Setting Up Your Home Office

Unpaid parking tickets happen to the best of us—and one of the latest phishing scams is counting on you to believe you've missed or forgotten to pay an outstanding fee. This text message scam prompts you to pay overdue parking fines and hand your credit card number and other personal information directly to the scammers to turn around and use. Scammers are using the threat of unpaid parking feesThe unpaid parking fee scam is one of many relatively unsophisticated text-based phishing attempts that depends on recipients responding to the threat of owing money and giving up personal and financial information in the process. It's similar to the current unpaid tolls scam text…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. For many years, I've depended on my phone to get me out of bed in the morning, and I've hated it. I'd easily snooze or catch myself doom scrolling instead of starting my morning routine. That all changed after my brother gifted me perhaps the best Christmas present I've received over the last few years: a Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, which you can now get on Walmart or Target for $99.99. It was previously only available on the Nintendo store. Display: Digital, Power type: Corded Electric, Alarm c…

Software updates are supposed to introduce new features while improving the stability of the operating system. Occasionally, however, additional bugs and glitches can slip through the cracks. That's the case with the latest Pixel update: While Google added a number of new features to Android and patched 43 security vulnerabilities, users who have installed it are complaining of strange glitches on their Pixel phones. March 2025 Pixel drop glitches: Brightness, vibrations, and moreFirst up, as spotted by 9to5Google, some Pixel users are experiencing brightness variations while using their phones—without touching the brightness settings themselves. The issue seems to be li…

Installing a bunch of applications at once on Windows can be annoying. You need to find the installer packages, download them, then run them all, one after another. It requires spending a bunch of time clicking though menus and checking boxes. But you don't have to live this way. Linux users have long used package managers to accomplish this with far greater ease—as have some Mac users. Using a package manager, you can type a single command to install as many different applications as you want. And, it turns out, Windows comes with a package manager. It's called Winget. You can try it right now—just open PowerShell, which you can find in the start menu or by right-click…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. At $144.95, down from a steep $349.99, the Sony SRS-XG300 is at its lowest price ever, according to price-trackers. That’s a massive drop for a speaker that bagged PCMag’s Best Speaker of the Year 2022 and its Editor’s Choice award. Plus, free shipping is included for everyone, and if you're a Prime member, it’ll be at your doorstep in a day. Sony packed this one with plenty of features, starting with its IP67 rating, which makes it fully waterproof and dust-proof. Poolside splashes, a bit of dust at the beach, or just a rowdy party setup—this outdo…

Saving your passwords in your browser—like Chrome or Firefox—provides an easy way to access logins when you need them on websites, and having a safe place to keep strong, unique passwords is better than, well, not. However, browser password managers aren't necessarily the most secure nor the most convenient for filling password or payment fields in apps, nor do they come with features included with third-party password management tools, like encrypted storage or dark web monitoring. If you're transitioning away from your browser's password manager or simply want to remove credentials you no longer use, here's how to delete saved passwords in the most popular browsers. Ho…

When it comes to your important data, you should always have a backup. And then a backup of that backup. Cloud storage services shouldn't be your whole strategy here, but they can help with that. Sometimes, you just don't have enough physical space to store all the photos you've taken over your life, or all your ebooks and work documents. Plus, there is the convenience factor of syncing your files between all the devices that you use, so that a document you drafted up on your iPad can instantly show up on your Mac or your Windows PC. That said, picking a cloud storage service isn't as easy as it used to be. Now that so much of our cloud usage is tied to platforms and ecos…

Every once in a while, you come across a beautiful app that makes you smile whenever you use it. Tinker is one of those apps for me. It allows you to create beautiful analog clock widgets for your iPhone, and its attention to detail is remarkable. It has a few curated designs to get you started, but you can also bring in your own clock faces and customize every aspect of the widget. The best part—it works with StandBy mode. In addition to your calendar, the iPhone's StandBy mode lets you view photos, live activities, or a clock when the iPhone is charging in landscape mode, essentially turning it into a convincing substitute for a real alarm clock. Tinker adds far more op…

My Boox Palma is one of the most easily lovable pieces of tech I've ever used—an e-ink reader with a phone-like form factor that isn't locked down to one specific retailer's ecosystem. It has helped me read more and waste time on social media less, but as much as I appreciate it, it can also be weird and finicky. For example, why is it so tricky to use it to listen to audiobooks? Like most people, before I got the Palma, my phone was my main driver for audiobooks, music, and podcasts—it was always with me and the apps made it super convenient. But I'd find myself pausing my book every time a notification pinged in my headphones, so I decided to shift that "content" over …

The following content is brought to you by Lifehacker partners. If you buy a product featured here, we may earn an affiliate commission or other compensation. Photoshop has been the industry standard in image-editing software for over 30 years, but up until now, creators have been limited to using it on their computers and tablets. The recent launch of the first Photoshop iPhone app has (finally) changed that. Now you can go to the App Store, search "Photoshop," and download the spanking-new Photoshop iPhone mobile app. It’s available for free with an impressive feature set, but if you’re a savvy Photoshop user, the $7.99 a month/$69.99 a year Photoshop Mobile and Web Pla…

Apple, Google, and Samsung are competing on multiple fronts—from phones, to health apps, to smartwatches—and that rivalry extends to AI tools as well. All of these tech giants offer AI-powered object removal features in their mobile photo editing apps, which ostensibly allow you get rid of an unwanted person, a tree, a hand, or anything else that's ruining your shot, with only a tap or two on the screen. However, just because Apple, Google, and Samsung all offer AI object removal doesn't mean the tools are of the same standard. There's been a fair bit of chatter online about how these features stack up against one another, so it feels as though a head-to-head object remov…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The M3 lineup of MacBook Air laptops is already seeing big discounts before the release of the new M4 MacBook Air laptops tomorrow. You can get the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage for $794.99 (originally $1,099) after an additional $54.01 on-page coupon on Amazon. This is the lowest price this MacBook has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools. M3 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop (2024) …

After years of intense rumor and speculation, Nintendo finally revealed the Switch 2 in January of this year. While the company hasn't yet announced each and every new feature the Switch's successor will sport, the company did confirm a number of details leakers had been hinting for a long time, including a larger display, redesigned magnetic Joy-Cons, a new kickstand, backwards compatibility, and, least consequentially, a large "2" embossed on the console and dock. Since the initial announcement, we've learned a bit more about the Switch 2 in advance of its full unveiling later this year. Nintendo announced a worldwide tour, where fans can try out the Switch 2 early. It …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Tomorrow Apple will be releasing new MacBooks and iPads, which is why you're seeing discounts on the older MacBooks and iPads. There are two iPads being released tomorrow, the M3 iPad Air, which you can pre-order right now for $559 (originally $599) for the 11-inch version, or the the 11th-generation iPad for $329 (originally $349) for the 11-inch version, or $749 (originally $799) for the bigger 13-inch version. Impressive by Apple's standards considering they haven't even released yet. However, this could be because the older versions might be a b…

Renovating your house has serious upsides in terms of your enjoyment of the property and the return on your investment—but there’s a price to be paid in time and discomfort. Renovation projects can take weeks or months to complete, and during that time your home will mostly likely be filled with dust, debris, and workers. It’s little wonder people choose to move out of their homes and live in a rental while the work is being done. Not everyone can do that, of course—and not everyone can spend the next few months living in a construction zone. If you’ve got limited time (and limited tolerance for the mess and disruption), you might choose to put off home improvement projec…

Bluesky's latest update adds a few more useful options to its impressive arsenal of anti-harassment tools. The changes make it easier to hide direct messages (DMs) from strangers, and to mute accounts even faster. You don't need to do anything to receive these features, too. As long as you're using the latest version of Bluesky's apps or log in to the website on any browser, you should see them. Here's everything that's now available as a part of Bluesky's 1.99 update. Block DMs from strangersNo one wants a bunch of DMs from strangers, and Bluesky has now acknowledged that. If you're on the end of a targeted harassment campaign, you'll now be able to sort out DMs from str…

Microsoft's released its monthly Patch Tuesday update for March 2025 to fix 57 bugs across Windows, Office, Azure, and other Microsoft systems. Seven of the patches address zero-day vulnerabilities, six of which have been actively exploited. According to Bleeping Computer, this month's update fixes 23 elevation of privilege flaws, three security feature bypass flaws, 23 remote code execution flaws, four information disclosure flaws, one denial of service flaw, and three spoofing flaws. Microsoft also released patches to numerous vulnerabilities in Mariner and Microsoft Edge this month. Patch Tuesday fixes for MarchSeven of the flaws fixed were zero-day vulnerabilities, …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’re looking for an outdoor security camera that doesn’t need constant battery swaps or a monthly subscription, the Eufy SoloCam S40 might be worth considering—especially now that it's $99.99 (down from its usual $199). This battery-powered camera comes with a built-in solar panel, which, according to Eufy, only needs two hours of direct sunlight daily to stay charged. That’s the kind of low-maintenance setup we want, but as with all solar-powered devices, real-world performance depends on actual sunlight exposure, so if you live somewhere gloo…

Each year, Samsung takes what Google has made with the annual Android update—the Android Open Source Project (or AOSP) to be precise—and builds a fresh version of One UI, its bespoke mobile operating system complete with all the extra Samsung bells and whistles. This year, we're getting One UI 7, which is based on Android 15. One UI 7 comes preinstalled on the new Galaxy S25 phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the rest of us are still waiting for it to roll out at the time of writing. Here's everything new that's coming with the software update, and when you can expect it to make its way to your Galaxy handset. Best new features in One UI 7Perhaps the most…

Now more than ever, I rely on my silly little podcasts to disassociate through my days, and yesterday, that got a little easier. Pocket Casts—Lifehacker's pick for the most full-featured and user-friendly podcast app on the scene, and my own auditory lifeline for the last half-decade or so—has made its web streaming and desktop apps free for all users. Previously, these were paid subscriber-only benefits that would cost you around $40/year to access. In a statement, the company said it made the change in support of "the open podcasting ecosystem," noting the audio format "was built on an open, decentralized standard, RSS, which means that anyone can create, share, and lis…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Lifehacker's Ultimate Spring Cleaning Guide aims to bring you all the best spring cleaning ideas, but I won't lie: Some of them are pretty labor intensive. But whether you don't have the time for a major undertaking or you're just feeling a little lazy this year, there are still ways you can spring clean your home to get it in shape for the months ahead. Clean your microwave the easy wayA microwave is supposed to be cleaned every two weeks, but if that's too often for you (it's OK to be honest), you're probably looking at some serious grime in there. Cleaning it is actually remarkably easy, though, and you can make a big …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As you embark on this year's spring cleaning, take it seriously. Upgrade your supplies and tools so you can do the best possible job. Some of the tools I've featured here save you time, some of these get your stuff even cleaner, and some of them will save you money by reducing the single-use products you rely on. When it's time for spring cleaning, these are a good jumping-off point to get your home in order and keep it in order. Upgraded cleaning tools for the kitchen O-Ce…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In addition to checklists, tips, and tricks that can elevate your tidying game this spring, you're going to need products. It's a good idea to stock up so that once you get going, you know you won't have to take any breaks to gather missing reinforcements. The products can help you do more than clean, though—they can even make cleaning easier and more fun, which is good news for those of us who don't love cleaning up. If you’re like me and find cleaning more monotonous than fulfilling, why not use some tools that can make the endeavor easier? Spring cleaning tools for the kitchen …

If you’re at all like me, spring cleaning can be something of a domino situation. I might start by cleaning the baseboards, but when I get to the stairs, I’m like, wow these handrails are dirty. And so on. By the time I’m done, I’ve also discovered coffee splashes on walls, cobwebs in ceiling corners, and the dustiest blinds one has ever seen—and I’m feeling rather disgusted with myself. I’m also feeling sore, because my back is not what it once was and it seems like the worst of the dirt is either way low or way high. You know who still has good backs, though? Our kids, that’s who. Spring cleaning should, I believe, be a family affair. From the inside of the home to the …