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. Amazon's Big Spring Sale is a good excuse to pick up some fitness equipment. Read on for the best deals I've seen so far, including on NordicTrack treadmills, folding WalkingPads, and even the infamous Assault Bike. Plus, Peloton's original and upgraded bikes are available at a great price, and Powerblocks are on a rare sale. The best deals on exercise bikesPeloton’s original Bike is on sale for $1,195, or $250 off the regular price. This is a great price, as our own Meredith Dietz points out here. (Check that link for a breakdown of what the Bike r…

Last year, Google released a niche feature in its experimental NotebookLM product that turned out to be a sleeper hit. You could upload any document to NotebookLM, and it would use AI to generate a two-person conversational podcast out of it. These aren't meant to be uploaded online for viewership, but for you to listen to as a learning ad. The idea is that there are times when it's easier to understand a concept when two people are just casually conversing about it. If that sounds appealing to you, good news: you no longer need to dive into the unfamiliar NotebookLM interface to try it out. Google's AI-generated podcasts, called Audio Overviews, are now available for fre…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Garmin announced a new fitness watch today, the Vivoactive 6. Its predecessor, the Vivoactive 5, is my pick for the best smartwatch to replace a Fitbit (beating out the Pixel Watch 3), and, if you ask me, it's the most underrated device in the Garmin lineup. The Vivoactive 6 is poised to be even better, adding a few new features, including a "smart wake" alarm and on-watch coaching for walking and strength training. The Vivoactive 6 will be available for preorder on April 4, with a suggested retail price of $299.99, the same initial price as the Vivoactive 5. (If you’re looking to save money by going with the older model,…

April is when gardeners need to start being mathematicians and professional organizers, trying to find space for all the seedlings that need to get into trays on time. It’s also the first time this year you’ll start succession seeding, both indoors and out. Succession seeding is one of the real benefits of growing your own seeds: It means you can grow one or two of a variety instead of needing the space for a whole six pack you’d pick up at the nursery. Grow a mixed tray of vegetables or herbs now, and start another one in a few weeks. This will also help alleviate some strain on square footage in your growing space. Even if you haven’t started your seed growing yet, the…

I'm sure there was a point in time when it was cool to receive a text from a business or service, but it's not today. Our phones are sounding off way too often these days, in part because of the rise in spam messages. Many of these messages arrive because your number happened to end up on an organization's subscriber list for one reason or another. Perhaps you donated blood one time, and now you are contacted every other day about setting up your next appointment; maybe you gave money to a political candidate, and now that candidate's party is blowing up your phone for more money. In many cases, you can send a STOP text to end the madness. But if the organization doesn't…

If your iPhone is running iOS 18.4, you might have noticed some significant new features, like AI-powered Priority Notifications and seven brand-new emojis. However, one change in particular might be a bit controversial: Safari's Search feature now shows a list of your most recent searches every time you search for something new. Useful? Maybe. Privacy-compromising? Definitely. Don't be alarmed: If you're not a fan of Safari's new "Recent Searches" screen, you can turn off this feature entirely, or clear all recent results quite quickly. How the new Safari Search screen worksWhen you open a new tab and tap "Search or enter website" in iOS 18.4, you'll see a new screen sho…

The Start menu is the gateway to everything on a Windows PC, from files to apps to settings, and it looks as though Microsoft is planning a substantial refresh for the menu's interface. Changes have been spotted in the early testing versions of the operating system by tipster @phantomofearth, and should eventually appear for everyone. As it stands today, the Start menu shows a search bar up at the top, then you've got two other sections: Your pinned apps, and your recommended links (usually to files you've recently opened or apps you've recently used). Both those sections can be expanded with a click to show more programs and files. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Bose makes speakers that have been dominating their space since their release—and when it comes to portable mid-size rugged speakers, the Bose New Soundlink Flex has been one of the best since its release in 2021, and is still very competitive three years later. Right now, you can get it for $119 (originally $149), the lowest price it has been according to price-tracking tools. Bose New SoundLink Flex Battery Life 12 Hours, Included Components USB-C, Is Wa…

The YouTube TV app has been disappearing for some Roku users. Luckily, if you are among those affected, there are a few fixes you can try for this issue. Starting this week, several users on both Reddit and Roku's forums have separately reported issues opening the YouTube TV app or even locating it on their Roku devices. Those who tried reinstalling the YouTube TV app were able to see an Open App button, but pressing it simply resulted in an error. What's worse is that the issues seem isolated to Roku, with users of devices like the Google TV Streamer 4K not issuing the same complaints. Luckily, this issue only seems to be impacting people with dedicated Roku devices and…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Let's talk about one of the most confusing terms you’ll see on your fitness tracker—specifically your Apple Watch. Next to REM sleep, which you’ve probably heard of, and “deep” sleep, which feels self explanatory, there’s “core” sleep. And if you Google what core sleep means, you’ll get a definition that is entirely opposite from how Apple uses the term. So let’s break it down. On an Apple Watch, "core sleep" is another name for light sleep, which scientists also call stages N1-N2. It is not a type of deep sleep, and has no relation to REM. But in the scientific literature, "core sleep" is not a sleep stage at all. It can …

Be careful what you share with ChatGPT these days: It'll remember everything you say. That's because OpenAI is rolling out a new update to ChatGPT's memory that allows the bot to access the contents of all of your previous chats. The idea is that by pulling from your past conversations, ChatGPT will be able to offer more relevant results to your questions, queries, and overall discussions. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, announced the changes on X, touting the usefulness of AI systems that know everything about you: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. ChatGPT's memory feature is a little over a year old at this po…

Software updates are great when they make features better, but that doesn't always happen. Case in point: a recent Google Pixel update that's brought in a flurry of complaints. One of the least popular changes altered how Pixels handle the Do Not Disturb feature. Previously, you could swipe down from the top of your Pixel's screen and press the Do Not Disturb button in quick settings to toggle it on or off. The March 2025 update changed that, forcing you to make multiple taps to activate or deactivate Do Not Disturb on your Google Pixel smartphone. Plenty of Google Pixel users took to Reddit to complain about this change. Fortunately, there are easy ways to fix this behav…

If you’re in the market for a new home, there’s a pretty good chance you've toured a few “flipped” houses—properties that were recently purchased, quickly renovated, and just as quickly put back on the market. Even amid the current real estate crunch, house flipping remains a popular business model: In the first quarter of 2024, 67,817 houses were flipped, which amounted to nearly 9% of all the houses sold during that period. Flipping is popular because it can be highly profitable, generating an average return of $73,492 per project. But those profits rely on a fast, efficient renovation—and some flippers may get in over their heads and end up cutting corners, while other…

For decades, the only way to buy a car was to physically go to a dealership. If that idea gives you an anxiety attack, you’re not alone, so it’s a relief to know that the industry is finally embracing online shopping—even Amazon has gotten in on the act, and about half the buyers in one survey shopped for their car online. But just like anything else on the internet, buying a car online comes with the risk of fraud. Scammers are setting up entire fake online dealerships and ripping people off to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. You might think you’re too savvy to get fleeces like that (who buys a $50,000 car sight unseen anyway?), but the risk is real. These fake…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you've never considered the Kindle Kids e-reader because of the label, you've been missing out on some sweet perks. The 16 GB Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids is $139.99 (originally $179.99), the lowest price it has ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Here's why this is a great deal for everyone—not just kids. (16 GB) – larger 7" glare-free display – Cyber …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While I was a total pizza hater as a child, I've come around as an adult—maybe a little too far around. It's one of my favorite things to make at home. I use pizza as a vehicle for using up leftovers, and as a way to save money on lunch. Through years of pizza trials, I've collected some sure-fire tricks that ensure the best homemade pizza possible. Flavorful crusts, balanced toppings, and even browning—you don’t need to have a home kitchen outfitted with a giant stone kiln to reach pizza perfection. But you do need to know a few things. Ferment the dough …

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 …

Microsoft has released its April 2025 Patch Tuesday update, which fixes 134 malicious bugs across its systems—including one zero-day exploit. Windows and Microsoft users should ensure their devices are up to date with the latest patches. Patch Tuesday updates for April 2025One of the vulnerabilities fixed this month was a zero-day, which is a flaw that is exploited or publicly disclosed before an official patch is released by developers. The active exploit—labeled CVE-2025-29824—is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) Driver. The flaw, which was identified by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, allowed attackers to g…

With macOS Sequoia 15.4, Apple fully rolled out all of its new Apple Intelligence features to the Mail app. As such, when you open Mail after updating to the latest OS, the app will look quite different. You'll see new "Mail Categories," a Priority Messages box, and email summaries, the latter two of which are powered by AI. It's not something many asked for, and you might be longing for the Mail app you're used to. But there's good news here: If you don't like these features, you can easily disable or customize them to suit your needs. How to disable Mail Categories on Mac …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There are no surprises with the Blink Video Doorbell camera. Blink is an established brand, and the doorbell camera has been around since 2022. What might be surprising is how cheap it has become: You can get the Blink Video Doorbell and Sync Module 2 for $34.99 (originally $69.99) after a 50% discount, the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools. Blink Video Doorbell and Sync Module 2 …

YouTube Music is a decent Spotify alternative, especially if you're already paying for YouTube Premium to remove the ads. There's a big downside, though: Google doesn't offer a desktop app for YouTube Music, meaning you have to run the application in a browser. It also means you can't really customize YouTube Music the way you can with Spotify. That's why YouTube Music Desktop App—a free application not made by Google, to be clear—exists. The app, compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux puts YouTube Music in its own window, outside of your browser, while also adding extensions for things like downloading songs, skipping the non-music parts of videos, and blocking ads. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Knife blocks seem like a great idea at first. You assume there are a variety of useful knives in there, and you get a whole row of steak knives for one low price. You may not eat steak that often, and never with seven other people, but who can say “no” to so many matching knives? You, that’s who. That mass-produced knife set is unlikely to work with your unique food personality. Skip the block of cheap knives (many of which you won’t touch anyway). Instead, focus on fewer, better, personalized knives. A high-quality knife (or three) can be versatile enough to meet all of your needs without blowing your budget. Use this gui…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is currently marked down to $119.99 on StackSocial (was $149.99), and if you’ve been eyeing a smart doorbell that won’t need rewiring or a professional install, it could fit the bill. It runs on a rechargeable battery, so setup is simple—just charge it, pop it in, and connect via the Ring app. That said, you’ll still need to recharge the battery every few months, depending on how often it’s triggered. The camera’s big sell is its expanded 1536p HD+ head-to-toe view, which means you can see visitors and packages in full…

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 …