Setting Up Your Home Office

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Hulu doesn't always get the recognition of competitors like Netflix and Max, but the streamer has an unfailingly reliable and rotating selection of theatrical films, as well as some impressive original releases. These are some of the best, buzziest, and/or most fun movies currently streaming on the service, across a variety of genres. Anora (2024) Writer/director Sean Baker (Tangerine, Red Rocket) has a long run of impressive film credits to his name, but comedy-drama Anora was the film that put his name firmly on the map, winning him a Best Director Oscar and the film a Best Picture prize. Mikey Madison (who also …

Zelle has been around as a convenient digital payment platform since 2017, but has now closed down payments inside its standalone apps for Android and iOS, as it promised it would last October—though the move is a sign of Zelle's success rather than its failure, and most Zelle users aren't going to need to change anything. If you're one of the 150 million or so people who make use of Zelle, you're no longer going to be able to use the Zelle app to send money to friends, family, and businesses. However, Zelle lives on as a platform: It's now integrated into the operations of more than 2,200 financial institutions, so you'll still be able to use it through your banking app.…

While it's generally useful to get notifications on your phone, there are times when it's too much, too fast, such as after you disable Airplane Mode or when your family text thread is blowing up while you're in the middle of a meeting. On Android, you can turn on silent mode or snooze or disable notifications entirely—or you can rely on the new Notification Cooldown feature, which temporarily lowers the literal and figurative volume on your alerts so you don't have to manage those modes yourself. We've known this feature was coming for a while, and it finally arrived on Android 15 with the March 2025 update. How Notification Cooldown worksNotification Cooldown manages…

If your child has their own Android device, you no longer need to worry about loaning them your credit card or keeping cash on hand for purchases when you're not present. Kids can now use Google Wallet for tap-to-pay—with some parental oversight, of course, so they can't get into too much financial trouble without you knowing. Google teased this feature last fall and in February announced its inclusion in an anticipated update to Google Family Link. Google Wallet and tap-to-pay for kids is now live and available to families in the United State, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Poland. How Google Wallet works for kidsKids can use tap to pay when checking out in stor…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. A rowing machine can be a great workout option for people looking to target multiple major muscle groups at once (legs, back, core, and arms) while getting their cardio going at the same time. If you're looking for a rowing machine that's light, portable, and quiet, the Q1S Merach is worth checking out. Right now, Merach's Magnetic Rowing Machine is on sale for $179.99 (originally $299.99), a 40% discount. This is the machine's lowest price ever, according to price-checking tools. …

Tax Day is here. Many of us high achievers have already received our tax refunds—and are perhaps enjoying slightly larger checks than expected this year. While it might be tempting to spend that entire sum on a vacation or shopping spree, I recommend a more balanced approach. Enter the "1/3 rule": a simple and effective strategy to maximize the benefits of your tax refund. The 1/3 rule is straightforward: Divide your tax refund into three equal portions and allocate them to three different financial priorities. Allocate 1/3 for savingSet aside the first third of your refund for your financial future. I've recommended before that dividing your money into multiple accounts …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 is currently $129.99 on Woot, a massive drop from its usual $499.95 price tag. According to price trackers, this is its lowest price ever—and if you're a Prime member, you get free shipping (otherwise, it's $6). This deal is set to last for the next 27 days or until it sells out, but note that you can't have it shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, or a PO box address. Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 …

Google’s next Pixel phone, the Pixel 9a, has finally been announced. And for the first time in a Pixel since 2020’s Pixel 5, it ditches the camera bar. It’s also, as expected, a little cheaper and comes with a few additional AI tricks not available on the Pixel 8a, but really, it’s the new look that’s the biggest surprise here. That’s because the 9a, unlike the 8a before it, really doesn’t look much like the Pixel 9 or 9 Pro. Dimensions are roughly equivalent to the standard Pixel 9 (although it is a little more lightweight at 6.6 oz vs. 7 oz) and the screen has almost pound-for-pound the same specs except for a halved contrast ratio, but people familiar with the past hal…

There are about 85 million single-family homes in the United States, which is a lot of houses. If you own one of them, then you already know what you don’t know—from real estate terms to the actual cost of owning the place. Buying and maintaining a house is a life-long learning process. But no matter how long you’ve owned your home, there are probably aspects of it that you have no clue about. This can be a problem because you’re relying on this structure to protect you and your family from the elements, to be a valuable asset in your financial portfolio, and to be an attractive place you can be proud to show off to friends and family. In order for that to happen, you nee…

The The President administration's tariffs are having swift and serious consequences on global markets. Companies are pausing sales to the United States, while others are thinking about price increases to compensate for the added tariff fees. Combine that instability with inflation and other financial insecurities, and it's a tough time for economies everywhere. Unfortunately, these increased costs of doing business don't usually end up benefitting the consumer. In fact, quite the opposite: We end up eating the extra cost. Such is the case with the PlayStation 5. Depending on where you live, it's now more expensive than ever—despite being more than four years old. PS5 pr…

A mysterious bug is affecting numerous older Chromecast devices, as per a lengthy thread on Reddit—specifically, the second-generation Chromecast and the Chromecast Audio, which both launched in September 2015. If you've been affected, hold off on trying a factory reset of your device. The bug has started appearing over the last 24 hours, rendering affected devices pretty much unusable. One of the error messages reported reads as follows: "Untrusted device: [name] couldn’t be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware." Further investigation from users suggests that this is a server-side problem—so the issue is at Google's end. It looks as though there hav…

Software updates are supposed to introduce new features while improving the stability of the operating system. Occasionally, however, additional bugs and glitches can slip through the cracks. That's the case with the latest Pixel update: While Google added a number of new features to Android and patched 43 security vulnerabilities, users who have installed it are complaining of strange glitches on their Pixel phones. March 2025 Pixel drop glitches: Brightness, vibrations, and moreFirst up, as spotted by 9to5Google, some Pixel users are experiencing brightness variations while using their phones—without touching the brightness settings themselves. The issue seems to be li…

When temperatures start to rise, many of us naturally want to open the windows, deep clean, and get rid of clutter. Why not apply that same refreshing ritual to your finances? Just as you'd prune the plants in your yard, you can trim wasteful money habits and plant seeds for new financial goals while preparing for the April tax deadline. Get out the (figurative) feather duster and give your budget a thorough once-over. Get your filing ducks in a rowMake assembling your tax documents part of your spring cleaning ritual. Have a designated folder or binder to compile W-2s, 1099s, mortgage interest statements, donation receipts, and any other necessary forms. Securely discar…

I keep looking for ways to free up storage space on my iPhone and on iCloud. I am a data hoarder who hates deleting things, but when I almost managed to fill up my 256GB iPhone, I knew I had a problem and began aggressively deleting unwanted data. However, photos takes up most of the storage on my iPhone, which has put me in a bit of a spot. I find it hard to delete old photos, but if I don't do that, I may eventually have to start paying a lot more for cloud storage to back up my data. If you're in the same boat as I am, the answer is simpler than you might think. Here are a few ways to delete photos and free up storage space on both your iPhone and on iCloud. Define wha…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. You've been hard at work all week, as have I—as Lifehacker's tech deals writer, I've been hunting down the best deals on TVs, speakers, laptops, and other tech all week. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's highlights, all of which I've vetted using my favorite price tracking tools. This week was the start of retailers launching their Memorial Day sales. You can find deals on Pixel phones, Sonos speakers, Sleep Number beds, OLED TVs, smart watches, and much more. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Oura Advisor, an AI feature formerly tucked away in Oura’s beta testing program, is now rolling out to all Oura Ring customers. It takes the form of a chatbot that you can start a conversation with at any time from within the Oura app—plus the Advisor promises to “check in” with you daily, weekly, or three times a week, depending on what you request. But do you actually want it to do any of those things? What does the Oura Advisor do? Credit: Beth Skawrecki Honestly, this s…

For many, Microsoft Edge's only purpose is to download another browser entirely, like Chrome or Firefox. But this isn't Internet Explorer: Edge is a competent browser in its own right, whether you have a Mac or a PC. If you do use the browser, you might be pleasantly surprised by how snappy it feels after you update it—at least, according to Microsoft. Edge 134 and newer's performance gains In a Thursday post on Windows Blogs, Microsoft confirmed that, starting with version 134, Microsoft Edge is a tad faster than previous iterations. In fact, Edge 134 is up to 9% faster, when you run it through Speedometer 3.0, a benchmarking tool for web browsers. Microsoft says that wh…

Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is sitting right in front of you. If your problem is that you need a webcam, you can try using your Android phone for the job instead of buying a dedicated device. This is especially useful if you have a spare Android phone lying around and you need it for video calls on your PC or Mac. You can also use your primary Android phone as a webcam, but its utility will be limited since you'll have to keep unplugging it, remembering to put it into do not disturb, or turning on airplane mode to ensure that your video call isn't interrupted. Here are all the ways you can use your Android phone as a webcam. Use the webcam mode on your Andr…

A new cyberattack is targeting Microsoft 365 users through Signal and WhatsApp messages, with hackers impersonating government officials in order to gain access to accounts. According to reporting from Bleeping Computer, bad actors—who are believed to be Russians pretending to be European political officials or diplomats—are contacting employees of organizations working on issues related to Ukraine and human rights. The end goal is to trick targets into clicking an OAuth phishing link leading them to authenticate their Microsoft 365 credentials. This scam, first discovered by cybersecurity firm Volexity, has focused specifically on organizations related to Ukraine, but …

Nintendo just wrapped up its long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, and the experience was almost surreal. The company has avoided talking about the console for so many years, and even after it shared an early preview a few months ago, it's still odd to see Nintendo walk us through the console in such depth. Mind games aside, it's finally official-official, and we now know a lot about Nintendo's upcoming console. The Direct didn't answer every question about its capabilities, but if you're interested in the hardware specs, here's everything there is to know right now. How powerful is the Switch 2?From games to accessories, there's a lot to get excited about with any new …

Converting a .pdf to a .docx and back again may seem like a quick and easy thing you can do online for free—but that doesn't mean it's safe. A new notice from the FBI Denver Field Office warns that some online document converters are also loading malware onto unsuspecting users' computers, giving bad actors access to your device and your data. The tools may also scrape files submitted for conversion for sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, passwords or tokens to bypass multi-factor authentication, banking information, and cryptocurrency seed phrases and wallet addresses. How to spot malicious file convertersThis scheme may…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Corporations are a driving force behind almost every part of American life—including the movies we watch. It sometimes feels like they hold all the power, and, actually, they kinda do. But if the power of capitalism can’t be overcome, it can at least be checked once in a while. And it can be extremely satisfying to watch a crusader standing up for the rest of us. Here are 15 movies about heroes defying big corporations, most of them at least inspired by true events. Usually, reality is at least as wild as what made it to the screen. As The Constant Gardener author John le Carré observed in the afterward to (and the end cre…

Thanking your AI chatbot when it provides a response to a query may not require much energy on its own, but the cost of your interactions will add up over time—and a new tool from Hugging Face can tell you approximately how much. The ChatUI energy interface estimates the energy consumption involved in messaging with an AI model in real time, with comparisons to common appliances like LED light bulbs and phone chargers. You can type in any query or utilize one of the suggested inputs to generate a response along with the corresponding energy requirement. For example, a "professional email" took an AI just over 25 seconds to create and required 0.5 watt-hours, the equival…

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 …