Setting Up Your Home Office

If you just tried to open Instagram on your phone or computer, only to find that nothing would load, don't worry: It's not your wifi, nor is Verizon experiencing another outage. The fault instead lies with Meta, as Instagram is currently down. That's according to Downdetector, owned by Lifehacker parent company Ziff Davis, which shows over 2,000 user reports of issues with Instagram at the time of this writing. The issues seem to affect Instagram in all forms. While the mobile app was working last time I checked, I couldn't get it to load in Safari. That means you might not be able to check out posts, add new posts, or send and receive DMs—at least until Meta figures out…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple just casually announced the new M4 MacBook Air with sales beginning on March 12. While that may be exciting news for anyone looking to get the latest and greatest devices, it can also be a boon for anyone hunting for deals. After new products launch, there tend to be some great discounts on earlier models to help clear inventory. Apple unfortunately has a pretty controlled sales market, so finding new units of earlier models may be difficult. But if you’re familiar and comfortable with the wide world of refurbished products, you can find some …

Controlling a computer with a mouse might seem like second nature to you, but to people with motor control issues or other disabilities preventing them from keeping a steady hand on a peripheral, it can be a frustrating endeavor. That’s why Google’s giving Chromebook users the ability to control their cursors with their faces. Initially announced in December, Face Control allows Chromebooks to use your webcam and facial gestures as input. Look down to move your cursor down to your menu, or look up and to the left to hover over the Compose button in Gmail. Move your mouth left or right to left-click or right-click, and open your mouth to start using voice-to-text. …

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. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Our Prime Day coverage is already underway. We're helping you catch the best early deals, and giving you live access to the best deals our team of experts can find. All of our recommended deals have been vetted using price tracking tools, so you can trust that the sales we're talking about are actually good deals, and not just hype designed to fool you. Remember, you need to be a Prime Member to have access to all of Amazon's Prime Day deals, and to get free shipping. Prime membership starts at $14.99 per month ($139 per year) and comes with more be…

To me, the under-desk treadmill is the ultimate symbol of productivity culture (read: late-stage capitalism). And I'm exactly the type to buy into the under-desk treadmill appeal. Why shouldn't I want to walk while I work, burn calories during calls, and transform my sedentary office prisons into a wellness wonderland—all without sacrificing a single billable hour? (Never mind that I don't work in an office or bill my hours.) Office fitness is the perfect hack for our optimization-obsessed culture, promising that we can have it all: career success and physical health, no trade-offs required. But when I see an under-desk treadmill, I also remember when we all swore that r…

When Apple introduced Liquid Glass to the public in June of last year, it kicked off a saga that's still ongoing. The company's toned down the effect multiple times, and in November, it added controls for tinting it. Some have even found out ways to disable Liquid Glass entirely. It's not a quagmire I'd jump into willingly, but apparently, that's exactly what Android's about to do. According to "images of internal builds" seen by 9to5Google, Android's next update will add significant amounts of blur "across Android 17." "Throughout the OS, you can expect a system UI that switches from solid light or dark backgrounds to a blur effect that allows you to see what's immediate…

Good news, Android users: It no longer matters whether or not you have one of Google's latest and greatest devices—at least when it comes to recording calls with Google's Phone app. As spotted by 9to5Google, Google just opened up call recording in its app to Pixel 6 and newer. You won't get access to the Phone app's latest AI features, but if all you want is a reliable way to record phone calls, you'll be set. Google announced this new rollout back in September, calling the ability to record calls a "fundamentally useful feature," even without transcription or automatic note taking. That's certainly true: While the idea of recording phone calls might strike some as nefar…

Raycast is one of the best things to happen to Windows. It brings one of my favorite Mac apps to Microsoft's operating system. In fact, I've enjoyed using Raycast for Windows so much, I can't see myself going back to the non-Raycast life. This app is free to download and use, though there is an optional paid subscription for those who want certain additional features. What is Raycast? Credit: Pranay Parab At its heart, Raycast is an app that lets you search for apps and files stored in your computer. It stays hidden until you …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. October Prime Day is nearly here, and with it comes a surge of discounts and savings. While Amazon wants you to think each and every deal you come across is worth your time and attention, the truth is that few of these deals are actually that great. All the chaos overwhelms even the most seasoned online shopper, making it hard to know if you’re really saving money at all. But there’s one category that will undoubtedly stand out on Prime Days by design: tech m…

They actually did it. OpenAI officially deprecated GPT-4o on Friday, despite the model's particularly passionate fan base. This news shouldn't have been such a surprise. In fact, the company announced that Feb. 13 would mark the end of GPT-4o—as well as models like GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and o4-mini—just over two weeks ago. However, whether you're one of the many who are attached to this model, or you simply know how dedicated 4o's user base is, you might be surprised OpenAI actually killed its most agreeable AI. This isn't the first time the company depreciated the model, either. OpenAI previously shut down GPT-4o back in August, to coincide with the release of GPT-5. U…

Although OpenAI is most famous for creating ChatGPT, I've been mostly focused on their efforts with AI video generation. Sora, the company's short-form AI video generator, is already tricking people across social media with hyperrealistic AI slop. I fear we've already reached a point where it's too difficult to trust that what you seen on your feeds is actually real. But today, we're taking a break from the AI video doom, and returning our attention back to OpenAI's flagship product. On Wednesday, the company announced the latest versions of GPT, the model that power ChatGPT: GPT-5.1 Instant, and GPT-5.1 Thinking. OpenAI says Instant is the company's most-used model, but …

https://enterprise.shutterstock.com/image-photo/openai-logo-displayed-on-smartphone-screen-2520388517 or https://enterprise.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chatgpt-logo-displayed-on-smartphone-screen-2520385879 Last August, ChatGPT developers OpenAI unceremoniously killed the fan favorite GPT-4o model, before giving in to complaints and bringing it back a week later. Now, the company's taking a second swing at getting its users to move on. In a new post to its website, OpenAI announced that it's retiring GPT-4o again. The model's set to disappear from ChatGPT's model picker on Feb. 13, alongside other older models like GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and OpenAI o4-Mini. And OpenAI …

In a livestream today, OpenAI finally announced the launch of its GPT-4.5 model, but with a twist: For now, using it requires a $200 per month ChatGPT Pro subscription. That’s because the new large language model, or LLM, is still technically in a “research preview” state. This is all apparently shorthand for “please pay us for the privilege of being a beta tester.” Jokes aside, the company is promising GPT-4.5 provides more “natural conversation,” and performs better when it comes to programming, pattern recognition, writing, and “solving practical problems.” Note that GPT-4.5 isn’t intended as a reasoning model, meaning it won’t have the self-correcting or deep researc…

Back in December, OpenAI rolled out a new way to chat with ChatGPT: You can reach out to the generative AI by calling 1-800-CHATGPT (no, really)—or, if you have WhatsApp, you can text that same number to share what's on your mind. While many of ChatGPT's distinct features were missing, the core of the experience was still present. You text or ask ChatGPT something out loud, and the bot responds in kind. For WhatsApp users, that largely feels like texting a friend—only, that friend happens to respond right away with a detailed response generated entirely by AI. (We all have one of those friends, right?) Now, less than two months after rolling out this new way to contact …

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Last year, I wrote that we should all be scared of Sora, OpenAI's AI video generator. Sora's initial rollout promised hyper-realistic videos that, while exciting to some, terrified me. While AI fans see a future of AI-generated movies and shows, I see a future where no one can tell what's real or fake. To me, the only destination for this technology is mass disinformation. In the year and a half since, these AI-generated videos haven't only become more realistic; they've also become more accessible, as compa…

When OpenAI was started in 2015, its founders (including both Sam Altman and Elon Musk) chose to make it a nonprofit. Its initial goal was to guarantee that artificial general intelligence (AGI), a type of AI that is theoretically better at humans at most tasks, would benefit everyone. The company has gone through a number of changes in the years since. It hasn't been a true nonprofit since 2019, when it moved to a "capped-profit" structure, which limited profits to 100 times any investment. Musk even sued the company last year, claiming it had ditched its original mission in favor of profits. But now, OpenAI is looking more like a traditional for-profit company than ever…

Not to be out-done by Deepseek, OpenAI is launching a new Deep Research feature in ChatGPT. This is OpenAI's newest Agentic AI feature (after Operator), which builds on the recent trend of making AI more autonomous. According to OpenAI, Deep Research is capable of producing detailed reports matching the level of a research analyst. In a layperson's terms, it browses and interprets the internet for you. Deep Research uses OpenAI's upcoming o3 reasoning model to perform complex tasks, taking its own sweet time to do so. The feature is available now for ChatGPT Pro customers (the pricey sub that costs $200/month), but will soon be available for ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise us…

OpenAI has officially entered the browser wars. On Tuesday, the company announced Atlas, a new web browser with ChatGPT integration. At the moment, it's Mac-only, but I wouldn't recommend even my Apple friends jumping on board immediately—at least not without understanding the underlying risks. Atlas' AI web browsing If you've already used other AI browsers, like Perplexity's Comet, Atlas is going to feel familiar. In fact, that's also likely true if you've used any web browser before: Atlas is built on Chromium, the engine that powers browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. That means the core mechanics of Atlas are fairly standard; there's nothi…

OpenAI is officially rolling out its latest model, o3-mini, starting today, Friday, Jan. 31. The company shared the news in a blog post on its website, just over a month after officially announcing the model during its "12 Days of OpenAI." As with each refreshed generative AI model, o3-mini is an improvement over o1-mini—but not by as much as you might think. OpenAI says the two models perform the same in math, coding, and science, but o3-mini offers quicker answers to user queries—24% faster, in A/B testing. According to the company, testers comparing the models found o3-mini produces "more accurate and clear answers, with stronger reasoning abilities." And, with "medium…

Following a surge in popularity for Chinese AI app Deepseek and its free reasoning model this week, frequent OpenAI collaborator Microsoft is helping America’s AI leader drop the paywall on its own reasoning model, giving all Copilot users free access to OpenAI o1. Notice the distinct lack of a “Plus” or “Pro” after “Copilot.” You won’t need specialized hardware for this, nor will you need a ChatGPT or Copilot subscription. The news came via a LinkedIn post from Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, wherein the executive said Copilot’s “Think Deeper” feature is now “free and available for all users of Copilot.” Think Deeper began testing in October and essentially gives the …

We're now starting to see some rudimentary AI agents appear: tools that can not only write code and solve math problems, but also perform actions on your behalf. And Opera has announced the first AI agent for its browser, the aptly named Browser Operator. The idea is that Browser Operator can take care of some tedious online tasks for you, saving you time and clicks. It could arrange your next grocery order, for example, or check out hotel prices in a place you're thinking of visiting. "For more than 30 years, the browser gave you access to the web, but it has never been able to get stuff done for you," says Opera's Krystian Kolondra. "Now it can." Right now the feature i…

There's a lot going on right now. And it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Especially when you're (maybe chronically) online. Most of your work life, and personal life, all happens online. And sometimes it's really easy to get carried away doomscrolling and forget that, sometimes, you need to touch some grass. Opera Air is a new browser, hoping, trying, to save you from all of that. Opera Air has built-in features that remind you to take a break every hour or so, and in that break time, suggests that you do some breath work, meditation, or some relaxation exercises. There's also a dedicated background music feature that plays customizable binaural beats to help incre…

I'm a full-screen apps guy on my Mac. I love sending each app to its own workspace and swiping between them to use the one I need. When I'm writing, it helps me focus on the task at hand, and it's not hard to use three and four-finger swipes on my trackpad get to my other productivity apps as I need them. However, messenger apps like WhatsApp and Slack are an exception. I need to be able to check these out at a moment's notice, like when I'm using my browser in full-screen. Luckily, that's where the Opera sidebar comes in. This handy tool is home to social media apps, messengers, and even some streaming services, keeping them from getting lost in separate tabs and letting…