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. The Microsoft Surface Book 3 isn't the newest model on the market, but it's one of the few laptops that can serve as both a tablet and a creative workstation, which helps explain why it initially launched at nearly $1,700. Currently, StackSocial is offering the 15-inch 2020 Surface Book 3 on sale for $929.99, equipped with 32GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, or on sale for $999.99 for the 1TB version. The smaller 13.5-inch models are also available, priced between $699.99 and $799.99. Each one is refurbished to Grade A condition, meaning it looks …

Two years ago, Peloton recalled seat posts on its classic Bike models. Now, the brand is doing the same for seats on its older Bike+ models (but not the new Cross Training Bike+ that came out a few weeks ago). If you have the old model of Bike+, you'll need to reach out to Peloton to arrange a replacement. Which Peloton models are affected by the recall?Per Peloton, this is a voluntary recall of seat posts for Bike+ models made between December 2019 and July 2022 and sold in the U.S. and Canada. If your Bike+ has a PL02 model number on the label inside or behind the front fork or behind the flywheel, it is impacted by the recall. If you've checked and you're still not s…

iPadOS 26 is a huge deal for anyone who wishes Apple would just make a touchscreen MacBook already. The update rolls out a major multitasking redesign that introduces macOS-like windows, a macOS-like menu bar, and a macOS-like file management. The iPad even has the Preview app, for crying out loud—though, to be fair, so does the iPhone. Apple has toed the line with its tablets over the years, introducing features and functions that make the experience more like using a computer, while never really committing to the bit entirely. To that point, iPadOS 26 probably won't replace your MacBook, but it comes pretty close. If your major concerns have to do with things like win…

Flight cancellations under the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) government shutdown order have begun, with hundreds of flights and thousands of travelers across 40 U.S. airports affected. This could continue for as long as the shutdown lasts (and potentially impact many more travelers as the busy holiday season approaches). While flight cancellations are never fun, the cascading effect of due to the government shutdown could make dealing with one even more frustrating. Here are four actions you should take right away if your itinerary is cut. Enable alerts from your airlineFlight cancellations often happen with little to no notice, sometimes when you're already e…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Thanksgiving should be one of the least stressful holidays—the sole achievement you’re trying to unlock is to eat yourself into a coma, which many of us can do any time, with zero prep. But there are some sneaky sources of stress, from the expense of pulling it all together to the travel arrangements needed to make sure everyone arrives in time for appetizers—not to mention the stress of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. The unlucky host has the responsibility of not only feeding a large group of people, but making sure everything comes out more or less on time—and then cleaning up the spectacular mess afterward. Luckily, moder…

The New York Times has announced a new feature that allows you to make your own Wordle puzzle to share with friends. You need to be a Games or All-Access subscriber to create puzzles, but no subscription is needed to solve them. You aren't roped to regular Wordle's five-letter structure, either: Allowable puzzles can be anywhere from four to seven letters long. They must be on an allowable word list; as with regular Wordle, this means no proper nouns, for the most part. Profanity is not allowed, nor are gibberish entries like “ASDFGJ” (I tried). Here’s a link to a Wordle-style puzzle with four letters that I created for you—because I consider all of you my friends. (Thi…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Creator/writer/star Mae Martin's Wayward is Netflix's biggest show right now. It's a sly mystery involving cult behavior and cycles of trauma at a school for troubled teens, given added relevance by its proximity to real-life stories of abuses at similar facilities. Wayward does a few different things well: It's a mystery box show, first of all—meaning that we're presented with not just one but several intriguing puzzles right off the bat, with resolutions handed out frugally. It's also a great example of the "small towns are weird" subgenre, one that likes to remind us that there are strange and ominous doings in even the…

Poshmark has been implementing a lot of changes lately, like lower shipping fees (that come with a downgrade from USPS Priority mail to standard ground mailing) and Smart Sell features. It's most recent change, though—the removal of the bulk-share option—has many users (including myself) frustrated. The removal of bulk sharingPoshmark has long functioned in a more social way than other resale platforms like Depop or Mercari. You can follow sellers the same way you can on Instagram or X, for instance. Notably, users have always been encouraged to "share" their own listings and others' listings, which would then appear in the homepage feeds of anyone who followed them. A fe…

On Tuesday, Apple dropped the first developer betas for iOS 26.2 and macOS 26.2. While these updates aren't as massive as iOS 26 or macOS 26 were, 26.2 includes a number of new features and changes, including the ability to add alarms to reminders, and changes to how Apple calculates the Apple Watch's new Sleep Score. Despite these fun adjustments, I couldn't recommend that users install the new updates on their personal devices. Three days later, I still don't recommend it, but I won't necessarily dissuade you from it either, as the public betas for both updates are now available. Developer vs. public betasBefore Apple releases any major software update to the general p…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A Costco membership usually pays for itself, but this deal makes it even easier to justify: You can get a one-year Costco Gold Star Membership, plus a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card, on sale for just $65 on StackSocial right now. That effectively drops the cost of membership to just $25 for the year, and it's sent straight to your inbox within two weeks of redemption. If you were planning to shop there anyway, it’s a no-brainer, but this offer is only available to new members or those whose membership has expired for at least 18 months. The Gold Star …

This morning, orders from the Federal Aviation Administration led U.S. airlines to cancel hundreds of flights across the country. The FAA's unprecedented orders are due to air traffic controllers missing their paychecks, which is due to the unprecedented government shutdown (now the longest in U.S. history). These air traffic control staffing shortages have been disrupting flights at 40 major U.S. airports, leaving thousands of passengers scrambling to figure out backup plans. Unlike weather delays that clear up on their own, this could continue as long as the government shutdown continues. Airlines are scrambling to adjust schedules on short notice, which means chaos and…

There are times when I feel like my AirPods are pure magic. It's always impressive how they automatically shift from my Mac to my iPhone when I get a call, or how I don’t need to reconnect them to my iPad when I want to start watching a show. But when it comes to automatically swapping my audio over to Bluetooth speakers, they can get pretty jarring. Often, speakers and audio outputs will take over audio from my AirPods when I’m wearing them. This happens every time I get in my car while wearing a single AirPod, usually while listening to music or podcasts (I would not recommend driving while using both AirPods). As soon as I turn on my car, bam, the media starts blaring…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon is already rolling out early Black Friday deals, and Google’s unlocked Pixel 9 just dropped to $499—a solid $300 off its original $799 price. Google Pixel 9 $499.00 at Amazon $799.00 Save $300.00 …

How you allocate and use your time every day is as important to productivity as the work you actually do, which is why it's important to pre-plan your schedule down to the minute. You have to be smart and strategic about when you work, what you work on, and how long you do it—otherwise, some of your time may be wasted. Illich’s Law, or the Law of Diminishing Returns, says that after working for a while, your productivity decreases—then becomes negative. What does Illich’s Law mean?We often think of being productive as getting a lot done, but productivity can—and should—also focus on the quality of that work, too. Some good work is, in most cases, better than a lot of sho…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Studies have shown that a decluttered workspace can decrease stress and increase focus—and that stress at work can actually result in more clutter. It's important to clean up your environment so the place you work is comfortable, calm, and sanitary. If you want to get more done, you need to be working in a tidy, welcoming space. Borrow the 5S method to get it done most efficiently. What is the 5S method of workspace cleaning?The 5S method, like Kanban and Kaizen, comes from Japan, where organizational processes developed in factories and were so useful that their use expanded well beyond Toyota and other manufacturers. Th…

The FBI is targeting a popular website for snapshotting websites on request, and may soon make it harder to get past paywalls online. The domain registrar of the site Archive.Today has reportedly been subpoenaed in an attempt to uncover the archive's owner, as first reported by 404 Media. A PDF of the subpoena posted to the Archive.Today X account late last week. The site is similar to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, but is intended more for immediate short term access rather than maintaining a longterm record. As opposed to the Internet Archive's methodical web crawlers, Archive.Today's work quickly in response to user requests, but don't make any promises to kee…

Sleep patterns. Heart rates. Menstrual cycles. Weight fluctuations. Medication schedules. The location of major world leaders. Every morning, millions of people strap on smartwatches, open period-tracking apps, and upload their most intimate details to the cloud. We're told this data will optimize our health, help us live better lives. But there's a darker question lurking beneath the surface: Who actually owns all this information, and where exactly is the line between optimization and surveillance? First things first: What HIPAA actually protectsIn discussing this topic with friends and family, most everyone I know assumed their health data enjoys robust federal protect…

When I reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2 launched earlier this June, my assessment was that it would be worth buying eventually, but probably not right away. The console then went on to have the biggest gaming launch of all-time, so there's egg on my face, but I stand by what I said: Until now, the Switch 2 has been a great way to play enhanced Switch 1 games, but hasn't had many exclusives, so you could generally still play Nintendo's newest titles without upgrading your device (unless you're an impatient Mario Kart or Donkey Kong fan). But now, it seems that's about to change, and if you haven't gotten the Switch 2 yet, it might finally be time to take the plunge. In a f…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Power tools make everything easier and your finishes more professional. You might think that connecting those power tools to an app on your phone via Bluetooth is an unnecessary upgrade—why in the world does your power drill need to be connected to your phone? The truth is that Bluetooth-connected, “smart” power tools offer a lot of real advantages, and you should definitely start thinking about upgrading your tools to include them. More controlThe biggest reason smart power tools are a good investment is the increased control they offer. If you’ve ever wasted time experimenting with the torque settings on a drill (and the…

If you're out of cell service in an emergency, the ability to contact 911 can be lifesaving. Now many users with older phones are getting access to emergency texting to 911 via T-Mobile's Starlink-powered T-Satellite network for free. On Wednesday, T-Mobile announced that it would open up its Text to 911 feature—which allows users to text emergency services through their phone's native messaging app when outside of coverage areas—to everyone, including AT&T and Verizon customers, at no cost. It's worth noting that many iPhone and Pixel users already have access to emergency SOS via satellite regardless of carrier, as these features are built into newer devices. Appl…

Yesterday, Nintendo launched a new Nintendo Store app for iOS and Android, finally catching up with Sony and Xbox. On the surface, it does about what you'd expect, making it easy to browse games and Nintendo news, and even purchase games outright (albeit through an in-app browser window, presumably to avoid funneling Apple hefty commission fees). But hidden in the tiniest, most out-of-the-way button in the app is a detailed tracker for your play activity—finally fixing a feature that Nintendo consoles have dropped the ball on since the original Switch launched way back in 2017. The Switch has its own activity tracker, but it doesn't tell you much …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Pennywise is back, baby, and pop culture's favorite freaky clown is going back in time to kill the kids of Derry, Maine, in 1962, with future seasons (should they materialize) visiting other time periods. If my hometown saw mass slaughterings of children every generation or so, I might be tempted to pick up stakes and head on out—but the Stephen King IP train must keep rolling, and so here we are. So far, the show isn't hitting the heights of previous It adaptations, but it's shown an admirable willingness to shock—the opening scene includes an impressively graphic and rather unconventional birthing sequence, and the show…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you've ever tried to tackle a DIY project with just the hammer and screwdriver you bought at a convenience store, you’ve already learned the most important lesson: The right tools make all the difference. The difference in effort it takes to complete a job when you have exactly the tool you need for it is startling. There are plenty of fancy power tools that you probably didn't know about, but the humble hand tool can be transformative, too. If you’re planning some work around the homestead, consider picking up some of these simple but powerful specialty tools that will make your project easier. Cabinet jackI’m a solo …

I’ve been enjoying Shuffalo, a quick daily word game from the New Yorker that I can’t help but compare to the New York Times’s Wordle, which is so popular we publish hints for it every day. But it really feels like an improvement on a different New York Times game, Spelling Bee—quicker and with more useful hints. What is Shuffalo? Shuffalo lives on the New Yorker games page, with a different puzzle each day. For each day’s puzzle, you get a collection of letters that you have to form into a word. First you get four letters, and you need to use them all to make a four-letter word. Once you do that, a fifth letter is added, then a sixth, and so on up to eight. Get that fa…

Google isn't new to adding AI to its products, and that includes Google Maps. The company already has AI tools that let you ask Gemini for directions to your destination, or get more info about it, and today, it's rolling out new features to help turn the chatbot into a (to borrow a term from Microsoft) copilot. With Gemini in Google Maps, you'll be able to ask open-ended questions and even have the AI take action for you, based on its responses. The idea is to make the app easier to work with while driving, which, yes, means you can also wake the bot with a simple "Hey Google." Let's say you get peckish while driving. You'll be able to wake the bot with your voice, ask …