Setting Up Your Home Office

There's no doubt Google is keen to track just about everything you do online and inside its apps, but it's also fair to say the company puts a comprehensive set of security and privacy tools at its users' disposal. You can use these tools to manage data in everything from Google Maps to YouTube. And there is a lot of data to manage: With Gmail, Gemini, Android, Chrome, and all the other apps and services it runs, Google can suck up a vast amount of information about you and what you're up to. It's important to make sure this data is being managed in a way you're comfortable with, and kept safe from unauthorized access. All of these security and privacy settings can be fou…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Razer Kishi Ultra is finally seeing a real price break, now down to $99.99 from its usual $149.99—the lowest it’s been, according to price trackers. Razer Kishi Ultra Gaming Controller $99.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $149.99 Save …

Installing software on Windows can be a pain. You'll find some things for download in the Microsoft Store, sure, but a lot of other applications require you to find the official website and download an executable. It's an annoying process, especially if you have a bunch of software you need to install all at once—a lot of waiting around and clicking "Next." Manually downloading software is also a security risk. The increasing unreliability of Google search results means it's harder to find a legitimate sources for a given app, increasing your odds of downloading malware. Linux users don't have to deal with this cumbersome process—they install software using a package mana…

Rumors suggest that Apple is working on ways to make the iPad more like a Mac with iPadOS 19. While the company won't be bringing macOS to the iPad (as much as I'd love that to be the case) there could be upgrades that transform the tablet experience more into a desktop computing experience. The thing is, it isn't just the iPad that appears to be getting desktop features—the iPhone might be getting in on the fun, too. In a post covering the iPadOS 19 rumors, leaker Majin Bu had this to say about the iPhone: "iOS 19 isn’t being left behind. Source say that iPhones with USB-C will support external displays, offering a [Stage Manager-like] interface. While not a full desktop…

I didn't know it until recently, but apparently boxed cake mixes are a popular store-bought ingredient to experiment with. Thanks to you, the good people reading my food hacks, I’ve been made aware of yet another ingredient that can masquerade as an egg in cake mix. Honestly, who needs eggs when you have soda? Replacing eggs in baking can be trickyEggs continue to be unreasonably expensive, which is especially frustrating for a person like me who used to rely on them for most of my protein. I’ve made some adjustments, though, and now I try to use them only for the recipes that really require them. It might take a few failed attempts, but it's becoming easier and easier to…

Google I/O, the company's annual developer conference, is nearly here. The show kicks off May 20, and will likely center around Google's plans for its services and products for the coming year. Android, of course, is a huge Google service that is usually highlighted at each I/O. This year, however, it appears the company is taking a different approach; rather than feature Android as part of the general I/O presentation, Google is giving Android its own event, called, appropriately, "The Android Show: I/O Edition." "The Android Show" itself isn't something new for this year's I/O. It's actually an existing Google podcast that covers new features and changes surrounding the…

The next time you accidentally delete something from iCloud, you don't need to head to four different pages to recover it. Instead, you can head to iCloud's Data Recovery page and find almost everything you need in one spot. This page lets you recover deleted files from iCloud Drive, Calendar, and Contacts, and it also retains deleted Safari bookmarks. How to use iCloud's data recovery pageEven if your iCloud account is linked to Apple services, you probably don't log in to its website that often. I usually go to my iPhone's settings to check all iCloud-related information, but not everything is easy to find there. That's why you might have missed iCloud's Data Recovery p…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We might not live in a Jetsons-like future with robot maids and flying cars, but we do have the technology to transform our standard houses into futuristic smart homes. There are some very compelling reasons to do that, including having more control over your environment, increased automation for repeated tasks, and even improved security. But smart homes—and the devices that comprise them—have one enormous downside: privacy. Smart home devices work by allowing access over a network, and as a result, every single smart device in your home, from the lock on your door to the light bulbs in your fixtures, is a potential weak …

Amazon hasn't yet released a full list of what's coming to Prime Video in May, but there are a handful of original titles ranging from documentaries to dark comedies. First up is Another Simple Favor (May 1), a Paul Feig comedy-mystery film and sequel to 2018's A Simple Favor. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively reprise their roles as Stephanie Smothers and Emily Nelson, this time amid a murder that takes place at Emily's wedding in Capri, Italy. Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Michele Morrone, and Allison Janney also appear. At the end of the month, eight-episode thriller series The Better Sister (May 29) stars Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks as estranged sisters …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Elgato Stream Deck sits on the desk of your favorite Twitch and YouTube streamers, just off camera. It's there, trust me. I know, because using its customizable LCD buttons is one of the easiest ways to launch and manage apps without disrupting what you're doing. In other words, what makes the Stream Deck useful for streamers also makes it a powerful productivity tool. I've been advocating using gaming peripherals for productivity for—is it already almost a decade?—and the Stream Deck takes that advice to the next level. It's is much more customizable than your typical gaming keyboard, allowing you to assign common tas…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. You've probably heard of Sonos smart speakers and soundbars, which offer some of the best audio quality in the market. What you may not know, however, is that Sonos also makes the excellent Sonos Ace headphones, which released last summer. Right now, they're on sale for $349 (originally $449), the lowest price they've ever been, according to price tracking tools. Sonos Ace …

Thanking your AI chatbot when it provides a response to a query may not require much energy on its own, but the cost of your interactions will add up over time—and a new tool from Hugging Face can tell you approximately how much. The ChatUI energy interface estimates the energy consumption involved in messaging with an AI model in real time, with comparisons to common appliances like LED light bulbs and phone chargers. You can type in any query or utilize one of the suggested inputs to generate a response along with the corresponding energy requirement. For example, a "professional email" took an AI just over 25 seconds to create and required 0.5 watt-hours, the equival…

For the past five years, Google's Emoji Kitchen has offered a way for users to make unique emojis from existing icons. The feature lets you take two emojis and combine them into one to make emojis that are familiar yet new. You can take the saluting emoji and combine it with the robot emoji to make a saluting robot, or the alien emoji and the "shh" emoji to make an alien telling you to be quiet. You can't necessarily mix each and every emoji that you see in your emoji keyboard, though—first, Google has to make those combinations possible. Every now and then, Google will include new combinations within software updates, even if they don't advertise each one. The more ofte…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Youth culture moves fast. New slang is created and abandoned in days, whole communities organize around a blurry photograph, jokes become memes, memes become rituals, and everything might is abandoned before you even notice it exists. It's like to trying to study a snowflake: Once you can look at it, it's already melted. So it is this week, as I take a look a new lexicon of brain-rot slang (that might not really be slang), a meme format based on threatening to eat your Uber driver, and the performative disappointment of youth. Plus, as a reminder that we still still share something, a video about humanity's never-ending fa…

AI video generators are rapidly improving and becoming more widely available, with Google's Veo 2 now built into the Gemini app for anyone paying for a Google One AI Premium plan. Like OpenAI's Sora, Runway, Adobe's Firefly, and others, Veo 2 enables you to create a professional-looking video from nothing more than a text prompt. With Veo 2 now available to paying users, it seems like a good opportunity to test these different AI video generators against each other, and compare their strengths and weaknesses—and to assess where we're at with AI video in general. We keep being told that these tools will transform movie-making, or at least fill the internet with AI slop, bu…

Months after enabling Deep Research in its expensive $200 ChatGPT Pro plan, OpenAI is now rolling out the feature to all users. Anyone can now access a lightweight version of Deep Research for free. This new version of Deep Research sits somewhere between a regular ChatGPT search and a ChatGPT Pro-style in-depth report. These searches usually take around five to ten minutes, and give you a report that's about a page or two long. In my experience, its reports are practical, to-the-point, and well-researched. How the new "lightweight" ChatGPT Deep Research worksDeep Research is different from a regular ChatGPT search. Here, ChatGPT will use all of its resources, like its re…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you're tied into the Apple ecosystem and looking to upgrade your mouse or streamline your desk setup, Woot is offering a refurbished Apple Magic Mouse 2 for $49.99 for the next twelve days—or until it sells out. That’s a decent cut from its current $79.95 listing on Amazon. It's worth mentioning upfront that this is a refurbished unit, which means it might show minor signs of previous use, but it’s been inspected and approved to work properly. Woot throws in a 90-day limited warranty, and free shipping is available if you’re an Amazon Prime membe…

I keep looking for ways to free up storage space on my iPhone and on iCloud. I am a data hoarder who hates deleting things, but when I almost managed to fill up my 256GB iPhone, I knew I had a problem and began aggressively deleting unwanted data. However, photos takes up most of the storage on my iPhone, which has put me in a bit of a spot. I find it hard to delete old photos, but if I don't do that, I may eventually have to start paying a lot more for cloud storage to back up my data. If you're in the same boat as I am, the answer is simpler than you might think. Here are a few ways to delete photos and free up storage space on both your iPhone and on iCloud. Define wha…

Saving up to retire takes decades of planning (and sometimes sacrifice), not to mention a steady income that allows you to put that money aside. Not everyone makes it to the finish line; in 2024, close to 5% of people with 401(k) plans took a hardship withdrawal, pulling money from their future to solve immediate financial needs. If you’re not yet 59½ years old (and don’t qualify for one of the exceptions allowed by the IRS) this can be a costly decision, though, because in addition to paying taxes on the withdrawal (which is considered income), you’ll be slapped with a 10% penalty. But if you need to access your retirement funds a little early, there’s a way to do it wit…

You’d think we all have enough stress in our lives already, but for some reason we still love those heart-pumping thrillers—whether the quiet, suspenseful kind or the big action spectacles. It might be that the things that get our hearts racing in real life are in the realm of “oh no, this medical bill,” making a spy movie, a heist-gone-wrong scenario, or even a dark kidnapping story a good vehicle for vicarious (and comparatively cheap) thrills. Regardless, here are the best thrillers currently streaming on Netflix, with a variety of tones that run from mildly tense to extremely dark. Rebel Ridge (2024) If you hadn't previously considered "civil forfeiture" as …

Nintendo Switch 2 preorders are currently underway (if you can manage to find a store with inventory, that is). As we approach the console's June 5 launch date, it's worth getting a bit reflective: The Switch as a product line is now more than eight years old, and Nintendo has made some significant changes with this latest device. If you have a Switch and are thinking about picking up a Switch 2, you might be wondering how these two generations of consoles compare. Now, Nintendo didn't just release one console during the Switch era: It released three. There's the original Switch, the Switch OLED, and the Switch Lite. I'm taking a look at all three and comparing their spec…

After years of pan frying steaks to the charming tune of Brooklyn smoke detectors, I was delighted when I finally learned about reverse searing—a cooking method where you slowly bring the steak up to temperature in the conventional oven, and sear it briefly afterward. This method keeps the billowing smoke to a minimum, cooks the protein more evenly, and can prevent overcooking. The trade off: a comparatively long cooking time. Since I’m always interested in trying to make a good thing work better for me, I set out to try and speed up the reverse searing method. I just needed something to bake gently, but faster. Luckily, there is an appliance that does exactly that—the a…

Spider, Minesweeper, and Hearts—these longtime staples of Windows (plus other familiar titles, from Solitaire to Freecell) have been missing in action since the launch of Windows 8 in 2012. Sure, you can find versions of these games in the Microsoft Store, but they're cluttered with ads and generally don't feel as good to play as the classic iterations so many of us remember. But there's a way to get the OG time-wasters back. It's not even particularly hard to do: An installer built by Winaero—a long running website that offers all kinds of system tweaking tools—makes it easy to get these classic games running on computers operating with Windows 8, 10, or 11. The games ar…