Setting Up Your Home Office

On Wednesday, Apple officially revealed the iPhone 16e, the spiritual successor to the iPhone SE. While the second and third-generation SEs borrowed from the design language of the iPhone 8, this new iPhone looks just like an iPhone 14. There are a lot of perks that come with that decision, but in doing so, Apple has also done something pretty drastic: It has officially killed off the Home button. With the launch of the iPhone 16e, no iPhone, nor any iPad Apple currently sells, ships with a Home button. (The iPod touch was killed off a long time ago.) This is, definitively, the end of an era, and I come not to mourn the Home button, but to praise it. Let's take a look at …

When Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, there was a lot of focus on the price tag ($599 is cheap for a new iPhone, but not that cheap), the lack of MagSafe support, and Apple's decision to finally kill off the Home button. But there's an interesting discussion surrounding the 16e's processor: the A18. At first glance, it seems like the same chip as the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The phones also have the A18, which makes it sound like the iPhone 16e offers the same performance as its more expensive sibling devices, for at least $200 less. The thing is, these aren't the same chips: The A18 in the iPhone 16e is "binned." What is a "binned" chip?"Binned" chips d…

Bluesky is very hot right now—just ask Mark Zuckerberg. Even though Bluesky has a fraction of the total Threads user count (30 million vs Threads's 320 million), Adam Mosseri, Head of Threads, is working hard at making Threads more like Bluesky. Bluesky's unique features include a non-algorithmic timeline and more sophisticated moderation tools, but one of the features that Bluesky users really like, and the one that Threads is adopting first, is the shareable custom feeds. Threads, too, has an option to create custom feeds. And now, you can share them with either a link or DM, or even by advertising them on your profile page. Creating a custom feed means freedom from Thr…

As egg prices skyrocket, you too may be considering if it would be cheaper going straight to the source and raising your own flock. As the steward of four sweet but dimwitted backyard chickens, I'll caution that it's more expensive than you think—but with prices spiking as high as $1 per egg in some areas, it may be worth considering. Each day, I reliably pull three or four gorgeously colored eggs out of my backyard chicken coop. “They're free!” I think to myself. But these eggs are only “free” if one ignores the costs of feeding, sheltering, protecting, and entertaining a flock of tiny, feathered dinosaurs. Now, most people with backyard birds aren’t going the cheap rou…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I'll download any app. If I see an ad or hear about an app, it's going right on my phone. I don't care at all if it's all a scheme to get my data. My data is out there, baby, and it's too late to care, so I might as well reap all the benefits these flash-in-the-pan, VC-bolstering apps can give me. Most of the time, I don't get much. But sometimes, I get free stuff! I love trading my data and precious, finite time on this earth for meager rewards. Here are my favorite ways to do it. The best ways to get free food or drinksI've mentioned this before, but the Dunkin' Donuts app is elite in terms of rewards. The powers that b…

Whether or not you plan on observing the Christian season of Lent, celebrating Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) is a great excuse to chow down on some desserts. In the past, Lent meant abstaining from indulgent foods like butter, sugar, and eggs. As Christianity spread across different parts of the globe, during a time when food spoiled relatively quickly, there was no hope in preserving these ingredients during the 40-day period of fasting. Instead of tossing it all, there was a massive clear-out feast: Everything had to go. In the wake of this food-liquidation period, many creative and indulgent treats were born. Most of them are fried. All of them are carbs. Here are nine e…

I happened to catch some of the Grammy Awards last night, and while pop, rap, and country definitely took center stage, it was the Best Rock Performance category that most caught my attention. The award went to The Beatles for their song "Now and Then," which is a confusing sentence in 2025. You might be aware The Beatles operated largely in the 1960s, not the 2020s, and seeing as only half the group is still alive, winning a Grammy for a new song might sound a bit strange. Nevertheless, the song is new—at least, as new as a Beatles song can be. The track dropped towards the end of 2023, and is built from a demo John Lennon recorded shortly before his death. In the '90s,…

This week, there has been a lot of chatter in the weirder parts of the online world about the supposed discovery of a hidden complex of underground chambers beneath the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. It seems a team of researchers announced they'd used SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) to reveal a number of underground buildings beneath the Khafre Pyramid. This discovery could offer proof the ancient Egyptian civilization was far more advanced than is generally believed, and possessed technology that rivals our own. It could change everything we think we know about humanity itself! In other words, big if true. Spoiler: It's not true though. All signs point to the “discov…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Movies can certainly have dialogue that sings, and some great movies don't lean on beautiful images, but for the most part, film is an inherently visual medium. Heck, before audiences heard Al Jolson's voice in 1927's The Jazz Singer, movies were largely silent entertainment. While silent movies are mostly a thing of the past, some filmmakers still recognize the power of spare use of dialogue. The animated film Flow, one of this year's Oscar nominees for Best Animated Picture, stars a cast of animals who are truly animal—they don't speak at all—and that's not the only recent example. Here are 12 modern movies with no (or …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. There was a time when I would confuse the terms “Dutch oven” and “slow cooker.” I couldn’t tell you why, but it was probably because I had never really operated either of them before and these vague, old-timey titles fused together in my mind. (I envisioned a cauldron over a fire.) Well, let the record show that they’re not the same. Not only are they completely dissimilar in appearances, but they specialize in somewhat different cooking tasks. H Both cookers are known for their slow and steady cooking properties, and due to their deep shape, the Dutch oven and slow cooker are both good candidates for high-moisture foods. …

Maintaining a home is expensive, with many financial advisors recommending you set aside around 2% of its purchase price for upkeep each year. That cost is well worth it, as it prevents small problems from becoming bigger ones, and keeps your home in good shape so you can actually enjoy living there. It’s reasonable to assume that if you’re doing at least the bare minimum home maintenance tasks, you can rest easier. But even if you repair stuff as needed and do all the recommended annual checks and upkeep, you might still be damaging your house in a myriad of ways. That’s because many things homeowners without thinking about it can actually damage a house over the long te…

We know that cars are better connected than ever before, which is great when you want to remember where you parked or start defrosting the vehicle windows while you're still in bed—but this modern tech comes with security and privacy concerns, as a new hack of Subaru cars and their Starlink software has shown. Security researchers Sam Curry and Shubham Shah explain in a blog post how they were able to remotely hack into the Starlink connected vehicle service run by Subaru. Specifically, they targeted software on Curry's mom's car, but the same platform operates across Subaru vehicles in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. With access to the driver's surname and their at…

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a fantastic security measure, but not all 2FA is created equal. SMS-based 2FA is by far the least secure authentication option, and yet, far too many companies use this method as default. Hackers know this, which is why they target users' 2FA codes to commit fraud and steal access to Google accounts. All that said, any 2FA is better than no 2FA, so it's worth tolerating SMS-based authentication if it's the only 2FA option offered. Now, however, the winds are changing: Google is the latest company looking to switch from SMS codes to an alternative method. As reported by Forbes, the company is planning to shift from SMS codes to QR codes. …

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…

There’s something magical about having a pool you can just dip into any time you want. That’s why it’s estimated there are nearly 11 million pools in the U.S., most of them residential. But pools are expensive. Aside from the price of installing one, it can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 annually to own and maintain a pool, which is why it’s often advisable not to add a pool to your home if you’re thinking of selling it someday. If your house already has a pool, or you want those summertime pool parties more than you want your money, you can at least cut down on those pool maintenance costs with a few simple steps. Use a pool coverOne of the easiest ways to lower you…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Open-ear design earbuds have been getting popular, likely because active noise-canceling tech has gotten so good that people have forgotten what nature sounds like. The Ultra Open Earbuds are Bose's attempt at the trending tech, and they're decent. But at their current price of $179.99 (originally $299.99) from Woot, they are a steal. These earbuds have never been below the $200 mark on Amazon, but you can get them "unopened" (which is exactly what it sounds like) from Woot for the lowest price they've ever been, according to price tracking tools. …

If you live in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Colorado Springs, or Rockville (Maryland), Comcast might have just given you a sneak peak at the internet of the future. In collaboration with Apple, Meta, Nvidia, and Valve, the service provider is currently rolling out a new open standard called “L4S,” which seeks to drastically reduce how lag works online, and make gaming and video calls much smoother. What is L4S?Short for “Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput,” L4S wants to make this internet feel faster— not by upping bandwidth, but by making data transfer more efficient. Right now, your internet service provider, or ISP, sends data to you in the fo…

If you get an email from PayPal, proceed with caution: Scammers are using a legitimate PayPal address to send fraudulent purchase notifications to users in an attempt to gain remote access to your computer by convincing you to download malware. The phishing emails are being sent from service@paypal.com, which makes them seem real—but as Bleeping Computer reports, scammers have managed to exploit PayPal settings in order to trick recipients. How to spot the PayPal scamUsers targeted for this scam are receiving emails from PayPal notifying them that they've added a new mailing address to their account. According to Bleeping Computer, users who received this message did no…

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 …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re considering a smartwatch with top-tier health tracking and rugged durability, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (Bespoke Edition) is now $249.99 (down from $329.99), its lowest price yet, according to price trackers. SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 7 Bespoke Edition $249.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-pri…

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…

More social platforms are increasingly axing third-party fact checking as a control against misinformation in favor of user-generated notes on existing content. Last month, Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to cut fact-checking programs on Meta platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and Threads—and replace them with Community Notes, which add corrections and context to posts that are "confusing or potentially misleading." A similar feature launched on Twitter in January 2021 as the Birdwatch program, which was rebranded as Community Notes and expanded after Elon Musk acquired the platform in 2022. Community Notes exist in lieu of the ability to report misleading content on X. Musk…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Do you want to haul out your fridge every time you clean under it? I'm not strong or motivated enough to do all that. Frankly, I'm lazy enough to avoid even moving shelving or furniture unless I absolutely have to. This trick from TikTok allows you to clean under larger pieces—and while you'll still have to yank them out at some point, you can extend the amount of time between your feats of manual labor. Grab a sponge and a spatulaI saw this video on the Washy Wash account a few days ago. In just 14 seconds, it shows how you can easily clean under heavy furniture and appliances with only a sponge and a spatula. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sonos brand is well known in the smart speaker and surround sound space. And very much like Apple, people will pay a premium price for their minimalistic, premium quality, and discounts are often hard to come by. But today, the Sonos Arc, which was Sono's flagship soundbar prior to the launch of the Sonos Arc Ultra, is $649, $250 off its usual $899 price. It's also a new low price for this model, according to price-tracking tools. …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been eyeing premium wireless earbuds but don’t want to shell out big bucks, this deal on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 might catch your attention. Originally priced at $279.95, they’re now going for $99.99 on Woot—but only for eight days or until sold out. Plus, Prime members get free standard shipping, while others will have to pay $6 (just a heads up, this sale is only available in the U.S., and free shipping isn’t available for Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). You also get a two-year Sennheiser manufacturer limited warranty, so t…