Setting Up Your Home Office

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…

For many of us, Monday was a workday defined by the AWS outage. Amazon Web Services experienced intermittent issues, throwing a huge fraction of the internet into chaos, as the sites and services built on it faltered or stopped working altogether. It was a sobering reminder that a lot of the world relies on AWS for networking, computing, and data storage. Truth be told, I was surprised to learn just how owned we really are, especially after a number of my work apps experienced issues. In fact, over four million business with a physical address use AWS for cloud-computing needs. It is the largest cloud infrastructure servicer in the world, with a whopping 30% of the marke…

Apple’s iOS 26 drops today, and with it comes a bunch of small tweaks and improvements to how your iPhone works. The catch? A lot of them are opt-in, so you need to turn them on before you can reap their benefits. Here are the settings you should turn on after updating your iPhone to Apple’s latest operating system, although note that some of them require an iPhone 15 Pro or later, as they rely on Apple Intelligence. Adaptive battery modeIf you’re like me, you can never decide whether it’s worth it to swap your phone over to Battery Saver mode. Now, if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or above, your iPhone can make the decision for you. Apple’s new Adaptive Power mode uses Apple…

In 2023, Apple introduced the Double Tap feature for Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. This allows a user to perform common actions, like answering or starting a song, simply by quickly tapping their thumb and index finger together twice. It was an intuitive way to confirm when you wanted to do something on your watch without tapping a tiny touchscreen button, but what if you wanted to dismiss something? Now, with the release of watchOS 26, Wrist Flick is here to solve that problem. Also available on Apple Watch Series 9 (and higher) as well as Apple Watch Ultra 2 (and higher), Wrist Flick is kind of like Double Tap’s evil twin. If you get a notification you don’t like, o…

I love finding new ways to use apps to make my life easier, but sometimes, I find that I'm using so much tech in my real life that I get a little bogged down. That's been true with my workouts and health for a while: I weigh myself in the morning on a smart scale, which distributes the data to a nutrition app, Apple Health, and Peloton. I go to the gym and use my Apple Watch's Workouts feature to track my cardio, then open up Strong to track my lifting. At home, I use Peloton to track my cycling workouts, stretching, yoga, and much more. It all gets to be a little much! That's why I was pumped when I found an overlooked feature on my Peloton app recently: I can track my n…

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. The second-generation Arlo Video Doorbell is currently down to $59.99 on Amazon, a big drop from its usual $129.99 price and the lowest it’s ever been, according to price trackers. Arlo Video Doorbell 2nd Generation …

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 …

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. Among competitors like Twitch and even Instagram, YouTube might not be the go-to name in livestreaming, but its latest features are doing their best to change that. Announced at Google’s Made on YouTube event today, the site will soon let streamers go live with simultaneous horizontal and vertical streams, plus use AI to automatically “clip that.” Oh, and there’s some new corporate cross-promotion, too. Stream horizontally and vertically at the same timeCurrently in testing and set to get a wider release …

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. iOS 26 is here, and with it, Apple’s “Liquid Glass” design revamp. Yesterday, I covered how to quickly undo most of the harshest changes that come with Liquid Glass, but a complaint users are making today requires an entirely separate fix. Luckily, there is an option that could help you, although it’s not for everyone. Dark Mode icons look a little tilted right nowAs users are posting over on Reddit, it turns out that Dark Mode app icons don’t play nicely with iOS 26’s new Liquid Glass aesthetic. How much…

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. "Never pay full price for a MacBook Air" seems to be the takeaway from the latest Apple launches. Apple unveiled its updated lineup of M4-powered MacBook Air laptops in early March, and all the M4s saw their first discounts a few weeks later. The M4, M3, M2, and M1 MacBook Airs are all discounted right now, with some at their lowest prices ever, according to price-tracking tools. If…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Boox Palma e-reader is unquestionably my favorite gadget from the last few years, but I also get why so many people find it to be a bit confounding: It's a phone-shaped e-ink device that has all the capabilities of a modern Android smartphone, but it doesn't have cellular functionality, which means it can't take calls. A recent rumor suggested that might be changing soon, but it turned out to be an overstatement: According to a statement I received from a spokesperson for Boox maker Onyx International, the forthcoming "Palma 3" (which might be called something else) still won't work as a phone, though it will have mo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As a new parent, it’s unfortunately pretty normal to be paranoid about whether your baby is breathing when you put them down for a nap. Gadgets promise peace of mind—like heart rate or movement sensors that attach to your baby or their crib. But the FDA is warning against most of them. As the FDA writes in a safety communication to parents and pediatricians, no devices are approved to prevent or reduce the chances of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUID). If a device says it will do this, the FDA advises avoiding that product entirely. When it comes to devices that just claim …

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. The iPhone Air is a brand-new type of phone for Apple, shrinking down the iPhone’s internals into the thinnest form factor yet, at just 0.22 inches thick. Despite all that, Apple is promising up to 27 hours of video playback, which is just three hours fewer than it’s estimating for the iPhone 17. Honestly, I'm skeptical—and I’m not alone in that. Most of the phones I test don’t quite live up to their official battery life estimates, which are always done in …

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. Memory is a tricky thing. Scientists have figured out how many units of information you can store in your short-term memory (around seven, though there are great workarounds for remembering more than that), but if you really want to remember something, you have to go over it a bunch of times until it lodges deeper in your brain. There are quite a few ways to do that if you have some time to devote to the practice of repetition, but if you’re getting ready for a test at school or a presentation at work, …

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. The Samsung S90D 4K OLED TV is currently going for $1,697.99 on Woot until Sept. 30 or while supplies last. That’s over $180 cheaper than the current Amazon listing ($1,878.99), and the lowest price it’s hit so far, according to price-trackers. Just a heads up: Delivery is handled by a freight carrier, so you’ll need to provide a valid phone number and address during checkout to sch…

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. Are you ready for The Rapture and the days of turmoil to follow? Because, if some corners of the Evangelical Christian community online are correct, it's happening today (or maybe tomorrow) just in time for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish feast of The Presidentets. Whether true believers will meet Jesus up in the air this week remains to be seen, so I'm keeping an open mind, but I wanted to lay out what to expect, should the Rapture occur. According to the New King James translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "T…

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. In the years since the launch of ChatGPT, AI tools have developed a bad reputation in the academic world for how easy they make it for students to cheat, passing off the work of a large language model as their own. Even if an LLM can produce writing for you that doesn't come off as unnatural and riddled with hallucinations, you'll be shortchanging yourself, because you won't actually absorb any of the material. But that's not to say these tools serve no purpose in the academic world. If used correctly, t…

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. In a press conference totally divorced from reality as scientists and doctors understand it, President The President announced yesterday that the FDA would be warning providers and patients away from acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) in pregnancy. There were some other unsubstantiated claims about vaccines and autism mixed in, so let me break down what’s actually known and understood here. What is acetaminophen? Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter medication used to relieve pain and fevers. The flagship prod…

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. A good outdoor floodlight camera is supposed to do two things: light your property and capture footage you can actually use. The Arlo Wired Floodlight Camera covers both at a fair price. It’s currently marked down to $99.99 on Amazon (regularly $149.99), and price trackers confirm this is the lowest it’s ever been. Arlo Wired Floodlight Camer…

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. Strap in: Another Amazon Prime Day is around the corner. This fall event is technically called "Prime Big Deal Days" and will run from Tuesday, October 7 to Wednesday, October 8. We'll keep you updated with all the best deals leading up to and all throughout the mega-sale. But to take advantage of everything Prime Day has to offer, you’re going to need to be a Prime Member. Millions of Amazon Prime users currently pay $14.99 per month or $139 per year for th…

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. When you install a major update like iOS 26, you find yourself discovering things the more you use it. You might find a new way to boost your battery life, or stop those spam calls and texts for good. For me, however, one of my favorite discoveries was a small but excellent change to group chats—which doubles as a way to discover which of your contacts have also updated to iOS 26. Typing indicators join the group chat Once people update their iPhones to iOS 26, group chats start supporting typing indicators…

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 my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Early October Prime Day Deals are here, and some good ones are rolling in. Amazon devices have big discounts right now, and that includes Kindle readers. Right now, Amazon is offering Prime Members bundles for the Kindle, Kindle Colorsoft, Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, Kindle Paperwhite, and Kindle Scribe, where most of them are cheaper than getting the standalone tablet, making…

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. If I told you Apple rolled out a new feature with iOS 26 that allows Maps to track your movements, and save that information for later, what would you think? On the surface, it does sound pretty invasive, especially from a company that typically promotes user privacy. While this really is a new feature, here's the thing: It isn't as bad as it sounds. And, if you really don't like it, you can turn it off. The feature, "Visited Places," is actually intended to be a private way to keep tabs on the places you've…

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. There's much to say about Sora, which is essentially OpenAI's TikTok for AI slop. But putting my concerns aside for what appears to be a glorified deepfake machine, it's evident the app is popular. OpenAI says Sora hit one million downloads in under five days, likely fueled by interest from users seeing hyper-realistic videos going viral on social media. But with big hype, comes big risk for fraud. While OpenAI made Sora free to download, the app started out invite-only, which only built anticipation for us…

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 Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. I love going to a reformer Pilates studio for a (pricey) workout but I also love staying home to work out on my own. In the end, it just depends on my mood. Good news for people like me: Tonal is rolling out reformer-style Pilates with its new update. If you have the at-home weight training device or are considering getting one, this could be major for you. Even if you're not someone who wakes up on a Saturday morning excited to go trade $65 for 45 minute…