Setting Up Your Home Office

Sleep patterns. Heart rates. Menstrual cycles. Weight fluctuations. Medication schedules. The location of major world leaders. Every morning, millions of people strap on smartwatches, open period-tracking apps, and upload their most intimate details to the cloud. We're told this data will optimize our health, help us live better lives. But there's a darker question lurking beneath the surface: Who actually owns all this information, and where exactly is the line between optimization and surveillance? First things first: What HIPAA actually protectsIn discussing this topic with friends and family, most everyone I know assumed their health data enjoys robust federal protect…

Whether you actually go back and look at photos, watch videos, or review files from years past, you may someday be disappointed if those memories disappear forever, either because you didn't back them up or your one backup was destroyed along the way. I know I have done a poor job of keeping track of media as I have upgraded computers and phones over the years, and I've lost my fair share of photos, videos, and documents along the way, whether on misplaced or damaged external drives or from simply forgetting to back up at all. Here's how to ensure your data is available for years to come. You need multiple backups of your dataOne approach to backing up your data is the…

Planning out what you’re going to do is huge for productivity, which is why SMART goals (and their alternatives) are so popular throughout the working world. Another important—but perhaps more overlooked—element of the productivity process is the assessment, however. Reviewing what you did is just as integral as planning how you’ll do it—in reviewing, you get a chance to plan better (and improve!) for next time, while also carving out space to appreciate what you did well—also a major motivator! What is an after-action review? An after-action review, or AAR, is a way to measure the results of your performance and improve on your processes. It was first introduced by the …

Since Apple first introduced iOS 26 during its WWDC keynote address this past June, most of the attention has been on the divisive "Liquid Glass" design overhaul—but there's a lot more to the latest version of the iPhone software. While the big iOS 26 features, including ones that Apple borrowed from others, got everyone talking, some of the most exciting updates have gotten a lot less attention. Here are three dozen of my favorites. 36 of the best under-the-radar features in iOS 26 Credit: Apple The above slide is all we have …

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. The internet isn't private, but that doesn't mean you have to willingly give up all of your information to use it. By default, trackers steal a lot of your data while you browse the web, but simple settings can block a lot of those trackers from functioning. As it turns out, by updating to iOS 26, your iPhone gets an upgraded tool against tracking. The feature, called Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection, is an option in Safari that hides certain browser and device data trackers typically use to b…

The easy availability of powerful generative AI programs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other image- and music-generation tools has given everyone the ability to instantly "create" any image, video, or song they can imagine. As the resulting flood of computer-made content washes up on shore, internet users and observers are calling it "slopcore." Also known as "AI slop," slopcore's aesthetic comes from people using AI as a collaborator instead of a tool, leaving the machines to make artistic choices. It's marked by the strangely off, the almost-real, and the uncanny vibe of machines imitating humanity. Slopcore often depicts deeply emotional subjects, but the lack of depth and…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Just a few months ago, Oura won a lawsuit against rival smart ring makers Ultrahuman and RingConn. Now, they've initiated proceedings against four more companies—the makers of the Samsung Galaxy Ring, Reebok Smart Ring, Amazfit Helio Ring, and the Luna Ring. Oura announced on their website that they have filed an ITC complaint against those four companies. The ITC is the U.S. International Trade Commission, and Oura says its complaint is "for the unlawful importation and sale of products that infringe on several of Oura’s patents." Oura's previous win against Ultrahuman and RingConn resulted in a judgment that those compa…

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. Spotify is finally giving its free-tier customers a feature that’s been requested since the music streaming platform launched nearly 20 years ago: the ability to listen to any song they choose. That's right: The days of searching for a song, then hitting “skip” until it rolls around on a Spotify-generated playlist are over. Free-tier users can choose songs in three ways: through the search function, by clicking on any song from the Spotify interface, or by clicking on a link shared by other users. Free-tier …

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. Whether you’re revising your notes right after class or condensing them later so you can study using the Feynman method, you’ll need a solid system for pulling out the most critical information and distilling everything down into something digestible and easy to retain. This is where the GIST method can prove extremely useful. The worst-case scenario when you're studying is that you read and read and read, but don't exactly retain much of it. That's even worse than if you don't study at all because you wa…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. If you’re on the hunt for a high-quality home theater projector with solid image quality, you can currently get an open-box XGIMI Horizon Pro 4K Projector on Woot for 55% off. With impressive visuals and sound (according to PCMag), this is one of the top projectors on the market. It’s a big step up from entry-level, pocket-sized projectors, making it a better choice for videophiles …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Earlier today, you might have seen reports that Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman. That's not really the whole story. While the company did announce a broader rebrand coinciding with the release of a new AI assistant (more on that later), it also assured users that "the Grammarly brand isn't going anywhere." Essentially, what that means is that while Grammarly the company has a new name, Grammarly the product is still going by the same tried-and-true moniker as ever. The confusion follows Grammarly's acquisition of AI-powered email app Superhuman in June, which the company said "accelerates Grammarly's evolution…

Between the sheer number and the increasing sophistication of phishing campaigns, seeing should not automatically be believing when browsing online. One particularly sneaky scam is a browser-in-the-browser (BitB) attack, in which threat actors create a fake browser window that looks like a trusted single sign-on (SSO) login page within a real browser session. Because we use SSO to access many of our online accounts, we may not think twice before entering usernames and passwords on these spoofed pages. Cybercriminals are counting on this to steal user credentials. How a browser-in-the-browser attack worksRather than redirecting users to a spoofed website, threat actors ru…

This week's tour of the world of young people careens around like an out-of-control bullet train. Everyone's talking about a pop star with a body in his trunk, a dental trend powered by TikTok, astrology-based beauty tutorials, and a football stat hound's ultimate rabbit hole. It’s a lot to take in. Who is D4vd and why was there a body in his trunk? Everyone under a certain age is talking about the singer D4vd, and it's not because he has a new album out. On September 8, Los Angeles police discovered a body in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla registered to David Anthony Burke, the birth name of the 20-year-old musician. The body was later identified as the remains…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Oura has finally answered my biggest (yet perhaps pettiest) complaint about its iconic smart ring—it’s now getting a battery-powered charging case so you can top up the battery when you’re away from your home. There are also new ring colors available, and finally, multi-ring support so you can switch between rings. In addition, Oura has announced Health Panels, a feature that lets you book a blood draw at a Quest lab and view your results in the Oura app. Whoop recently announced a similar feature, and Ultrahuman launched its Blood Vision earlier this year. Why I’m excited for the charging caseIn all the time that I’ve be…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The holidays are the perfect time to settle into your couch and check out a classic Christmas movie or 12. Streaming services have made just about any of them available at will, from traditional classics like Miracle on 34th Street, to potential future classics like Hot Frosty. That said, choosing what to watch (and finding where it's available) can be a chore, so I've compiled the best 50 Christmas movies and specials in an alphabetical list. Revisit an old favorite, or check out a classic you've never seen before (preferably with a nice cup of cocoa at hand). Bad Santa (2003) Cut through the treacle of the seaso…

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. Meta seems to have inadvertently revealed its full line-up of Meta and EssilorLuxottica's smart glasses ahead of tomorrow's Meta Connect 2025 event, including the long-rumored display-style smart glasses. Yesterday, UpLoadVR posted a (since removed) video they said they'd grabbed from Meta's own YouTube channel. Check it out: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. If the video is legit (and it sure …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Along with display-style glasses, Meta's 2025 line of smart spectacles includes a new version of Oakley Meta glasses. Called Vanguard, these shield-style smart glasses will cost $499 and go on sale Oct. 21. Vanguards feature a wrap-around frame and a 12MP camera that shoots 3K video from a center-mounted camera that can be operated hands-free. According to Meta, Vanguard glasses have a battery life of up to nine hours of daily use, improved audio, and (of course) integration with Meta's AI. At the company's Meta Connect 2025 keynote, the company also announced partnerships with Garmin and Strava. Garmin users will be abl…

If you've spent years curating playlists in Apple Music or another streaming service, you can now easily transfer your playlist to your Spotify library without needing to start from scratch or pay for a third-party service. Playlist transfers are now built into Spotify thanks to a new integration with TuneMyMusic, which facilitates music syncing, sharing, transfers, and backups across platforms. To initiate a playlist transfer from Apple Music or another streaming service (YouTube Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, etc.), open the Spotify mobile app and tap Your Library. Scroll to the bottom of the page, tap Import your music > Get Started, and follow the on-screen prom…

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. It's an exciting time to be an iPhone user. There's iOS 26, of course, which brings a number of major changes to the platform. For the daring, there's the iOS 26.1 beta, which continues to build upon the foundation of Apple's latest OS. If that weren't enough, however, it seems Apple is also working on yet another iPhone update—this time intended mostly to fix problems with the last one. The update, iOS 26.0.1, could drop any time in the coming days. These types of updates aren't necessarily unusual: Apple …