Setting Up Your Home Office

While property taxes vary widely across the United States (Essex County, New Jersey has some of the highest on average, at $13,145; while West Virginia has some of the lowest—just $989), if you own a house, you’re paying some kind of property taxes—and if you renovate that house, your property taxes will probably go up. That happens because significant improvements to your home will increase its value, and your property's value is what your property taxes are based on. It can take some time for your local tax assessor to catch up with your renovations, but at some point your property will be reassessed and your taxes increased accordingly, so it's best to be prepared to …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. This is a website about hacks, so you know I'm not going to advocate for a cleaning product unless it really gets the job done. Lifehacker has years' worth of archives explaining how, for the most part, common things like hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and vinegar get the major cleaning jobs taken care of, and all you need is a rag or a sponge to go with them. Still, there are some more specialized products that are worth having on hand. These are what I use to make cleaning easier and faster. Useful cleaning tools you might not haveFirst up, you need a little squeegee. In fact, I think you should have a few. The first …

Last year, I advised readers that the "second-generation" AirPods Max were actually a worse deal than the original pair. Apple was charging $549 for headphones that were virtually identical to the pair that launched in 2020, only with USB-C instead of Lightning. What's more, Apple actually took away a feature with the USB-C pair: Unlike the Lightning AirPods Max, the USB-C model was not compatible with 3.5mm adapter, meaning you couldn't use them for wired playback. Seeing as the Lightning AirPods Max are frequently on sale by around $150, it seemed silly to recommend the newer, more expensive AirPods Max—unless you really couldn't live without USB-C. That is, until toda…

After months of beta testing, DuckDuckGo's AI integrations are going live for everyone and getting some upgrades at the same time: They're free to use (with certain limits), and stay in line with DuckDuckGo's commitment to user privacy (you don't have to create an account to use them, and your searches aren't tracked). As with Google, Bing, ChatGPT, and others, you can now get AI answers to your web searches at DuckDuckGo. They appear in a small box with an Assist label attached, but they aren't as prominent and don't show up as often as they do on Google or Bing—DuckDuckGo is aiming for a less-is-more approach to the feature. …

Google's budget phone for the masses, the Pixel 9a, will retail at $499 when it launches in April. That's a full $100 less than the iPhone 16e and $300 less than the Pixel 9. Even so, the 9a has many of the same features as the Pixel 9. It carries over the same Tensor G4 chip, and promises to feature most of the Pixel 9's AI suite. Most, but not all. Ars Technica is now reporting that the Pixel 9a will be missing some crucial AI features at launch. That's because the Pixel 9a features 8GB RAM, while the Pixel 9 has 12GB RAM, and the Pixel 9 Pro models feature 16GB RAM. While the Pixel 9a comes with on-device Gemini Nano, Ars Technica confirmed with Google that it's going …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Nintendo Switch Lite is already a solid pick for gamers who prefer a portable console, but this deal on Woot makes it even more tempting. For $164.99 (for the next two days or until it sells out)—down from its usual $199—you’re getting an open-box Singapore model that’s been fitted with an official Nintendo USA power adapter. That means functionally, it’s the same as the U.S. version, and it plays all U.S. and international Switch games without any issue. The only catch is that it's an open-box deal, so while it’s brand new, the box has been ope…

Google is rolling out a new way to generate videos, as well as animate existing images, using AI. The catch? These videos are really short, and you have to pay to play. On Tuesday, Google announced that Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium users can now make AI-generated videos using the company's Veo 2 video model. Google originally unveiled this model back in December, touting the model's improved understanding of real-world physics, nuanced human emotions, and ability to generate specific types of shots (e.g. low angle, close-up, shallow depth of field). While Veo 2 is capable of generating 4K videos at several minutes in length, that's not the experience Gemini…

If I told you that your TV watches everything you do in the name of data collection and advertising, it likely wouldn’t shock you. It’s 2025, after all; we're used to a general lack of privacy. Still, it’s not cool, and it turns out you can stop it (even if your TV manufacturer has opted you into it). So, how do you stop your smart TV from tracking what you watch, so you can go back to the days of watching Netflix or playing video games in peace? You need to turn off ACR. How does your TV track what you watch?Meet ACR: This technology, short for automatic content recognition, allows your smart TV to watch what you watch, identify what you watch, and use that information …

Companies like Apple have their own ecosystems, where it's easier to interact with other devices from the same company. For example, it's trivially easy to transfer photos from one iPhone to another, or to share a Wi-Fi password between iPhones with one tap. The same goes for a hotspot as well. You can start using your iPhone's internet connection on your iPad or Mac, without even lifting your iPhone. Android, unfortunately, mostly lacks this level of cross device integration. Samsung and Pixel devices do offer some exceptions, but usually only with other Samsung or Google devices, respectively. Now, though, a formerly Pixel-exclusive tethering feature named Instant Hotsp…

Now more than ever, I rely on my silly little podcasts to disassociate through my days, and yesterday, that got a little easier. Pocket Casts—Lifehacker's pick for the most full-featured and user-friendly podcast app on the scene, and my own auditory lifeline for the last half-decade or so—has made its web streaming and desktop apps free for all users. Previously, these were paid subscriber-only benefits that would cost you around $40/year to access. In a statement, the company said it made the change in support of "the open podcasting ecosystem," noting the audio format "was built on an open, decentralized standard, RSS, which means that anyone can create, share, and lis…

It's been about six months now since Apple's big iOS 18 update introduced RCS support to the iPhone. In many ways, it's been a game changer: Ditching SMS for RCS has meant group chats function better, and videos are sent in higher quality. But there's still one big drawback to RCS on iPhone that has yet to be fixed: Your messages aren't encrypted. What is RCS?To fully understand the issue, it's important to know what RCS actually is. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, and is basically a souped up version of SMS: The platform supports modern messaging features, like typing bubbles, high-quality image and video sharing, functioning group chats, and end-to-end enc…

The Find My Device app for Android is getting an update: The new Find My Device app is now split up into two tabs, one for Devices, and one for People. With it, you can easily coordinate meet-ups with friends or check that your kids have safely arrived home. You'll find the app preinstalled on Pixels, and it's a free download for other Android devices. It's also available on the web, but there's no iPhone app. Despite that, you can still keep tabs on the real time locations of your contacts if they have iPhones—more on that in a moment. The new People tab in Find My Device. …

It's been clear for some time that the Gemini AI app would be replacing Google Assistant, once it had learned all the necessary tricks and been granted all the required hooks into other apps. Now, Google is in the process of actively dismantling the features available in Google Assistant ahead of its retirement. As per Google's official support document (as spotted by 9to5Google), seven more Google Assistant features have recently been pulled across Android devices and Nest smart speakers and displays. These deactivated features add to a bunch of other capabilities that were taken away last year. On smart displays, you can no longer use your voice and Google Assistant to …

When venturing out into the wilds of the modern web, many people now make use of a VPN, or a Virtual Private Network. These software packages have been around for decades as ways of securely connecting to private networks remotely, but the term is now more commonly used to refer to third-party VPN services that act as intermediaries between your devices and the internet at large. The idea behind VPNs is they keep you and your data safer while you're browsing, with a trade-off in terms of speed (though the best VPNs will aim to minimize the hit on download and upload transfer rates). If you're wondering what exactly a VPN is, how these services work, and whether or not you…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Cyber Monday is long gone, but with spring sales popping up this week in response to Amazon's Big Spring Sale event, there's still plenty of good tech to be found for cheap. Across Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and more, gadgets from laptops to TVs are seeing deep discounts. Shopping these sales can be a bit difficult unless you know how to track an item’s price history, but fortunately, I’ve already done all of the work for you. Keep checking in here throughout the week for the best deals on laptops, TVs, tablets, video games, and more. Price…

While Apple has offered password management solutions for years, it was only this past fall that the company finally rolled out a dedicated passwords app, appropriately named "Passwords." It's a bit basic, but it's built into the OS, and it gets the job done. (It's also free, which helps.) If you're fully into the Apple ecosystem, it's an easy way to create, store, and access the passwords of your numerous accounts. However, as it happens, Passwords has a critical security flaw that Apple only recently addressed. Here's the situation: Passwords has a security feature that helps you change an account's password directly within the Passwords app. This is particularly helpfu…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The new Pixel 9 lineup launched last summer—and the Pixel 9a is around the corner—so it's no surprise there's been a drop in prices for the Pixel 8 lineup. Amazon is offering the higher end Pixel 8 Pro for $599 (though prices seem to vary a bit based on location), but if your budget is a bit tighter, you can get the Pixel 8a for $399 (originally $499) after a $100 discount. That matches the Pixel 8a's lowest-ever price, according to price-checking tools. (The Pixel 9a is likely to cost $499 when it launches, so if you want to save yourself some mone…

The speedy progress of AI development continues to dominate headlines, but the latest story to hit the news cycle is more bad press than good press: It turns out that Google's latest Gemini 2.0 Flash image editor is rather adept at automatically removing watermarks from images. Google pushed out the experimental native image generation capabilities a few days ago, promoting its capabilities in terms of combining images and text, editing images through conversational prompts, and improving its "world understanding" to give users AI-generated pictures that are more realistic overall. As TechCrunch reports, the newly upgraded tool was quickly put to one specific and …

Nintendo didn't make preordering the Switch 2 particularly easy—especially with its back and forth decisions in the face of tariffs. But even if you manage to get your hands on a Switch 2 for launch day, be careful, because Nintendo is ready to brick any Switch device you own should you break its rules—and I'm not talking about cheating at Mario Party. Rather, Nintendo is particularly concerned about Switch users who hack their systems, use emulators, or engage in piracy using Nintendo hardware. These players are the targets of the company's newfound bloodlust, and they're not messing around: steal our games, and lose the right to use your console. Stephen Totilo of Game…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Act fast if you want to pick up an Oura ring on a steep discount—some of them are available today for just $199 in Amazon's spring sale. I’m seeing this deal on gen 3 rings in the Heritage shape, and silver or black colors. Oura Ring Gen 3 $199.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. One of my biggest pet peeves about the Oura ring platform is getting some temporary relief, thanks to Amazon’s spring sale. Chargers for the gen 4 ring (the newest model) are available for $35.40 today, so you can pick up a spare for close to half the usual price. Oura Ring 4 Charger $35.40 at Amazon …

Chromecast as a brand has been going through it. Second-gen Chromecast and Chromecast Audio have been plagued with a strange glitch that essentially leaves these devices unusable. Users are not happy. Google, for their part, has advised not to factory reset the devices as a workaround, saying that the company is working on an official fix. In the meantime, Google rolled out an unrelated update for Chromecast with Google TV. The company no longer sells this device, but even still, issued a long-awaited Android 14 update for Chromecast with Google TV. The release notes say, with this update, “The Google TV Streamer Voice Remote supports Find My Remote and Customizable Butt…

Looking for a fast-moving car chase? Aerial acrobatics? How about a bit of fisticuffs, or a tiger straight up eating a dude? Look no further: Netflix has what you need. You can catch a high-minded thriller that uses action to underline plot, character, and message; or a hyper-stylish beat-em-up with cinematography and choreography that make art of violence; or you can just watch a lot of stuff blow up real good. No judgments! The only criteria is that the movie provides a fair share of fast-paced action thrills. Here are your best action options on Netflix right now. Carry-On (2024) Action thriller Carry-On starts off at the airport (naturally) and on Christmas …