Setting Up Your Home Office

Your phone is a one-stop shop for a lot of your personal information, from day-to-day activities logged in your calendar and email to financial data accessed via banking apps. If you let someone else use your device—whether you're showing a friend a collection of photos or allowing a stranger to make an emergency call—there's a lot you don't want them to be able to see. If you're an iPhone user, there are several features you can enable to prevent others from snooping around your device. Use Guided AccessIf you don't want someone using your device to see anything else on it, you can turn on Guided Access, which limits them to a single app (such as Phone or Photos). This…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Bone conduction headphones are ideal for activities where it is vital to your safety to hear your surroundings. That's because they use a technology that sends audio vibrations through to the inner ear while leaving your ear canals open. Shokz is one of the best brands—if not the best brand—making bone conduction headphones right now; at the high end of Shokz's offerings is the OpenRun Pro 2, which I got to review and put to the test. But the OpenRun Pro are also quality headphones and are currently discounted to $109.95 (originally $179.95), the lo…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Withings launched their $600 Body Scan 2 smart scale at CES Unveiled last night—but they're positioning it as a "longevity station" rather than a smart scale. The device has a handle in addition to the footplate, which allows for extra sensors, and the new features include things like hypertension notifications that we've previously seen from smartwatches. (Hypertension notifications only just came to the Apple Watch a few months ago.) I got to see the Body Scan 2 at a CES event but haven't had a chance to use it for myself. According to Withings, the Body Scan 2 can measure "60+ biomarkers" that it says are relevant to t…

Need some help writing your emails? Through the wonders of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), you can now get messages composed on your behalf in Gmail, in Apple Mail, in Outlook, and in many other email clients. Most of the time, the AI option pops up straight away, ready to give you however much assistance you need. The pitch is that you can offload the drudgery of dealing with email to AI, and move on to other tasks that may be more interesting and important. Anecdotally, I've spoken to quite a few people who now use AI chatbots in this way. But it's not something I'm ready to embrace, and I don't think I ever will. These are my reasons, which may or may not resonate…

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is often referred to as "the most powerful tech event in the world," bringing together tech companies from around the globe to unveil their latest innovations. The massive event is held across various locations, including the Las Vegas Convention Center, The Venetian, Mandalay Bay, and The Sphere, and is a staple event for both companies vying for recognition and media outlets that cover them. One day into "Unveiled," the media-only prelude to the trade show, I landed on what might be my mantra for my CES 2026 experience. "Cool, if true," Associate Tech Editor Michelle Ehrhardt had said about a new product booth, summarizing how I felt …

Before we toss the year 2025 onto the temporal dungheap where it belongs, let's take a look back at the year that has passed from the point of view of the people who have to live here even longer than we have to. Below is a month-by-month replay of the year, focusing on the memes, events, and ideas that shape and define Generations Z and Alpha. January: "TikTok refugees" move to RedNoteFor Gen Z, 2025 began with a panic that turned into a unique cross-cultural experiment. In January 2025, ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, announced that it was about to shut down the social media platform in the U.S. Ahead of the shut-down (which didn't end up happening) a wav…

At CES 2026, I was able to play the Nintendo Switch 2 in AR. That's something I hadn't done before, and that's because until now, only one company had an AR dock that worked with Nintendo's latest console, which doesn't like to play nice with AR glasses plugged directly into it. Viture's solution is fine, if a bit bulky, but Lifehacker has long praised the AR glasses from competitor XREAL, and finally, you can use XREAL glasses with the Nintendo Switch 2. Previously, XREAL did have an accessory that allowed for gameplay on the original Nintendo Switch, but it's since been discontinued, and even if you buy it secondhand, it won't work with the Switch 2. Now, the XREAL NEO …

While CES doesn't technically kick off until Tuesday, the conference gets a bit of a soft launch with CES Unveiled. This event hosts a ton of companies, all proudly showing off their latest products and concepts in one giant room. While there's plenty to write home about, five products in particular this year caught my eye: Tombot Credit: Lifehacker Tombot's robotic puppy, "Jennie," isn't supposed to be a pet-replacement. Instead, Jennie is specifically designed to help people with Alzheimer's. The bot is a healthcare device, a…

If you've ever looked into trading in your smartphone for a dumbphone, you might have stumbled across Punkt. The German-based company's MP01 and MP02 phone were purposely not "smart;" rather, they were minimalist slabs of plastic, sporting a tiny display and an array of large, physical buttons. The point of owning a Punkt device isn't to sit scrolling on your smartphone for hours on end; it's to use your phone when you need to—privately, at that. The MP03 looks like any other smartphone at firstThe company's latest phone, the MP03, flips the script a bit. While there's still a focus on privacy and minimalism, this newest device is virtually indistinguishable from other A…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Clicks, the company behind those physical keyboard cases for your smartphone, has announced a new device, but it'll look pretty familiar to anyone who's used a Blackberry before. It's called the Clicks Communicator, and it's a pocketable little handset that's perfect for anyone who misses having physical buttons on their phone. It comes with a full, old-school style QWERTY keyboard and runs Android 16, and while you can pump it full of apps and use it standalone, Clicks says it expects many of its customers will prefer to use it as a minimalistic companion to a primary smartphone. In that way, this device is designed to be…

There are a lot of ways I trick myself into meeting my goals, like coming up with various rewards and punishments for myself or outsourcing my progress tracking to apps. In general, I'm a deeply goal-oriented person and I am, for better or worse, obsessed with "winning"—which I always thought made me a perfect candidate for complicated productivity techniques like detailed to-do lists full of tasks in order of priority. While I do love a good technique, I decided to switch things up last year when I got worried that maybe I was spending so much time prioritizing and planning that I wasn't spending enough time doing. So I just focused on the doing—and it worked. Here's wha…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. There's something extra satisfying about starting a new year with an upgrade that actually makes a difference in your daily routine. After years of relying on my traditional percussive massage guns, I've made the switch to the Rally Orbital Massager. And one by one, my friends have started following in my footsteps to make the same move. Hey, there's something validating about watching people you trust independently come to the same conclusion. Why I love the Rally Orbital MassagerDon't get me wrong—my Theragun still serves me well. It's been a reliable companion after workouts, helping ease tension and speed up recovery.…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Winter weather can be miserable, but there is one huge perk: snowball fights. Any time a deep carpet of snow gets dumped on us, you can count on a bunch of kids (or young-at-heart adults) engaging in epic snowball fights, sometimes involving surprisingly well-engineered snow forts and sophisticated tactics. This is the 21st century, however—if you’re still fighting your snowball fights with nothing but your bare hands and a sense of determination, you’re missing out. We can’t all be Buddy the Elf, shotgunning perfectly made snowballs like some sort of winter weather Terminator—but we can invest in some of the most fun snow…

Petkit just announced three new smart pet tech products ahead of CES. Despite the conference not kicking off until Tuesday, the company shared details around its upcoming devices that are likely to launch this spring. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Petkit advertises all three pet devices as "AI-powered," and while that's been a go-to gimmick for companies since 2023, there are some unique applications here—assuming the devices actually do what Petkit says they do. Purobot Crystal Duo litterboxPetkit says the Purobot Crystal Duo is the first AI-powered open-top litter box, and that the Purobot uses the tech for health detection. This device has an 720p AI-powered camera that mon…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you actually want to stick to your healthy goals for the year, I'm warning you now, you need some kind of plan—something concrete to motivate you. Something that helped me stay on top of my workouts a ton over the last year was my Peloton Bike and subscription to the brand's app—they enabled me to work out from home, at the gym, or anywhere, basically. Right now, you can get both those (and other equipment, if you're so inclined) for a discount, so this might be the moment to consider an investment. The Peloton equipment sale …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Pebble, the early smartwatch pioneer, has added a new model to its relaunched lineup, and it’s the thin, round model Pebble fans have been waiting for. What’s even more intriguing to me is the fact that the Pebble Round 2 doesn’t have a heart rate sensor, signaling that a smartwatch doesn’t have to be a fitness watch, too. The Pebble Round 2 starts shipping in May, and is available for pre-order now at $199. The new watch is meant to be a modern remake of 2015’s Pebble Time Round. Pebble fans loved the round watch, and every thread about new products on the Pebble subreddit has at least a few comments begging for a new ver…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I do a lot of things on a regular basis that people might classify as “good habits.” I go for a walk every morning. I hit the gym nearly every day. I prep my meals on the weekends so I always have something healthy to eat for lunch. But I didn’t arrive at these behaviors solely through habit stacking or some other clever hack. Because the truth is, most “habits” are really skills that take work and time to develop—not simple set-it-and-forget-it hacks. Most “habits” aren’t that simplePsychologists define “habits” as things we do automatically in a specific situation. “For example, the act of hair twirling may eventually o…

What kind of New Year’s resolution you make depends on your unique goals—which means you need a way to track your progress that is just as unique. If your resolution is to cut back on social media use and your friend’s is to run a faster mile, you won’t measure success the same way. Even if you swear 2026 is the year you spend less time on your phone (which I've sworn every year), tap into the power of handheld tech and use these apps to keep yourself on track. I like all the best general progress tracking apps, but when it comes to resolutions, you are looking at something time-bound and specific by its very nature, so you should try apps that are tailored more to what y…

I’m sure you’ve heard it everywhere: Check with a doctor before beginning any exercise program. This is the standard disclaimer on fitness advice of any sort, which most of us probably ignore. But should you? Not necessarily, it turns out. Why are you supposed to check with a doctor before exercising?The concern underlying this oft-repeated statement is that there are rare cases where a person can die suddenly during exercise. When this happens, it’s usually in a person who (a) had some kind of underlying medical issue; (b) was not used to exercising; and (c) did very intense exercise that they were unprepared for. For a long time, there was a sense among many medical an…

Skinny is officially back in—not that it ever really left, if you ask me. Between "what I eat in a day" videos and before-and-after transformations, there's always been this undercurrent of weight loss anxiety masquerading as wellness. "Weight loss" is assumed to be synonymous with "healthy," but that's never been the whole story. And during this time for reflection and goal-setting, I urge you to think bigger than simply making yourself smaller. If you've struggled to identify health goals beyond weight loss, you're not alone. We've been conditioned to believe that smaller bodies are the ultimate achievement, when in reality, health is so much more expansive, personal, a…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Smart glasses have promised convenience for years, but few have felt practical enough to wear daily. The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 1) come closer by keeping things familiar. They look like classic Wayfarers, not a tech experiment, which lowers the barrier right away. Right now, they’re also easier to justify on price. The matte black version with polarized lenses is 25% off at $246.75, down from $329, which is the lowest price so far, according to price trackers. A glossy black version with clear lenses costs less at $224.25 if you don’t need …

Like everybody else, at the end of every December, I start thinking hard about what I want the next year to be like for me. You can chalk it up to all the Capricorn placements in my birth chart if you want (and I do!) or blame the cultural obsession with a "new year, new me" approach, but I take my New Year's resolutions seriously and generally try to come up with realistic, actionable plans to improve myself and my life. It's easy to identify the things I want to change and even easy to figure out how, exactly, I should do that, but that doesn't mean it's easy to stick to the new plan. Real life gets in the way no matter what year it is, but the degree to which it does t…

Thanks to my gig teaching spin classes, I have a front-row seat to a reliable annual phenomenon: My classes are packed for the first few weeks of the year as people make New Year's resolutions—but by mid-February, I'm back to teaching normal-sized groups of people who are grateful the "January joiners" have cleared out. I'm always sad to see the new faces go, though, because I do think it's possible to set a New Year's resolution and stick to it, even if it's not the norm. There are plenty of self-betterment goals you can set as a new year approaches, both in and out of the gym, but no matter what you endeavor to do, it's important to have an implementation strategy that…

Rewarding yourself can backfire. If you tell yourself, “I’ll only listen to my favorite podcast while I’m at the gym,” it takes just one moment of weakness to realize you can cheat and listen to it any time you want. Instead, try this: Reward yourself with something that has no enjoyment value whatsoever. Like a checkmark on your calendar. I first heard this tip from writer Tim Clare’s podcast. If you want to stay motivated, he says, the reward has to be so crappy that you’re not actually working for the reward. He said that he puts a checkmark on his calendar every day he writes, and at the end of the week enough checkmarks earn a gold star. The same approach has worked…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you’ve been doing any kind of work around any kind of house for a while, you probably have a few trusty old-school C-Clamps on hand. The C-Clamp has been in use for thousands of years. It’s one of those dead-simple tools that just works. It’s also one of those tools you tend to collect multiple examples of, in different sizes. Typically, you use a C-Clamp to, uh, clamp stuff together, like two pieces of wood, or to clamp something into place while you work on it (I use them a lot to cut lumber so I can have both hands on the saw, as I am allergic to emergency rooms.) But the C-Clamp is actually a very versatile tool tha…