood of ad hoc cooking lessons taught me two things: Jasmine rice goes with everything, and anything can taste good with the help of one of five bottled Asian sauces. I'll assume you have the rice covered, so let me tell you about these sauces. Fish sauce This sauce gives you the most flavor bang for your buck. The thin, reddish-brown liquid is made by fermenti…

Instead of using your usual study methods (and getting the same results you always get, for better or worse) this is the year to level up. There are plenty of great ways to review and retain material, but to use them, you have to give up your bad habits first. Here's what to avoid and what to prioritize instead. Don't just rewrite your workRewriting is fine if you’re refining and condensing your material (and you should be rewriting your notes immediately after class for better retention), but it’s not the best strategy for remembering information if you’re simply recopying everything you’ve already written over and over. The writing center at the University of North Car…

One of the main appeals of a Chromebook is its simplicity: You've essentially just got a row of browser tabs, running web apps, with minimal background activity going on and everything instantly saved and synced to the cloud. As Chromebooks have developed though, they've add more to this basic Chrome foundation. They can run Android apps now, for example, and they actually come with several pre-installed apps that are genuinely useful. Open up the Launcher (the Google icon, bottom left), to see what's available. These are the best built-in apps you get right now, if you buy a new Chromebook Plus model—that's the slightly higher spec series, capable of supporting all the G…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you have a workshop in your house or enjoy doing DIY projects, you probably know that tools were already expensive way before tariffs entered the picture. Anyone who works with tools on a regular basis is generally happy to pay a bit more for something that doesn’t fall apart after a few uses, so defaulting to a major brand that’s still in the low- to mid-budget range like Black and Decker (Stanley Black and Decker also owns the Craftsman and DeWalt brands) always made sense. As predicted, the company just announced higher prices in response to the tariff situation, which means buying tools from Stanley Black and Decker…

Growing seeds is a relatively simple process: Bury seeds in dirt, add water, heat, and light from the sun, and in most cases, something is going to sprout. The problem is, most of us conduct this process inside, because we’re trying to get a jump on the growing season. Inside, where there’s no sun, heat is hard to control, and the most your seedlings can stretch out their new little root legs is the size of the plastic cell they’re planted in. As such, it takes some practice to grow strong, resilient seedlings, and beginners make plenty of mistakes. The good news is, most of them are solvable. Not enough light …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As tick populations grow (thanks, climate change) and tickborne diseases like Lyme become more widespread, tick checks have become routine for a lot of us. But do you really know what it means to “check yourself for ticks”? Chances are, you’re missing some important parts of the process. You only need a tick check when you've been in the woodsAre you conscientious about tick checks when you're camping, but only when you're camping? Ticks live in more places than just the woods, and most parts of the US have at least one species of tick around. Check these tick maps from the CDC to get a sense of whether they’re in your are…

Duolingo, no matter how you feel about it, accomplishes one thing: It makes practicing a skill every day easy. The application focuses on language, but it also offers math, music, and even chess lessons if you dig around a bit. There are many other subjects worth learning, though, and many ways you can use gamification to learn new skills and generally improve your life. Here are five I found: Learn geography with Globo Credit: Justin Pot I love traveling and learning about the world, but I'll admit there are some regions I don…

Despite the prevalence of wireless devices, wrangling cords and cables in the home is still a pain point for most people. If you own your home, you might be able to hide your wires inside the walls, but if you rent or simply don’t want to drill into or open up your walls, that isn't ideal. Besides, there are many much easier ways to hide them without needing to learn drywall repair. Behind furnitureOne of the easiest ways to hide your cables is to clip them behind conveniently placed furniture. Adhesive clips like these stick to the legs and backs of tables and consoles and secure all those wires in place. If you’re neat about it, you can magically make those wires invisi…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. On average, the number of years people hold onto their cars has been creeping up for about a decade—it's up to about 14 years these days. Aside from improved reliability, given that new cars average $49,740, and used cars cost more than $26,000, it's not hard to figure out why. If your car still runs well and reliably gets you where you need to go, that’s all that really matters. That said, you probably don't want your car to look it's age. Time takes a toll on every vehicle, from sun damage to chips and scratches in the paint, and eventually even a car that’s been maintained to perfection will start to show its years. If…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I’m frequently asked for recommendations on what robot vacuum to get. While I’ve got favorites, I usually respond with a list of features I’d look for. Each year, robots get so much more advanced that these features change. But if I were buying a robot vacuum tomorrow (or in the next big sale), here’s what I’d look for. Unless you’ve got wall-to-wall carpet, get a vacuum/mop comboGenerally, people shy away from combo products because each new functionality is an additional feature that can break. There’s also a belief that one of the features won’t be as good as the other. For a while, expecting the vacuum and mop to be e…

Whether you've just unboxed your first running watch or you've been logging miles with one for years, there's a good chance you're only scratching the surface of what it can do. Beyond simply tracking your run, today's smartwatches are packed with features that, with a little know-how, can genuinely transform your training. Here are ten hacks to help you get more out of your smartwatch running companion. Garmin Forerunner 165 $189.99 at Amazo…

Alt-Tab was among the first Windows keyboard shortcuts I learned when I first used a PC over two decades ago, right after Ctrl-C (copy) and Ctrl-V (paste). Alt-Tab opens the app switcher, which lets you quickly bring a different app to the foreground. You can use it to quickly swap between two open apps, or to cycle between all of your open apps. But what you might not know is that the app switcher can so a lot more than that. I'm here to walk you through the best tricks hidden in the commonly used Windows feature. Cycle through open appsHold down the Alt key and keep pressing Tab to open the app switcher and cycle through all your open apps. Once you release the shortcut…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. November is the ideal time to prepare your home for colder weather and to get ready to spend more time indoors. Not only can you save yourself from more expensive heating bills with thoughtful weatherproofing, but you can also be more confident in the event of winter storms or simply more comfortable when you choose to stay indoors. Keeping your house warm, cozy, and safe for the winter is made easier by addressing potential problems early through simple checks and chores now. Here are all the home maintenance tasks you should do in November. 1) Add vent covers to your vents and crawlspacesWhen the weather gets colder, wil…

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. iOS 26 has been out for a few days now, and with it, a bunch of convenient little tweaks to how you use your phone. Not everything’s a keeper, and I’ve already written about how to disable the new Liquid Glass transparency effects or fix Dark Mode icons that appear tilted. Still, there are things to like about this update, even if you have to go out of your way to turn some of them on. After spending a couple nights tweaking iOS 26 to my preferences, here are my favorite new features in Apple’s latest ope…