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. If you’ve been holding out for a 240Hz gaming monitor without blowing your budget, the Samsung Odyssey G4 is currently at its lowest price ever, according to price trackers—$179.99 (down from $279.99). Samsung Odyssey G4 Gaming Monitor $179.99 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. The 65” Samsung S85D OLED TV is now $997.99 on Amazon. That’s $900 off its usual $1,897.99 price, and according to price-trackers, this is the lowest it’s ever been. Powered by Samsung’s NQ4 AI Gen 2 processor, it promises improved performance and runs on the 2024 Tizen OS, offering voice control and easy casting from your phone. Its design includes adjustable feet for soundbar placement and cable management clips to keep things organized, though wall-mounting might be tricky due to recessed ports. And, while it comes with 20W 2.0 channel speakers (…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Soundbars are the best way to take your home theater audio to the next level, especially if you complain about actors mumbling their lines. When it comes to high-end soundbars, there are a couple that beat out the competition, starting with the Sonos Arc (which is at its lowest price right now) for best overall sound—but the Samsung HW-Q900C is only marginally inferior to the Sonos, and you get a subwoofer as well for essentially the same price. The 7.1.2ch Samsung HW-Q900C soundbar and subwoofer combo are $565.68 (originally $1,399.00) right now, t…

Saving money at the grocery store is easy on paper, but when I step into the aisles a new brain takes over. “Don’t you need chocolate?” and “Ooh, maybe chicken strips?”—the word “budget” has disappeared from my mind. For me, the best money-saving trick is to make a proper checklist of ingredients that are budget-friendly and that ideally can be used for multiple meals. Below, you'll find my budget-friendly grocery shopping list that keeps me afloat during crappy economic times—maybe it'll help you, too. I’ve broken down the list into main sections to clarify how I build my grocery list. However, everyone has their own way of cooking and eating so even if my list isn’t per…

Gina Trapani, founder of the website you're reading right now, popularized a plaintext format for to-do lists way back in 2006 (please excuse any weird formatting on that nearly 20-year-old article). Called Todo.txt, it is used by many people to this day, in part thanks to an ecosystem of applications built around the format. I recently stumbled on Calendar.txt, by author and teacher Tero Karvinen. It's a text document based on a similar philosophy—a stripped down, just-the-basics take on your overloaded calendar app. It's a concept worth considering. We're at least a decade into the "using a separate app for everything" era, and sure, a lot of those apps are pretty great…

Do you remember a time when the internet was a more chaotically personal place? When the experience of using social media wasn't so uniform? SkySpace seeks to recapture those days. The site transforms your Bluesky profile into a Myspace-esque page, complete with backgrounds, music, and a section for your top eight friends. I kind of love it. "I miss when social media was more about being social and less about media," wrote Ste Curran, who built the site, in the project's FAQ. "I miss the personality, the ugliness, the chaos, the feeling of planting a flag in tiny part of the internet and saying 'this is mine'." And SkySpace certainly delivers there, allowing you to custom…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you're sick of a huge television dominating your living room, Nebula's Capsule Air TV projector will let you ditch the set while still streaming as much content as you want. The Nebula Capsule Air supports over 30,000 Google Play apps, including Netflix. It's easy to set up, features 720p resolution, and it's on sale during Amazon's Big Spring Sale for $279.99— that's 30% off the list price of $399.99. Anker Nebula Capsule Air …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re looking for an outdoor security camera that doesn’t need constant battery swaps or a monthly subscription, the Eufy SoloCam S40 might be worth considering—especially now that it's $99.99 (down from its usual $199). This battery-powered camera comes with a built-in solar panel, which, according to Eufy, only needs two hours of direct sunlight daily to stay charged. That’s the kind of low-maintenance setup we want, but as with all solar-powered devices, real-world performance depends on actual sunlight exposure, so if you live somewhere gloo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sonos brand is well known in the smart speaker and surround sound system space. And very much like Apple, people will pay a premium price for their minimalistic, premium quality, and discounts are often hard to come by. Of course, it's always better to get a deal, and that's exactly what you can do today: The Sonos Arc, which was Sono's flagship soundbar prior to the launch of the Sonos Arc Ultra, is $649, $250 off its usual $899 price. It's also a new low price for this model, according to price tracking tools. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sony Inzone H9 is currently on sale for $198—that's $100 off its regular price of $299.99 and the lowest it’s ever been, according to price trackers. Sony INZONE H9 Gaming Headset $198.00 at Amazon $299.99 Save $101.99 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is back—and while it’s no Prime Day, it still brings a solid lineup of discounts for anyone looking to snag big-ticket items for less. Running from March 25 through March 31, this seven-day sale is only in its second year but already feels like a decent excuse to shop. You don’t need to be a Prime member to grab deals, though Amazon claims members get “more and better” prices. If you don’t want to commit, the 30-day free trial might be worth it just for the week. Just set a reminder to cancel if you're not planning on keepin…

We know that cars are better connected than ever before, which is great when you want to remember where you parked or start defrosting the vehicle windows while you're still in bed—but this modern tech comes with security and privacy concerns, as a new hack of Subaru cars and their Starlink software has shown. Security researchers Sam Curry and Shubham Shah explain in a blog post how they were able to remotely hack into the Starlink connected vehicle service run by Subaru. Specifically, they targeted software on Curry's mom's car, but the same platform operates across Subaru vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. With access to the driver's surname and their at…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you need an extra set of eyes at home without spending a lot, the TP-Link Kasa KC410S indoor security camera is currently down to $26.99 from its usual $44.99. Kasa 2K QHD Security Camera Pan/Tilt $29.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $44.99 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The TP-Link Tapo C402 is $19.99 on Woot for the next two days or until it sells out. If you're a Prime member, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll cost you an extra $6. TP-Link Tapo C402 $19.99 at Woot $49.99 Save $30.00 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's Big Spring Sale (spanning seven days from March 25 to March 31) gives shoppers the chance to grab great deals on everything from tech to home goods. It's Amazon's second-ever spring sale, and while it may not be as flashy as Prime Day, it's still packed with discounts that are hard to ignore. Prime members get the best deals, so if you want in but don’t want to commit, Amazon’s 30-day free trial of Prime does the trick—just remember to cancel after the sale. One of the better deals in the mix is the EufyCam S3 Pro (2-Cam Kit with HomeBase 3…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Most people won't be able to tell the difference in visual quality between a QLED and OLED TV at a glance, but the difference in price is immediately obvious. The truth is, if you get a good QLED TV, most people will be happy with the picture quality and be happy to pocket the price difference. If you think that applies to you, I think this QLED from TCL is a about as good a choice as it gets. The TCL QM7 is a Quantum Dot Mini Light Emitting Diode (QD Mini-LED) QLED TV, meaning TCL combines QD and Mini-LED tech to improve picture quality with more realistic colors, better contrast, and higher brightness. The QM7 also supp…

As the spring gets closer and closer, I was excited to see a new trend on TikTok that claims you can easily clean fans—a pretty tedious chore—just by spritzing the machine and covering it with a plastic bag. I tried it out on two different fans today and the results weren't great. Here's what happened and what you can (and should) do instead. My attempt at the TikTok fan-cleaning hackFirst of all, here's how it's supposed to look and work when you use a cleaning solution and garbage or plastic bag to "clean" your fan: There are tons of videos like this on TikTok and they all look pretty effective, so I gave it a real try. Different creators recommend different cleanin…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Do you want to haul out your fridge every time you clean under it? I'm not strong or motivated enough to do all that. Frankly, I'm lazy enough to avoid even moving shelving or furniture unless I absolutely have to. This trick from TikTok allows you to clean under larger pieces—and while you'll still have to yank them out at some point, you can extend the amount of time between your feats of manual labor. Grab a sponge and a spatulaI saw this video on the Washy Wash account a few days ago. In just 14 seconds, it shows how you can easily clean under heavy furniture and appliances with only a sponge and a spatula. …

Complicated cleaning hacks can be fun projects, but I love a simple one even more—and this one is really simple: You can use the lid of a pot or pan to clean your carpets and fabrics. It works like a charm, which is why it’s been all over TikTok for the past few years. To freshen up your upholstery or carpet, you’ll need: The lid from a pot or pan, with a handle in the center A large microfiber rag A bowl of water Dish soap Depending on what you’re cleaning and how you like to do it, you may want to add a few drops of vinegar or vodka, but otherwise, stick to the cleaning recipes you’d normally use for whatever upholstery or carpet you’re working on. Cleaning the upholst…

Most video editing software works through re-encoding—essentially, uploading the file so it can be broken apart and stitched back together. This is necessary for advanced editing techniques but has some downsides. It's slow, for one thing, and the encoding process isn't lossless, meaning videos can look worse over time. This is a particularly vexing problem when all you want to do is cut a bit from the beginning or end of a file. Lossless Cut is an open source application for Linux, Windows, and Mac that can trim videos without the need for encoding. The changes to the original file are basically instantaneous and totally lossless. It's a great tool if all you ever do whe…

It can be useful, while studying any topic, to get an overview of when major events happened relative to each other. History textbooks commonly use a timeline for this—a chronological chart that shows when various events happened. WikiTimeline is a free website that uses a large language model to turn any Wikipedia article into a visual timeline you can use to see major events in a sequence. Wikipedia's open nature means there's all kinds of third party tools that use the articles in interesting ways. There's WikiTok, a sort of TikTok for Wikipedia, which allows you to scroll through articles to learn topics at random. WikiTimeline is another tool like that, putting the f…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Google Pixel 7 (5G, Unlocked) is down to $279.99 on Woot for the next three days, or until it sells out. That’s more than 50% off its original $599 price, making this a steal for anyone in need of a flagship phone at a mid-range cost. Google Pixel 7 (5G, Unlocked) $279.99 at Woot …

I'm always looking for Mac apps that speed up repetitive tasks, and Rapidmg is my latest find. It's a neat macOS utility that speeds up the app install process for many programs outside the Mac App Store. While you can download and install apps via Homebrew for the fastest possible experience, plenty of apps are unavailable for install via the package manager. Instead, they're available for download via your favorite developers' websites, where you can download a DMG (Disk Image) file to install the app. Rapidmg automates the process of installing apps from DMG files and executes a bunch of actions that will save you a fair bit of time. What's the deal with DMG files?The …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. For those looking for affordable smart security without monthly fees, the TP-Link Tapo D225 Video Doorbell is now $79.99 (down from $99.99). It covers all the basics, plus a few features that even pricier models skip, earning itself an Editors’ Choice award from PCMag. At about 6 inches tall, the Tapo D225 isn’t the slimmest doorbell out there, but it’s built to handle the elements with an IP66 water-resistant rating. And should someone try to steal your doorbell, its built-in 98dB siren is loud enough to scare off intruders. …

There is a moment every week dedicated to placing my face in front of my phone screen: my children's karate practice. While they are learning their kicks and punches, I mindlessly scroll through clickbait, videos, games, and social feeds to pass the time. While it gives me something to do, I don't feel good about it. Then I heard about WikiTok, which, as its name alludes to, is a web interface that combines TikTok and Wikipedia. Unlike traditional video-sharing platforms, WikiTok offers users a refreshing respite from the relentless algorithms that dominate our digital landscape. The web app delivers an article at random, with an engaging image filling the display. If som…